Barty wins Birmingham title
London: Ashleigh Barty was crowned 2019 Birmingham Classic champion after defeating Julia Goerges in the final, to clinch the world ranking top spot from Naomi Osaka.The 23-year-old secured the Birmingham Classic title with a 6-3, 7-5 win over her German rival, after a match that lasted for an hour and 28 minutes, to secure the world number one spot, reported Efe news.”It’s a dream come true to be the world number one,” Barty said after the win. “My team and I have put in so much work and I’m very proud of what we have achieved.”The Aussie player continued her brilliant streak to claim the 2019 Roland Garros crown a couple of weeks ago, which was her first ever Grand Slam career title.Barty is set to top the WTA ranking for professional women tennis players with 6,540 points, ahead of Osaka who is to fall to world number two with 6,377 points. (IANS)
Torres eyes future coaching role
Tokyo: Spanish World Cup winner Fernando Torres said Sunday his body could no longer cope with the physical demands of football after announcing his retirement from the game. But the 35-year-old, once one of the deadliest marksmen in the world, would not rule out a future in coaching. The former Atletico Madrid, Liverpool and Chelsea striker finished his career at Japanese club Sagan Tosu after joining the J-League side last year. “I have a high demand of myself – I always want to be honest and perform at the level I think I should,” said Torres, who scored Spain’s winning goal in the 2008 European championships and played a key role in their 2010 World Cup triumph. (IANS)
Bagan, EB U-19 final abandoned
Kolkata:The Under-19 Football League final between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal here Sunday was abandoned due to crowd unrest, which saw spectators hurling bottles.All hell broke loose after Mohun Bagan’s Koushik Santra converted from the spot to help his side come back from behind and gain a 2-1 lead in the 52nd minute of the match. The home fans were furious at the referee’s decision of awarding a penalty after East Bengal goalkeeper Ayon Roy committed a foul on Mohun Bagan’s Deep Saha inside the box. Many spectators were seen abusing and then threw bottles into the ground, targeting the match officials, as the situation went out of control. Despite repeated efforts to calm the situation down, the crowd remained violent, forcing the referee and the match commissioner to abandon the game. (PTI)
Fairytale return for Murray
London: Former world number one Andy Murray’s dream return continued on Saturday as he and Feliciano Lopez progressed to the doubles final at Queen’s, beating the defending champions in the semi-finals. The 32-year-old, who is making his first competitive appearance since what he termed “life-changing” hip surgery, and his partner Feliciano Lopez came through 7-5, 6-7 (5/7), 10-7 against John Peers of Australia and his Finnish partner Henri Kontinen. “It was a good match. We obviously had some chances to finish it in the second set,” said Murray. “I’m very happy to be in the final.” Murray, who said he felt zero pain in his hip but that his back was stiff and his arm tired from serving, said he had not expected to get this far. (AFP)
AICF plans Indian Chess League
Chennai: The All-India Chess Federation (AICF) Sunday unveiled a slew of plans including promoting an Indian Chess League and engaging foreign coaches for 15 top juniors as part of ‘Vision 2020’. The ‘Vision 2020’ received the nod from members at the AICG’s annual general meeting held in Goa. The other plans of AICF include holding a round-robin event with top Grandmasters (GM) funded by sponsors, creating a separate division for promoting chess in schools, two women round-robin events for securing international title norms and engaging foreign coaches for 15 top junior players. (PTI)