Chakkravarthy holds Gupta
New Delhi: Grandmaster J Deepan Chakkravarthy played out an exciting draw with defending champion Abhijeet Gupta to stay in joint lead on 4.5 points after the fifth round of 13th Parsvnath International Grandmasters chess tournament, here on Monday. Chakkravarthy came close to winning against the top seed and it was only a few well-thought manouvres that saved the day for Gupta in what will be known as a fine escape by the latter. The King’s Indian defense by Chakkravrthy came good with black pieces as Gupta allowed a tactical stroke leading to an exchange sacrifice.
Sony Six to telecast oz open
Mumbai: The Australian Open Tennis Championships, commencing on January 19 at Melbourne, is to be telecast by SONY SIX channel which has signed a five-year deal from this year till 2019 to show the calendar year’s first Grand Slam tournament. The Australian Open will be SONY SIX’s first entry into broadcasting a Grand Slam event, having shown select ATP tournaments earlier, a media release from the channel’s owners MSM India, said on Monday. “Over the years, the Australian Open has established itself as one of the most watched tennis Grand Slams across the world. Going by the strong equity that the sport enjoys, we are committed to expand the distribution of the tournament further and thereby strengthen our position in the market,” said NP Singh, CEO, MSM.
iraq beat jordan 1-0 in asia cup
Brisbane: Midfielder Yaser Safa Kasim scored to help Iraq beat 10-man Jordan 1-0 in their Group D opening match of the Asian Cup football tournament here on Monday.Kasim scored the match-winning goal in the 78th minute. Jordan defender Anas Bani Yaseen was sent off after receiving two yellow cards, reports Xinhua. Both teams tried to take an early scoring advantage. Iraq, the 2007 Asian Cup champions had their first scoring attempt in the 16th minute through captain Younis Mahmoud. Kasim broke the deadlock as his shot deflected off a Jordan defender and into the net.
lahiri voted 2014 atp’s poTy
Kuala lumpur: Premier Indian golfer Anirban lahiri was Monday voted the 2014 Players’ Player of the Year for his successful exploits on the Asian Tour where he won two titles and finished second on the Order of Merit.The talented Indian won his first title outside of India when he eagled the 72nd hole at the Indonesian Masters before going on to claim his second win of the year at the Venetian Macau Open, which increased his tally to five Asian Tour titles.In a highly successful season, lahiri contended for the Asian Tour Order of Merit crown before losing out to David lipsky of the USA, who sealed the win in the second last event on the 2014 season.
pspb paddlers march ahead
Puducherry: The Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) women’s team was the first one to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the 76th table tennis Senior Nationals which began at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium here on Monday. Their men’s team, pooled with five teams in Group A, had notched up two 3-0 wins against Odisha and Telangana in the morning and was very much on their way of making the Stage 2 cut.
Schalke sign matija Nastasic
london: German football side Schalke on Monday signed Manchester City defender Matija Nastasic on loan until the end of the current season, according to media reports in England. Nastasic joined City from Italian club Fiorentina in 2012. But the 21-year-old struggled to force his entry into the first team and has not played in the league for City this season under coach Manuel Pellegrini.
china sweep tt wc crowns
Dubai: China swept the men’s and women’s titles at the Team Table Tennis World Cup at the Al-Nasr Sports Club here. The Chinese men’s team beat Austria 3-0 to win their sixth straight trophy Sunday, reports Xinhua.
Chinese youngster Fan Zhendong beat Daniel Habesohn 3-0 and Olympic champion Zhang Jike defeated Robert Gardos in straight sets.
The Chinese men took home $50,000 and Austria had $25,000 as runners-up, the best ever result for the European country in the team World Cup. The Chinese women’s team thrashed North Korea 3-0 earlier in the day.
vani starts as favourite
Ahmedabad: Delhi’s Vani Kapoor would be eager for an encore in the second leg after a winning start to her campaign in the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour. The second leg will also mark the return of Vaishavi Sinha. The `.7 lakh event will take place at the Kalhaar Blues and Greens Golf Course here between Jan 13-15. At Kensville Golf and Country Club, Vani led from Day 1 and completed a convincing victory. She was named the 2014 player of the year for her dominating performance. Agencies