Advani keeps medal hopes alive

Pankaj Advani kept India’s hopes alive in the third Indoor Asian Games in Hanoi after advancing to the quarter-finals of the 15-Red Snooker discipline . He defeated Hong Kong’s Au Chi Wai and then Brunei’s Husain Mahmood Ali Mahmood. Manan Chandra beat Brunei’s Ahmed Ghulam Hasan Muanedi 4-0.

Pratiksha wins gold

Pratiksha Santosh Shinde of Maharahstra clinched four medals including a gold as the Indian vovinam squad won seven medals in the Asian Indoor Games. Shinde joined Rahul Kumar, Shashank B Kathade and Devrao S Kapse to fetch silver in the multiple attack technique, then paired up with Akanksha Sahai to fetch another silver in the dual sword, before earning her third silver medal in the fights category.

Anand clinches series

World champion Viswanathan Anand tamed former World Champion Anatoly Karpov of Russia in successive two encounters to win the rapid four-game chess series 3.5-0.5 in Ajaccio, France. The Indian, who was leading the series 1.5-0.5 after winning the first game and drawing the second with the Russian at Bastia, beat Karpov in both the remaining games to ensure a spectacular victory.

New European, Asian tour events

India will stage a new European and Asian Tour golf event next February, said a Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) official. “In the next 10 days, we will announce a very big tri-sanctioned event (Europe, Asia and India) for February 2010,” said PGTI director Padamjit Sandhu. Sandhu expected India to stage two European Tour and upto four Asian Tour events in 2011.

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