Indian women post win
Bangkok: Mithali Raj hit a half-century while Ekta Bisht (3/8) and Preeti Bose (3/14) shared six wickets between them to steer India to a comfortable 52-run win over Sri lanka in the Women's Asia Cup T20 tournament here on Thursday. Opting to bat, India posted a modest total of 121 for four in their allotted 20 overs and then managed to restrict Sri lanka to 69 for nine to maintain their unbeaten run in the tournament so far. Opener Mithali gave India a solid platform with a quickfire 59-ball 62 that included six hits to the fence. Chasing a modest target, Sri lanka never looked like in the race as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals with Preeti and Ekta wreaking havoc, running through the islanders' middle order.
Harika finishes fifth
Khanty Mansiysk (Russia): Indian Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli finished fifth in the Fide Women's Grand Prix chess tournament after beating Skripchenko Almira of France in the 11th and final round here on Thursday. Harika notched up two wins, one loss and eight draws to finish fifth in the tournament that had some of the best players in the world in the fray. She expressed happiness with the overall result, and especially the way she pulled off a win in the last round on Thursday. "I opted for an ending that needed me to play a long and solid game. I managed to mount pressure on my opponent and pushed her into corner to win this one," Harika said.
AIFF wins AFC developing member award
Abu Dhabi: All India Football Federation on Thursday won the AFC Developing Member Association of the Year Award at the Asian Football Confederation's Annual Awards Night here. AIFF President Praful Patel received the Award from AFC Vice-President Ali Kafashian here. "I need to thank AFC for recognising our efforts. Indian football is headed in the right direction," Patel said. The prestigious award is given to a Member Association in recognition of its professional administration and governance as well its exceptional contribution to the development and promotion of the game at all levels within the country.
34 Spaniards detained
Madrid: Spanish authorities have detained 34 people, including six tennis players, involved in a tennis match-fixing network that made more than half-a-million dollars from lower-tier tournaments in Spain and Portugal. Police said on Thursday that Operation Futures probed several Futures and Challenger tournaments in Iberia for the past several months and found evidence that results were rigged. The tennis players were not identified, but authorities said they were ranked between 800 and 1,200 in the world. Their Spanish rankings ranged between 30 and 300. Police said they found evidence of match-fixing attempts in 17 men's tournaments in five cities, including Madrid, Seville and Porto. Authorities said the two alleged leaders of the network were among those detained across 12 Spanish cities.