Graham is the new SL coach

Calcutta: Graham Ford has been appointed Sri Lanka coach, replacing Geoff Marsh, it was announced Wednesday. The former South Africa coach will begin his assignment with the tri-series in Australia next month. A statement from SLC thanked Marsh for his services. It also thanked Anura Tennekoon, who has been replaced as team manager by Charuth Senanayaka.

BCCI’s take

Mumbai: The BCCI president N Srinivasan said there is no need for a “knee-jerk” reaction and the Sachin Tendulkars should not be put under pressure. “There is no need for a knee-jerk reaction. We have faith in the team,” said Srinivasan when asked whether the Indian team’s performance calls for major changes.

Duleep Trophy

Calcutta: East Zone will have their task cut out when they take on the formidable West Zone in the Duleep Trophy quarter final, which begins at Valsad on Friday. Natraj Behera is leading the East.

Meanwhile, South African Shaun George will be one of the umpires officiating in the tournament, BCCI joint secretary Sanjay Jagdale said in a release.

Sourabh wins

Bangalore: Sourabh Varma notched up a straight-game victory over B Sai Praneeth to clinch the Senior National Badminton Championship title here on Wednesday. He defeated second seed Praneeth 21-19, 21-19. P V Sindhu beat second seed Neha Pandit 21-9 21-14 in the women’s final.

Damani ousted

Pune: Maharashtra’s Arun Agarwal caused the biggest upset of the day by beating Bengal’s Brijesh Damani in the National Billiards Championship, here, on Wednesday. Sourav Kothari made it to his first national billiards quarters with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Railways cueist S Simachalam.

Gupta shocked

Gibraltar: GM Abhijeet Gupta suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of Stefan Kuipers of Holland in the first round of Gibraltar Chess festival.

Steller show

Wijk Aan Zee: P Harikrishna put up another sterling show to beat Illya Nyzhnyk of Ukraine and stretch his lead to a full point after the end of the ninth round of the ‘B’ group of Tata Steel Chess Tournament here.

Swuro reigns

Calcutta: Chekrovolu Swuro bagged the women’s recurve 70m title in the Senior (Recurve and Compound) National Archery championship on Wednesday. She scored 330 points while Deepika Kumari came second with 326 points.

Our Bureau & agencies