IPL SET TO START FROM SEPT 19 IN UAE, FINAL SLATED ON NOV 8

The Indian Premier League will start on September 19 in the United Arab Emirates with the final slated on November 8, well-placed BCCI sources told PTI on Thursday.

While the IPL Governing Council will meet next week to chalk out the final details and approve the schedule, it is understood that the BCCI has informally intimated the franchises about the plan.

While there were speculations that IPL will start from September 26, the BCCI decided to advance it by a week in order to ensure that Indian team’s tour of Australia is not jeopardised.

NEW DELHI : INTER HELD AS JUVE POISED FOR TITLE

MILAN: Inter Milan’s goalless draw against Fiorentina on Wednesday left Juventus needing just one more win to claim a ninth consecutive Serie A title.

Antonio Conte’s Inter are third, one point behind Atalanta with three games to play, despite having dominated for long periods against Fiorentina. “Second place is for losers,” said Conte. A Romelu Lukaku header hit the woodwork after 18 minutes with Alexis Sanchez also missing a chance for the winner just after the break.

CARLSEN BEATS ANAND IN LEGENDS OF CHESS

CHENNAI:FORMER world champion Viswanathan Anand suffered his second consecutive loss, going down to world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in the second round of the $150,000 chess24 Legends of Chess online tournament.

The Indian had kept the Norwegian ace in check in three games of the best-of-four contest before slipping 1.5-2.5 by in the final game late on Wednesday.

He had gone down by a similar margin to Russia’s Peter Svidler in the opening round.

THIRD STRAIGHT DRAW FOR HARIKRISHNA

CHENNAI: Indian Grandmaster P Harikrishna drew his third round game against Noel Studer of Switzerland in the Classical event of the 53rd Biel International Chess Festival in Switzerland on Thursday.

The world No. 26 Indian is in fourth spot with 13.5 points after the 52-move draw against his Swiss opponent.