Joshna loses in British Open qtrs
Hull (UK): Indian ace Joshna Chinappa lost to Joelle King of New Zealand in the quarter-finals of the Allam British Open Squash Championship here. India's top-ranked Dipika Pallikal (World No.10) had bowed out in the first round itself, but Joshna was playing well. World No.21 Joshna lost the last-eight battle 1-3 in 43 minutes thus ending India's campaign in the event. Joshna, 27, came back well after trailing 0-2 but World No.4 Joelle reacted quickly to take the fourth game with ease - 11-6, 11-7, 8-11, 11-1. In 2003, Joshna had become the first Indian girl to win the British Squash Championship title in the under 19 category, at Sheffield, U.K and was also the youngest Indian women's national champion.
Chowrasia tied sixth, lahiri 16th
Manila: Anirban lahiri made a brilliant surge on the back nine to haul himself back into contention at the ICTSI Philippine Open with a fine round of three-under 69 to bring him to even par after 36 holes and a tied 16th place in the US$300,000 Asian Tour event. But the best Indian continued to be SSP Chowrasia, who moved up from overnight 10th place to tied sixth place with another one-under 71 that puts him at two-under 142 for two rounds. But the star of the day was Marcus Both of Australia, who rediscovered some of his old magic, when he charged into sole lead with a flawless six-under-par 66. The Australian is now at eight-under. The highlight of Both's round was five birdies between 13th and 18th on the back nine of the course, but which was the first nine for him. Abhijit Chadha (75-72) was the only other Indian making the cut at three-over 147. Sujjan Singh (75-75), Manav Jaini (71-77), Abhinav lohan (78-72), Amardip Malik (79-73), Himmat Rai (77-78) and Digvijay Singh (80-76) missed the cut, which came at five-over 149.
Jeev, Bhullar shoot 71
Girona (Spain): Jeev Milkha Singh, struggling to find his form and rhythm, opened with a sedate one-under 71, as did his fellow Indian Gaganjeet Bhullar (71), to be tie for 18th place at the end of the first round of the Open de Espana. Jeev had four birdies against three bogeys, while Bhullar, who is playing his rookie year on European Tour, also had two birdies and one bogey. England's Eddie Pepperell was the sole leader on a tightly packed leaderboard with a round of 68. Pepperell carded an opening four under par 68 at PGA Catalunya Resort to finish a shot ahead of a group of eight players, including pre-tournament favourite Sergio Garcia and fellow Spaniards Miguel Angel Jimenez and Rafael Cabrera-Bello. Pepperell finished 76th on The Race to Dubai in his rookie campaign last year, but so far this season has made just three halfway cuts in 10 events, with a best finish of joint 45th in Abu Dhabi in January.
AIFF XI's match postponed
New Delhi: AIFF XI's first match of the Asia Champions Trophy 2014 against Frenz United, Malaysia A, has been postponed by a day. The match, which was earlier slated to be held tomorrow, will now be played a day later on Sunday. "Complications in visa regulations and flight tickets prompted the postponement of the match," the organisers said. The AIFF XI boys who left Kolkata today morning would be arriving in Kuala lumpur tomorrow after staying in Bangkok for a night. "It's an U-16 tournament and we won't make any compromise on the rest of the players. As the AIFF XI boys arrive in Kuala lumpur around 1pm on Saturday, it's important that we allow enough time to rest and recover from their hectic journey for them to get ready for the match," the organisers further said.
Himachal, Bhopal, SAI win
Haldwani (Uttarakhand): Himachal Pradesh, Bhopal and Sports Authority of India (SAI) registered comnfortable wins in their respective pool matches on the second day of fourth Hockey India Sub-Junior Women's National Championship 2014 (Division B) here on Friday. In Pool A matches, Bhopal defeated Gujarat 2-0 while Himachal Pradesh trounced Tripura 20-0 to regsiter its second win in the tournament. In the last game of the day, SAI beat Mumbai Hockey Association 6-0 in Pool B.
laxman Rawat shocked
Mumbai: Asian 6-Red champion laxman Rawat was on Friday shocked as he lost back-to-back ties in the snooker competition in the CCI Classic Billiards & Snooker Tournament. India no. 7 and Maharashtra's top player first went down to Malkeet Singh of CCI and later to Nitesh Madan of Railways by identical 2-3 margin in exciting Group B matches here. While he forced the decider after trailing 1-2 against Singh, Rawat was 0-2 against Madan before initiating another stunning recovery, only to lose his way in the decider. Meanwhile, Aditya Mehta won a 3-1 win over Jaiveer Dhingra.