Sandhu into last 8 of Victorian Open
Chennai: India's Harinder Pal Sandhu got the better of Syed Azlan Amjed 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 to storm into the last eight of the Victorian Open squash tournament, a PSA World Tour event, in Melbourne on Thursday. Fresh from his success in the South Australian Open in Adelaide a few days ago, Sandhu had no trouble in overcoming Amjed in straight games, a SRFI press note here said. late last night Sandhu, seeded four, had stopped qualifier Jacob Ford of Australia 11-7, 11-1, 11-8. In the quarterfinal on Friday, the Indian will face Rhys Dowling of Australia, whom he had beaten in the South Australian Open final.
Harikrishna defeats World No 4
Geneva: Indian Grand Master Pentala Harikrishna dished out a stellar performance to beat World No 4 Armenian GM levon Aronian in his sixth-round encounter at the Geneva FIDE Grand Prix here. With Wednesday's win, Harikrishna has now climbed up the ladder to be tied first on the leaderboard and stake a huge claim at a spot in the Candidates tournament. The World No 22 Indian started on a balanced note but capitalised as the top seeded Armenian slipped with a miscalculated move. "It was a balanced position throughout the game but he miscalculated a move and from there on I had the upper hand and won the game," Harikrishna said. After the end of six rounds, Harikrishna has amassed a total of four points courtesy two wins and four draws. He is now joint first along with Alexander Grischuk and Teimour Radjabov. In the seventh round of the tournament, Harikrishna will take on Grischuk from Russia on Thursday night. "Grischuk is an interesting player and is playing some solid chess, taking chances when the opponent slips," Harikrishna said.
Gayle hails India's effort in CARIBBEAN
Bengaluru: West Indian swashbuckling opening batsman Chris Gayle on Thursday said India's recent loss to the Caribbean team in the one-off T20 International won't make the Men in Blue a weaker side as the shortest format can be "unpredictable." Acknowledging that the current World T20 champions are the best in the shortest format of the game, Gayle rated the Virat Kohli-led side as one of the best all-round sides in both the 50-over and 20-over formats. "India is in the top three, one of the best. The players, too, got one of the best all-round team as well. They have loads of experience in 50 overs and T20s," Gayle told reporters here after inking a deal with IONA Entertainment to bring one-stop entertainment to Indian sports fans which will include state-of-the-art virtual gaming. "To lose against the West Indies in T20, that's our best format, they won the One-day International (ODI) series. T20 cricket is unpredictable. With a one-off game, anything could've happened. They still got 190," he added.
duminy out of south africa squad
nottingham: JP Duminy will be dropped by South Africa for the second test against England that starts on Friday at Trent Bridge as part of three changes from the loss at lord's last week.The Proteas did not say Thursday which player would replace Duminy, who has a highest score of 39 in his last eight test innings. Faf du Plessis is back in the team following the birth of his first child, while Duanne Olivier will start in place of the suspended Kagiso Rabada. The South Africans must decide whether to play six or seven batsmen. The tourists kept their options open for further switches to the lineup, saying in a statement that "the Proteas are certain to make three changes for the match." England’s Joe Root said his team will be unchanged from the one that won by 211 runs in the first test.