SONA POLO WIN TIGHT OPENER AT INDIAN MASTERS

NEWDELHI: Sona Polo beat Cavalry-Piccadilly 5-4 in the opening game of the Indian Masters Polo at the Jaipur Polo Ground here on Tuesday. Dhruvpal Godara helped Cavalry-Piccadilly take lead with the first goal of the match. In the second chukkar, Sona Polo captain Sunjay Kapur slotted in the first goal for his team to bring the teams level. Sona took lead heading into halftime as Abhimanyu Pathak converted a 30-yard and 60-yard penalty before the end of second chukkar.

The third chukkar saw no goals. Cavalry-Piccadilly came back strong in the final chukkar with Himmat Singh Bedla and Dhruvpal Godara scoring a goal each to equalise. A foul by Cavalry-Piccadilly gave Sona Polo a chance to clinch victory and Daniel Otamendi scored the 60-yard penalty.

INDIANS SHUTTLE INTO MAIN DRAW

FUZHOU (JAPAN): India’s mixed doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa defeated Niclas Nohr and Sara Thygesen of Denmark in the qualification round of the China Open World Superseries Premier here on Tuesday.

In an intense battle that lasted one hour and four minutes, the Indian pair edged past the Danes 21-16, 19-21, 22-20 to qualify for the prestigious meet. Both sets of players played brilliantly in all three games. But in the end, the Indians clinched the issue. They will now take on Mathias Christiansen and Christinna Pedersen of Denmark on Wednesday.

ADVANI ENTERS SEMIS OF WORLD BILLIARDS

DOHA:Recently-crowned 17-time world champion Pankaj Advani overcame Singapore’s Peter Gilchrist in the quarter-finals of the long-up format of the IBSF World Billiards Championship 2017 here. Pankaj secured the semifinal berth and a medal for India with the help of a 391 break, highest of the tournament so far, to beat Gilchrist 1000-791.

The Indian ace’s opponent in Wednesday’s semis, Englishman Mike Russell, overpowered his Aung Htay 1000-175.