Paes, Nestor advance to quarters of Topshelf Open
s-Hertogenbosch (The Netherlands): The second seeded pair of Leander Paes and Daniel Nestor advanced to the quarterfinals of the Topshelf Open following a comfortable straight sets win. Paes and Nestor beat the unseeded Spanish pair of Bautista Agut and Gimeno-Traver 6-4 6-3 in the Euro 604,155 grass court event. The second seeds converted five break chances and dropped serve thrice in the match that ended in just 59 minutes. They await the winner of the other first round match between the pairs of Nicolas Mahut/Guillermo Garcia and Lopez/Philipp Oswald.
Kolkata
England in search of ODI revival vs New Zealand
England, not for the first time, will try to re-launch themselves as a ODI side when they face World Cup finalists New Zealand in the first of a five-match series at Edgbaston. Since they made the third of three losing World Cup final appearances back in 1992, England have struggled to keep up with changes in the 50-over game. But this year’s World Cup represented a new low, with England failing to beat a single Test nation in a tournament where they suffered a first-round exit after a defeat by Bangladesh. An antiquated approach, where 300 was regarded as a par score, was damned as “prehistoric” by Paul Collingwood, still the only Englishman to skipper the side to a global limited overs trophy — the 2010 World Twenty20 in the Caribbean.
Johannesburg
State appeal over Pistorius case set for Nov: court
South African athlete Oscar Pistorius is set to be released from prison on parole in August after serving 10 months for culpable homicide in the killing of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, a family member said. The Paralympic track star is currently serving a five year prison sentence after being convicted in October following a seven-month trial. “Oscar will be released on parole by the end of August,” a Pistorius family member who did not want to be named said. The release of Pistorius was largely expected because he was sentenced under South African law to serve a short period of time in jail, or just one-sixth of the sentence. Officials at South Africa’s department of correctional services did not comment. — Agencies
