Anand draws with Wesley So; finishes joint second

St. Louis (USA)

Viswanathan Anand finished joint second after playing out a draw with Wesley So of United States in the Sinquefield Cup. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France deservedly won the Sinquefield Cup with his best ever performance in an elite tournament. Finishing with a tally of 5.5 points out of a possible nine, Anand also gained some valuable rating points to inch closer to the 2800-rating mark. With seven draws and two victories, Anand has moved to seventh place in the world ranking. 

Paris
Bajrang defeats Mann in World Championships trial

Bajrang Punia will represent India in the men’s 65kg freestyle event at the World Wrestling Championships, having beaten Rahul Mann at a special selection trial held today. Bajrang thrashed Mann 10-0 to make it to the final list of shortlisted players for the championship, commencing on August 21. Earlier, Mann emerged as the winner in 65kg category during the selection trials held in Sonepat last month, but Bajrang submitted an application to the Wrestling Federation of India, communicating his inability to take part in the trials due to viral fever and requesting that the final trials in his weight category be held after his recovery. Mann then suffered from a minor neck injury and the final trial in 65kg category could not be held.  

Berlin
Archers end campaign without a medal

The Indian archers ended their campaign at the World Cup Stage 4 without a medal as the men’s compound team went down to a lower-ranked Germany to lose out on a third-place finish. The third seeded Indian team comprising Abshisek Verma, Aman Saini and Amanjeet Singh lost 225-227 to Germany, seeded fifth, in a bronze medal play-off match. Both India and Germany were locked 57-all after the first end but Germans produced a stunning second end to take a 115-111 lead. — Agencies