Nadal, Halep reach finals of China open
Beijing: Rafael Nadal will play for his sixth title of the year and Simona Halep will take over the top ranking by reaching the final in the China Open. Nada defeated Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 Saturday in the semifinals. Halep beat Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-4 to become the first Romanian No 1 when the rankings are released Monday. The French Open and U.S. Open champion is one of three men to win five titles this year, along with Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev. The Spaniard will play either Zverev or Nick Kyrgios of Australia in Sunday's final. Halep could have reached the No 1 ranking earlier this year but was upset in the French Open final by Ostapenko in their first career meeting. Halep will play the winner of the semifinal between Garcia and Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic. The Romanian will be looking for her second title of the year after winning in Madrid.
Gambhir, Rana hit tons after Ishant's 5-for
New Delhi: Gautam Gambhir started his new season in the right earnest with a patient century as Delhi made a pedestrian Assam attack toil by reaching 269/4 at stumps on the second day of the Ranji Trophy group A encounter here. Courtesy Gambhir's 40th first class hundred (136 batting, 245 balls) and his 207-run third-wicket stand with another centurion Nitish Rana (110, 158 balls), Delhi are in the driver's seat with an aim to log home full points. This was after Assam were all out for 258, starting the day at 224 for 7 with skipper Ishant Sharma returning with best figures of 5 for 38 in 20 overs. In Chennai, half-centuries by B Sumanth and Ashwin Hebbar gave Andhra Pradesh a crucial lead on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Group "C" encounter against Tamil Nadu at the M A Chidambaram Stadium here on Saturday. Their knocks helped Andhra wrest the initiative against the star-studded hosts after having been 64 for 5 at one point to end the day at 231 for 7, a lead of 55.
Hamilton secures pole position in Japanese GP
SUZUKA: Championship leader lewis Hamilton secured pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix, leading a 1-2 finish for Mercedes drivers on Saturday. Hamilton posted a lap record time of 1 minute, 27.319 seconds to finish 0.332 ahead of Valtteri Bottas. Hamilton's title rival, Sebastian Vettel, was third but the Ferrari driver will move up to second after Bottas's penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change. Bottas drops to seventh. Hamilton smashed Michael Schumacher's qualifying lap record, set during Q2 in 2006, by 1.365 seconds to take his 71st F1 pole and first in 10 attempts at this circuit. With five races remaining, Hamilton leads Vettel by 34 points in the drivers' championship.
Spain punch World Cup ticket, Serbia wait
Paris: Heavyweights Spain qualified for the 2018 World Cup with a routine 3-0 home win over Albania, but Serbia must wait to seal to their place following a 3-2 loss in Austria. Rodrigo, Isco and Thiago Alcantara all scored inside the first 30 minutes in Alicante as the 2010 world champions locked up top spot in Group G as Italy were surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw by Macedonia in Turin. Four-time World Cup winners Italy are destined for the November play-offs after Macedonian substitute Aleksandar Trajkovski's 77th-minute equaliser cancelled out a first-half goal by veteran defender Giorgio Chiellini.