Mehta in semis of World Games; Advani loses
New Delhi: India’s numero uno snooker player, Aditya Mehta remained on course to win a gold medal in the ongoing World Games after securing a hard-fought victory against pre-tournament favourite Perry Raymond in the quarterfinals of the quadrennial event at Cali, Columbia. Mehta staved off a stiff challenge from the World ranked 19 Perry before beating him 3-2 and book a semifinal berth against Thailand’s Dechawat Poomjaeng, who beat another Indian and eight-time world champion Pankaj Advani 3-1. Despite registering a comfortable 3-0 win over luis lemus of Guatemala in his first-round match, Mehta struggled against the more experienced Perry, who won his first and only ranking tournament at the Yixing Open earlier this year. Perry took the lead in the tie winning the first frame quite comfortably before Mehta cameback strongly to secure the second frame and level the issue. The Mumbai-based cueist dominated the fifth and final frame, constructing a break of 50 to seal the issue in his favour and move into the semifinals.
India win World Youth Chess Olympiad title
Kolkata: India regained the team title in World Youth (Under-16) Chess Olympiad after a gap of five years with a resounding victory over Iran in the final round in Chongqing, China on Monday. The Indian quartet of S A Gagare, Murali Karthikeyan, Diptayan Ghosh and Sayantan Das beat Iran 3.5-0.5 in the 10th round to top the team standings with 30.5 points ahead of heavyweight Russia, who took second spot with 30 points, and Turkey (third with 26 points). The Indian team won eight ties while drawing twice. This is India’s third title in this prestigious team event having won it previously in Singapore 2007 and Turkey 2008.
4th consecutive win for Mahindra Racing
Imola (Italy): Imola’s Autodromo ‘Enzo e Dino Ferrari’ gave Mahindra Racing the perfect platform to showcase yet another spectacular performance in Rounds 7 and 8 of the CIV Moto3 championship here. Riders Andrea locatelli and Michael Ruben Rinaldi performed exceedingly well in both races yesterday, ensuring that the pair is in the top three as far as standings are concerned. In the first race, locatelli, who started at pole, finished second, while teammate Rinaldi started second and won a race marked with high temperatures. locatelli won the second encounter while Rinaldi finished third.
SAFF football draw to take place today
Kathmandu: They may not have played enough international matches in recent times but that should not be a major cause of concern for six-time defending champions India as the draw for the SAFF football championship takes place here on Monday. India are the most fancied team in Group A, while runners-up Afghanistan are placed in Group B. Six other teams — hosts Nepal, Sri lanka, Bhutan, Pakistan, Maldives and Bangladesh — will be placed in the two groups as per the draw. India have been a dominant force in this championship but they would be wary of Afghanistan and Maldives as they had faced stiff competition from the two nations in the past.
All India U-25 snooker from Aug 1
Mumbai: Maharashtra junior and sub-junior champion Ishpreet Singh Chadha and former state junior champion Rovin D’Souza are among the cueists who would take part in the Malabar Hill Club-BSAM All India Under-25 Snooker Challenge 3 to be held here from August 1 to 6. Asian 6-Red snooker bronze medallist laxman Rawat, former Maharashtra junior billiards and snooker champion Jaiveer Dhingra, Aditya Agrawal of Indian Snooker Academy and NSCI semi-finalist Pranit Ramchandani of Tamil Nadu are the other notable entrants. Entries have also come in from Bangalore, Patna and Madhya Pradesh, a media release said. PNS/Agencies