Anand held by Grischuk
Norway: Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand's hunt for the elusive victory continued as he was again held to a draw by Alexander Grischuk of Russia in the third round of Norway Chess tournament, a part of the Grand Chess tour. With his third draw in as many games, Anand inched himself up to 1.5 points out of a possible three and other results in the round helped the Indian jump to joint fourth spot in the rankings with six rounds still remaining in the strongest tournament of the year. Nakamura and Topalov emerged as the new joint leaders on 2.5 points each and Giri is on the heels of the leaders. Anand, Caruana and Vachier-lagrave share the fourth spot on 1.5 points apiece.
simon, karlovic progress
london/Halle: Gilles Simon reached his third semifinal of the year by eliminating Milos Raonic 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 at Queen's Club on Friday. Simon will next play South Africa's Kevin Anderson, who beat Spain's Guillermo Garcia-lopez 7-6 (7), 7-5. Ivo Karlovic fired a record 45 aces in upsetting the third-seeded Tomas Berdych 7-5, 6-7 (8), 6-3 while Kei Nishikori also progressed to the Gerry Weber Open semifinals on Friday. The second-seeded Nishikori kept a cool head to beat Poland's Jerzy Janowicz 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 in 2 1/2 hours. The Japanese player next meets No. 4 Gael Monfils or Italy's Andreas Seppi. In doubles action, leander Paes and Daniel Nestor won their quarterfinal over Rafael Nadal and Marc lopez 7-6(3), 6-4. They will next take on Nenad Zimonjic and Marcin Matkowski.
integrity checks for fifa
Zurich: FIFA President Sepp Blatter says its key officials should be required to pass integrity checks. The 79-year-old Blatter used his column in FIFA's weekly magazine to float reforms. Blatter didn't address a recent report he could perform a U-turn and stand in the fresh presidential elections. Blatter says he endorses a motion from German Football Association President Wolfgang Niersbach to introduce "independent integrity checks for all members of the most important FIFA committees."
I NEVER DOPED: mo farah
london: Angered by "rumors and speculation" swirling around him, two-time Olympic champion Mo Farah said Friday that he has never taken performance-enhancing drugs and described his two missed tests as "simple mistakes." The British distance runner missed the tests in 2010 and 2011 in the buildup to the 2012 london Olympics, where he won gold medals in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. The missed tests were disclosed for the first time this week by the Daily Mail. The report came at a time when Farah's coach, Alberto Salazar, is under scrutiny amid doping allegations. Farah, who has not been accused of wrongdoing himself, issued a strongly-worded statement on Facebook.
inderjit to lead india
New Delhi: Shot putter Inderjit Singh will spearhead a 24-member Indian challenge in the three-leg Asian Athletics Grand Prix Series which begins on June 22 in Bangkok. The team comprises of 11 women and 13 men and they will leave for Thailand on Saturday. Besides Inderjit, who earlier this month won a gold in the Asian Athletics Championships in Wuhan (China), other prominent athletes include M R Poovamma and Srabani Nanda. The second and third legs of the series will be held on June 25 & 29.