Blatter undergoes surgery
ZURICH: Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has undergone minor surgery to treat skin cancer. Blatter's spokesman, Thomas Renggli, tells The Associated Press that he is at "home and fine" after a surgical procedure on his left ear. The 80-year-old Blatter spent one night at a clinic before being discharged on Thursday, Renggli says. Blatter spent several days in a hospital in Zurich last November after a stress-related collapse while he was suspended from duty by the FIFA ethics committee and subjected to criminal proceedings by federal prosecutors in Switzerland. Now barred for six years for conflict of interest, Blatter has an appeal hearing on Aug 25 at CAS. Blatter's 18-year stint as FIFA president ended in February when Gianni Infantino was elected.
Harika draws, leads pack
Chengdu (China): Indian Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli hung on to her lead at the top of the table with 5.5 points after the eighth round of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix here on Sunday. Harika, who played with black pieces against Bulgarian Grandmaster and former Women's World Champion Stefanova Antoaneta, regained equality at an early stage of the game itself and held on to it to grab another half a point. "Both of us landed in unknown territory at the very start. But I stabilised quickly and started pushing for a win. My opponent decided to play it safe and repeated her moves to force a draw," said Harika. The table did not see any changes, with all six games ending in draws.
India open with 3-1 win
Yekatarinburg (Russia): India's junior men's hockey team started its EurAsia Cup campaign with an emphatic 3-1 victory against Dinamo Stroitel here. Despite a quick start to the encounter, neither team looked like breaking the deadlock last night. India though came closest, with a flurry of penalty corners in the first 15 minutes. India came out stronger in the second half and scored the opener, after a technical foul in the circle led to them being awarded a stroke in the 44th minute. Varun Kumar made no mistake from the spot to give his team the lead. Simranjeet Singh doubled the lead in the 45th minute, before Vikramjit added a third eight minutes later.
Buttler suffers broken thumb
london: England's wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler has suffered a broken thumb on his left hand while playing for lancashire in their NatWest T20 Blast cricket tournament win over Worcestershire. Standing up to the stumps in the 17th over at New Road on Friday, Buttler was inadvertently struck by a bottom edge from Ben Cox's bat, leaving the 25-year-old in visible discomfort for the remainder of Worcestershire's innings. However, the injury did not prevent Buttler from making his mark with the bat as he blasted a 20-ball half-century, lancashire's fastest fifty in T20 cricket.