Prajnesh stunned as India trail against Croatia
ZAGREB: Unforced errors pulled Prajnesh Gunneswaran down against Borna Gojo, considered a weak link in the rival line-up, as India trail 0-1 against top seeds Croatia in the Davis Cup Qualifiers here on Friday.
India’s strategy to target Gojo fell flat with the young Croat trumping higher-ranked Prajnesh 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and 57 minutes.
Gojo, ranked 277th, had not won a singles match in the Davis Cup and the Indians were hoping that the trend will continue. Gojo peppered returns on Prajnesh’s backhand side and served big. More importantly, he handled pressure better than the Indian.
HARIKA WINS AGAIN, REMAINS IN JOINT LEAD
LAUSANNE: Indian Grandmaster Dronavalli Harika posted a second straight win, beating Nana Dzagnidze in the fourth round to remain in joint lead at the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix chess tournament here.
Harika, the world No 9, has three points after four rounds and shares the lead with Aleksandra Goryachkina of Russia, who beat Antoneta Stefanova of Bulgaria. Harika outclassed her Georgian opponent late on Thursday in 27 moves in a queen pawn opening capitalising on an error in the 25th move.
RASHID STAGES SOLID COMEBACK
SHAHALAM,MALAYSIA:RASHID Khan staged a fine comeback on the second day to give himself a good chance of making the cut in the Bandar Malaysia Open.
After a 76 on first day, Rashid, the only Indian inside top-200 in the world, had six birdies in first 10 holes. Play was later abandoned for the day.
LAHIRI STARTS WITH POOR 74 AT PALMER
ORLANDO,FLORIDA:ANIRBAN Lahiri had just one birdie and three bogeys in a card of two-over 74, which left him in a precarious tied-80th place after the opening round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational on the PGA Tour here.
Lahiri’s sole birdie came on fourth and it was flanked by a bogey on either side and he ended the day with a bogey. He had a three-putt bogey on fifth.
WADA LETS OFF FOUR INDIAN ATHLETES
NEW DELHI: The World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) on Friday gave a reprieve to four Indian athletes whose samples were tested positive for performanceenhancing drugs at New Delhi’s National Doping Testing Laboratory (NDTL) last year. However, the results were negative upon re-analysing the samples at a WADA accredited lab in Rome.
Navin Aggarwal, director of the National Anti-doping Agency, said the athletes—two track and field athletes, one cyclist and one fencer —will get the benefit of doubt.