Maradona wins lawsuit
Beijing: Soccer legend Diego Maradona will get $ 4.90 lakh as compensation from three Chinese companies for using his name in an online game without his consent. A Chinese court awarded the judgement in response to a lawsuit filed by the former Argentina national coach. The judge at No 1 Intermediate People’s Court in Beijing accepted 52-year-old Maradona’s claim that Hot-Blooded Soccer had infringed his image rights by featuring a cartoon of the star and his signature without consent. Maradona had demanded 20 million yuan in damages from Shanghai The9 Information Technology Co, The9 Computer Technology Consulting (Shanghai) Co and Beijing Sina Internet Information Service Company. The figure was based on an endorsement deal which Maradona has with a German brand, his lawyer Ge Youshan of Zhongyin law Firm told state run China Daily.
Divij, Raja in second round
london: Divij Sharan and Purav Raja moved within a win from qualifying for the Wimbledon men’s doubles event after recording a comfortable straight set win here. The Indian pair defeated Flavio Cipolla of Italy and American Wayne Odesnik 6-2, 6-4 in the opening round of the qualifying event last night. They next play Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria and Jiri Vesely of Czech Republic in the final qualifying round on Wednesday.
Paes celebrates 40th birthday
Eastbourne: Indian tennis legend leander Paes celebrated his 40th birthday with a victory in first round of the men’s doubles event at the Aegon International here. Seeded third, Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek advanced to the quarterfinals after posting a 5-7, 7-6(5), 10-6 win in one hour and 35 minutes over Croat-Brazilian duo of Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo on the grass courts of Devonshire Park on Monday night.
Sania, Huber in quarter-finals
Eastbourne: Sania Mirza and liezel Huber were made to work hard for points as they struggled past Darija Jurak and Heather Watson to move to the quarterfinals of the WTA Aegon International, here on Tuesday. The second seeded Indo-American pair recorded a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3) win over unseeded Czech-British combo in one hour and 36 minutes in the first round of the USD 690,000 tournament, leading to Wimbledon. Sania and Huber will now fight it out with Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Czech Republic’s Klara Zakopalova for a place in the semifinals.
India lose out on friendlies
New Delhi: Indian football team’s hopes of rising in FIFA rankings have been dashed with cancellation of two international friendlies against Philippines and Malaysia owing to rescheduling of the SAFF Cup. India were scheduled to play against Philippines on September 6 and Malaysia on September 10, both away matches falling on listed FIFA dates. PNS/Agencies