Indian sports news wrap, February 28

Catch the updates and scores of all Indians in action on February 28.

FILE PHOTO: Indian men’s doubles pair of Yuki Bhambri (left) and Saketh Myneni (right).

TENNIS

Dubai Tennis Championship: Yuki-Saketh pair reaches quarterfinals

Lucky losers Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni beat Marcelo Melo and Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-5 in the doubles pre-quarterfinals of the ATP500 tournament in Dubai on Tuesday.

The Indian pair had lost in the second and final qualifying round of the doubles earlier, but got lucky to make the main event.

Last week’s champion in Doha - Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden - were beaten by top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic 7-5, 4-6, 10-7 in the first round.

RESULTS

ATP500, Dubai, UAE

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Nikola Mektic & Mate Pavic (Cro) bt Rohan Bopanna & Matthew Ebden (Aus) 7-5, 4-6, [10-7]; Yuki Bhambri & Saketh Myneni bt Marcelo Melo (Bra) & Alexander Zverev (Ger) 6-3, 7-5.

$15,000 ITF women, Monastir, Tunisia

Singles (first round): Wang Jiaqi (Chn) bt Sravya Shivani 6-1, 6-2; Paris Corley (USA) bt Jennifer Luikham 6-1, 6-4.

$15,000 ITF women, Kuching, Malaysia

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Feng Shuo & Guo Meiqi (Chn) bt Natalia Fehr (Sui) & Snehal Mane 6-0, 6-2.

$15,000 ITF women, Antalya, Turkey

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Rikke De Koning (Ned) & DAria Lodikova bt Alexandra Diana Braga (Rou) & Annika Kannan 6-1, 6-2.

- Team Sportstar

Squads announced for wheelchair tennis Asia-Oceania qualifying event

Indian men’s team has been clubbed with top seed Korea and Thailand in group-A for the Asia-Oceania qualifying event of the World Team Cup wheelchair tennis tournament being staged in Chonburi, Thailand.

The other group has second seed Australia, Sri Lanka, China and Pakistan. The toppers from the two groups will compete in the final, while the rest will play for position.

In the women’s section, Thailand, Korea, China and India are the four teams. The winner of the league will qualify for the World Group to be held in Portugal in May.

TEAMS

Men: Sathasivam Kannupayan, Mariappan Durai, Karthik Karunakaran.

Women: Shilpa KP, Prathima Rao, Sheranthi Thomas.

Coach: Hiten Joshi.

- Team Sportstar

FOOTBALL

I-League: Sreenidi Deccan’s title dream takes another hit

Aizawl FC ended its run of four consecutive losses and made a huge dent in Sreenidi Deccan’s I-League title hopes with a 1-1 draw in Aizawl on Tuesday.

The result means Sreenidi Deccan is now two points below leader RoundGlass Punjab, which has a game in hand.

After a largely cagey contest, Sreenidi Deccan’s Rilwan Hassan broke the deadlock in the 80th minute just after the Aizawl captain and goalkeeper Lalmuansanga was shown a red card for a handball offence outside the area.

Aizawl, despite being a man down, managed to equalize through substitute Ivan Veras, as the two teams shared points for the second time this season.

The hosts got off to a slightly better start but were unable to get a shot on target in the first half. They got closest in the 26th minute when Ramdinthara got inside the six-yard box to receive a cross from the left wing before skying his effort.

Although Aizawl was wasteful in the final third, it was successful in keeping Sreenidi’s Faysal Shayesteh out of the game for the most part. The Afghan midfielder had to drop deep to try and dictate the play but was unsuccessful.

However, three minutes from half time, Shayesteh got a chance to break the deadlock but his free-kick was safely fisted over the bar by Lalmuansanga in the Aizawl goal.

The best chance of the first period came in the add-on time for Sreenidi. Louis Ogana, who was anonymous for the majority of the first half, received the ball on the edge of the penalty area and flicked it goalside before taking a low volley which hit the post.

The second half saw the game open up more and it was the visitors who did most of the attacking. Ogana’s increased involvement in the game was the major reason for Deccan Warriors’ better transitional play.

In the 72nd minute, Shayesteh took a quick free-kick and played a lobbed pass onto the path of Ogana, and the Nigerian tried to send his shot over Lalmuansanga, who had come off his line to cut off the Afghan’s pass.

However, he handled the ball outside the penalty area in his attempt to save Ogana’s shot, resulting in his sending-off.

The visitors quickly took advantage of the situation and opened the scoring in the 80th minute. A loose ball in the penalty area was headed into the path of new signing Rilwan Hassan by Awal Mohammed and the Nigerian striker sent his header past the substitute goalkeeper Vikram Lakhbir Singh.

After getting into the lead, the Deccan Warriors shifted into game management mode and dominated the ball. However, four minutes later, they were left stunned as the 10 men of Aizawl scored the equaliser.

Substitute Ivan Veras received an inch-perfect cross from R Lalthanmawia inside the box before sending a looping header at the far post, beating the Sreenidi custodian Aryan Niraj Lamba, who was at full stretch.

- PTI