Sharapova granted wild-card for US Open
new york: Maria Sharapova was granted a wild-card invitation for the US Open's main draw on Tuesday and will take part in a Grand Slam event for the first time in more than 1 ½ years. Sharapova is among eight women given entry into the 128-player field by the US Tennis Association - and by far the most noteworthy. The former No 1-ranked player and owner of five major titles, including the 2006 US Open, has not entered a major tournament since the Australian Open in January 2016, when she tested positive for the newly banned drug meldonium. That led to a 15-month doping ban, which expired in April. She returned to the tour, but her ranking — currently 148th — was too low to allow entry into major tournaments, and the French Open denied her a wild card.
India A lose by 235 runs against South Africa A
Pretoria: Putting up an abject batting display, India A lost the first unofficial 'Test' against South Africa by 235 runs to trail the two-match series 0-1. Chasing a mammoth victory target of 447, India were all out for 211 in their second innings with pacer Junior Dala grabbing five for 36 in 10.1 overs. Starting the day at 192 for six, India A added only 19 runs as they lost three wickets. Vijay Shankar, who got injured in the first innings did not come out to bat. It was a poor show by India A as they were outclassed by the hosts in all departments during the match. For the record, not a single Indian batsmen could cross half-century mark in both innings with Ankit Bawne's 46 being the top score.
Anand starts badly in St louis Rapid
St louis (USA): Former world champion Viswanathan Anand failed to change gears and suffered two losses on the opening day of St louis Rapid and Blitz chess tournament, a part of the Grand Chess Tour. Having done brilliantly for a joint second place in the just-concluded Sinquefield Cup at the same venue, Anand needed a change of guard for the faster version of the game. The Indian ace was pegged back by an opening round loss against Hikaru Nakamura of United States and then suffered another debacle against levon Aronian of Armenia in the third round. The second round had ended in a draw for Anand against lenier Dominguez.
Pune outclass Bengal in PKl
Ahmedabad: Zone A team Puneri Paltans outclassed Zone B side Bengal Warriors 34-17 in an inter-zone Pro Kabaddi league (PKl) contest at the Transstadia Arena here on Tuesday to maintain their second position in the group standings. Paltan combined well to pull off an all-round performance with key performances from defenders Sandeep Narwal (7 points) and Girish Ernak (4 points) along with raider GB More (6 points) to help their side win by a massive 17-point margin. Bengal failed to combine well as a unit in either half.