Advani in last 32

Hurghada: Ace cueist Pankaj Advani led the charge as a fine showing by the Indian contingent saw all the members qualify from their respective categories to the knockout stage of the IBSF World Snooker Championship, here on Wednesday. 

Advani outplayed Belgium’s Peter Bullen 4-0 to advance to the last-32 stage. Chitra Magimairaj, Amee Kamani, Vidya Pillai, Arantxa Sanchis and Varsha Sanjib also advanced.

Ghosal ousted

Bellevue: Indian ace Saurav Ghosal bowed out of the World Squash Championship after going down to England’s James Willstrop in the second round, in Washington, here. Ghosal was beaten 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 in a second round match on Tuesday.

Golf meet

Dubai: Anirban Lahiri will tee up on Thursday at the DP World Tour Championships at the Earth Course, on the Jumeirah Golf Estates, here. Lahiri becomes only the second Indian after Jeev Milkha Singh to tee up here. Jeev played in 2009 and 2012, and had a best finish of tied-13 in 2012. 

Boxing team

New Delhi: Olympic bronze-medallist MC Mary Kom is the lone woman boxer in a six-strong Indian team which has been selected by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) to compete in its Test event for next year’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Soumya leads 

Calcutta: Soumya Swaminathan of PSCB continued her winning streak to lead the table after Round VI of the 42nd National Women’s Premier Chess Championship here on Wednesday. Soumya defeated Neha Singh of Bihar.

Messi doubtful

Barcelona: Barcelona forward Lionel Messi is looking sharp in training but remains a doubt for Saturday's ‘El Clasico’ against Real Madrid, teammate Luis Suarez said. 

Jadeja 13th

Calcutta: Riding on his superb showing against South Africa, Indian left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja jumped eight rungs to be placed on a career-high 13th spot in the ICC bowlers’ rankings, led by Proteas pacer Dale Steyn.