Saina battles into semifinals, Srikanth stunned

Orleans (France): Saina Nehwal beat USA’s Iris Wang 21-19 17-21 21-19 after a thrilling contest to reach the semifinals of the Orleans Masters badminton tournament. It is the first semis in two years for world No. 20 Saina, who is desperate to accumulate ranking points to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. However, top Indian male player Kidambi Srikanth suffered a shock straight-game defeat to lower-ranked Toma Junior Popov of France in the men’s quarterfinals.

Shubhankar fires 66 for T-30, Bhullar ends up T-42

Nairobi: Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma holed six birdies on way to a superb five-under 66 in the final round to sign off at tied-30 at the Kenya Savannah Classic today, while Gaganjeet Bhullar could not find the momentum in the final and carded a 72 to drop from T-27 to T-42. Daniel Van Tonder of South Africa won the title.

Ibrahimovic makes winning return, Greece hold Spain

Stockholm: Zlatan Ibrahimovic made a winning return to international football with Sweden after nearly five years, setting up Viktor Claesson’s 35th-minute winner in the 1-0 win over Georgia. Greece and Spain played out a surprising 1-1 draw in Granada, while Germany beat Iceland 3-0 in their Group J game. Agencies