Serena stunned by Cepelova
Charleston: World number one Serena Williams crashed out of the WTA Tour’s Family Circle Cup, losing her opening match in straight sets to world number 78 Jana Cepelova. The 20-year-old Slovakian Cepelova shocked defending champion Williams 6-4, 6-4 in a second-round match at the clay court tournament in Charleston. The 17-time Grand Slam winner Williams complained about being mentally fatigued after the 84 minute contest.
Mallya calls for car improvement
Sakhir (Bahrain): Sahara Force India have made a solid start to the 2014 Formula 1 season but more needs to be done for the coveted podium finish, said team boss Vijay Mallya ahead of Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix. The Silverstone-squad finds itself in fifth position in the team standings after collecting 19 points from the first two races. Highly-rated Nico Hulkenberg has already made his presence in a Force India return, lapping up 18 points to a single point scored by Mexican teammate Sergio Perez. “We’ve still got some catching up to do if we want to be a regular podium contender. We’ve got our plans for that. We’ve had our best start to a season in our history, since the Jordan times, and despite only one car finishing in Malaysia we are sitting in fifth in the Championship,” Mallya said.
Core probables for CWG, Asiad
New Delhi: Senior Indian weightlifter Monika Devi has been included among 26 core probables for the upcoming Commonwealth and Asian Games after she won the gold in the National Championships in Nagpur. Monika, who injured herself during the Nationals that ended on Tuesday and later hospitalised, won three gold in the 69kg category and has been named in the core probable list for the Glasgow CWG and Incheon Asian Games later this year. Core Probables for Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and World Championships — Men: 56kg: Korada Ramana, Ganesh Mali, Deepak Ramesh Mahajan, Sukhen Dey; 69kg: Omkar Otari, Vikas Kumar; 77kg: S Sathish Kumar, K Ravi Kumar; 85kg: Vikash Thakur; 94kg: Veerender Singh, Chandra Kant Mali; 105kg: M Syamlal, Praful Kumar Dubey; 105+kg: Himanshu Kumar Chang. Women: 48kg: Sanjita Chanu, Mirabai Chanu; 53kg: Preeti, Swati Singh, Matsa Santoshi; 58kg: Minati Sethi; 63kg: Reena, Poonam Yadav, Vandana Gupta; 69kg: Monika; 75kg: Kavita Devi.
Churchill go down to Home United
Panji: Churchill Brothers failed to carry on their unbeaten home run as they slumped to a narrow 1-2 defeat against Home United of Singapore in an AFC Cup Group E encounter at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore. The home side broke the deadlock when Izzdin Shafiq’s long ball was met by Yasir Hanapi, who headed it back to Fazrul Nawaz who side-stepped three Churchill defenders before firing a shot into the back of the net. Churchill Brothers, who played without their three foreigners, put up a good fight and restored parity in the very next minute when defender Precious sliced a clearance off a Ravanan cross over goalkeeper Shahril Jantan, with the ball somehow ending in the back of the net as both the teams were locked at 1-1 at half time. Home United restored their lead in the 72nd minute when Indra Sahdan received a cutback from Castanheira and took a touch before blasting it into the left corner. The Red Machines still remain second in the group with six points from four matches while Home united are on four points from as many games.