Hussain advances to pre-quarters; Haohui stuns Advani
Doha, Nov 11: Unheralded Indian cueist Hussain Khan scored a thrilling 4-3 win over Australia’s Hassan Kerde to enter the men’s pre-quarterfinals of the IBSF World Snooker Championships here on Tuesday. The 29-year-old Indian, who came through the first stage qualification, played the important points well to win his match and set up a last-16 meeting with teen sensation Michal Szubarczyk of Poland. Earlier, India’s celebrated three-time champion Pankaj Advani bowed out of the tournament after losing 1-4 to Deng Haohui. In the women’s draw, four Indians advanced to the knockout rounds with Amee Kamani topping Group D with an all-win record to enter the last-eight stage as the second seed. The top four in the reseeding after the league phase advanced directly to the quarterfinals. Keerthana Pandian too topped her group, but finished fifth (on frame average) to make the pre-quarterfinals. Also moving into the last-16 were promising Natasha Chethan, who finished second in Group E, and Anupama Ramachandran (No. 2 in Group F). (PTI)
Anahat makes winning start; Abhay, Senthilkumar bow out
New Delhi, Nov 11: India’s reigning women’s national champion Anahat Singh made a winning start at the China Open in Shanghai on Tuesday but compatriots Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar lost in the men’s opening round. Delhi teenager Anahat, ranked 38th in the world, beat Egypt’s Menna Hamed 11-6, 11-8, 11-3 in their round of 32 contest of the PSA Gold event. Anahat will next meet Egyptian eighth seed and world No. 15 Sana Ibrahim. Abhay lost to Baptiste Masotti, with the French world No. 17 winning by margin of 11-8, 11-7, 11-4. Senthilkumar went down to higher-ranked Egyptian Mohamed Abouelghar 8-11, 12-14, 6-11. (PTI)
FIDE World Cup: All draws keep five Indians in hunt
Panjim, Nov 11: Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi remained in the hunt for a place in the finals as all the Indians drew their first game of the fourth round of World Chess Cup here on Tuesday. Erigaisi did not have to face too many problems against Peter Leko who was happy with a draw with white pieces. The Indian is expected to come out all the guns blazing in the return game. Praggnanandhaa was worse when Daniil Dubov decided it was not much to look forward to. It was clear that Dubov was hoping to take his chances. As things turned out, Grandmaster P Harikrishna also did not mind the draw against Nils Grandelius of Swesen. Nils is someone known to be chasing the higher prize fund but for Harikrishna, it does not matter much. (PTI)
Firing outside Naseem Shah’s ancestral home in Pakistan
Lahore, Nov 11: Unknown assailants fired at the gate of Pakistan pacer Naseem Shah’s ancestral home in Lower Dir district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but the bowler decided to stay with the team for the first ODI against Sri Lanka as nobody was harmed in the incident. A source close to Naseem confirmed the incident which is being investigated. The match against Sri Lanka is being held in Rawalpindi on Tuesday. “Naseem and most of his family members now reside in Islamabad but he has close relatives in Lower Dir who stay at the ancestral home,” the source said. He said that Naseem, after speaking to his family, was assured that the incident is being looked into and he should focus on his cricket. “Naseem then decided to remain with the team which plays its first match today,” the source said. (PTI)
