Advani claims 14th world title
Adelaide: Indian ace Pankaj Advani outplayed Peter Gilchrist of Singapore to win the World Billiards Championship here on Sunday. This was Advani’s 14th world title. Advani left the spectators spellbound with his prolific display as he downed his opponent by 1168 points after the match ended after the maximum allotted time of 300 minutes. Sunday victory also came as sweet revenge for Advani as he had lost the final of the point format championship to Gilchrist last week. Advani started the match on the front foot by smashing a break of 127 in his opening shot and took the game beyond his opponent in the next two shots by scoring two triple century breaks of 360 and 301. Advani then posted breaks of 284, 119, 101 and 106 to extend his lead to 1100 points at the halfway mark. Gilchrist tried to stage a fightback in the second half, but it was enough to trouble the in-form Advani. (IANS)
India U-16 football team win second practice match
Alicante (Spain): India U-16 football team came back from behind to register a 2-1 victory against over local side Hercules U-16 in a practice match here on Sunday. Down by a goal at the interval, the Nicolai Adam-coached team scored twice post the interval. Hercules were reduced to ten men in the 58th minute. The home team surged into the lead in the 34th minute and then missed a penalty to go 2-0 up. Amarjit slotted home in the 57th minute to restore parity before putting the Indians ahead after converting a penalty in the 82nd minute. The Indians earlier beat Elche U-16 2-0 in another practice match. They next play Villarreal U-16 on September 29 in their exposure trip to Spain. (IANS)
Petkovic, Stosur, Kuznetsova out of Wuhan Open
Wuhan (China): Thirteenth seed Andrea Petkovic became the first seed to bow out of Wuhan Open on Sunday as the German lost to Britain’s qualifier Johanna Konta 6-3, 7-5 in the first round. Twice Grand Slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova and former US Open champion Samantha Stosur failed to get through the opening round either. Russia’s Kuznetsova, the winner of 2009 French Open and 2004 US Open, lost the lop-sided match 0-6, 1-6 to her compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Stosur of Australia fared no better, losing 2-6, 1-6 defeat to Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. 12th-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine beat wild card player Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-4. Twice Australia Open winner Victoria Azarenka of Belarus held off America’s qualifier Lauren Davis 6-2, 7-6 (4). Two wild card holders from China suffered early exits, leaving no player from the host country remaining. Zhang Saisai lost to America’s Varvara Lepchenko 4-6, 0-6. Romania’s Monica Niculescu eased past the other Chinese Liu Fangzhou 6-1, 6-1. German qualifier Julia Goerges dismantled France’s Alize Cornet 6-3, 6-3. Other players advancing into the second round include Daria Gavrilova of Germany, Coco Vandeweghe of America and Barbora Strycova from the Czech Republic. (IANS)
