Rublev into NextGen semi-finals

MILAN - Top seed Andrey Rublev reached the ATP NextGen semi-finals on Thursday, edging out Canadian shot-maker and third seed Denis Shapovalov 4-1, 3-4 (8/10), 4-3 (7/2), 0-4, 4-3 (7/3). Russian star Rublev became the third semi-finalist of the inaugural tournament after Hyeon Chung of South Korea and Croatia's Borna Coric. Later Thursday, Karen Khachanov's hopes of squeezing into the last four ended when Coric battled to a 3-4, 2-4, 4-2, 4-0, 4-2 win. Khachanov's defeat means that Russian compatriot Daniil Medvedev, who earlier defeated Jared Donaldson in four sets, will make up the semi-final line-up. "It was a really, really tough match," world number 37 Rublev said. "I'm really happy that in the end I made it." In Friday's semi-finals, Chung tackles Medvedev while Coric meets Rublev.–AFP

 

 

China's Feng holds one-shot LPGA lead

SHANGHAI - China's Feng Shanshan is on course to become the first back-to-back winner of the 2017 season as she battled swirling winds to take a one-shot lead in the Blue Bay LPGA on Friday. Roared on by her home crowd on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, victory in the final round on Saturday at Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Club could also propel the world number three to the top of the rankings, depending where current number one Park Sung-Hyun finishes. "Given that today was actually very, very windy, I really held up ground, especially with my approach shots to the greens," the Chinese, who shot a one-over-par 73, told LPGA.com. "Obviously I made a lot of mistakes and I had a lot of recovery shots as well. But overall I'm happy with the past three days' performance."–AFP

 

Rizwan, Irfan enter Int’l badminton semis

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s Rizwan Azam and Irfan Saeed Bhatti, Vietnam’s Duc Phat Le and Turkey’s Emre Lale of Turkey entered the semifinals of $9000 Pakistan International Series Badminton Tournament here Friday at Liaqat Gymnasium. In the quarterfinals, Duc Phat Le toppled M Ali Kurt of Turkey 21-11, 21-16 while Rizwan Azam beat Nepal’s Ratnajit Taranang 2-1, 10-21, 21-17, 21-16. Pakistan’s Irfan Bhatti thumped Ajlalad Ahmed 21-15, 21-13 while Turkey’s Emre Lale routed Pakistan’s Azeem Sarwar 21-15, 21-13. In ladies singles quarterfinals, Pakistan’s Sehra Akram beat Ghazala Siddiqui 23-21, 21-10 while Mahoor Shahzad edged past Bushra 21-9, 21-16. In men’s doubles quarterfinals, Turkish pair of Le Thanh Lam/Quang Dinh Tran defeated Pakistan’s M Rizwan/Fazal Rehman 21-17, 21-15.–Staff Reporter

 

Leisure Leagues football matches held

ISLAMABAD - Azi Champ beat Arbaco 5-0 in a football match held at Stadium E11 under Leisure Leagues. Sadain hammered a hat-trick and Hassan a brace. Roots Ivy thrashed Unpredictable 4-1. Thanks to another hat-trick from man-of-the-match Ghayoor and one from Mohsin. FC Falcon were thrashed 5-0 by Yen Club with team captain Ehsan scoring two goals. Due to personal reasons, Toru United of Mardan couldn’t show up and were forced to forfeit the match in favor of Demi Jr, who finally got a win after three consecutive defeats. At Total Football Ayub Park, MFC beat SMD 3-2. From Total Football Chak Shahzad, Ravens and Shooterz were awarded walkovers whiel NWA and PMFC battled out an entertaining 1-1 draw. Real Atletico prevailed and became the first team to register a win over MIFA.–Staff Reporter

 

PSA’s scrabble tournament tomorrow

LAHORE - Pakistan Scrabble Association’s (PSA) has been organising a scrabble tournament at DHA Club, J Block, DHA Phase-I tomorrow (Sunday) at 9am. Khalid Javed, member of the organising committee, said that the tournament will be played according to the rules for international scrabble events. These rules will be explained before the start of tournament by PSA representative. The interested participants can register in the event by November 11 on numbers 03224497635 and 03334762309. “The Collins scrabble word dictionary 2015 (CS W15) will be followed/consulted to find out validity of a word being played,” he added. The tournament will be played in three categories of premier, masters and amateurs. Pakistan Postal General Manager Ejaz Minhas will grace the occasion as chief guest.–Staff Reporter