Shuttlers depart

KATHMANDU: A seven-member Nepali badminton team left for Sri Lanka to take part in the Sri Lankan Satellite International Badminton Championship to be held there from August 25-28. Pashupati Paneru, Balram Thapa, Puja Shrestha, Sumina Shrestha and Saradevi Tamang were joined by coach Uday Shrestha and team manager Samir Bahadur Singh. After the competition, the same team will also take part in the Asian Badminton Championship to be held in Hyderabad of India from September 6-11. — HNS

Milan Basketball

KATHMANDU: Sony Tamang scored 14 points as Valley Public defeated hosts Milan Vidya Mandir 32-17 in the inaugural match at the third Milan Valleywide Inter-school Basketball Tournament. In the day’s other matches, Buddha Prakash beat Triyog 23-10 riding on Neha Singh’s eight points; Laxmi Bhandari scored 18 points as Gyan Niketan overwhelmed Pacific 27-6; TIA thrashed Wilson 22-4 with Anu Thapa netting eight points; Tamding Wangno scored 10 points in Young Hearts; 19-16 win over South Point; and ato Bangala outplayed New Summit 28-9. In all, 25 schools of the valley are taking part in the event. — HNS

Monsoon Meet 2005

KATHMANDU: Hosts Shridiwa defeated Shuvatara 55-32 in the inaugurl match of the Monsoon Meet 2005 Inter-school Basketball Tournament here today. In the other senior boys’ matches, RIBS beat Gyan Niketan 68-45, LRI outplayed Daffodil 56-26, and Ideal Model edged past Sambotta 35-33. In junior boys’ section, Sambotta edged past Young Hearts 24-22, Daffodil thrashed South Point 26-8, RIBS outplayed LRI 43-22, Holy Garden beat Alpha’s 25-12, and Wilson outplayed Shuvatara 41-16. However, the Shuvatara players were lucky enough in the morning, as no one was hurt when the bus carrying the players overturned onto the field at Lamatar, about two-kms from the school. — HNS

Bell signs for Bucks

MILWAUKEE: Charlie Bell, top scorer for the US team preparing for the Tournament of the Americas, signed with the National Basketball Association’s Milwaukee Bucks. The guard spent most of the past five seasons in Europe since leaving his US champion collegiate team at Michigan State University. Bell averaged 17.4 points a game for the US squad in an exhibition tour of Brazil and will lead the Americans at the Tournament of the Americas starting next week in the Dominican Republic. — AFP

Wenger is best: Dein

LONDON: Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein says he believes that French coach Arsene Wenger is the best signing the club has ever made. Wenger will have been in charge of 500 Gunners games when his side take on Chelsea on Sunday. The Londoners have won the Premiership three times since Wenger arrived from Japan in 1996 and he has inevitably been linked with other jobs. But Dein says that Wenger has a long-term strategy at the club to build on his previous success. — AFP