Advani, Chawla bow out

Bangalore: In a major upset, seven-time world champion Pankaj Advani and Kamal Chawla crashed out in the semi-finals of the IBSF World Snooker Championship, on Friday.

Advani was thrashed 1-7 by Lee Walker of Wales, while Chawla lost 2-7 to Iran’s Hossein Vafei Ayouri in one-sided encounters. Walker played a very calculated game, not giving an opening to Advani to gain the upper hand in each of the frames, except the first.

Hong Kong Open

Hong Kong: Jyoti Randhawa (tied 29th) and Anirban Lahiri (tied 53rd) were the only Indians to post respectable scores after the second round of the Hong Kong Open, on Friday. Jeev Milkha Singh, SSP Chowrasia, Gaganjeet Bhullar and others are likely to miss the cut.

Rory McIlroy shared the lead with Spaniard Alvaro Quiros.

Tiger tied 2nd

Thousand Oaks: KJ Choi birdied his opening five holes for a 6-under 66 that gave him a three-shot lead over Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker at the Chevron World Challenge on Thursday. Woods looked as good as he did in Australia, making his fourth birdie with a 3-iron to an elevated green on the par-5 fifth that covered the flag in the foothills of Sherwood Country Club.

Anand opener

London: World champion Viswanathan Anand will take on local favourite Michael Adams in the opening round of the London Chess Classic 2011, the last major event of the year, here on Saturday.

Caroline coach

Copenhagen: Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark has hired Spanish coach Ricardo Sanchez. Wozniacki said Sanchez is replacing her father Piotr who “wanted to get a little bit of time off the court”.

Hewitt wildcard

Melbourne: Former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt has been handed a wildcard for the Australian Open.

New job

Calcutta: Former East Bengal coach Philippe de Ridder has signed with United Sikkim FC as head coach, sources said.

WSH matches

New Delhi: The upcoming World Series Hockey has something to cheer about as the Sports Authority of India has given them permission to conduct matches at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here and shifted the national camp for the Olympic qualifiers to Bangalore.

Kaneria bid

Lahore: In a bid to revive his international career, discarded leg-spinner Danish Kaneria met the newly-appointed Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Zaka Ashraf. A PCB official said Kaneria informed the PCB chairman that despite having submitted clearance certificates from the ICC and Essex police, he was being ignored by selectors.

Staff reporter & Agencies