Shock loss for Gupta

Paris: Abhijeet Gupta suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Kaido Kulaots of Estonia and went out of contention for a podium finish after seventh round of the 31st Cappelle La Grande international chess tournament here.

Vidit Santosh Gujrathi was held to a draw by Federico Perez Ponsa of France and Vishnu Prasanna and Sahaj Grover drew with Mykhailo Oleksiyenko of Ukraine and Vincent Riff of France respectively.

Lost sprinter

London: Jimmy Thoronka, a sprinter from Sierra Leone, who disappeared after competing in last year's Commonwealth Games (4x100 metres relay), has been sleeping in parks and on night buses while begging for money to buy food, in London, afraid to return home because of the Ebola virus, an English daily reported on Friday. "During the Games I got the terrible news that my uncle had died, probably from Ebola... I wanted to go to London for a while but my bag with my money and passport in it was stolen," he said. While watching an African TV channel, Thoronka discovered that his entire immediate family had been killed by the virus.While watching an African TV channel, Thoronka discovered that his entire immediate family had been killed by the virus.<>

Gerrard injury

London: Brendan Rodgers said the fitness of Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, who has been sidelined with a hamstring problem, would be assessed before the tie against Blackburn Rovers in the quarter final of the FA Cup, on Sunday. If he does not play, the in-form Jordan Henderson will continue with the captain's armband.

One-shot lead

Kochi: Rahil Gangjee and Mukesh Kumar hold a one-shot lead going into the final round of the PGTI Cochin Masters presented by CIAL Golf & Country Club. Gangjee and Kumar shot scores of 65 and 66 in round three to be joint leaders at eight-under-208. Sri Lankan Anura Rohana returned the tournament's best score of eight-under-64 to be tied third along with Gaganjeet Bhullar at seven-under-209.

Poor show

Doral: Anirban Lahiri finished with eight-over 80, at the Blue Monster in Doral at the WGC-Cadillac Championship on Thursday. A disappointed Lahiri said, "It was tough out there, but I was fine for the first stretch. Then things did not go my way. I have to pick myself up for the next 3 days."