Somdev to play Malaysia Open
Kuala lumpur: Somdev Devvarman celebrated his return to the top-100 by qualifying for the singles main draw of the ATP Malaysian Open with a straight sets victory over Jean-Julien Rojer, here on Monday. Somdev, who rose to 98 in ATP charts earlier in the day, edged past the unranked Dutch 7-5 7-5 in the third and final qualifying round of the USD 875,500 hard court event. The Indian broke his rival, who is a world number 15 in doubles, twice in each set in the match which lasted one hour and 35 minutes. In the doubles event of the same tournament, Yuki Bhambri has been a wild card along with local player Syed Naguib, Syed Mohd Agil.
EB look to clinch semis berth
Pedang (Indonesia): A tough away test awaits East Bengal as the Indian club, already dubbed underdogs by coach Marcos Falopa despite a one-goal cushion, look to earn a maiden semi-final berth with a positive result against Semen Pedang in their AFC Cup 2nd leg quarterfinal here on Tuesday. East Bengal had won the first leg at home 1-0, with Japanese substitute Ryuji Sueoka scoring the all-important goal at the Salt lake Stadium. But things could be different for East Bengal at the Haji Agus Salim Stadium.
Naveen sets natl jr 600m record
Kochi: Tamil Nadu’s R Naveen set a national junior record in 600m race en route to his second gold of the meet on the second day of the 25th National Inter-Zone Junior Athletics Championships here on Monday. Naveen, who had missed the national mark yesterday while taking 100m sprint title by just three hundredth of a second, today shattered Haryana boy Puneet Chauhan’s 600m national record (1:24.54) as he led the field from start to finish in one minute 23.22 secs. Teammate U Bharath (1:26.14) and Assam boy Santosh Bhagat (1:28.87) took silver and bronze respectively.
Smriti favourite for 11th leg
New Delhi: Fresh from her stunning win in Srinagar last week, veteran Delhi golfer Smriti Mehra will feature in the 11th leg of the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour 2013, starting here from Tuesday, as the favourite. The INR 5,00,000 event will be played at the Delhi Golf Club from the September 24-26. The 11th leg will also see the return of Bengaluru Golfer Sharmila Nicollet to the ongoing Women’s Professional Golf Tour 2013.
Grover holds top seed Yangyi
Kocaeli (Turkey): Grandmaster Sahaj Grover provided the silver lining on a sluggish day for the Indian boys as he held top seed Yu Yangyi to a draw in the ninth round of the World Junior Chess Championship here. With the championship approaching its business end, the Indian boys were in for a rude shock as only Debashish Das could score a full point. Despite a good result, Grover slipped to joint fourth with 6.5 points.
Indore to host Davis Cup tie
New delhi: Anand Amritraj-led India will take on Chinese Taipei in their next Davis Cup tie in Indore as Madhya Pradesh Tennis Association (MPTA) has been given the hosting rights for the first time by AITA. The Asia/Oceania Group I tie will be held from January 31 to February 2 on the hard courts. "All India Tennis Association (AITA) has decided that the Davis Cup Tie between India and Chinese Taipei will be held at Indore under and aegis of Madhya Pradesh Tennis Association," an AITA release said.
Mahindra win Constructors title
New Delhi: In a major sucesss for Mahindra Racing, the team has won the constructors title and its driver Andrea locatelli sealed the riders championship at the Italian National Motorcycle Racing Championship (CIV). In the Constructors championship, Mahindra (201) sealed the title following the final race in Mugello as they beat their closest rival Honda (187) by 14 points in the Moto3 class. Oral were a distant third with 72 points.
PNS/Agencies