Chess team departs

KATHMANDU: Five Nepali players left for Dubai on Monday to participate in the Asian Club Team Chess Championship. Uttam Raj Thapa of Tanahu, Balram Napit of Bhaktapur, Madhav Prasad Pradhan of Rupandehi and Purushottam Chaulagain and Prem Krishna Maharjan of Kathmandu are representing the country in the December 24-31 championship. Accompanying the players were officials Bidur Gautam and Ram Kumar Magar. — HNS

Gul to play for WA

SYDNEY: Leading Pakistan paceman Umar Gul will play with the Western Australia Warriors in the 2008-09 domestic Twenty20 Big Bash competition, the Western Australian Cricket Association said. Gul, 24, was one of the stars of the Pakistan team that reached the final of the inaugural World Twenty20 tournament in South Africa last year and also played for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2008 Indian Premier League. — AFP

Mohun Bagan fan dies

KOLKATA: A 27-year-old football soccer fan, injured after falling from the Salt Lake Stadium gallery, died on Monday. Sanjib Das, a Mohun Bagan supporter, sustained a head injury on Sunday after he slipped down 12 feet from the gallery just before the start of the Federation Cup final match between his club and the Dempo Sports Club. The accident occurred when he was doing a jig along with other Bagan supporters. Das, who had come to watch the match along with his father and relatives, was admitted to a private hospital in a critical condition. — HNS