Williams edges Keys in Zhuhai opener
HONG KONG - Top seed Venus Williams opened the inaugural WTA Elite Trophy in southern China with a tight three-set win over fellow American Madison Keys on Tuesday. The seven-time Grand Slam-winner came from a set down to win 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 as she seeks to end her season with a 48th career title. The Elite Trophy, which follows last week’s WTA Finals for the top eight women, is a new event featuring the players ranked nine-20 and held at a purpose-built facility in Zhuhai, which borders gambling haven Macau. The initial draw selected four pots of three players also including Caroline Wozniacki and JelenaJankovic who will compete for the $2.5 million purse. Williams, aged 35 and ranked 11th in the world, is enjoying an Indian summer in her career exemplified by her victory at last month’s Wuhan Open.–AFP

I’m staying put: Chelsea boss Mourinho
LONDON - Jose Mourinho insists he does not fear for his Chelsea future and believes he will be at the club until his current contract runs out in 2019. The manager is under growing pressure after a disastrous run of results and reports of unrest within his playing squad. But speaking ahead of Chelsea’s Champions League game with Dinamo Kiev, Mourinho made it clear he expects to see out the four-year contract he signed in August. The manager refused to comment on whether he had met club owner Roman Abramovich but when asked how long he thought he had left in the job, he said: “I have four years. In this case, three years and seven months, or something like that.” Mourinho dismissed suggestions that the experience of handling the worst run of results in his career would make him a better manager.–AFP

Marquez looks to avoid spotlight
MADRID - Defending MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez has said he hopes his spat with championship leader Valentino Rossi doesn’t spoil a tense title decider in the Valencia Grand Prix on Sunday. Rossi leads Yahama teammate Jorge Lorenzo by seven points heading into the final race of the season as he seeks an eighth premier category world championship. However, the Italian may have to start from the back of the grid after kicking Marquez off his bike as a long-running war of words spilled over at the Malaysian Grand Prix last weekend. “It’s been a difficult week after what happened in Sepang, but I’ve tried my best to put it behind me and concentrate on my training and looking forward to the final race of the season,” the Spaniard said in statement by his Honda team.–AFP

Six Indians arrive to feature in Sr Tennis
LAHORE - Six Indian players including Pawan Jain, Vinod Kumar, Harsh Sharma, Rakesh Kholi, Sushil Suri and Parsad Apte have arrived the city to take part in the 23rd Pakistan ITF Seniors World Ranking Tennis Championship being played here at Bagh-e-Jinnah PLTA tennis courts. In 35 age group men’s singles, Khan Wakeel, Said Hassan, Haider Ali, Talha Waheed, Salamat Shehryar, Khalil Umer Ayyaz and Irfan ullah Khan score wins. In 45 men’s singles, Rizwan Adeel, M Nawaz Afzal, Israr Gul Khan and Raheed Malik register wins. In men’s 65 singles, Shahid Mehmood and Ahmad Laiq Pirzad were winners while Vinod Kumar was winner of men’s 50 age group. In 35 men’s doubles, Imtiaz Khurram-Sohaib Mushtaq and Irfanullah Khan-M Afzal Nawaz scored wins while in men’s doubles 45, Faisal Majeed-M Arif were winners.–Staff Reporter

SJAL election to be held on 9th
LAHORE – The Sports Journalists Association of Lahore (SJAL) general council has announced the election commission for the body's upcoming elections to be held on November 9. SJAL president Syed Ali Hashimi presided over the meeting and briefed about working of the association by its secretary Ch Ashraf. The house finalised the date of elections as November 9 and named senior sports journalists Sarfraz Ahmad as election commission and Qayyum Zahid and Rafiq Khan as its members. The election commission said that in a day or two, election schedule will be announced for the filing of the nomination papers for the positions of president, secretary and treasurer, who, after their elections, will name the executive committee and governing body in accordance with the constitution.–Staff Reporter