Delhi Open Chess: Abhijeet Gupta seizes sole lead
NEW DELHI, June 11: In a major shake-up, Indian Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta emerged as the sole leader at the Delhi International Open chess tournament following a commanding victory over GM Mamikon Gharibyan of Armenia.The result puts the Indian GM in pole position with 6.5 points, heading into the final stretch of the tournament.The top-board clash between GM S L Narayanan and GM Boris Savchenko, both tied at the top before the round, ended in a balanced draw, pushing both to six points. They are now part of a tightly packed chasing group, joined by several others who secured key wins on Wednesday.Round 7 also saw several critical results that tightened the race at the top. GM Mihail Nikitenko defeated GM Alexei Fedorov to move to six points, while GM Vitaly Sivuk secured a strong win over Alekhya Mukhopadhyay, also climbing to six.GM Diptayan Ghosh joined the leading pack after overcoming GM Aleksej Aleksandrov.Meanwhile, GM Luka Paichadze and GM Manuel Petrosyan played out a draw to stay in contention with 5.5 points each, as did GM Aditya S Samant and IM Semetey Tologontegin, who also shared the spoils to reach 5.5.Also joining the 6-point club was IM Neelash Saha, who continued his excellent run with a win over Bivor Adak, and IM Aronyak Ghosh, who defeated GM Nguyen Duc Hoa in a sharp battle.With just three rounds remaining, the standings remain extremely tight, with eight players now trailing Abhijeet Gupta by just half a point. (PTI)
Tilak Varma set to play for Hampshire in County
HYDERABAD, June 11: Left-handed batter Tilak Varma is set to represent Hampshire in the County Championship after being approached by the English club, the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) said on Wednesday. The 22-year-old, who hails from Hyderabad and represents Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, has featured in 25 T20Is and four ODIs for India, scoring 749 and 68 runs respectively. “The Hyderabad Cricket Association is happy to inform that Hyderabad International player Mr. N Thakur Tilak Varma has been approached by the team Hampshire County to play in the UK County Championship League,” HCA said in a release. “The Hyderabad Cricket Association wishes him a great stint with Hampshire County,” it added.Varma also has played 18 First-Class games, making 1,204 runs with a highest score of 121 at an average of 50.16. He has five hundreds and four fifties. (PTI)
Indian junior women’s team fights past Belgium 2-1
ANTWERP, June 11: The Indian junior women’s hockey team continued their winning streak in the tour of Europe with a well-deserved win over Belgium. India edged past the Belgian side with a tight scoreline of 2-1 at the Hockey Center of Excellence, Wilrijkse Plein in Antwerp, Belgium. Lalthantluangi (35’) and Geeta Yadav (50’) scored goals for India.The first half remained goalless as both sides couldn’t manage to break the deadlock in the tight contest. In the 35th minute, India finally scored the opening goal as Lalthantluangi successfully converted a fortunate penalty stroke.In the last quarter, Van Hellemont (48’) scored the equaliser through a field goal for Belgium. However, just two minutes later, Geeta Yadav replied with a field goal herself and grabbed the winner for India.India then defended well to fend off the Belgian attacks in the final 10 minutes of the game and ensured they enjoyed another win over Belgium.After wrapping up the promising outing at the Four Nations Tournament in Rosario, Argentina, the Indian team has now reached Europe for the five-match tour, which they kicked off their tour of Europe with a fantastic win against Belgium on Sunday.The Indian side won the game 3-2 at the Hockey Center of Excellence, Wilrijkse Plein.After two consecutive wins, the Indian junior women will next play Belgium for the third and final time in their Tour of Europe on June 12. (IANS)
Bhambri-Galloway pair exits Boss Open pre-quarters
STUTTGART, June 11: India’s number one doubles player Yuki Bhambri and his American partner Robert Galloway fought their hearts out before losing the BOSS Open pre-quarterfinals, here.In a match where both sets were decided by tie-breakers, the Indo-American combine lost 6-7 (5) 6-7 (5) to Santiago Gonzalez from Mexico and Austin Krajicek from the USA in one hour and 34 minutes.India’s challenge is still alive in the tournament, with veteran Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji competing with their respective partners.Balaji and and his Mexican partner Miguel Reyes-Varela are up against the second-seeded French pair of Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul.The 45-year-old Bopanna has teamed up with Belgium’s Sander Gille and they will take on the local combination of Jakob Schnaitter and Mark Wallner. (PTI)
PCB proposes WI to scrap ODIs for additional T20Is
KARACHI, June 11: With an aim to give younger players more game-time in the shortest format ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup, the Pakistan Cricket Board has proposed Cricket West Indies to scrap ODIs against additional T20Is during next month’s tour.Pakistan are slated to play three T20Is followed by as many ODIs in the Caribbean starting August 1 and a source in the PCB has confirmed that the board officials have floated the idea to play more T20Is to their counterparts.“The proposal is that if the West Indies board have no issues and it doesn’t affect their broadcast arrangement, Pakistan should play a five or six match series of T20 internationals,” the source said.“The idea is obviously to give more exposure to the national T20 squad players, some of whom are still new to the team.” “The white-ball head coach Mike Hesson and national selectors also want maximum matches to prepare a combination for next year’s ICC World T20 Cup in India and Sri Lanka,” he added.The PCB is waiting for a confirmation from the CWI on the matter. (PTI)