Shubhankar Sharma, Manu Gandas struggle in first round

Crans Montana (Switzerland)

Indian golfers Manu Gandas and Shubhankar Sharma struggled in the first round of the European Masters here and were placed tied-68th and tied-122nd, respectively. Gandas had four birdies but also gave away three bogeys in his card of 1-under 69 at the Par-70 course. Sharma shot a 2-over 72.

Rancho Mirage (US)

Three golfers enter 2nd stage of LPGA Q-School

Pranavi Urs and Sneha Singh led three Indians into the second stage of the LPGA Qualifying School, playing on three different courses over four days here. Pranavi, who will represent India at the Asian Games, and Sneha were placed tied-38th. Sharmila Nicollet also moved into the next stage as she finished tied-89th. The qualified players will get a status on the Epson Tour, which is qualifying tour of the LPGA, for 2024. Nishtha Madan already has the Epson Tour status.

Chennai

Gukesh replaces Anand as India’s top chess player

Teenaged Grandmaster D Gukesh has replaced the legendary Viswanathan Anand as India’s top chess player. Anand had been India’s No. 1 since July 1986. The 17-year-old from Chennai recently lost in the quarterfinals of the FIDE World Cup to Magnus Carlsen. He is ranked No. 8 in the world, while Anand, a five-time world champion, is No. 9. R Praggnanandhaa, who reached the World Cup final, rose to No. 19.

London

Jayant to play four County matches for Middlesex

India spinner Jayant Yadav today signed up with Middlesex to play the last four matches of the ongoing County Championship season. For the 33-year-old Yadav, it will be a second consecutive County stint.

Madrid

Women’s league players to strike for better pay in Spain

Players in the Spanish women’s league are going to strike for better pay and conditions during the first two rounds of the upcoming season, Spain’s main players’ union said. The AFE union said that the strike seeks “fair and just treatment for the players” including a reduction in the salary gap with men players of La Liga. The minimum salary for men in the first division is ^182,000 but for women, just ^16,000.

Brussels

Lukaku gets Belgium call-up despite lack of playing time

Belgium’s record scorer Romelu Lukaku has been called up to their squad for this month’s European Championship qualifiers, coach Domenico Tedesco said, despite the striker not yet playing this season. Lukaku signed a one-year loan deal at AS Roma on Thursday and could start on the bench against AC Milan. — Agencies 

Sreeshankar qualifies for Finals

Murali Sreeshankar finished fifth in men’s long jump with a first-round jump of 7.99m. He qualified for the Diamond League Finals in third place with 14 points. Sreeshankar, who had failed to qualify for the finals in the World Championships, led the field after the first round. But he slowly slipped out of the top-three as he could not improve upon his first round jump. Olympics and world champion Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece won gold with a final-round jump of 8.20m.

Lyles, Sha’Carri light up track

Triple world champion Noah Lyles won the 200m in 19.80 seconds in his first race since the World Championships, where he picked up gold medals in the 100, 200 and 4×100 relay. He was one of nine recently crowned world champions who followed up their titles with wins in Zurich. Sha’Carri Richardson easily won the women’s 100m in 10.88 ahead of a strong field that included Jamaican duo Natasha Richardson and Elaine Thompson-Herah.