singles

Sania-Hingis in Toronto semis

Toronto: Top seeds Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis eased into the semifinals of the WTA Rogers Cup, following a straight-set 

win over Taipei pair of Hao-Ching Chan and Yung-Jan Chan. The Indo-Swiss team beat the unseeded rivals 6-4 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the $2,513,000 Premier hard court tournament. They will now fight it out against the fourth seeded pair of Caroline Garcia and Katarina Srebotnik for a place in the final. Over in the men’s singles section, top-ranked Novak Djokovic survived two match points and rallied to beat latvia’s Ernests Gulbis 5-7, 7-6 (7), 6-1. Djokovic will face France’s Jermey Chardy. Kei Nishikori of Japan beat seventh-seeded Spanish star Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-4. Nishikori will face the second-seeded Murray. The Scot beat 10th-seeded defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 6-4, 6-4.

More talent in hockey now: Sardar

New Delhi: Notwithstanding their poor penalty conversion rate in the recently concluded Europe tour, Indian captain Sardar 

Singh on Saturday said that hockey has certainly developed a bigger player pool with the future of the national sport looking bright. “The young players played exceptionally well and which is gradually adding to our strengths as we have a bigger pool of players to choose from before each tournament,” Sardar said after arriving at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here. However, the age-old problem of poor penalty corner conversion continued to affect the Indians as they managed to score only five goals from short corners in the five matches. The side looked vulnerable in their 1-4 loss to Spain and Sardar was quick to admit the teams follies.  India had started their European sojourn with back to back victories over France before defeating Spain 2-1 in a three-match series.

FMSCI prez. Bharath dies at 56

Bengaluru: The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India’s (FMSCI) president R Bharath Raj passed away on Saturday afternoon. He was also the chairman of the Karnataka Motor Sports Club. He was 56 and is survived by his wife. “The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India regrets to inform you that our President Mr R Bharath Raj passed away late in the afternoon on Saturday,” the FMSCI said in a release.

Indian challenge ends in China

Beijing: The two Indian men’s basketball teams — Bangalore and Chandigarh — crashed out of the 3x3 FIBA World Tour Beijing Masters after losing their respective league games at the Wukesong Mastercard Stadium on Saturday. Team Bangalore, who were seeded ninth, gave a tough fight to eighth seeded local team Zheng Zhou in the opening match of their campaign in Pool A before going down 18-21. The team, which comprises senior Indian team campers that won the 3x3 South Asian Qualifiers in Colombo a few weeks ago, then suffered a 13-21 loss to top seeds NoviSad AlWahda of UAE in their second and final league match. Meanwhile, the young Chandigarh team, seeded 12th and placed in Pool D, lost to Tokyo Japan (4th seeds) 12-21, and to hometeam Wukesong (5th seeds) 13-21 later in the evening.

CR’s sister wants Eurovision bid

lisbon: Cristiano Ronaldo’s sister, Katia Aveiro, has launched a Twitter campaign asking fans to back her bid to represent Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest. The soccer star’s 38-year-old sibling began her musical career in 2005 under the stage name Ronalda. She became known in Portugal after taking part in the 2014 edition of the “Survivors” television series. Aveiro now wants to sing in the international music contest to be hosted by Sweden in May 2016.

Woods commits to 1 more week

Sheboygan: Tiger Woods isn’t ready to give up on the season just yet. Even after another disappointing day at the PGA Championship — where his sand wedge replaced his putter as the main player in his nightmare — Woods committed to playing next week in the Wyndham Championship, giving him one more chance to squeak into the FedEx Cup playoffs. Woods missed the cut at the PGA Championship — his fourth straight this year. He finished at four-over after rounds of 75 and 73.