Vidit Gujrathi loses playoff to finish second

Prague

Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi lost a playoff to finish second in the Prague Chess Festival. After an exciting final round, five players, including Gujrathi, finished in tied-1st with five points from nine rounds. To decide the winner, the two best players with tie-break scores faced off in a blitz to decide the champion, and Gujrathi was pitted against 16-year old Alireza Firouzja of Iran. Firouzja underlined his potential by winning both the games to capture the title.

Rio Grande (Puerto Rico)

Lahiri, Atwal tied-33rd at Puerto Rico Open

Anirban Lahiri recovered from an early double-bogey with an impressive show in the closing stage of the second round of the Puerto Rico Open. Lahiri carded another 2-under 70 to get to a 4-under 140 and tied-33rd. Arjun Atwal had a great second round at a 5-under 67 to join Lahiri at 4-under and tied-33rd. Norwegian Viktor Hovland shot a 6-under 66 for a share of the lead.

Bonville (Australia)

Aditi shoots 69, rises to 24th; Tvesa, Diksha 43rd

Aditi shot a 3-under 69 in the third round to lie tied-24th at the Geoff King Motors Australian Ladies Classic. Aditi followed up her 69-75 with a 69 that brings her back to 3-under at 213. Tvesa Malik (74) and Diksha Dagar (71) were both tied-43.

Melbourne

Agar ‘tricks SA, hails his favourite ‘Rockstar’ Jadeja

Australia’s hat-trick hero Ashton Agar has described “rockstar” Ravindra Jadeja as his favourite player and said a chat with the India spin-bowling all-rounder has helped him to turn things around. The 26-year-old Agar has revealed how a chat with Jadeja during Australia’s ODI tour of India last month inspired him ahead of his match-winning performance against South Africa at the Wanderers. Agar registered a hat-trick in a five-wicket haul to guide Australia to a massive 107-run victory over South Africa in the first T20I. “I had a wonderful chat with Ravindra Jadeja after the India series. And just talking to him about spin bowling, he said to keep trying to spin the ball. So I was pretty inspired by talking to him,” Agar said. Brief Scores: Australia: 196/6 (Smith 45; Shamsi 2/31, Steyn 2/31); South Africa: 89 (du Plessis 24; Agar 5/24)

Dhaka

Ervine hits ton as Zim post 228/6 vs Bangla on Day 1

Skipper Craig Ervine scored a dogged century as Zimbabwe shared the honours with Bangladesh on the opening day of the one-off Test. Brief Scores: Zimbabwe: 228/6 (Ervine 107, Masvaure 64; Nayeem 4/68); Bangladesh

Colombo

1st ODI: Hasaranga stars as SL beat WI by 1 wicket

A late cameo by Wanindu Hasaranga helped Sri Lanka pull off a thrilling chase to edge out West Indies by one wicket in the first ODI. Brief Scores: West Indies: 289/7 (Hope 115, Bravo 52; Hope 3/82); Sri Lanka: 290/9 (Karunaratne 52, Fernando 50, Hasaranga 42*; Joseph 3/42) — PTI

Barcelona Masters: Jayaram loses to Vitidsarn in semifinals

Barcelona: Ajay Jayaram (in pic) crashed out of the men’s singles semifinals of the Barcelona Spain Masters after suffering a straight-game loss to Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn. The unseeded Indian gave a tough fight in the opening game before surrendering 20-22 12-21 in the last-4 clash. With Jayaram’s defeat, India’s campaign in the tournament came to an end. — PTI

I-League: Bagan thrash Churchill 3-0

Madgaon (Goa): Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan overwhelmed Churchill Brothers 3-0 to dispel any doubts of a freeze with the crucial business end of the I-League season approaching fast. Senegalese striker Papa Babacar Diawara started the blitz as early as the sixth minute in the reverse-leg, with second-half strikes from VP Suhair and Tajik midfielder Komron Tursunov driving home the visitors’ dominance over the hosts. Had the Mariners not missed sitters towards the end of the game, they could have garnered even a bigger win. Coaches Bernardo Tavarez of Churchill and Kibu Vicuna of Mohun Bagan were forced to make changes due to suspensions. — PTI

ISL: Late goals help ATK hold Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Two late goals by ATK cancelled two scored in the first half by Bengaluru FC as their ISL match ended in a 2-2 draw. Bengaluru FC ended their league stage with 30 points and could possibly finish fourth, should Chenniayin FC win their final league game against NorthEast United. Dimas Delgado (18th) and Kevaughn Frater (35th) were on the scoresheet for the home side while substitute Edu Garcia (86’) and Michael Soosairaj (90’) scored for the visitors. Carles Cuadrat handed Kevaughn Frater his first start as he partnered Thongkhosiem Haokip upfront. Antonio Habas, like his Bengaluru counterpart, kept several of his star players on the bench as he named Dheeraj Singh in between the sticks. — PTI