Somdev qualifies for China Open
Beijing: Somdev Devvarman recorded yet another come-from-behind victory as he defeated higher-ranked Italian Paolo lorenzi to qualify for the ATP China Open singles event. Ranked 97, the Indian ace recorded a 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 win over his rival, who is placed 12 places above Somdev, in the second and final round of the qualifying event. Somdev had beaten world number 60 Robin Haase 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the opening round. However, Somdev faces an uphill task in the main draw as he has drawn world number 31 Fernando Verdasco as his first round opponent in the USD 3,566,050 hard court event.
new dad Suarez sinks Sunderland
Sunderland: luis Suarez scored two goals on his Premier league comeback as liverpool climbed back up to second place with a hard-fought 3-1 victory at struggling Sunderland on Sunday. Suarez added to Daniel Sturridge’s opening goal to put Brendan Rodgers’s side 2-0 ahead at the break against the winless and managerless hosts, who remain bottom of the table with just a single point from six games. Sunderland pulled one back early in the second half through Emanuele Giaccherini, but Suarez celebrated the end of his 10-game ban with a second as stoppage time approached. It had taken him only 36 minutes to score his first goal, having made his return from his suspension for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic last season in the mid-week league Cup loss at Manchester United.
East Bengal play Kuwait in AFC Cup semis
Kuwait City: Seeking to become the first Indian football club to qualify for the AFC Cup final, the unbeaten East Bengal are all set for their toughest assignment so far when they take on defending champions Kuwait SC in the first-leg semifinals here on Tuesday. East Bengal are the only unbeaten team among the four semifinalists, but Marcos Falopa’s side would face its toughest test of the campaign in Kuwait SC, who have played in Asia’s top tier competition AFC Champions league besides winning the AFC Cup twice.
Assam, Goa in quarters; delhi miss out
New Delhi: A rain-marred day in the capital saw a deluge of goals with NCC forward NG Jenish pumping in a whopping four goals while Assam striker Nayan Syoti Kuli and lalthansanga of Mizoram notched up hat-tricks in their respective matches at the 54th Subroto Cup here on Monday. N G Jenish (19th,25th, 35th, 45th) led the way as NCC (West Bengal & Sikkim) humiliated Vivekananda Vidyapeeth, Raipur, Chhattisgarh 12-0. S Chittaranjan (33rd, 39th, 50+1) and l Monish (16th, 38th, 48) also notched up hat-tricks.
Deepika qualifies 10th for elimination Rd
New Delhi: Ace Indian archer Deepika Kumari qualified 10th for the main elimination round of the women’s individual recurve event in the World Archery Championships at Belek in Turkey on Monday. Deepika shot a total of 1345 points from 144 arrows in the qualifying event which was topped by Bo Bae Ki of Korea (1376 points). India qualified 12th in women’s recurve team event with 3928 points. Korea topped the qualifying chart with 4106 points.
Grappler Kartar Singh to compete
New Delhi: Double Asian gold medallist Kartar Singh will be the lone Indian representative at the Veteran World Championship as other members of the team were denied permission by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) to participate in the tournament. PNS/Agencies