Sania-Cara into Portugal final
Oeiras (Portugal): Top seeds Sania Mirza and Cara Black advanced to the final of the women’s doubles at the Portugal Open here on Friday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over third seeds Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond. The winners will now face the unseeded pair of Eva Hrdinova and Valeria Solovyeva in the championship match. Hrdinova and Solovyeva beat Klaudia Jans-Ignacik and Maryna Zanevska in the last-four stage. The Indian challenge in the men’s doubles and singles has already come to an end. (Agencies)
Sauber lose weight to gain points
LONDON: Struggling Sauber hope to score their first points of the Formula One season in Spain next week after making the car significantly lighter. The Swiss team’s head of track engineering Giampaolo Dall’Ara said the cars had seen an “extensive weight reduction” since the last race in China. Drivers Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez have both drawn a blank in the first four races. Dall’Ara said a “significant” aerodynamic update included a modified front wing, new engine cover and side-pod fins and deflectors. “Besides that, we will also have a software improvement which will enable us to use the potential of the power unit in a better way,” he said in a team preview for the first European race of the season. Sutil hoped to see a step forward: “After three retirements in a row, we need to finish this race. I am looking forward, and I think that our performance will be stronger than in the previous races,” said the German. (Reuters)
Ribery probably provoked before slapping Real defender: FFF boss
PARIS: Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery was probably provoked before slapping Real Madrid’s Daniel Carjaval in their Champions League semi-final second leg, French federation president Noel Le Graet said on Friday. “It’s a bad reflex. I know he’s a bit nervous these days,” Le Graet told French radio RTL. Ribery slapped Carjaval around the face on Tuesday as Bayern suffered a 4-0 home defeat to Real Madrid. “I know Franck well, it’s not the kind of gesture he makes naturally,” Le Graet said. “There were probably little niggles before that.” Ribery has been below par this year after losing the 2013 FIFA Ballon d’Or award to Cristiano Ronaldo despite winning the Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup with Bayern last season. (Reuters)
IPL Governing Council to meet today
Mumbai: The Governing Council of the Indian Premier League will meet here on Saturday to take stock of the first leg of the Twenty20 league that was held from April 16-30 in the United Arab Emirates. “We are meeting tomorrow to take stock of the tournament’s matches which were held in the UAE. We also have some other things to be tied up,” BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel told PTI from Vadodara. Patel hinted that the eliminator scheduled in Chennai on May 28 could be shifted to Cricket Club of India here. “That decision would also be taken, about whether the eliminator is to be shifted to the CCI,” Patel said without divulging the reasons. The M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai is scheduled to hold the first Qualifier on May 27 followed by the eliminator the next day. The second qualifier is scheduled at the Wankhede Stadium here on May 30 followed by the final match at the same ground on June 1 to bring the curtains down on the Indian cricket season. (PTI)
Delhi seeking home momentum: Karthik
New Delhi: Delhi Daredevils vice-captain Dinesh Karthik feels playing their next four games at home gives the struggling unit a chance to bounce back in the Indian Premier League. Things have not gone according to plan for Daredevils as they are seventh out of eight teams after the UAE leg of the tournament. Karthik said the team is eager to put up a good show at the Ferozeshah Kotla where they play Rajasthan Royals first up. “At the moment I don’t know what the expectations are of the team. We are looking forward to play good cricket for our home fans,” Karthik said after a practice session at the Palam Ground here on Friday. “It is a very crucial phase of the tournament. If we can win a few games from here on and get some momentum going, that will be really good,” said the wicketkeeper. (PTI)