Negi wins title

Philadelphia: Teen grandmaster Parimarjan Negi proved his extraordinary chess skills by winning the Philadelphia International Open Tournament ahead of illustrious names including GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly here.

Negi, the second youngest GM in chess history, signed peace pact with woman grandmaster Eesha Karvade in the final round on Monday ending a clear first with seven points out of a possible nine and a winner’s purse of $2000 in the field of 39 players from five countries, including 14 Indians.

Landis loses final appeal

Lausanne: Floyd Landis lost his final chance to retain 2006 Tour de France title on Monday, the last step of a long, multimillion-dollar process that poked holes in the anti-doping establishment but ultimately left the cyclist as just another convicted cheater. A three-person panel at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne upheld a previous panel’s decision, ruling that his positive doping test during the Tour two years ago was, indeed, valid.

Scolari keen on Robinho

Madrid: Real Madrid’s Robinho could come to Chelsea with the coach, Luis Felipe Scolari, reportedly keen on him, according to Spanish media reports on Monday. Robinho is under contract with the two-time defending Spanish champions through 2010, but has been linked with Chelsea and Manchester United. Portugal midfielder Deco has already signed for Chelsea, the English Premier club said, for £8 million.

Thuram out

Madrid: Former France captain Lilian Thuram and striker Santi Ezquerro will be looking for new clubs after their FC Barcelona contracts ended on Monday. The 36-year-old Thuram retired from international football this year.

Gurbaz to lead

New Delhi: Mid-fielder Gurbaz Singh will lead an 18-member Indian hockey squad in the upcoming junior Asia Cup to be held in Hyderabad from July 11.

THE SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Sreejesh P.R., Mrinal Chaubey; Fullbacks: Diwakar Ram, Innocent Kullu, Manjeet Kullu; Midfielders: Gurbaz Singh (captain), Vivek, Ranjit Singh, Vikas Sharma, B Horro, Amandeep Ekka; Forwards: Mandeep Antil, S.V. Sunil, Gurminder Singh, Jagwant Singh, Pramod, Roshan Minz, Danish Mujtaba; Stand-By players: Harjit Singh (goalkeeper), Samir Baxla (fullback), Virender Lakra (midfielder), Dharam Vir, Jujhar Singh (forward); Coach: S.P. Bansal.

Anand slides

New Delhi: Despite sliding five points from Elo 2803, world champion Viswanathan Anand continued to reign supreme in the latest world rankings issued by the international chess federation (Fide). K. Sasikiran (2684) and P. Harikrishna (2668) are the other Indians among the top 100 occupying 38th and 53rd positions, respectively. Surya Shekhar Ganguly (2631) is a distant 103rd.

Among women, India’s Koneru Humpy maintained her second spot behind Judith Polgar of Hungary.