Sharan-Raja lose in final of Tashkent
Tashkent: The second seed Indian pair of Purav Raja and Divij Sharan went down against the unseeded Russian duo of Mikhail Elgin and Teymuraz Gabashvili in the doubles final of the Tashkent ATP Challenger, here on Saturday. The duo of Sharan-Raja lost 4-6, 4-6 in a contest that lasted one hour and eight minutes at the Olympic Tennis School Complex. The Russians broke Sharan in the fifth game of the first set and Raja in the very first game of the second set. The winners got 125 ATP points for their win, while the runners-up received 75 ATP points. (PTI)
Lahiri, Randhawa tied 10th in Korea
Yeoju (South Korea): Indian golfers Anirban Lahiri and Jyoti Randhawa made an upward surge to lie at tied 10th in the weather-hit third round of the CJ Invitational Hosted by KJ Choi here on Saturday. Lahiri turned in a three-under 69, while Randhawa shot 73 in third round to join the former in the 10th spot. Lahiri (69-76-69) recovered well from his second round problems to shoot a 69, which had four birdies on front nine, but he had three bogeys on back nine, besides two more birdies. On a day which also saw the completion of the second round in the morning, Jyoti Randhawa (67-74) made the cut despite a struggle in the second round, and then shot another 73 in third. Rahil Gangjee (71-74-74) and Digvijay Singh (71-73-76) are the two others to make the cut. Gangjee is tied 33rd, while Digvijay is tied 38th. Local hope Kang Sung-Hoon took advantage of the relatively calm conditions to shoot a second round three-under 69 and was then four-under through 16 holes when play was suspended due to darkness. He was three shots ahead of Rikard Karlberg of Sweden who shot 69 and 68 in first two rounds and then added 71 in third to move eight-under in tied second alongside Kang and another Korean Kim. (PTI)
S African fans sad about Sachin retirement
Johannesburg: South African cricket fans are disappointed that they will not witness Sachin Tendulkar’s final game in South Africa, but some are making plans to go to India for his final game. The Master blaster would have played his 200th and final Test in Cape Town if the plans announced by Cricket South Africa (CSA) had gone ahead, but the BCCI made known a different itinerary for the same time that will see Tendulkar play the game against visitors West Indies in November in his hometown of Mumbai. “We are very disappointed that we will not get the chance to see Sachin play his final Test,” said Anil Hargovan of Durban, home to about half of South Africa’s 1.4 million Indian origin population. “My extended family of eleven have never missed a single game that India played at Kingsmead (in Durban), always supporting them, even against the Proteas, although we support the Proteas against anyone else,” Hargovan added. Karthiegesan Naidoo said he would be joining Hargovan and three or four other friends to go to Mumbai in November to see Tendulkar play, if they could get tickets. (PTI)
Kerber grabs final berth for WTA Finals
VIENNA: Angelique Kerber grabbed the eighth and final spot in the year-ending WTA Championships with the win in the quarterfinals of the Linz Open. The German star will join Serena Williams (United States), Victoria Azarenka (Belarus), Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland), Li Na (China), Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic), Sara Errani (Italy) and Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) in the prestigious event, which runs in Istanbul from October 22-27. According to the WTA statement on Friday, the singles draw ceremony will be held on October 20, and the two alternate positions will be determined in the current and upcoming WTA events and will also be announced prior to the draw. The top eight singles players and top four doubles teams will compete in Istanbul for a record $6 million prize money and the most prestigious title on the WTA calendar after the Grand Slams. The teams in the doubles field at the season finale will be Errani and Roberta Vinci, Peng Shuai and Hsieh Su-Wei, Nadia Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik, and Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. (IANS)