Arvind, Sourabh in pre-quarters
New Delhi: German Open winner Arvind Bhat and Malaysia Open finalist Sourabh Varma advanced to the prequarterfinals of New Zealand Open with straight-game victories in the men’s singles competition of the USD 50,000 Grand Prix event in Auckland. The world number 65 Arvind staved off the challenge from Hsu Jui Ting, ranked 164, by notching up a 21-17 25-23 win in a match that lasted for 37 minutes. The Bangalore shuttler will square off with Malaysia’s Tang Jie Chen next. Sourabh thrashed New Zealand’s Dylan Henton 21-11 21-12 in another match. The World number 31 Indian will next take on 14th seed Kuei Chun Shih of Chinese Taipei. Arvind’s match was a hard-fought battle as Ting recovered from 4-9 to 10-10 in the first game but the Indian didn’t give him any chance after that and comfortably pocketed the game.
India hit hard in AFC shake-up
Kuala lumpur: In a development that can hit India hard, the Asian Football Confederation today announced the scraping of AFC Challenge Cup through which the country qualified for the flagship Asian Cup in 2011. In a regional shake-up, the AFC said that next month’s Challenge Cup in Maldives will be the last. The winning team of the AFC Challenge Cup, a tournament meant for second rung Asian countries, automatically qualifies for the Asian Cup. India had won the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup in New Delhi to book a berth for the 2011 Asian Cup in Doha. Though the continent’s football governing body AFC also decided on an expansion of the flagship Asian Cup from 16 to 24 teams from 2019 onwards, it is unlikely to benefit India as they will have to compete in a tough qualifying round.
Prosecution pillories oscar expert
Pretoria: The prosecution today derided a forensic expert hired by Oscar Pistorius, accusing him of being unqualified to testify and rubbishing his account of the circumstances in which Reeva Steenkamp died. State prosecutor Gerrie Nel sought to prove that forensic geologist Roger Dixon was out of his depth in testifying about the lighting, sound and physical evidence inside Pistorius’s home. Dixon, a university professor, told the court about the sound made by Pistorius’s cricket bat hitting his toilet door, visibility in the star sprinter’s bedroom and blood splatter. The judge overseeing Oscar Pistorius’s murder trial has granted an adjournment from Thursday afternoon until May 5, citing scheduling concerns raised on behalf of the state.
Chitra, Uma lead Indian challenge
leeds: Cueists Chitra Magimairaj and Umadevi Nagraj will be representing India in the 13-nation World ladies Billiards and Snooker Championships, starting here on Friday. Chitra, who has not missed a single year since her first participation in 2003, has bagged two gold, three silver and three bronze medals, while reigning national billiards champion Umadevi won the title in 2012. Hailing from Bangalore, Chitra, 41, has withdrawn from the billiards event and will play the snooker category only.
Gupta loses in Dubai finale
Dubai: Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta missed out on a podium finish after losing to Eduardo Iturrizaga of Venezuela in the 9th and final round of 16th Dubai International open chess tournament that concluded here. Having done all the hard work, Gupta fell at the final hurdle and had to be content with a fourth place finish on 6.5 points. PNS/Agencies