Prajnesh moves to Ningbo quarters
New Delhi: Prajnesh Gunneswaran, the lone Indian surviving in the singles main draw, quelled a late challenge from Zhe Li to book a quarterfinal berth at the Ningbo Challenger on Wednesday. After a sound start, the Chennai southpaw struggled to keep focus but regrouped for 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(0) win in the second round against his Chinese opponent. Prajnesh is the only Indian left in singles main draw. His compatriots Ramkumar Ramanathan, Sumit Nagal and Saketh Myneni had all exited in the first round. The 28-year-old, who had won Kunming Open in Anning in April, next faces Yunseong Chung, who knocked out Ramkumar in the opening round. Ramkumar and Nagal crashed out of the men's doubles too following their first round defeat but the pair of Myneni and N Sriram Balaji advanced to the quarterfinals. Balaji and Myneni outplayed Hiroki Moriya and Rubin Statham 6-0, 6-3 in the first round.
Australia A beat India A; take 2-0 lead
Mumbai: Australia A Women defeated their Indian counterparts by four wickets in the second ODI here on Wednesday to take a 2-0 lead in the three-match series. The third game scheduled to be held at the MCA's Bandra Kurla facility on Friday now remains a dead-rubber. Choosing to bat, India A managed to put only 197/7 in their alloted 50 overs and the visitors chased the target with over 9 overs to spare. For the hosts, skipper Poonam Raut, who was struggling with the bat, found her mojo and top-scored with 64. For the Aussies, skipper Molly Stanro returned with fine figures of 3-23. While chasing Heather Graham remained unbeaten on 68 and steered her side home. She was ably supported by Tahila McGrath (47). Later Sammy Jo Johnson (21 not out) stood out with Graham as the visitors took an unaccessible 2-0 lead.
Yuki suffers defeat on comeback
New Delhi: Yuki Bhambri's comeback to the ATP circuit after recovering from a knee injury didn't go well as he suffered a first-round defeat at the European Open in Antwerp, Belgium. Playing his first match after the US Open in August, Yuki lost 6-7(6), 7-5, 1-6 to Italian Salvatore Caruso in the Euro 686,080 hard court tournament. At one stage Yuki was a break up, serving for the opening set but lost his serve and eventually the set. After drawing parity, Yuki twice lost his serve to fall behind 0-3 in the decisive set and never recovered. India's top singles player, the 26-year-old Bhambri's progress has been hampered by fitness issues, the major problem being his knees. He broke into the top-100 in October 2015 but then missed out half of the 2016 season due to injury. He got back in good shape and reclaimed his place in top-100 in April this year, but injuries once again pulled him back. Meanwhile, Divij Sharan and his Kiwi partner Artem Sitak ousted Leander Paes and Miguel Angel Reyyes-Varela 7-5, 6-4 in one our and 10 minutes to move to the doubles quarterfinals.
Messi named best La Liga player in Sept
Madrid: Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi on Wednesday was named the best player in the Spanish football league for the month of September, La Liga said in a statement. Messi is to receive the award in Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium ahead of Saturday's clash with Sevilla. "Leo Messi, the FC Barcelona forward, has been named the La Liga Santander Player of the Month for September," La Liga said via their website. "The Argentine scoops the first prize of the 2018/2019 season after an impressive start to the campaign which saw his side go to the top of the standings," the statement added. Messi scored three La Liga goals last month, one against Girona and a brace against Huesca, as well as collecting four assists. Barcelona holds the second spot in the Spanish league table with 15 points, one point behind Sevilla.