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Thu, Nov 5 06:11 AM

Chandra in bronze play-off

Pankaj Advani crashed out but compatriot Manan Chandra kept medal hopes alive in the 15-Red Snooker discipline of the third Indoor Asian Games in Hanoi. Advani lost 65-10 49-81 41-65 72-67 11-56 68-42 39-65 to Jin Long of China while Chandra beat Wenbo Liang of China (4-0) 65-43 61-58 61-30 78-34 in the quarterfinals before losing 75-17 64-73 16-68 44-42 52-42 22-62 36-54 to Nadeer Khan Sultani in the semis.

Prakash enters quarter-finals

Prakash Amritraj overcame a second set lapse to beat Andis Juska of Latvia 6-1 2-6 7-6(4) and book a quarter-final berth in the ATP Challenger event in Chuncheon, Korea. The unseeded Indian held his nerves in the final set tie-breaker to march into the last-eight stage of the $1,00,000 hard court event. He will next play Dutch Igoi Sijsling, who ousted third seed Lukas Lacko, for a place in the semifinal. Fourth seed Purav Raja and Sadik Kadir scored an easy 6-3 6-2 win over Greg Jones of Australia and Pavel Snobel of Czech Republic to enter the doubles semi-finals.

Somdev, Sanam advance

Somdev Devvarman survived a scare from wild card Denes Lukacs of Hungary while Sanam Singh pulled off an upset win over sixth seed Grega Zemlja at the ATP Challenger event in Charlottesville in the United States. Third seed Somdev won 6-3 2-6 7-5 in his opening clash of the $50,000 hard court event. Sanam claimed the scalp of sixth seed Slovakian with a 6-2 5-7 6-4 win in his first round match. Top seeds Harsh Mankad and Treat Conard Huey suffered a 6-7(1) 5-7 first round defeat to local wild card duo of Cory Parr and Todd Paul.

Spain debate 'Beckham law'

Spain is set to begin debating whether to put an end to the "Beckham Law" that allows foreign footballers to pay half as much tax as regular citizens. The governing Socialist party made a pact in parliament with two other parties to debate whether foreign players who earn at least ($883,000) should pay 43 per cent tax instead of the current 24 per cent. The law was named after David Beckham became the first foreigner to arrive since the law came into effect in 2004.

Sandeep expects better results

Back from a successful Canada tour, India hockey captain Sandeep Singh said the national team was working hard for a good showing in the three major events next year but cautioned against high expectations as it can have adverse affect on their performance. "We are performing well and working hard to put up a good performance in 2010. I personally feel there should not be too much hype before these events. Sometimes with expectations come pressure, which can affect our performance," Sandeep said.

Football academy in Bangalore

The foundation stone for the International Football Academy of FIFA Goal Project II was laid at the Bangalore Football Stadium. The academy will be jointly managed by FIFA, All India Football Federation and Karnataka State Football Association (KSFA). Sikkim and Andaman have also been shortlisted for setting up of such an academy.

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