Prajnesh advances, Ramkumar out

NEWDELHI: Third seed Ramkumar Ramanathan was knocked out of the ATP Challenger event in Ningbo, China after a stupendous start but his compatriot Prajnesh Gunneswaran advanced to the second round on Monday. Ramkumar took the opening set for the loss of just one game but Korea’s Yunseong Chung turned the tables on the Indian, winning the opening round match 1-6, 7-6(7), 7-6(2) in two hours, 16 minutes. Left-handed Prajnesh moved to the pre-quarterfinals after taming Mohammad Safwat 7-6(2), 6-2 in one hour, 29 minutes.

CHUNG TOP DRAW

PUNE: South Korean tennis player Hyeon Chung, who defeated winner of multiple Grand Slam titles Novak Djokovic earlier this year, will be the star attraction at the Tata Open Maharashtra beginning in December. The World No 26 is expected to be a top draw at the ATP 250 event. The 22-yearold made waves at the 2018 Australian Open, where on his way to the semi-final against Roger Federer, he stunned world No 5 Alex Zverev in Round of 32. But what created ripples was handing sixtime Melbourne Park winner Djokovic a straight-sets defeat in the round of 16.

AVINASH IN SEMI-FINAL

NEW DELHI: Former junior champion Avinash beat Gurdit Singh 4-1 with a break of 82 -- the highest in this championship so far -- in a quarter-final knockout match of the Delhi State 15-Red Senior Snooker Championship at Megapool Academy here on Monday. Avinash won 45-65, 76-56, 86-23, 76-56 and 56-43. Other result: Rishabh Jain b Jaison Malhotra 65-45, 71-23, 56-42, 87-33.

NEHRU HOCKEY

NEWDELHI:It was a day of one-sided encounters in the Nehru sub-junior hockey tournament with Danapur’s Army Boys Sports Company thrashing Rajnandgaon Senior Secondary School 14-0 to move into the super league. Delhi’s Government Boys Sr Sec School (Ghuman Hera) also stamped its authority, scoring a 13-0 win over Kolkata’s Nandy Singh Academy. Amritsar’s Ray One International School scored a 13-0 win over Noble International School, Bhilwara.