Nadal beats Montanes, reaches QF
BARCElONA: Nearly 14 years after their first meeting as professionals, Rafael Nadal maintained order by beating Spanish countryman Albert Montanes 6-2, 6-2 to make the Barcelona Open quarterfinals on Thursday. Nadal has yet to drop a set in six tour-level and challenger matches against Montanes. They exchanged early breaks but the top-seeded Nadal soon took control. Nadal broke serve five times and had 24 winners against only nine for Montanes, a wild card. Nadal will next face Fabio Fognini of Italy, who defeated eighth-seeded Viktor Troicki of Serbia 6-3, 6-2. Kei Nishikori advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 7-5.
Prannoy, Sindhu enter quarters
Changzhou: Ace India shuttlers H S Prannoy and P V Sindhu entered the quarterfinals of their respective men's and women's singles matches after posting comfortable straight-game wins at the China Masters Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament here on Thursday. Prannoy got the better of Malaysia's Daren liew 21-10, 21-15. Sindhu also had an easy outing against Chinese Taipei's Chien Hui Yu, winning 21-9, 21-17. Jwala and Ponnappa thrashed Chinese Taipei pair of Hsieh Pei Chen and Wu Ti Jung 21-12, 21-12. However, Pranaav and Akshay bowed out of the tournament after going down to seventh seeded Chinese combination of Wang Yilyu and Zhang Wen 17-21, 12-21 in 36 minutes in the second round of men's doubles.
PIl in HC opposing IPl match filed
Jaipur: A PIl was filed in the Rajasthan High Court opposing an IPl match, which is likely to be held at the Rajasthan Cricket Association ground here, claiming 80 lakh litres of water would be "wasted" for the event at a time when the state is facing an acute water crisis. A division bench of Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice D C Somani issued a notice on the PIl filed by a local journalist Mahesh Pareek alleging that Jaipur city is in "Dark Zone" and for the proposed IPl match due to be held at Jaipur around 80 lakh litres of water would be "wasted" for entertainment of around 30,000 spectators and ground maintenance. The bench has asked the Union Ministry of Youth affiars, Secretary RCA and BCCI as well as the state Chief Secretary to file response to the petition.
Flame lit for troubled Rio Games
Ancient Olympia (Greece): The Olympic flame was lit on Thursday in an ancient temple in one country in crisis and solemnly sent off carrying international hopes that Brazil's political paralysis will not taint the Rio Games that start in barely 100 days. As the flame was kindled in the 2,600-year-old Temple of Hera at Ancient Olympia, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach and Rio organisers sought to rally support.