Sharma misses cut at Houston Open ahead of Augusta Masters

Shubhankar Sharma missed a lot of easy putts on the second day of the Houston Open and missed the cut. Yet, he can be satisfied with his game as he heads to Augusta Masters two days earlier than planned.

Making his debut at Houston Open, Sharma, a two-time winner on Asian and European Tours, was one-over 73 on first day and needed to get to at least 4-under to have a chance of making the cut. He finished at twounder 70 for a total of one-under 143, but missed the cut by two.

HUMBLE (US):

SAMEER ENTERS LAST 4

Sameer Verma emerged as the lone Indian survivor at the Orleans Open World Badminton Super 100 tournament as he reached the semifinals with a hard-fought win over local hope Lucas Corvee.

Top seeded Sameer, who clinched the Swiss Open last month, saw off eighth seeded Corvee 17-21, 21-19, 21-15 in a battle that lasted an hour and eight minutes at the Palais des sports.

ORLEANS(FRANCE):

ZVEREV IN MIAMI FINAL

German fourth seed Alexander Zverev beat Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6(4), 6-2 on Friday to set up a Miami Open final showdown against bigserving American John Isner, who earlier overwhelmed Juan Martin del Potro.

The German will now set his sights on collecting his seventh ATP Tour title and third Masters 1000 crown when he faces 14thseed Isner in Sunday’s final.

MIAMI:

IOC CHIEF MEETS KIM

North Korea will take part in the next two Olympic Games in Japan and China, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said on Saturday after meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang.

Bach travelled to Pyongyang on Thursday in a visit that comes after North Korea’s participation in the Pyeongchang Winter Games helped ease tensions over the Korean peninsula.

BEIJING: