Alonso's return a ‘good move'
New Delhi: F1 legend Jackie Stewart has described Fernando Alonso's return to Mclaren for 2015 as a "good move" for both the driver and constructor despite their tumultuous relationship in the past. "Honda (engine supplier) must have had an influence in introducing Alonso to Mclaren. Obviously they want a top line winner and Alonso certainly is that person. I think that is a good move for Mclaren and him," Stewart told PTI. Mclaren are yet decide on Alonso's partner with the team having the option to retain the experienced Jenson Button or the young Kevin Magnussen. It is only a matter of time when Mclaren announce the return of Alonso, whose debut stint with the Woking squad ended prematurely in 2007.
AITA announces qualifying events
New Delhi: AITA will conduct four qualifying events to select two boys and two girls from India for the prestigious Road to Wimbledon. Sixteen players will be identified for the Masters, the finalists of which will earn a direct entry to the RTW, to be held in August 2015 at the All England Club. The qualifying events will begin in Kolkata from January 12 and followed by Chandigarh (from January 19), New Delhi (from February 12) and Mumbai (from February 19). Kolkata and Chandigarh will be the grass court tournaments while Delhi and Mumbai competitions will be on the hard courts.
Abhijeet beats libiszewski
Doha: Grandmaster and former world junior champion Abhijeet Gupta outclassed Fabien libiszewski of France to jump to joint fifth position after the end of the third round of the Qatar Masters International Chess tournament here today. Gupta came firing on all cylinders in the third round and libiszewski did not have a chance once he ventured in to unknown territories. The victory helped Gupta reach 2.5 points out of a possible three. On a very tough day for the Indian contestants, highest-rated Indian Grandmaster P Harikrishna suffered a shock-defeat at the hands of Mikhailo Oleksienko. Indian Grandmasters Neelotpal Das, Ankit Rajpara, Sandipan Chanda, Surya Shekhar Ganguly and M Shyam Sundar all lost against respective opposition to remain on 1.5 points out of a possible three. In fact, apart from Gupta only Aravindh Chithambaram and B Adhiban were the only Indians who ended on the winning side in the third round.
lahiri leads by one stroke
Khon Kaen (Thailand): Indian golfer Anirban lahiri fired four-under 68 to enjoy a slender one-shot lead after the third round of the $500,000 King's Cup at the par-72 Singha Park Khon Kaen Golf Club here Saturday. lahiri, who led from the opening day, was surprised after returning to find himself back atop the leaderboard at the Asian Tour event. The 27-year-old, who took the lead over Thaworn Wiratchant, made an eagle on the 18th hole and carded four birdies on the fourth, 11th, 12th, 15th against two bogeys on the fifth and 13th. Other Indians in the fray, S.S.P. Chowrasia and Arjun Atwal finished tied 12th and joint 25th, respectively. While Chowrasia carded a two-under 70 to take his total to 10-under 206, Atwal managed 71 to reach a total of six-under 210. He shared the position with 11 others. Rashid Khan scored 71 to share 37th position with a total of five-under 211, while S. Chikka hit poorly six-over 78 to drop to joint 62nd spot.
Chinese 14-year-old wins title
BENGAlURU: China's 14-year-old cue sport sensation Yan Bingtao became the youngest player to pocket the IBSF World Snooker title after edging past Pakistan's Muhammad Sajjad 8-7 in a thrilling final, here Saturday. Playing excellent snooker in front of a packed crowd at at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, Bingtao kept his nerves to go better on Belgian player luca Brecel, who had won the title at 17 years of age. Bingtao, had shocked 12-time world champion Pankaj Advani in the quarter-finals on Friday. Earlier in the day, Belgium's Wendy Jans bagged a hat-trick of women's titles after she defeated Anastasia Nechaeva 5-2 in the final.