CSA nod to players for IPL
Durban: Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Monday said it has no objection in sending the country’s players for the ensuing Indian Premier League (IPL)scheduled from April 10 in Mumbai.
CSA spokesperson Michael Owen-Smith said CSA has no objection “whatsoever” to their national cricketers playing in the IPL.
“CSA has taken no decision objecting to our players being involved in the IPL. Any suggestion to the contrary is not true,” Owen-Smith said. Owen-Smith said safety of players is a matter for the players and their teams concerned.
Humpy leads
Istanbul: Top seed Grandmaster Koneru Humpy scored a crushing victory over Elina Danielian of Armenia to jump into sole lead in the second round of the IS Bank Ataturk FIDE Grand Prix chess tournament here.
With her second victory on the trot, Humpy took her tally to 2 points out of a possible 2 and steered a half point clear of former world champion Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria, Martha Baquero Fierro of Ecuador and Chinese duo of Yifan Hao and Zhao Xue, all of whom have 1.5 points.
Fixing charge
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia have accused China of match-fixing after the badminton powerhouse secured a clean sweep at the All England championships, a report said Monday.
Rashid Sidek, the Malaysian singles chief coach, said the Chinese team had arranged for defending champion Chen Jin to retire from his semi-final in Birmingham on Saturday to allow compatriot and Olympic champion Lin Dan an easy path to the final.
Agassi return
Washington: Andre Agassi will make his return to competitive tennis by participating in the 30-and-over Outback Champions Series event in October at Surprise, Arizona.
Bartoli best
Monterrey (Mexico): Marion Bartoli of France beat China’s Li Na 6-4, 6-3 to win her fourth WTA title and first in more than two years at the Monterrey Open on Sunday.
Ronaldo scores
Rio de Janeiro: Brazilian striker Ronaldo, playing only his second game since a knee injury last year, scored an injury-time equaliser to give his new club Corinthians a 1-1 draw with archrivals Palmeiras on Sunday.
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