AIFF names Gurpreet, Sanju year’s best players

New Delhi

Indian men’s team goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and women’s team’s mid-fielder Sanju were today declared the winners of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) Footballer of the Year awards for the 2019-20 season. This is the first time Sandhu has received the award. He has become the second goalkeeper, after Subrata Paul (2009), to get the award.

Punta Cana (Dominican Rep.)

Lahiri shoots 3-under, lies 29th; Atwal struggles

Anirban Lahiri staged a superb fightback after an early setback to shoot a 3-under 69 in the first round of the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship. Lahiri, who had a triple-bogey on the second hole and a bogey on the third, started the recovery soon after with an eagle on the fourth. Lahiri had six birdies against just one more bogey. He is tied-29th. Arjun Atwal had a rough front-nine with bogeys on first and ninth and a double on eighth, but on the back-nine, he birdied three times to finish at 1-over 73 to be tied-105th. Four players share the lead at 7-under.

Paris

French Open crowd sizes cut to 1,000 per day

Already repeatedly trimmed, crowd sizes for the French Open have been reduced again — to only 1,000 spectators per day — because of the worsening coronavirus in Paris. The new limit is reduced from 5,000 per day. “It’s a bit of a tough blow,” tournament director Guy Forget said. Tickets will be refunded “with a bit of heartache because we are convinced that we would have been able to welcome the 5,000 people in question who we had been counting on,” he said.

New York

Davis, James power Lakers to verge of NBA Finals

Anthony Davis scored a game-high 34 points, while LeBron James added 26 as Los Angeles Lakers never lost the lead over the final three quarters en route to a 114-108 victory over Denver Nuggets in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals. The top-seeded Lakers hold a 3-1 lead in the series.

London

Liverpool, Man City advance in League Cup

Liverpool teenager Curtis Jones scored twice in a 7-2 victory over Lincoln in the League Cup, and defending champion Manchester City edged past Bournemouth 2-1. Agencies