Harikrishna stuns Aronian to climb to top spot

Geneva 

Indian Grandmaster Pentala Harikrishna dished out a stellar performance to beat world No. 4 Levon Aronian of Armenia in the sixth round to climb to the top of the leaderboard at the FIDE Grand Prix chess tournament. With this win, Harikrishna has inched closer to a podium finish in the Candidates tournament. The world No. 22 Indian, playing with black pieces, started on a balanced note but capitalised as the top seed Armenian slipped with a miscalculated move. “It was a balanced position throughout the game but he miscalculated a move and from there on, I had the upper hand and won the game,” said the Indian.

Irvine (Scotland)

Slow start for Chawrasia and Lahiri at Scottish Open

SSP Chawrasia and Anirban Lahiri made a slow start to the Scottish Open, lying at tied 54th and tied 133rd, respectively, even as the first round was yet to finish at the Dundonald Links here today. Chawrasia, going out in the morning wave, shot an even-par 72 with two birdies and two bogeys, while Lahiri, who is playing on the European Tour for the first time since Indian Open, shot a 4-over 76. Mikko Ilonen took the clubhouse lead with a 7-under 65. Two shots behind him was a pack of six players, including Rickie Fowler and Ian Poulter. “The disappointing part was that I missed at least three-four putts from around 10 feet,” said Chawrasia.

London

Root expects seamers to shine in second Test

Joe Root said England will be unchanged for the second Test against South Africa on Friday at Trent Bridge, where he expects his seam bowlers to make a greater contribution than in the series opener last week. “We’re going in with the same team,” Root said on Thursday as his side look to build on their 1-0 lead in a four-match series. “It gives us a great balance if spin does come into play later in the game, but it might be that our seamers play a bigger part this week and that excites me.” Broad has particularly fond memories of England’s last visit to Trent Bridge as Australia were skittled out for 60 in 2015, with Broad taking 8/15. — Agencies

PEYRAGUDES (France)

Bardet wins stage as Froome surrenders yellow to Aru

Frenchman Romain Bardet timed his final effort perfectly to win the 12th stage of the Tour de France on Thursday, setting up a thrilling second half of the three-week race as defending champion Chris Froome showed a rare sign of weakness. Italian Fabio Aru claimed the overall leader’s yellow jersey as previous leader Froome could not sustain the pace in the final few hundred metres up a steep climb to the finish line.

Madrid

Pique admits Ronaldo favourite to win Ballon d’Or

FC Barcelona defender Gerard Pique admitted that Cristiano Ronaldo is the favourite to win the 2017 Ballon d’Or award. Pique chose Ronaldo over his Barcelona clubmate Lionel Messi following the Portuguese striker’s title win in La Liga and Champions League. Messi and Ronaldo have shared nine Ballon d’Or awards between them since 2008.

Los Angeles

Corrupt former FIFA official Blazer dead 

Corrupt football official- turned-whistleblower Chuck Blazer, whose evidence helped trigger the FIFA bribery scandal, died Wednesday, his lawyers said. Blazer, who was banned for life from all football activities for corruption in 2015, had been battling cancer up to his death. He was 72. — Agencies