New Delhi: Ankita Bhambri would be carrying the lone Indian hope in the semi-finals of the ITF women’s tennis championship after second seed Rushmi Chakravarthy was made to bite the dust on Thursday.
Chakravarthy was troubled by an injury in her right hand and could not find rhythm eventually going down to fifth seed Montinee Tangphong of Thailand 1-6, 2-6.
Seventh seed Bhambri had no problems in making it to the last four as her opponent, fourth seed Shikha Uberoi of US, retired due to a back spasm. Chia Jung-chuang of Chinese Taipei moved into the semi-finals with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Kinjo Satomi of Japan while Jie Hao of china overcame Wilawan Choptang of Thailand 6-0, 7-5.
New York: Pete Sampras, who retired from tennis with a record of 14 Grand Slam singles titles, fears a spate of positive dope tests has sullied the game’s image, according to his former coach Paul Annacone. “We have talked briefly, and he along with many others can’t figure out why so many tests are coming back with elevated levels,” Annacone said on Thuesday. “The current players are concerned, and he also realises it hurts the integrity of the game.”
But Annacone said that Sampras also said that it was important not to jump to conclusions.
Dakar: Senegal coach Guy Stephan will remain in the job for the time being because the government had not yet approved the soccer federation’s decision to sack the Frenchman, a federation spokesman said on Thursday.
The federation fired Stephan in March, following Senegal’s quarter final elimination at the African Nations Cup finals in Tunisia amid accusations of indiscipline and lack of control over the country’s top players.
Seoul: South Korea coach Humberto Coelho’s future was in the balance on Thursday after he failed to receive unanimous backing from the Korea Football Association (KFA).
The KFA’s technical committee was split on whether to continue supporting Coelho, who has faced intense criticism since South Korea’s humiliating 0-0 draw against the Maldives in a World Cup qualifier last week.
Coelho was criticised by local media after last Wednesday’s result against the Maldives, ranked 142nd in the world.
Berlin: Brazilian striker Ailton has made an embarrassing about-turn and says he will move to Gelsenkirchen when he joins Schalke 04 in July, just days after describing the city as ugly and unexciting. “Everything that I’ve heard about Gelsenkirchen until now is a disaster. It’s not supposed to be nice and young people apparently have few opportunities to have fun,” the Bundesliga’s top scorer, told NDR Info radio on Tuesday.
By Thursday, Ailton was apologising to Schalke’s fans and promising to atone by scoring goals.
Lima: Peru coach Paulo Autuori says he will not be pressured into resigning despite calls for his head after a humiliating 2-0 home defeat by Colombia last week in the World Cup qualifiers. “ When I have something to announce, I will,” he said.
Sport on Screen
Cricket, Straight Drive on 10.30am on TEN Sports
Motorsport Asia
Golf, Augusta Masters, Day II live from 12.30am (Saturday) on STAR Sports
