Squash: India off to winning start
New Delhi: India survived some anxious moments before prevailing over Argentina in their opening group fixture of the WSF Men's World Team Squash Championship in Mulhouse, France. The long opening day finished with a thriller when eighth seeds India were forced to fight back from a match down to beat 21/24 seeds Argentina 2-1 at the 24th staging of the event since 1967. It was outsider Robertino Pezzota, who rocked the boat, when the 30-year-old ranked 159 in the world recovered from 2-1 down to beat Indian number two Harinder Pal Sandhu — ranked almost 90 places higher — 11-9, 2-11, 6-11, 13-11, 11-6 in a 99-minute marathon. India's numero uno player, Saurav Ghosal, scored an emphatic straight-game win over Hernan D'Arcangelo in 44 minutes to draw parity.
Air India win senior national c'ship
Pune: Air India upset reigning champions Punjab 6-2 to lift the third Hockey India Senior Men's National championship at the Dhyanchand Stadium in Pimpri, here on Monday. Air India played to a plan using short passes to completely dominate the proceedings. Sameer Dad made no mistake to put Air India ahead just two minutes into the game on a pass from Joga Singh. Affan Yusuf made it 2-0 with a superb back hand flick. In the second half, Joga Singh's pass was neatly converted by international Sameer in the 39th minute while Affan futher stamped their authority on holders Punjab with a whacking goal from the right flank three minutes later. A Vikram Pillay hit deflected by Joga took Air India to 5-0. Prabodh Sommana again swelled the scoreline for Air India with a reverse hit to make it 6-1. In the match for the third place, Karnataka beat Haryana 3-2.
Indiaenter finals of all categories
Ahmedabad: Continuing their winning run, Indian card players advanced to the finals of all three categories of the 17th Bridge Federation of Asia and Middle East champion here on Monday. All the Indian teams by virtue of reaching the finals have also qualified to play for World Championship to be held in Bali, Indonesia later this year. In the finals, India's seniors will take on their counterparts from Bangladesh, while the women team will face their traditional rivals Pakistan. The title clash in the Open category of the meet will see the hosts locking horns with Bahrain. The Indian seniors — Ashok Kumar Goel, Vinod Sharma, Kamal Krishna Mukherjee, Alok Sadhu, R Sridharan and Sunil Machhar, put up a commendable show to finish at the top with 224 VPs.
Brazilbeat France 3-0
Porto Alegre: Oscar, Hernanes and lucas scored second-half goals on Sunday as Brazil defeated France 3-0 in their final warm-up before the Confederations Cup. Chelsea playmaker Oscar opened the scoring with a shot from close range in the 54th minute. Hernanes added to the lead with a left-footed attempt from inside the area in the 85th, and Paris Saint-Germain's lucas sealed the victory by converting a penalty kick in injury time. The result ended Brazil's 21-year winless run against France, and gave the "Selecao" their first victory over a former World Cup champion in nearly four years.
Mourinho wants to create stability
london: A "calmer" Jose Mourinho said he returned to Chelsea hoping to create an era of stability after a decade of constant change at Stamford Bridge. At the first news conference of Mourinho's second Chelsea reign on Monday, there was less of the bravado that characterized his first introduction in 2004. Seven managers have led Chelsea since 2007 when Mourinho left and went on to coach Inter Milan and Real Madrid. "We are ready to work together and (have) much better conditions this time to succeed and have what this club wants, which is stability," Mourinho said.
Dutch player gets 6-month ban
london: Dutch tennis player Yannick Ebbinghaus has been suspended for six months and fined $10,000 for violating the sport's betting rules. The International Tennis Federation says the 23-year-old Ebbinghaus admitted to 67 violations between May 2012 and February 2013. PNS/Agencies