Kashyap, Sayali, Sindhu, sail through to quarters of national badminton
New Delhi: Defending champions Parupalli Kashyap and Sayali Gokhale entered the quarterfinals of the 78th ATS Senior National Badminton championship with contrasting wins at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here on Saturday. Kashyap defeated Shubhankar Dey 21-14, 21-13 in a prequarterfinal match to set up a clash with HS Prannoy, who beat Abhimanyu Singh 21-14, 21-10. Sayali and pre-tournament favourite PV Sindhu stayed on course for a summit clash fter both the players registered easy victories to reach the women’s singles quarterfinals. Sayali and Sindhu faced each other in the last edition of the Senior Nationals in Srinagar with the former taking the crown after a gruelling encounter. Seventh seed Sayali took some time to get used to the playing style of former junior national champion Ruth Misha of Karnataka but once the Air India shuttler managed to pocket the first game she easily sailed through to a 21-19, 21-6 victory. She will now face 13th seed Aarthi Sara Sunil of Kerala, who defeated Assam’s Bornali Konwar 21-13, 21-9. In the bottom half, Sindhu looked to be in a hurry to go back to the warmth of her hotel room as she demolished ninth seed Mudra Dhainje 21-3, 21-7 in just 23 minutes to set up a quarterfinal clash against fifth seed PC Thulasi. Thulasi also sailed through the last eight with a 21-7, 21-5 win over 10th seed Jacqueline Rose Kunnath. (PTI)
Kiwi pace puts Windies on the ropes
Hamilton: New Zealand wiped out the West Indies second innings inside one session with a vicious spell of swing bowling on Saturday to take a vice-like grip on the third Test. At stumps at the end of the third day, New Zealand were six without loss in reply, needing 122 to win. The West Indies, already down 1-0 in the series, were all out in their second innings for 103, after taking an 18-run lead on the first innings. The dramatic collapse came a day after the West Indies claimed control of the Test when Sunil Narine’s spin variations mesmerised the New Zealanders. Only the staunch defiance of Ross Taylor, who made 131 – his third century in three consecutive Tests – enabled New Zealand to reach 349 in reply to the West Indies’ 367. Narine finished with career-best figures of six for 91, but the gloss was quickly taken off his achievement by yet another batting collapse as New Zealand traded spin for pace and swing. Trent Boult, the chief destroyer when New Zealand won the second Test, removed the West Indies top order with three wickets for one run in the space of 13 deliveries. (AFP)
Lanka hold nerve to beat Pak, level series
Dubai: Sri Lanka’s late order batsmen held their nerve to beat Pakistan by two wickets and level the series in a match in which fortunes swung from one side to another in Dubai. Set 285 to chase, Sri Lanka needed 16 off the last two overs and four off the final, as number ten batsman Sachitra Senanayake drove Shahid Afridi for boundary to seal a tense win for his team with two balls to spare on Friday. The win levelled the five-match series at 1-1 after Pakistan won the first match by 11 runs in Sharjah on Wednesday. Ahmed Shehzad smashed a career best 124 off 140 balls for his fourth one-day century as Pakistan posted a challenging 284-4 in 50 overs after being sent in to bat. Sri Lanka needed 44 off the last six overs as Angelo Mathews (47) and Dimuth Karunaratne (16 not out) held their nerves during a match-turning 44-run stand for the eighth wicket. Sri Lanka had set themselves up nicely at 159-2 with Kumar Sangakkara (58) and Dinesh Chandimal (44) before Mathews came into his own. When on 29, Sangakkara completed 12,000 one-day runs in his 359th match. He is the fourth batsmen to score 12,000 or more runs in the one-day chart led by now retired Sachin Tendulkar of India (18,426 in 463 matches) followed by Australian Ricky Ponting (13,704 in 375) and Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya (13,430 in 445). (AFP)
Looking forward to partnering Cara: Sania
Mumbai: After a high in 2013, ace Indian tennis star Sania Mirza said, on Saturday, she will “start fresh” and look to extend her unbeaten run along with Zimbabwean partner Cara Black in the women’s doubles competition, next season. “I have had a very good year and you try to outdo yourself every year. That is basically the plan every year but you have to put it behind with the new season starting, so you have to start fresh again,” Sania told reporters on the sidelines of the ITPA Tennis Doubles Masters event. “Me and Cara haven’t lost a match, we won the three tournaments we played. We are looking forward to our new partnership.” (PTI)