Sindhu back in top 10
New Delhi: Top Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal was steady at number four even as rising star P V Sindhu regained her place in the top 10 after climbing two places in the latest world badminton rankings. Sindhu, who had dropped to the 12th spot last week, came back to the top 10, despite losing to Akane Yamaguchi in the Japan Open’s second round in Tokyo. Parupalli Kashyap and RMV Gurusaidutt were at 14th and 24th spot, while Ajay Jayaram also moved up four places to be placed at 26th in the rankings. H S Prannoy and K Srikanth too have been rewarded for their splendid show at the Japan Open as they jumped 14 and seven places respectively to reach the world number 42nd and 32nd spot. Anand Pawar and Sourabh Varma too improved three places each to reach the 34th and 43rd position respectively. B Sai Praneeth dropped a rung to be 39th.
Paes, Somdev lose doubles semis
New Delhi: leander Paes and Somdev Devvarman crashed out of different ATP tournaments after losing their respective doubles semifinal matches along with their respective partners on Friday. Paes and his Italian partner Daniele Bracciali lost their semifinal match in Thailand Open in Bangkok while Somdev and his South African partner Rik De Voest went down fighting in their last four match in Malaysian Open in Kuala lumpur. Second seeds Paes and Bracciali were handed a 3-6, 4-6 defeat by third seeded pair of Jamie Murray of Scotland and John Peers of Australia in the semifinals that lasted one hour and four minutes. Meanwhile, Somdev and de Voest squandered a set advantage to go down 6-0, 2-6, 7-10 to the pair of Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina in a 53-minute semifinal match.
North Eastern spoil MSP’s debut
New Delhi: North Eastern English School, Manipur rode on a brace from skipper Md Ajaruddin Shah to blank newcomers MSP Mallapuram, Kerala 4-0 in the U-14 Group A encounter of the Subroto Cup inter-school football tournament at the B R Ambedkar stadium here on Friday. The Kerala outfit was expected to put up a fight in front of a capacity crowd but failed to impress. Manipur dominated the proceedings through-out and Ajaruddin opened their account in the 21st minute. Tom Cruise (35) and Sheih Einul Hague (49) completed the tally. In the day’s other match, Sikkim’s Tashi Namgyal Academy blanked GSS MUS, Car Nicobar 5-0.
Jamaica’s Hue banned for 9 months
Zurich: FIFA suspended Jamaica player Jermaine Hue for nine months on Thursday after he tested positive for a banned substance at a World Cup qualifying match. Team doctor Carlton Fraser was banned from football for four years for administering the drug, dexamethasone, FIFA said Thursday. "This suspension covers all types of matches, including domestic, international, friendly and official fixtures," FIFA said. Hue, a 35-year-old midfielder with Jamaican club Harbour View, tested positive after Jamaica’s 2-0 loss against Honduras in Tegucigalpa on June 11.
boys’ 1st win in junior Davis cup
San luis Potosi (Mexico): Sumit Nagal won the second singles and then combined with Sahil Deshmukh to win the doubles as India defeated Argentina 2-1 for their first win the Junior Davis Cup final, here on Friday. India finished third in Group A and thus failed to progress to the quarter-final as only top two teams from the each group were to advance to the next stage. Top seeded Russia and Spain made it to the quarter-finals from Group A. After Garvit Batra had lost the first singles 4-6, 4-6 to Franco Capalbo, Nagal brought India back with victory in the second singles.
Chowrasia best Indian
St. Andrews: SSP Chowrasia was the best of the three Indians at the end of the first round as he carded three-under 69 at the Alfred Dunhill links Championship here on Friday. Playing at Kingsbarns on the first day, Chowrasia had an eagle on the first and birdies on ninth, 12th, 13th and 16th and a bogey came on 11th. He also had a double bogey on 15th. He was lying 57th after the first round. The other two Indians — Jeev Milkha Singh (71) at Carnoustie and Gaganjeet Bhullar (72) at St. Andrews — were way behind.
All six Indians miss cut
Osaka (Japan): It was a disastrous outing for Indians golfers here as none of the six starters were able to make the halfway cut at the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open golf tournament here on Friday. Anirban lahiri, who shot a 79 on first day went down to 68 in the second, but even that was not enough. Jyoti Randhawa (76-71) and Digvijay Singh (76-71) were also eliminated with totals of 147, just one outside the cut mark of 146. C Muniyappa (79-70), Shiv Kapur (75-75) and Himmat Rai (76-74) also fell by the wayside.
Churchill look to bounce back
Duler: Churchill Brothers, who lost their opening match against Salgaocar, would be looking to bounce back when they take on Mohun Bagan at Duler Stadium in Mapusa on Saturday.