dipika Pallikal in Texas Open quarters
Houston (USA): Indian squash star Dipika Pallikal survived some anxious moments before beating Australian qualifier Donna Urquhart in the opening round of the USD 50,000 Texas Open here. Pallikal, who has not had the best of starts to 2014, took 36 minutes to get past her 26th-ranked opponent 12-10, 11-8, 11-5 on Thursday. The Chennai-girl saved five game balls in the first game. The 22-year-old plays World No.19 Nicolette Fernandes in the quarterfinals on Friday. The Guyanese upset fifth seed Annie Au of Hong Kong 12-10, 10-12, 11-5, 8-11, 11-8. Joshna Chinappa, the other Indian in the main draw, however, lost her opener. The World No.21 went down to 16th-ranked Rachael Grinham of Australia 7-11, 5-11, 5-11.
Prarthana, Eetee set up summit clash
Chennai: Top seed Prarthana Thombare will face seventh seed Eetee Maheta in the final of the K.S. Narayanan Memorial ITF Women’s Futures being played at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here. In the semifinals on Friday, the experienced Prarthana won a error ridden first set against an energetic Nidhi Chilumula 6-3. It looked like Prarthana would wrap up the second set in quick time but the gritty Nidhi had other ideas. The players traded two breaks while reaching 4-4. Nidhi conceded her service game at 0-40 only for Prarthana to return the favour, putting two double faults. The score was now 5-5. Nidhi lost her serve once again after a deuce and this time Prarthana made no mistake and held serve comfortably to win the second set 7-5 and the match. In the second match, second seed Natasha Palha had a whirlwind start leading 4-1.
ISl bids to be evaluated by panel
New Delhi: All set to take Indian football by storm, bids for the prospective Indian Super league franchises would come under intense scrutiny of a high-profile seven-member panel which will evaluate the documents till tomorrow evening before a formal announcement on Sunday. According to sources, the panel -- comprising eminent personalities from various fields, including professions such as sports, law, finance and corporate governance experts — will meet in Mumbai this evening. “A high-profile seven-member panel will meet today evening to open and evaluate the second and final set of bid documents. The process will get over by Saturday evening and Indian Super league promoters, IMG Reliance officials are expected to make announcement about the eight winners on Sunday,” the source added.
Aditya ahead in World qualifiers
Sheffield (UK): After getting a bye in the first round, one of India’s top cueist Aditya Mehta on Friday outplayed Christopher Keogan to enter the third round of the World Snooker qualifiers. It was not only a convincing 10-4 win for the Arjuna Awardee but some useful breaks helped build his confidence for the challenge ahead. Indian ace Pankaj Advani will play his match on Saturday. Meanwhile, in a stunning upset, six-time World champion Steve Davis lost his tour card after a 10-8 defeat by Craig Steadman. The main draw of the Dafabet World Snooker Championship will run from April 19 to May 5 at the Crucible Theatre here. The top-16 seeds plus 16 qualifiers will be competing for one of the most famous trophies in the sport, as well as a record top prize of 300,000 Pounds.
Sanjay, Rashid emerge joint leaders
Kochi: Sanjay Kumar of lucknow and Delhi’s Rashid Khan ended day three as joint leaders at the PGTI Cochin Masters presented by CIAl Golf and Country Club here today. While Sanjay shot a three-under-33, Rashid came up with a two-under-34 as both players took their three-day tally to seven-under-101. There is a three-way tie for third place between Gurgaon’s Shubhankar Sharma and Sri lankans Anura Rohana and K Prabagaran at five-under-103. Sanjay’s (33-35-33) round of 33 lifted him from overnight tied second to the top. Sanjay landed his approach within five feet and converted the putt for his first birdie of the day on the 11th.