Prajnesh upsets second seed Taro Daniel from Japan
Chandigarh, Nov 2: India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran stunned the second seed Japan’s Taro Daniel in the singles first round match in Charlottesville Men’s Pro Challenger tournament being played in Virginia, USA. Gunneswaran pipped Daniel 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 6-2 in a close fight. Prajnesh, ranked 184th, fired seven aces and committed three double faults. He won 77 per cent points on his first serve and 56 on second serve. He kept 65 per cent his first serve in. Taro Danie, ranked 125th won 59 points on his first serve and 64 per cent points on second serve. He served four aces and committed same number of double faults. (UNI)
Indian GM Sasikiran among leaders after 6th round
Riga (Latvia), Nov 2: Indian Grandmaster K Sasikiran defeated Alexandr Predke of Russia in the sixth round of the open event at the FIDE Grand Swiss chess tournament here to grab a share of the lead with four others. Sasikiran beat the promising, young Russian player in 53 moves in a Nimzo-Indian game late on Monday to join Alireza Firouzja, Alexei Shirov, Evgeniy Najer and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave as co-leader. All of them are on 4.5 points. In the seventh round, he will meet Vachier-Lagrave on the second board. (PTI)
Bologna beat last-place Cagliari 2-0 in Serie A
Bologna (Italy), Nov 2: Bologna moved up to mid-table after beating last-placed Cagliari 2-0 in Serie A here. Lorenzi De Silvestri and Marko Arnautovic scored second-half goals as Bologna ended a three-match winless run on Monday. Cagliari still has only one win since Walter Mazzarri replaced Leonardo Semplici as the Sardinian club’s coach in September. (AP)
Brazilian club Gremio investigates fans who broke VAR monitor
Sao Paulo, Nov 2: Brazilian club Gremio is investigating the destruction of the video assistant referee equipment by fans who invaded its stadium pitch in Porto Alegre. The incident on Sunday happened after the team lost to Palmeiras 3-1. Home fans were enraged at the VAR system after Gremio’s equalizer near the final whistle was canceled. Palmeiras added a third goal in stoppage time. Three supporters broke the monitor, its protective casing, and ripped off wires feeding into the set. Gremio said on Monday in a statement it “does not agree with the acts committed by a small portion of the fans in attendance to yesterday’s match.” (AP)
Bikini rule changed in beach handball after player protest
Basel, Nov 2: Bikini-style uniforms will no longer be mandated for female beach handball players following protests by players and European lawmakers. The new wording by the sport’s governing body follows a campaign started by the Norwegian national team in July and now allows women to wear “short tight pants” instead of bikinis. The Norwegian federation was fined because players wore “improper clothing” at the European Championship in July. As an act of defiance, the players had worn shorts to protest the bikini rule. (AP)