Haryana enter semis, Delhi out
New Delhi: With star India wrestler Sakshi Malik missing from action, Delhi Sultans campaign in the second season of Pro Wrestling league ended as they slumped to their third consecutive defeat, losing 2-5 to Haryana Hammers, who in turn made it to semifinals, here on Wednesday. Sakshi's fiance Satyawart Kadian, representing Delhi, went down tamely against Abdusalam Gladisov in the opening bout of the match. Azerbaijan's Mariya Stadnik of Delhi then thrashed Haryana's Indu Choudhary 16-0 in women's 48kg category. World champion Magomed Kurbanaliev handed Haryana back the lead after beating Delhi's David Tlashadze in men's 70kg division. Then, in a closely-fought battle, Alina Makhynia of Delhi got the better of Kiran 2-1 in women's 75kg. Bajrang went down to Rajneesh 6-9 and Marwa hardly had to break a sweat against Apoorva Tyagi as they wrapped up the match in style for the Hammers. In the inconsequential final bout, Sandeep Tomar registered a win to extend Haryana's victory margin.
Yuki wins, saketh out
Melbourne: Yuki Bhambri advanced to the second round of the Australian Open Qualifiers with a straight sets win over seventh seed Stefan Kozlov even as his fellow Davis Cupper Saketh Myneni suffered a tame defeat, here on Wednesday. The 534th ranked Yuki, who missed out on half the season in 2016 due to a tennis elbow injury, conjured up a 6-1, 6-4 win against the American opponent, ranked as high as 116. However, it was curtains for Myneni, who bowed out with a surprise 0-6, 2-6 defeat against Germany's Peter Gojowczyk, ranked 189, four places above the Indian. Elsewhere, leander Paes and his new partner Andre Sa shocked the top-seeded pair of Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi in the ASB Classic, recording their first victory together after joining forces for this season, with a 7-6(3), 6-3 win.
Dravid turns 44
New Delhi: Former captain and batting great Rahul Dravid, who is now grooming the Indian colts as coach, turned 44 on Wednesday and good wishes poured in for the iconic player on the social media. Dravid's name was among the trending topics on Twitter with celebrities and fans offering good wishes to the batsman, who was nicknamed ‘The Wall' for his stoic defence and reliability at the crucial No 3 position. "Happy Birthday Rahul Bhai. Thank you for your encouragement & for being a great role model for all the budding cricketers out there," wrote current Indian skipper Virat Kohli. The International Cricket Council (ICC) also lauded his contribution to cricket in its birthday wishes. "He was one of cricket's greatest batsmen, with 24,208 international runs, the 6th highest of all time. Happy 44th Birthday to Rahul Dravid!" the world body said on its official twitter page.