India's world No. 32 should have it easy when she takes on Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the first round of the Australian Open.
Grand Master Abhijit Kunte with 7.5 points, was tied with five other players, but was adjudged champion on the basis of a better progressive score.
Besides athletics Nikolai K Snesarev had adequate knowledge of sports medicine too.
Indian GM Krishnan Sasikiran slipped to joint second after drawing with GM Artashes Minasian of Armenia in the seventh round of the Dubai International Chess Championship.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Rattled by embarrassing domestic defeats, Chelsea looked jittery before Olivier Giroud settled their nerves with a close range tap-in shortly after halftime at StamfordBridge following good work by N'Golo Kante and Willian in the build-up.
The two were seized at Moscow airport on Thursday, the day Qatar charged two Russians with involvement in the killing of a former Chechen leader in the Gulf Arab state on February 13.
Belarusian ninth seed Aryna Sabalenka held off a spirited challenge from American Alison Riske to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 and successfully defend her Wuhan Open title on Saturday.
The 24-year-old proved too good for Viktar Zuyev of Belarus in the final of the Olympic tournament.
Rafael Nadal gave a much improved performance to advance into the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open on Thursday, dispatching Spanish compatriot and crowd favourite David Ferrer 6-3, 6-3.
hampion Rafael Nadal and top-ranked Novak Djokovic turned in impressive displays to reach the Monte Carlo Masters quarter-finals on Thursday. Nadal, chasing a record-extending 12th Monte Carlo title, broke Grigor Dimitrov's serve on four occasions to defeat the Bulgarian 6-4 6-1.
The third seeds thrashed Croatian pair of Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic 6-2, 6-2 in the French Open doubles event.
Mariya Kuchina won thewomen's high jump with a clearance of 2.01 metres on Saturday to become Russia's second gold medallist at this world championships. The 22-year-old from Moscow had a blemish-free card to that height, her lifetime best performance.
Leander Paes and Nenad Zimonjic received a bye in the first round and would meet Nicolas Kiefer and Alexander Waske
The top seeds beat the Swiss-German pair of Yves Allegro and Michael Kohlman in the quarter-finals of the Kremlin Cup.
The Credit Suisse Global Wealth Data Book 2014 published detailed data on wealth holdings of households around the world.
The Credit Suisse Global Wealth Data Book 2014 published detailed data on wealth holdings of households around the world.
Bajrang Punia says that he has learnt from his mentor Yogeshwar Dutt that conquering big names is the only way to earn a big name.
Russia's 4x400 metres women's relay team beat their own world indoors record at the world championships on Sunday.
The fourth seeds got a walkover after their opponents Rainer Schuettler of Germany and Mikhail Youzhny of Russia did not turn up.
Chelsea striker Fernando Torres will not be fit to join the Spain squad next week after injuring his knee during the Champions League win over Steaua Bucharest, manager Jose Mourinho has said.
Multiple grand slam champion Maria Sharapova withdrew from the Brisbane International on Tuesday after suffering an arm injury in practise less than two weeks before the Australian Open.
The top-seeded Australian meets qualifier Ivo Minar, who beat fellow Czech Radek Stepanek 6-1, 6-2 to reach his first ATP final.
Leander Paes-David Rikl and Mahesh Bhupathi-Max Miryni scored contrasting wins to make the quarters.
The Indians pairing with David Rikl and Max Mirnyi respectively scored contrasting wins in the first round doubles at Wimbledon.\n\n
Chelsea's Ruben Loftus-Cheek had a Europa League night to remember by scoring the first hat-trick of his career as the midfielder inspired them to a 3-1 home win over Belarus champions BATE Borisov on Thursday.
The third seeded pair registered a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 win against Karsten Braasch of Germany and Sargis Sargsian of Armenia.
The Indo-Belarussian pair rallied to beat Slovakia's Karol Kucera and Australia's Todd Perry in the second round at the French Open.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi were denied entry into the Masters Cup semi-final by the Bryan brothers.
The top seeds beat third seed Zimbabwean pair of Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett 6-3, 7-5 to win the men's doubles title.
The Indo-Belarussian pair beat Andrei Pavel of Romania and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia Monetnegro in straight sets in the first round of the Paris Masters.
Sania, the country's finest woman doubles player, who began the year with the number one ranking, closed it at number 9.
It will be the earliest meeting between the two since their first professional match in the second round of the 1998 Australian Open.
The eighth seeds beat Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and Belarussian Max Mirnyi 6-4, 6-2 in the final.
