May 2, 2013 |
JOHANNESBURG: Divij Sharan and Purav Raja extended their good run of the season to the semifinals of the ATP Challenger event after beating Brazilian pair of Fabiano De Paula and Thales Turini in straight sets. The Indian pair earned a hard fought 6-3, 7-6(3) win against their rivals. They broke the Brazilians in the sixth game of the match to comfortably pocket the first set. The second set was fiercely fought as Paula and Turini refused to concede an inch. Both the teams went on to hold in the entire set and eventually the Indians got through the rivals in the tie-breaker.
May 2, 2013 |
KUALA LUMPUR: Top seed PV Sindhu reached the women's singles semi-finals of the Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold here at the Juara Indoor Stadium by winning both her second round and quarter-final matches on Thursday. Sindhu, who reached a career high of World No.13 Thursday, first overcame Ngan Yi Cheung of Hong Kong 11-21, 21-18, 21-10 in 46 minutes after which she beat Indonesian seventh seed Hera Desi 21-17, 21-17 in 37 minutes to advance to the last four of the tier three tournament.
April 30, 2013 |
RAIPUR: "It's a great relief to finally be off the bottom and now we need to treat each match as a knockout," Delhi Daredevil's man of the match David Warner (in pic) said after DD defeated Pune Warriors in a close finish at the new Veer Narayan stadium in Raipur on Sunday night. Excerpts... On not being at the bottom of the points table Yes, it is indeed. We did not have an ideal start. Hopefully the Sunday win here changes our luck. I have always felt that we have enough firepower to do much better.
April 27, 2013 |
STUTTGART (Germany): Sania Mirza and Bethanie Mattek-Sands defeated Liezel Huber and Janette Husarova to enter the women's doubles semifinal at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix . The Indo-American pair got past the American-Slovak combination 7-5, 6-4 in the quarterfinals played Friday. Sania-Bethanie next play Germany's Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic on Saturday night. Bethanie is also enjoying a great run in the singles event where she faces Li Na of China in the semifinals.
April 26, 2013 |
Rafa Nadal moved closer to an eighth Barcelona Open title in nine years on Friday when he breezed through two matches to set up a semifinal against Canadian fifth seed Milos Raonic. Chasing a fourth title of the year after returning from a seven-month injury layoff in February, Nadal recovered from a slow start on the clay at the Real Club de Tenis to beat Benoit Paire 7-6 6-2 in their delayed third-round match. The world number five had been set to meet the 13th-seeded Frenchman on Thursday before rain washed out the day's play.
April 26, 2013 |
PUNE: In an intense battle between two Maharashtrian GMs, Akshayraj Kore came up with effective defensive moves under time pressure against Vidit Gujrathi. It meant that Pune Attackers beat Jalgaon Battlers 3-5.2-5 in the Maharashtra Chess League at PYC Hindu Gymkhana on Thursday. The crucial half point earned by Kore reduced the gap between Pune and leaders Jalgaon to only one point. Two more rounds will be played in the six-team rapid meet. The semis and finals are slated for Saturday and Sunday respectively.
April 20, 2013 |
ALLAHABAD: Harshit Tripathi's deadly spell of five wickets for eight runs helped St Joseph's College beat Vashishth Vatsalya Public School by 10 wickets and move into the semi-finals of the T20 Times School Cricket Tournament organised by The Times of India in association with Dr Rizvi Group of Institutions, Karari at the Madan Mohan Malviya stadium on Friday. Put in to bat Vashishth Vatsalya Public School (VVPS) were all out for 38 in 11.1 overs. Rishabh Tripathi made 10, while no other batsman was able to reach double figures.
April 19, 2013 |
MOSCOW: Slovakia chose the experienced Daniela Hantuchova over the higher-ranked Magdalena Rybarikova to back up Dominika Cibulkova against Russia in their Fed Cup semifinal this weekend. Cibulkova will open against Anastasiya Pavlyuchenkova, followed by Hantuchova playing Maria Kirilenko in the second singles on indoor clay at Krylatskoye Ice Stadium. Rybarikova was picked in Friday's draw in doubles, which concludes the semifinals on Sunday. She and Jana Cepelova will face Russia's Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.
April 17, 2013 |
NANDED: A day after being humbled by the defending champions, Orange city boys bounced back with a bang, outclassed Mumbai South East 50-26, to seal their semifinal berth in the Maharashtra State Inter-District Youth Basketball Championship currently in progress at the Gurugobindsingh Stadium in Nanded here on Tuesday. While Nagpur boys registered an easy 24-point victory, a 17-0 run in the last quarter helped Mumbai North prevail over Thane 47-29 for their entry into the semifinals.
April 16, 2013 |
LONDON: London Police have charged two men following crowd violence among Millwall fans that marred Saturday's FA Cup semifinal against Wigan at Wembley Stadium. One of the men was charged with racially aggravated behavior and the other with breaching bail conditions. Fourteen people - 12 Millwall supporters and two Wigan fans - were arrested inside the stadium during or after the match, and another six Millwall fans were arrested outside Wembley for offenses including affray and racist abuse.