Pune beat Awadhe Warriors 4-1 to enter PBL semis
Hyderabad
Rituparna Das stunned world No. 14 Beiwen Zhang in straight games as Pune 7 Aces beat Awadhe Warriors 4-1 to seal their semifinal berth at the Premier Badminton League. Rituparna beat Zhang of America 15-13 15-12 in Warriors’ Trump match. The Aces are the third team to make it to the last-4 stage with Chennai Superstarz and North Eastern Warriors already sealing their respective berth.
Thiruvananthapuram
Rizvi, Rhythm shine in National Shooting trials
Shahzar Rizvi of the Indian Air Force emerged triumphant in the men’s 10m air pistol T1 trials while Haryana’s Rhythm Sangwan won the women’s 25m pistol T1 competition at the National Shooting Trials for rifle and pistol disciplines. Rizvi shot 241.5 in the men’s 10m air pistol final to outlast Naveen of Haryana who finished with 241.1. Arpit Tomar of Uttar Pradesh came third. In the women’s 25m pistol event, Haryana recorded a 1-2 when Rhythm topped the final charts with 28 hits to statemate Gauri Sheoran’s 26. Maharashtra’s Abhidnya Ashok Patil came third with 23. Earlier, Rizvi had shot 578 in the qualifying to bag the eighth and the last qualifying spot. In the women’s event, Rhythm qualified fifth with a score of 572, while Gauri was seventh with 570. Abhidnya had the best qualifying score among the trio with a top finish with 582. — Agencies
SAO PAULO
Players clash with fan, spark riot in Brazilian match
A Brazilian derby match was interrupted by a riot on Sunday started when a supporter ran onto the pitch and was wrestled to the ground by a player from the away team who was in turn accidentally kicked by a teammate. Avai were winning 2-0 away to local rivals Figueirense in Florianopolis when video images showed shirtless fan ran towards their team bench. The fan was hauled over by reserve goalkeeper Avai’s Gledson before teammate Bruno Silva aimed a kick at the fan — who was now on the ground — but accidentally struck his teammate instead. Riot police came onto the field and led the fan away along with several others who had managed to get past the perspex barriers surrounding the pitch.
Madrid
Injured Morata faces race to be fit for Liverpool test
Atletico Madrid confirmed on Monday that Alvaro Morata has suffered a muscle injury, with the striker in doubt to face Liverpool in the first leg of the Champions League last-16. Atletico play Liverpool at the Wanda Metropolitano on February 18. Diego Costa and Joao Felix are both currently out injured.
Los Angeles
Simpson rallies for Phoenix Open play-off win over Finau
Webb Simpson birdied the last two holes of regulation, then birdied the first play-off hole to deny Tony Finau and claim his sixth US PGA Tour title at the Phoenix Open on Sunday. Simpson nabbed his first title since 2018, firing a 2-under par final round of 69 on the TPC Scottsdale Stadium Course for a 17-under total of 267.
Paris
Melbourne winner Kenin breaks into top-10
Sofia Kenin’s rise to a career-high seventh in the world after her Australian Open triumph over Garbine Muguruza was confirmed Monday with the publication of the latest WTA rankings. Ash Barty remained at the top ahead of Simona Halep, who replaced Karolina Pliskova.
New Delhi
Fed Cup postponed for three weeks due to virus
The Fed Cup competition, which was moved out of China and scheduled to begin from Tuesday in Kazakhstan, has been postponed for three weeks due to the outbreak of Coronavirus. — Agencies
