A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
India's SSP Chawrasia mastered windy conditions to grab the first-round lead at the Hong Kong Open with a superb five-under-par 65 in the co-sanctioned event on Thursday.
Starting on the 11th hole, the six-time Asian Tour winner dropped a lone shot on the fifth but sank his sixth birdie on the ninth to finish one shot ahead of compatriot Shubhankar Sharma and Englishman Matthew Fitzpatrick.
"I'm playing well today. I'm hitting well and (playing) some putts well," Chawrasia said. "Very tough conditions today. I'm very happy with my five under."
Fitzpatrick dropped a shot on the first before reeling off a hat-trick of birdies and the Englishman grabbed a share of the lead when Chawrasia bogeyed the fifth.
The Indian sank a 15-footer on the ninth to stay ahead of the chasing pack.
Belgian Thomas Detry, Welshman Jamie Donaldson, Swede Marcus Kinhult, South African Keith Horne, Filipino Angelo Que, Thai Poom Saksansin and American Micah Lauren Shin returned three-under.
Playing alongside Fitzpatrick, European number one Tommy Fleetwood, fellow Englishman Justin Rose and seven others were a further shot behind.
Defending champion Sam Brazel and Rafa Cabrera Bello were bunched among 16 players at one-under.
Sumit shocks top seed Kavcic, to face Yuki in semis
India's unseeded Sumit Nagal shocked top seed Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia to book a semi-final clash with compatriot Yuki Bhambri in the Bengaluru Open ATP Challenger.
Kavcic was tipped to win the quarterfinal tie but Sumit outplayed him in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 at the KSLTA Stadium.
In the semi-finals, Sumit will face Yuki who defeated compatriot Prajnesh Gunneswaran 7-5, 6-2 in another quarter-final match of the $ 100,000 tournament.
Yuki had beaten Spain's Pedro Martinez 6-2, 7-6 on Wednesday to enter the quarter-finals.
Ankita downs Thai Plipuech to enter quarters for first time
India's Ankita Raina continued her impressive progress in the $ 125,000 L&T Mumbai Open by outclassing her higher ranked opponent Peangtarn Plipuech of Thailand in straight sets to make a maiden entry into the singles quarter finals of a WTA Series event.
Ankita, who defeated Russian Veronika Kudermetova also in straight sets in the first round of the WTA series event on Wednesday, looked much more impressive as she totally dominated her Thai rival, ranked 244, 6-2 6-2 in an hour and seven minutes in the round of 16 clash at the Cricket Club of India courts.
The Indian woman, who returned serve well, hit fluently on both flanks and also played some delicate drop shots, broke her rival's serve three times in each of the two sets to come out convincing winner. She dropped her serve once each in either set.
The 24-year-old Ankita, ranked 293, will now meet Amandine Hesse of France, ranked 257th, for a place in the semi-finals. The French woman defeated qualifier Deniz Khazuniuk 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 in another pre quarter final clash that lasted 2 hours and 23 minutes.
India static at 105th in FIFA rankings
The Indian football team remained static at 105th in the latest FIFA rankings.
India drew with Myanmar 2-2 at home in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers during this ranking period
Among the Asian Football Confederation countries, the Indian team occupies 15th, ahead of the likes of Jordan, North Korea and Bahrain.
Iran led the Asian rankings while world champions Germany are on top of world rankings.
Advani sweeps round robin stage at World Snooker
India’s top cueist Pankaj Advani made a clean sweep in the round robin stage by smashing Brazil's Victor Sarkis 4-0 in the World Snooker Championships in Doha.
Advani also grabbed the top seed spot in the draw of 64.
In the last frame of the tie, the 17-time World Champion scored a mammoth 138 break from start to finish, registering the highest break of the tournament so far.
While he has dropped only two frames in the four league matches, Advani is yet to find his full range in snooker.
“I’m still transitioning from billiards to snooker. Two days were definitely not enough, but with the 138 as well as getting top billing in the knockout draw I must be doing something right I suppose," he said.
Advani went on to say "now is when the competition gets better and more challenging. In elimination rounds, every win is a big deal."
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