Indian shuttlers storm into semis
Saina Nehwal and B. Sai Praneeth stormed into the semifinals of the $1,20,000 Thailand Open Grand Prix badminton tournament with contrasting wins in the women's and men's singles quarterfinals. London Olympics bronze medallist Saina was made to toil hard by Japan's Haruko Suzuki before the Indian used all her experience to bounce back in the third game and clinch it 21-15, 20-22, 21-11. On the other hand, Singapore Open champion Praneeth had an easy outing, thrashing lower-ranked Thailand's Kantaphon Wangcharoen in straight games 21-16, 21-17 in less than an hour to sail into the semifinals. World No.24 Praneeth will meet the winner between Thai duo of World No. 11 Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk and World No. 71 Pannawit Thongnuam. The World No. 11 Saina will now take on Thailand's fourth-seeded World No.13 Busanan Ongbumrungpan on Saturday for a place in the final. India's campaign in all the doubles categories have already ended.
Guha's questions handling of Kumble's contract
Eminent historian Ramchandra Guha, who quit from the Committee of Administrators (CoA), has attacked the way in which the contract of Indian cricket team head coach Anil Kumble was handled by the BCCI and accused the CoA of being "complicit" by its "silence and inaction". In a letter to CoA Chairman Vindo Rai, Guha said the national team's "record this past season has been excellent" and even if the players garner the bulk of the credit, surely the Head Coach and his support staff also deserved some credit. Guha also questioned skipper Virat Kohli's role in selection of coach, besides alleging conflict of interest in case of Sunil Gavaskar, Sourav Ganguly, and Rahul Dravid. The letter also questioned the move to give former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni a Grade A Central Contract despite not playing all three formats.
Purav-Divij enter pre-quarters, Paes exits men's doubles
The Indian pair of Purav Raja and Divij Sharan advanced to the pre-quarterfinals after an upset win but their senior compatriot Leander Paes made an exit in the men's doubles of the French Open. The unseeded Raja and Sharan upstaged the 15th-seeded Austrian-Croat combo of Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic 6-4 3 -6 6-4 in a second-round match that lasted two hours and 11 minutes to enter the men's doubles pre-quarterfinals. The duo will next face the 11th seeded team of Jean- Julien Rojer of The Netherlands and Romania's Horia Tecau. Paes and his American partner Scott Lipsky lost 6-7 2-6 to crash out of the tournament.
Nadal, Muguruza, Lopez advance
Nine-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal produced a brilliant display to beat Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-0 6-1 6-0. The fourth seed needed only 90 minutes to see off the Georgian and secured his place in the fourth round.
Meanwhile, Garbine Muguruza clinched a last-16 berth with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Yulia Putintseva, while men's tenth-seed David Goffin retired due to an ankle injury when leading 5-4 in the first set in the third round. Feliciano Lopez marched to the third round after his marathon win over David Ferrer. The 35-year-old victor beat world No. 33 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 in a game that lasted for almost four hours. The Spaniard, world No. 36, is to play the next round against Croatian Marin Cilic, world No. 8, who had an easy victory over Russian Konstantin Kravchuk 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 after one hour and 38 minutes.
PCB bars players, officials from Afghanistan T20 league
A day after the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) cancelled the friendly matches against it, Pakistan on Friday barred its players and officials from the neighbouring country's Shpageeza Cricket League 2017. The league is slated to be held in July. In a retaliatory measure, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) would not be issued to the players who were drafted in Afghanistan's Shpageeza Cricket League this year. The ACB earlier issued a strongly worded statement, cancelling the friendly matches and the initially agreed terms of mutual cricketing relationship with Pakistan in the wake of a truck bombing in Kabul's diplomatic quarter that claimed more than 80 lives and injured hundreds.
Mouma, Manika out of TT World Championships
The dream run of Manika Batra and Mouma Das in the World Table Tennis Championships came to an end as the Chinese duo of Ding Ning and Liu Shiwen outsmarted the Indian doubles team in the quarterfinals in Dusseldorf. The Chinese duo, who are seeded fourth with direct entry in the main draw, won 4-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-1, 11-3) to enter the semifinals. This was by far the best outing for an Indian pair in any world championships and both Manika and Mouma, who set a milestone with her 16th appearance in Germany, had mixed emotions. On Wednesday, the Indian pair got a walkover from the Netherlands and Polish pair of Li Jie and Li Quian in the pre-quarterfinals after the latter fell sick.
Sameer Dighe named Mumbai Ranji coach
Former Test wicketkeeper Sameer Dighe was named the new coach of the Mumbai Ranji Trophy team for the next domestic cricket season. The 48-year-old Dighe, who played six Tests and 23 One-day Internationals (ODI) for India, will take over the mantle from last season's coach Chandrakant Pandit. Another former Test cricketer Praveen Amre was also in the running before MCA's Cricket Improvement Committee, headed by chief selector Ajit Agarkar, put the stamp on Dighe's name.
Real Madrid, Juventus clash in Champions League final
Spanish football giants Real Madrid will hope to become the first team in history to win the Champions League in successive seasons while Juventus will expect their watertight defence to stand tall against their vaunted rivals when the two sides meet in the final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. The feted sides who have won their respective domestic leagues—the Spanish La Liga (Real Madrid) and Italian Serie A (Juventus)—have been in rampaging form going into the final and on Saturday it will be a battle between Real's attack and Juve's defence.
Sampaoli new coach of Argentina football team
Jorge Sampaoli was unveiled as the new coach of the Argentine football team, and said "it is a dream that I sought after for a long time". At a press conference at the Argentinean Football Association (AFA) building in Buenos Aires, Sampaoli said he had "100 players under observation". Until Wednesday, Sampaoli had been the coach of Sevilla club in Spain, with the team finishing fourth in La Liga last season. He was also the coach of the Chilean national team from 2012-2016, leading it to the 2014 World Cup and to victory in the 2015 Copa America. Rumours had swirled that Sampaoli would be taking the job after Edgardo Bauza was fired in April with less than a year in the role. AFA President Claudio Tapia also presented Jorge Burruchaga, who won the 1986 World Cup with Argentina, as the national team's new manager. Sampaoli will first take control of two-time World Cup winners Argentina's reins on June 9, when they face rivals Brazil in a friendly in Australia. The first competitive match for the new management will take place in August in a World Cup qualifying game in Uruguay.
