Paes-Stepanek ousted
Montreal: Fourth seeds leander Paes and Radek Stepanek suffered a second-round defeat at the hands of Andy Murray and Colin Fleming as Indian challenge ended at the Rogers Cup, here. The Indo-Czech team squandered five break chances as they lost 3-6 3-6 to the British pair in the second round of the USD 2,887,085 hard court event. Rohan Bopanna and Andre Begemann have already exited while Sania Mirza and her new Chinese partner Jie Zheng also lost in the second round of the WTA event at the same tournament. Paes and Stepanek had two chances in the first set and three in the second but could convert none. On the other hand, Murray and Fleming capitalised on the chances they got.
Advani beat McManus
New Delhi: Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani overcame a stiff challenge from Scotland’s Alan McManus to reach the penultimate round of the Shanghai Masters snooker qualifiers at the Doncaster Dome in Sheffield, England. A best of 9 frames encounter that lasted almost six hours saw the Glaswegian engage in heavy scoring to be a frame away from victory at 3-4. However Pankaj, the highest ranked Indian at the moment at 73 and the reigning world billiards champion, fought tooth and nail draw parity and enforce the decider. In the 9th, Pankaj surged ahead with some strong potting, making a crucial 34 break to take the score to 65-7 before his more experienced opponent who is ranked currently at 43 conceded the match. . Pankaj, the lone Indian in the fray, now faces Gloucester’s Michael Wasley in the third round.
Tough competition
Coimbatore: Stiff competitions and thrilling finishes are expected to continue due to strong presence of cars and several new teams across categories at the round 2 of the JK Tyre Racing Championship scheduled this weekend at Kari Motor Speedway here. Round 2 will witness three races each of the JK Racing India Series and Formula lGB 4, and two races of the Polo R Cup apart from a host of other exciting support events. The main attraction in Round 2 will be full-scale remote controlled cars.
Warriors name 11th
New Delhi: Awadhe Warriors, the Indian Badminton league’s lucknow Franchise, on Friday named Vinay Kumar Singh as the 11th player of the team. Keeping with the IBl’s policy that each franchisee must include one promising Under-19 Indian player in addition to those players picked up at the auction, Vinay Kumar was picked up by Awadhe Warriors from their catchment area to complete the team’s player list. To his credit, Vinay Kumar has represented India in the Badminton Asia Youth Championship U-19 Boys doubles and mixed doubles held at Sabah, Malaysia in July this year, a statement from the organisers said.
Jayant wins gold
New Delhi: India Army’s lt Colonel Sudhakar Jayant has won gold medal at the IWF World Masters wightlifting championships, held in Turin, Italy. 45-year-old Jayant competing in 62kg weight category, lifted a total of 192kg. His lift of 87kg in Snatch was a Games record. The lift came in his secod attempt. In Clean and Jerk, he lifted 105kg. Finland’s Jari Huuskonen (81+95) won silver while Jan-Olof Åkesson of Sweden was third (76+92). The Armyman, now postd in Jabalpur, had also won gold last year when the championship was held in Ukraine.
Reedie nominated
Moscow: Craig Reedie, a driving force behind london’s successful hosting of the 2012 Olympic Games, is all but assured of being the next president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) after being nominated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board on Friday. The 72-year-old Scot, who was also a leading light in london’s successful candidacy to host the 2012 Games, saw off the challenges of former IOC Medical Director Patrick Schamasch and American hurdling great Ed Moses. Reedie, who was elected an IOC vice-president prior to the london Games, will replace Australian John Fahey, who steps down after six years in charge in Johannesburg in November.