Easy for Paes-Raja in Petersburg Open
IN THE LASTEIGHT STAGE, PAES AND RAJA ARE UP AGAINST FOURTH SEEDS MARCUS DANIELL AND MARCELO DEMOLINER,
NEW DELHI: Leander Paes and Purav Raja, who are trying to establish as a pair on the ATP World Tour, progressed to the quarterfinalsoftheStPetersburg Openwithastraight-setwinover Fabio Fognini and James Cerretani.
TheIndiansbrushedasidethe challenge of the Italian- American 6-3, 6-4 in one hour andseven minutes.
Paes and Raja converted four ofthe10breakpointstheyearned and saved three of the five break points they faced on their serves.
In the last-eight stage, Paes and Raja are up against fourth seeds Marcus Daniell and Marcelo Demoliner, who rallied to beat Austrians Julian Knowle andAlexanderPeya3-66-410-6in their first round match.
INDONESIATOSTAGE40 SPORTSAT2018ASIAD
ASHGABAT,TURKMENISTAN: Indonesia will host a total of 40 events at next year’s Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang after reachingadealwiththeOlympicCouncil of Asia (OCA), the head of Indonesia’s organising committee said.
Withlessthanayeartogountil theGamesopennextAugust,the final programme had been in doubt before an agreement was reached during a meeting on the sidelines of the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, currently taking place in the Turkmenistan’s capital Ashgabat.
Under the agreement, the Games -- larger than the Olympics both in terms of the number of sports and competitors -- will incorporate40sportsand462gold medal events.
Thefinalnumberisdownfrom the 42 sports that the OCA announced in March, but one morethanthe39thatIndonesia’s organising committee (INASGOC) had proposed.
“Basically, we had already agreedon39sportsbut thepolicy that we have to follow is what is on the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan so that is why a new one has come up,” INASGOC secretarygeneralErisHerryantosaid, after Indonesia presented their final plans to the OCA general assembly on Wednesday
AUSTRALIAINVITEDTO 2022ASIANGAMES
SYDNEY:Athletes from Australia andtherestofOceaniahavebeen invited to compete at the 2022 AsianGames,AustralianOlympicchiefJohnCoatessaidThursday, days after the Olympic Council of Asia said such a move was unlikely.
TheOCA’sinvitetotheGames in China’s Hangzhou is for selected sports only to enable regionalathletestoqualifyforthe 2024 Paris Olympics through Asian competition, Coates said.
Oceania---Australia,NewZealand and a swathe of Pacific islands --- has not taken part in theregionalOlympicsbefore,but sportingtieswithAsiahavebeen growing.
Australia has been a member of the Asian Football Confederation since 2006