Paes wins first title of season
leon (Mexico): leander Paes on Sunday won his first title of the season, combining with Canadian Adil Shamasdin to lift the leon Challenger Tour tennis tournament's men's doubles trophy after a straight-set triumph here. Paes and Shamasdin defeated luca Margaroli (Switzerland) and Caro Zampieri (Brazil) 6-1, 6-4 in the title clash at the $75,000 hard court event. This was Paes' first final this season. Paes was named a reserve along with Rohan Bopanna by new non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi, who picked four singles players in the squad. Bhupathi has said that he may pick either Paes or Bopanna, if required, as a doubles specialist in the tie, slated for April 7-9 in Bengaluru.
Yuki ruled out of the davis cup tie
New Delhi: In a big setback to the Indian Davis Cup team, country's leading singles player Yuki Bhambri was on Sunday ruled out of the upcoming tie against Uzbekistan due to a knee injury. Ramkumar Ramanathan will now spearhead India's singles challenge but he has been struggling for form in recent times. Non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi had picked four singles specialist for the tie and now it will be imperative for him to play either veteran leander Paes or Rohan Bopanna or both. If Bhupathi picks only one doubles player, both Prajnesh Gunneswaran and N Sriram Balaji will make Davis Cup debut for India and the latter will surely feature in the doubles rubber.
Aditi makes cut at ANA Inspiration golf
Rancho Mirage (US): Aditi Ashok made her first cut in a Major with a second round three-under 69 and then proceeded to compile a no-frills 72 in the third at the ANA Inspiration golf tournament here. With an aggregate of three-under 213, Aditi is now at a creditable Tied-23 position, 10 shots behind the 2014 champion lexi Thompson who sits atop a packed leaderboard at 13-under par after 54 holes. Aditi, who turned 19 a day before the event, has now carded 72-69-72. Aditi, who is playing the lPGA Tour this year on a limited status, was once again accurate off the tees as she has found over 75% of the fairways in three rounds. As Tied-23rd, she has a great chance to make a bid for her first Top-15 in the Majors, as she sits just two shots away from the eight-player bunch at five-under.
Indian team beats Uruguay 4-2
West Vancouver: The Indian women's team beat Uruguay 4-2 in the penalty shootout to begin their campaign in the Women's Hockey World league Round 2 on a winning note here. Skipper Rani, Monika, Deepika and Navjot Kaur held their nerves to score in the tense penalty shootout that saw them through after the two sides were locked 2-2 at the end of the regulation time. The experienced goalkeeper Savita produced a good show and India held their nerves to win 4-2 in the exciting penalty shootout.