Unseeded Bozoljac wins Kolkata title
Kolkata: Continuing his dream run, unseeded Ilija Bozoljac of Serbia outplayed Russian third-ranked Evgeny Donskoy in straight sets to clinch the singles title at the ATP Challenger Tour event here on Saturday. Having made the final without dropping a set, the Serbian fired 11 aces en route to a thumping 6-1, 6-1 win in a matter of 58 minutes at the BTA Courts. The Serbian, who pocketed USD 7,200 and 80 ranking points, said he’s least interested in following rankings. Asked about rankings, Bozoljac said “I don’t know… I did not even check my ranking for three years!” (PTI)
Bhullar makes cut, lies 15th after third round at Africa Open
East London: Gaganjeet Bhullar, who had a tough time in the middle east swing, moved to tied 15th at the Africa Open after carding a 68 in the third round even as Shiv Kapur missed the cut. The Indian, who has five wins on Asian Tour, fired six birdies and hit three bogeys. On the first day he had five birdies and one bogey, and in second round he had six birdies and two bogeys. Emiliano Grillo hit the front as a first bogey for 47 holes finally cost American John Hahn his place at the top of the leaderboard in the third round of the Africa Open. (PTI)
Karthik eager to play under Kirsten again
Mumbai: Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik, who was the second-costliest buy at Rs 12.5 crore in the IPL auction at Bangalore earlier this week, is keen to play under Delhi Daredevils coach Gary Kirsten in season 7 of the T20 tournament starting April 9. “Everybody knows him as a wonderful human being and his track record has been phenomenal. It is going to be wonderful to be working with a person like him and you require a calm head in T20 and he will definitely bring that to the table,” Karthik told reporters here about ex-India coach Kirsten. Only Yuvraj Singh, who was bought for Rs 14 crore by Royal Challengers, fetched higher price than Karthik at the two-day auction held on February 12 and 13. Karthik, who had played for Delhi Daredevils for a couple of seasons before he shifted to Mumbai Indians till last season, said the DD squad is a balanced one without many big names in it. “I think it is a very balanced squad. It is one of those squads where you don’t have huge names, but I think we have the potential to win games of cricket. But T20 is such a format. It is not about how strong a team is, but at that given day who plays the best,” said the Tamil Nadu wicket keeper-batsman. (PTI)