SPORTS CAFE

Sania-McHale cruise semis at Cleveland

CLEVELAND: India's Sania Mirza and her American partner Christina McHale cruised to the semifinals of Tennis in the Land tournament with a straight set win over Lucie Hradecka and Shuai Zhang here. Mirza and McHale hardly broke a sweat, beating Czech Republic's Hradecka and her Chinese partner Zhang 6-3 6-3.

Henry replaces Allen in Kiwis squad

CHRISTCHURCH: New Zealand pacer Matt Henry has been called into the squad for the Bangladesh tour as a replacement for batsman Finn Allen - who is in quarantine and recovering from COVID-19. Allen will remain with the team and continue to be monitored by New Zealand team doctor Pat McHugh.

Arsenal boss Arteta hints at more transfers

LONDON: With transfer deadline day less than a week away, Mikel Arteta has hinted that more Arsenal signings could be imminent. However, Arteta insisted that Arsenal would not sell captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang if he were to become a target for Manchester City. City remain keen to add a striker to their ranks and Aubameyang is rumoured to be in their sights.Arsenal will travel to face City in the Premier League on Saturday.

China ready for World Cup qualifying

BEIJING: While it may be one of soccer's biggest underachievers, China's national team is the envy of Asia in terms of preparation for the 2022 World Cup. Serious resources are being poured into qualifying for next year's World Cup in Qatar, which will mark the 20th anniversary of China's first and, to date, only appearance at FIFA's premier event.China kicks off the third round of qualification on Sept. 2 against Australia and then meets Japan five days later. Both those teams were unbeaten and topped their groups in the second round, while China had its struggles before advancing.

Barty to take on Zvonareva in Round 1

NEW YORK: Wimbledon champion and world No.1 from Australia Ashleigh Barty, fresh off her Cincinnati success last week, will open against 2010 US Open runner-up Vera Zvonareva of Russia at the US Open beginning August 30. The Australian could also face a second-round test against a fastrising former junior world No.1, Clara Tauson if the 18-year-old Dane gets past Clara Burel of France, according to the draw released on Thursday evening.

Williamson eyes ICC T20 World Cup

AUCKLAND: Following the World Test Championship (WTC) triumph over India, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson has set his sights on the ICC T20 World Cup to be held in the UAE and Oman in October-November this year, saying he has a "pretty well balanced side" to do the job. Falling at the semifinal stage at both the 2007 and 2016 tournaments, Williamson's men are one of strongest teams on paper going into the T20 World Cup, and a spot in the final-four will be the minimum goal. "I think we've got a pretty well balanced side with a good mix of exciting new talent and some experience," said Williamson on Thursday evening.

3 Indians enter finals of Asian Jr boxing NEW DELHI:

Three Indian boxers stormed into the finals of the Asian Junior Championships in Dubai with dominating victories in their last-four stage bouts. Tanu (52kg), Nikita Chand (60kg) and Vishu Rathee (48kg) were the ones to make the final, on Thursday.Tanu defeated Nepal's Swostika 5-0, while Nikita got the better of Uzbekistan's Mukhusa Tokhirova by a similar margin. Rathee, on the other hand, took less than two minutes to wind up the proceedings, outclassing Mongolia's Otgonbat Yesunkhuslen in her semifinal bout.

Assam hikes pension for sportspersons

GUWAHATI: The Assam government has decided to observe Bhogeswar Baruah's birthday on September 3 as the Sports Day and announced to increase the pension for the sportspersons, sports organisers and technical personnel, officials said here on Friday. Arjun awardee Baruah is the first Assamese to win a gold medal at an international event. He was the winner of the coveted medal in an 800-metre running event in the 1966 Asian Games. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma decided to increase the regular monthly sports pension from Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 for sportspersons, organisers and technical officials.

India's singles challenge ends in US Open

NEW YORK: India's singles challenge came to an end at the US Open qualifiers after Prajnesh Gunneswaran was handed a straight-set defeat by American Christopher Eubanks in the second round here. The world no.156 Indian, who was looking to make his second appearance in the US Open main draws, went down 3-6 4-6 to Eubanks, ranked 216th, in a 50-minute showdown on Thursday night. The 31-year-old Gunneswaran had qualified for the main draw in 2019, when he had lost to Russia's Danil Medvedev in the opening round.

Sethuraman wins, K Murali third

BARCELONA: Indian Grandmaster S P Sethuraman won the Barcelona Open chess tournament title here while compatriot Karthikeyan Murali finished third. Sethuraman (Elo 2644) collected 7.5 points from nine rounds to emerge winner on the basis of a better tie-break score after Daniil Yuffa of Russia also finished level with the Indian player.

Wild round for Indian Shubhankar

CRANS MONTANA (Switzerland): Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma endured a wild ride in the opening round of the European Masters as he carded a 2-under 68 that placed him Tied-33rd here.

Guyana Warriors end TKR's unbeaten run SAINT KITTS:

Guyana Amazon Warriors kicked off the 2021 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with a nine-run win over defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders on Thursday. The Knight Riders won the toss and put the Amazon Warriors into bat and despite Shimron Hetmyer's fifty they were able to restrict their opponents to 142-7.