Advani clinches grand double
MUMBAI, Aug 19: Ace cueist Pankaj Advani of ONGC extended his dominance on the green baize as he completed a grand double by winning the senior snooker title at the Western India Billiards and Snooker Championships 2024 here.Advani, the proud owner of 27 world titles, showed steely resolve to shrug off a strong challenge from Railways’ bespectacled cueist Kamal Chawla 6-4 in a long-drawn final that lasted close to seven hours at the Khar Gymkhana billiards hall on Sunday night.Advani sealed his win with the frame scores reading 11-72, 31-58, 95-40, 52-42, 69-43, 43-74, 22-59, 75-62, 84-58, and 58-10.The Bengaluru-based Advani, who had earlier in the day defeated S Shrikrishna in the three-hour session billiards final, has now won seven consecutive titles (4 snooker and 3 billiards) in Mumbai over the past two years.The fare dished out by both champions was lacklustre and there was hardly much to cheer for the cue sports aficionados, who had made it to the venue with the hope of watching top-quality snooker.Both players were over-cautious in their endeavour to outsmart each other. With both not showing the confidence to go for their shots, there were not too many substantial breaks and the frames took time to finish, which resulted in the match dragging on late into the evening.Advani for all his good showing produced just two breaks of 69 (3rd frame) and 55 (8th frame). In contrast, Chawla had breaks on 51 and 38 in the opening two frames followed by efforts of 61 (6th frame) and 40 (8th frame).In the semi-finals, Chawla defeated Shrikrishna (BPCL) 5-2 (119-18, 41-46, 51-60, 82-39, 73-0, 86-20, and 62-40).In the second semi-finals, Advani eased past Faisal Khan (Railways) 5-1 (131-0, 85-43, 82-53, 58-41, 59-83, 70-35). (PTI)
Aamir Jamal ruled out of Bangladesh Test series
ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: Pacer Aamir Jamal has been ruled from the Pakistan Test squad ahead of the series against Bangladesh due to fitness issues, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed on Monday. Aamir, who was earlier included in the squad subject to fitness clearance, has been advised to work on his fitness at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.Aamir is recovering from a back injury which he sustained while playing county cricket this year. The first Test match between Bangladesh and hosts Pakistan will commence from 21 August at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.Aamir was left out of the squad that went to the United States of America and West Indies for the T20 World Cup that took place in June.Due to his snub he joined county team Warwickshire where he only managed to make three appearances. (IANS)
Sumit Nagal bows out of Winston-Salem Open
WINSTON-SALEM, (USA) Aug 19: India’s top singles player Sumit Nagal bowed out of the Winston-Salem Open, an ATP 250 event, after a straight set defeat against Borna Coric in the first round, here.Nagal lost 4-6 2-6 to the Croatian player in one hour and 10 minutes.Nagal converted the only breakpoint he got in the contest while dropping his serve four times.In the doubles draw, former junior national champion Dhakshineswar Suresh will feature along with British partner Luca Pow.Dhakshineswar, who is in US College circuit, could not qualify for the singles main draw, falling in the second round of the qualifying event 3-6 4-6 to American fourth seed Learner Tien. (PTI)
Jeev finishes tied-12th in Zambia Legends
LUSAKA, (Zambia) Aug 19: Jeev Milkha Singh started the final round with three birdies in the first four holes and finished tied 12th at the Zambia Legends Championship.In between his superb start and the great finish, Jeev had one birdie, an eagle two and three bogeys, as he gets ready for the HSBC Legends Indian Championship which will be hosted by Jeev himself.South Africa’s Keith Horne secured his maiden Legends Tour title in stunning style with some great front-running at Bonanza Golf Club, near Lusaka.The nine-time Sunshine Tour champion opened the day with a three-shot lead and got off to a great start with three birdies in the first four holes.Eventual runner-up Adilson da Silva stayed on his tail as he made it to the turn in five-under-par for the day, but he never got closer than within two shots of the leader.After 11 birdies in the second round against two bogeys in his 9-under, Horne was dominant during the week. (PTI)
Henry quits as France U-21 coach after Olympics
PARIS, Aug 19: Thierry Henry has stepped down as coach of the French Under-21 national football team, the country’s soccer federation said on Monday, days after his team lost to Spain in the Olympic final.The Federation Francaise de Football (FFF) said in a statement that Henry had cited personal reasons for his decision to end his contract which had been due to run to June 2025.Henry, who won the 1998 World Cup as a player with France and is his country’s second all-time leading scorer, earned plaudits after his team’s performances at the Olympics. (Agencies)
Wrestler Dahiya through to semis at U17 World C’ship
AMMAN, (Jordan) Aug 19: Ronak Dahiya was the lone Indian Greco Roman wrestler to make it to the semifinals of the U17 World Championships while five others struggled to go deep in their respective draws on the opening day of the prestigious Cadets event, here Monday.Competing in the 110kg weight class, Ronak began with a 8-1 win over Artur Manvelian and followed that up with a commanding technical superiority victory over Daniil Maslakou.Ronak, who trains at Delhi’s famous Chhatrasal Stadium, will next take on Hungary’s Zoltan Czako.Apart from Ronak, Nishant Phogat (80kg) was the only other Indian who managed a win under his belt. He won 7-1 against Algeria’s Mohamed Abadi in the Qualification round before losing on criteria to Moldova’s Apostol.Bikash Kachhap (48kg) has exited the competition but Anuj (65kg) and Samrath Gajanan (55kg) are awaiting the semifinal results to know their fate. (PTI)