Atanu, Deepika in final of archery World Cup

Paris

Star archery couple Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari assured India its first medal from the ongoing World Cup Stage 3 by entering the final of the mixed pair event with a comeback 5-3 win over Spain here today. Atanu and Deepika will face the Netherlands in the summit clash on Sunday. World No. 3 Deepika is also in the hunt for a second medal, having advanced to the individual semifinals. Ace compound archer Abhishek Verma also kept India in hunt for another medal by advancing to the semifinals of the individual section with a 146-146 (10-9) shoot-off win over Martin Laursen of Denmark.

London

Wimbledon qualifiers: Ram fails at last hurdle

India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan saved four match points in a marathon five-setter against Marc Polmans but a Grand Slam main draw eluded him yet again as he lost the final qualifying round at the Wimbledon championships here today. Ramkumar lost 3-6 6-3 6-7(2) 6-3 9-11 to his Australian rival in a three-and-a-half-hour contest.

New Delhi

Target is to reach quarters at Oly: Women’s hockey coach

Indian women’s hockey team chief coach Sjoerd Marijne today said the realistic target for them is to reach the quarterfinals at the Tokyo Olympics and anything less than that would be a big let-down. The team will compete in its second consecutive Olympics in Tokyo. India’s best-ever finish at the Summer Games was a fourth-place finish at the 1980 Moscow Games and Marijne believes the current team has the potential to match it if the players play according to their strength. “The expectations in India are very high. If you are realistic, only two countries are lower ranked than us,” Marijne said. “We are focusing on reaching the quarterfinals and that’s realistic and from there anything can happen.”

Cardiff

England beat Sri Lanka by 8 wickets to open T20 series

England eased to an eight-wicket win over Sri Lanka to open their T20 series. Jos Buttler’s unbeaten 68 led the way as England reached the target of 130 with 17 balls to spare. Sri Lanka were limited to 129/7 after winning the toss.

Sao Paulo

Brazil beat 2-1 Colombia after referee’s accidental pass

Brazil beat Colombia 2-1 in a tense Copa America match that featured three extraordinary goals. After falling behind in the 10th minute, Brazil equalised in the 78th before stealing the win in the 10th minute of added time. Earlier, Ecuador and Peru drew 2-2.

London

Sania loses in women’s doubles first round

Sania Mirza and her doubles partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands lost in the women’s doubles first round at the Viking International Eastbourne. The unseeded Indo-American pair lost 3-6 4-6 to Christina Mchale and Sabrina Santamaria of the USA. In singles, Italian qualifier Camila Giorgi continued her impressive form by removing top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals. Giorgi, a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon in 2018, used her aggressive game to claim a 7-6(5) 0-6 6-4 victory.

London

Wrist injury forces Thiem to pull out of Wimbledon

World No. 5 Dominic Thiem has pulled out of Wimbledon due to a right wrist injury that will keep him out of action for several weeks, the 27-year-old said today. Thiem was forced to retire from his opening match at the Mallorca Open on Tuesday — the Austrian’s first grasscourt event since a first-round defeat at Wimbledon two years ago. Agencies