Siddikur extends lead at Indian Open
New Delhi: Siddikur continued to dominate the Indian Open when he shot a flawless third round five-under-par 67 to extend his lead by four shots over local hope SSP Chowrasia at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) here on Saturday. The Bangladeshi hit a sublime chip from the green side bunker on the 18th for an easy tap-in birdie to put himself in prime position to win his second Asian Tour title since 2010 at the Asian Tour event. Chowrasia, a two-time Asian Tour winner, closed with two birdies for a 66 while Rashid Khan of India and Filipino Angelo Que shot a 65 and 67 respectively to share third on 204. (IANS)
World Chess Championship: First game drawn without bloodshed
Chennai: World champion Viswanathan Anand started his title defence in style, holding off world number one Magnus Carlsen of Norway to a draw in quick time in the first game of the World chess championship here on Saturday. Anand, with black pieces, showed the world that he has come well prepared for the most challenging match yet. The Indian gave no chance to Carlsen who started with the Reti opening and got nothing with his first white game. The quick draw, lasting a mere 16 moves, proved Anand’s preparation right as Magnus spent more time on the clock in the opening and still could not get the complicated and sometimes lifeless positions wherein he famously outplays opposition. There was much speculation about Anand going for a sharp position and he did not disappoint his backers. “I know after two moves its Reti, after that I don’t know what it is,” said Anand smilingly in the post match conference. (PTI)
Blatter rules out January Qatar WC
ABU DHABI: FIFA president Sepp Blatter ruled out a January World Cup in Qatar in 2022 and said, on Saturday, that November/December was the only alternative to a summer tournament. “The FIFA World Cup can only be played in November/December 2022, no way it’s going to take place in January/February,” he told a news conference here. “We have to see how we can have the FIFA World Cup played in winter, but only Nov/Dec are possible.” Last month, FIFA announced it would hold a consultation process involving clubs, leagues, players and continental federations to decide in which months of 2022 the tournament should be played. At that point, world football’s governing body had not ruled out any particular period of the year. (Reuters)
Steyn, de Kock help Proteas win series
Abu Dhabi: Dale Steyn returned his best one-day bowling figures while opener Quinton de Kock hit a maiden hundred as South Africa beat Pakistan by 28 runs in the fourth ODI in Abu Dhabi on Friday. Steyn (5-25) derailed Pakistan in the 47th over with the wickets of Umar Akmal (22), captain Misbah-ul Haq (65) and Saeed Ajmal (0) to wreck the opposition from 228-5 to 238 all out in 49.2 overs. South Africa’s win gave them an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series ahead of the fifth and final match in Sharjah on Monday. South Africa won the first match by one run in Sharjah and third in Abu Dhabi by 68 runs while Pakistan claimed the second match in Dubai by 66 runs. (AFP)
Hy’bad 218/4 in reply to Assam 501/9 dec
Guwahati: Opener Tirumalasetti Suman smashed a fine century to guide Hyderabad to 218/4 in reply to Assam’s mammoth first innings total of 501/9 declared at stumps on the third and penultimate day of their Ranji Trophy Group C match, here on Saturday. Suman made 126 off 170 balls with the help of nine fours and as many sixes. Apart from Suman, both captain Akshath Reddy (39) and Hanuma Vihari (34) got starts before getting out. At the close of play, Bavanaka Sandeep (8) and Amol Shinde were at the crease with Hyderabad still needing 283 more runs on the final day of the game to surpass Assam’s first innings total. Pallav Kumar Das (1/6), Tarjinder Singh (1/12), skipper Abu Nechim Ahmed (1/35) and Arlen Konwar (1/62) shared the four wickets for Assam. (PTI)