Bharadwaj wins bronze in junior Shotgun World Cup

Teenager Shapath Bharadwaj today won a bronze medal in the double trap event while Lakshay Sheoran and Manisha Keer combined to win a bronze in the mixed team trap competition at the ISSF Junior Shotgun World Cup in Porpetto, Italy. The 15-year old Bharadwaj shot a 48 in the final to finish behind gold-medal winning Briton James Dedman and Finland's Miki Ylonen. Dedman smashed his own junior world record in the event, finishing with a final score of 70, while Miki had 66. Lakshay and Manisha beat the US pair of Sevin Edward Layer and Emma Lee Williams 34-33 in the bronze medal match. 

St Louis (USA)
Anand finishes ninth in Louis Rapid and Blitz Chess 

Former world champion Viswanathan Anand had another disappointing day as the Indian finished ninth in the St. Louis Rapid and Blitz Chess tournament. Anand got seven points in the rapid section spread over nine rounds and another seven in the blitz to finish on a combined tally of 14 points in the 10- player field. The final day saw Anand winning one game, losing three and drawing the remaining five games. The sole victory in the entire blitz came against Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia.  After a super performance in rapid section, there was no stopping Levon Aronian of Armenia who expectedly won the title with a huge three-point margin. 

Abu Dhabi
Harika shares spoils in fifth and sixth rounds

Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli played out draws against compatriot Eesha Karavade and Spain’s Antonio Pazos Porta in the fifth and sixth rounds, respectively, of the Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival here. The world No. 9 Indian, playing with white pieces for her first game of the day, got off to a flying start against Eesha. But she could not capitalise on the advantage as Eesha led the game towards neutral territory. “I didn’t see much happening in the first game and offered a draw, which she gladly accepted,” Harika said. The draw in the fifth round put Harika up against Porta. She had to be at her defensive best to contain the attack from her Spanish opponent. However, it was the Spaniard who offered to share the spoils after just 20 moves and Harika accepted. “The position was dead equal and my opponent couldn’t break my defensive strategy, so he offered a draw,” Harika said.

Beijing
Two Chinese cricketers to play in PSL

Two Chinese cricketers have been drafted to play in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) next year, giving a boost to the fledgling sport in China. The duo will represent Peshawar Zalmi in the next edition of PSL. China has both men and women cricket teams, but they have so far failed to make a mark on the international stage.

New Delhi
Paes teams up with Raja for US Open  

Leander Paes has teamed up with Purav Raja for the Winston-Salem Open and the US Open. Raja is only the sixth Indian to pair up with the veteran legend on the pro circuit. Raja formed a very successful pairing with the left-handed Divij Sharan but since they failed to defend 250 points at Los Cabos, where they won the title last year, they lost 15 places each in the ranking list. With their combined rank of 137 (Sharan 68 and Raja 69), they anticipated that as a team they would not have entered the US Open, where the cut last year was around 130, and decided to split. Paes, ranked 59, has paired with Raja and Sharan with Germany’s Andre Begemann. — Agencies