Zvonareva reaches first WTA QF since 2012
BEIJING - Former world number two Vera Zvonareva reached her first WTA quarter-final since 2012 at the Shenzhen Open Wednesday, overcoming Turkish qualifier Cagla Buyukakcay in straight sets. But the 6-3, 7-6 second round scoreline belied a hard-fought match for the Russian against a relative unknown who is ranked more than 100 slots above her. Zvonareva reached the finals of both Wimbledon and the US Open in 2010, but her career has since been blighted by illness and injury and she is attempting to start a 2015 comeback at the $500,000 tournament. She will face Swiss number eight seed Timea Bacsinszky in the quarter-final. Top seed Simona Halep, Romania's world number three, needed just over an hour to dispose of 17-year-old Russian wildcard Natalia Vikhlyantseva, ranked 584, 6-2, 6-2.–AFP

Hirscher wins Zagreb slalom
ZAGREB - Austria's triple overall World Cup champion Marcel Hirscher won Tuesday's night slalom ahead of his main rival Felix Neureuther of Germany and Norway's Sebastian-Foss Solevaag. The 25-year-old Hirscher, leading overall, won both races to eventually finish 0.81sec ahead of Neureuther, who was fourth after the first race. Solevaag finished 1.04sec behind the winner for his first podium. It was Hirscher's third consecutive victory at Sljeme, the mountain peak overlooking Zagreb, after 2012 and 2013. Last year's event was not held due to unfavourable weather conditions. "Today I skied maybe my best Zagreb race." With Sunday's win Hirscher became the Austrian skier with the most slalom wins -- 15. The two others who had 14 slalom victories are Benjamin Raich and Mario Matt.–AFP

Kraft wins Four Hills title as Amman falls
BISCHOFSHOFEN - Austria's Stefan Kraft on Tuesday won the Four Hills title despite the victory of compatriot Michael Hayboeck in the final event at Bischofshofen. The final round of the competition was marred by the fall of Swiss Simon Ammann, a four-time Olympic champion, who missed the landing on his second jump and was stretchered off unconscious. Kraft, 21, claimed his first World Cup victory in the opening round of the Four Hills in Oberstdorf, Germany on December 29. And a week later he added his name to the illustrious winners of the event with jumps also at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany and Innsbruck in Austria. Kraft had carried a 23.1 point lead on overall World Cup leader Hayboeck into the final event, but conceded 9.5 points after Hayboeck jumped 137.5m to Kraft's 133.5.–AFP

National Ranking Tennis Championship
ISLAMABAD - Top seed M Abid was given quite a tough time by Imran Shaukat in the 1st Kulsum Saifullah Khan national Ranking Tennis Championship, but he recovered well to register 2-1 victory in the quarterfinal here at PTF Complex on Wednesday. Abid won the first set comfortably 6-1, however, in the second set, Imran found the range on his serve and volley game and won it 6-4 by breaking the ninth game of Abid. In the third set, Abid showed his class and won the final set 6-3. Upcoming junior player M Muzammil was pitted against seed second seed Yasir Khan. In the first set, Muzammil had a set point in the tiebreak but experienced Yasir pulled it off 7-6 (5). In the second set, Yasir was good enough to win it 6-0. The fourth seeded Shahzad Khan used serve and volley and chip and charge tactics to disturb the rhythm of seven-seeded Ahmed Chaudhry and won the encounter 6-3, 6-3. Abid Ali Akbar edged out Yaseeb Yaqoob 6-1, 6-1. In U-18 singles, unseeded M Raza Sawani stunned second seed Hasnain Manzoor. In the ladies singles quarterfinal, Sarah Mahboob Khan thrashed Khunsha Babar 6-1, 6-0 while teen-ager Mahin Aftab beat Meheq Khokhar in a well contested three sets 5-7, 6-2, 6-4. Top seed Sara Mansoor routed Noor Malik 6-2, 6-1. In boys’ U-14 pre-quarterfinals, Huzaifa Abdul Rehman beat Shahsawar Khan 4-0, 4-0; Nauman Aftab beat Mustafa Qazi 4-1, 4-0; M Said beat Kashan Umar 4-0, 4-0; Waleed Anwar beat M Aqib 4-0, 4-1; Shoaib Khan beat Abdulah 4-1, 4-0; Aqib Umar beat M Saifullah 4-2, 4-0; Saqib Umar beat M Ahmed Ehtesham 4-0,4-1.–Staff Reporter