Kerber tops WTA rankings
PARIS - Germany’s Angelique Kerber ousted Serena Williams from top spot in the WTA rankings Monday despite her fourth-round exit from Indian Wells. Kerber, 29, the top-ranked player in the India Wells draw, returned to number one in the world despite the defeat because Williams missed the event through injury. Elena Vesnina, 30, of Russia, who earlier eliminated Kerber, moved up to 13th in the rankings, her best ever placing. Latest WTA rankins released Monday: 1. Angelique Kerber (GER) 7,515 pts, 2. Serena Williams (USA) 7,130, 3. Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 5,640, 4. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 5,160, 5. Simona Halep (ROM) 5,022, 6. Garbine Muguruza (ESP) 4,790, 7. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 4,555, 8. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 4,345, 9. Madison Keys (USA) 4,007, 10. Elina Svitolina (UKR) 3,850.–AFP

BoP Polo Cup 2017 commences today
LAHORE - The Bank of Punjab (BoP) Polo Cup 2017 will commence today (Tuesday) here at the Lahore Polo Club ground. The 8 to 12 goals event will be participated by three teams including Dollar East/Newage, Total Nutrition and Master Paints (Black). Dollar East/Newage team consists of Farooq Amin Sufi, Alman Jalil Azam, Hamza Mawaz Khan and Hissam Ali Hyder, Total Nutrition team has Ahmed Zubair Butt, Abdul Rehman Monnoo and Bilal Haye while Master Paints (Black) team includes Sufi M Amir, Ahmed Ali Tiwana and Andres Crispo. The inaugural match of the tournament will be contested between Dollar East/Newage and Total Nutrition today (Tuesday) here at 4:30 pm. LPC secretary Col (R) Shoaib Aftab said: “After successfully holding the National Open Polo, the LPC is now going to hold the Bank of Punjab Polo Cup, which will provide polo lovers opportunities to enjoy enthralling and interesting encounters throughout the week.”–Staff Reporter

Yousuf, Shimza win Junior Tennis titles
LAHORE – Yousuf Khan and Shimza Tahir won their respective titles of the 6th SICAS National Junior Tennis Championship which concluded here at PLTA tennis courts on Monday. In u-18 title match, KP’s Yousuf prevailed over teammate Saqib Umer in straight sets 6-3, 6-3. In girls’ u-18 final, Shimza outclassed Esha Jawad in straight sets 6-1, 6-1. In u-18 boys’ doubles, Yousuf and Saqib beat Hafiz Arbab and Ahmed Asjad 6-3, 6-4. In u-16 final, Ahmed Kamil beat Saqib Umer 6-4, 6-0 and in u-14, Abdul Hannan beat Samad Areejo 6-4, 6-3. In u-12, Abdul Hanan Khan beat Samad 8-3 and in u-10, Ahtesham Arif beat Ahtesham Humayun 8-5. In the end, chief guest Salamat School System chairman Saleem Salamat, along with PLTA secretary Rashid Malik, distributed prizes among the winners. The SICAS mini tennis gala also ended with high note with over 40 kids from Salamat School Systems and LGS took part in 2-day gala. SICAS boys garbed the ‘Hand Body E’ye Coordination Speed Agility trophy’ by defeating Salamat boys. SICAS girls Gulberg grabbed speed agility trophy by defeating Lahore Crammer. The boys U-10 title was won by Mustafa Usman Noor from SICAS boys defeating Asher Zubair from SICAS boys 7-5 while girls title was won by Meerab Ijaz from LGS and U-8 title was won by Jasim Niaz. Special PLTA “Scholar athlete award” was given to Mustafa Usman Noor while U-6 was won by Zarnaz Usman Noor from SICAS girls.–Staff Reporter

LGS Paragon and Retaliator FC victorious
LAHORE - LGS Paragon and Retaliator FC have won the LPS 5-a-side Football Tournament seniors and under-14 titles respectively. In the under-14 final, Retaliator FC outclassed LGS EME by 5-1 to win the event while the seniors’ event proved to be a thrilling one and after a tough battle, LGS Paragon managed to beat Lethal Weapon LPS by 1-0. The three-day event was organized by Laurelbank Public School (LPS) in which a great number of senior and junior teams from different schools took part with great zeal and zest. Tournament organiser and LPS Director Finance Imran Mian has said that LPS conducts 5-a-side tournament every year to provide schools kids a platform to exhibit their prowess at higher level. “The number of participating teams is increasing every year, and we want to make it a mega school event.” Chief guest former Pakistan football captain and coach Ch Asghar lauded the sincere efforts of LPS for promoting football at grassroots level. “Such events help the youngsters showcase their skills and take part in healthy extracurricular activities.” In the end, the chief guest along with LPS Finance Director Imran Mian gave away prizes and trophies to the winners.–Staff Reporter