World number one Novak Djokovic shook off an eye infection to beat Kazakhstan's Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-1 6-2 6-3 in front of a passionate home crowd to give Serbia a 1-0 lead against Kazakhstan in their Davis Cup first-round tie on Friday. Djokovic, who was forced to retire with the problem from last week's Dubai Championships quarter-final against Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, showed no sign of problems as he brushed aside his opponent in the acoustic Pionir Arena. The 28-year-old from Belgrade delighted the home fans, who enjoyed a rare opportunity to watch him live because there are no major tour events in Serbia, with a barrage of sizzling winners, including some spectacular net points.
India and Kazakhstan will soon wrap-up inter-governmental negotiations on civil nuclear cooperation, a move that came after meeting of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Kazakh President Noorsultan Nazarbayev.
The new service will travel through 18 countries and each bus will accommodate 20 passengers.
Aseem Chhabra lists his favourite films, most of them shown at international film festivals held virtually (Berlinale and Rotterdam), hybrid (Toronto) or physical (Cannes and Venice).
Top seed and defending champion Vera Zvonareva booked her place in the final of the Pattaya Open on Saturday after a tough 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova. Zvonareva will meet home favourite Tamarine Tanasugarn in Sunday's final after she overpowered another Kazakh, Sesil Karatantcheva, 6-2, 6-0 to reach the 10th final of her 16-year professional career.
World number one Rafa Nadal advanced to the semi-finals of the Thailand Open with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin on Friday.
Six-time world champion M C Mary Kom (51kg) qualified for Tokyo Olympics by advancing to the semi-final with a comfortable win over Philippines' Irish Magno, at the Asia/Oceania Qualifiers in Amman, on Monday. World number one Amit Panghal (52kg) qualified for his maiden Olympic Games, while Manish Kaushik (63kg) remained in the hunt for a Tokyo ticket despite losing his quarter-final bout.
Sania Mirza of India and Ivan Dodig of Croatia bested defending champions Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Leander Paes of India 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 in the mixed doubles quarter-finals.
Serbia sealed their place in the Davis Cup quarter-finals in straightforward fashion but Britain survived another nail-biter before joining them in the last-eight on Thursday.
Sania Mirza entered the women's doubles semi-finals and set up a high-intensity clash against Leander Paes in the mixed doubles after both the Indians made the quarter-finals with their respective partners in the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Vijender Singh continues to scale new heights. The Beijing Olympics bronze medallist was given top billing in the middleweight category while three Indians were also seeded for the World Boxing Championships, starting in Milan on Tuesday.
Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis advanced to the second round of the Wimbledon Championships, defeating the duo of Saisai Zheng and Zarina Diyas in the opening round on Wednesday night. The top seeded Indo-Swiss pair defeated the Chinese-Kazakh team 6-2, 6-2.
England secured an emphatic 4-0 victory in Kazakhstan on Saturday to move closer to qualifying for next year's World Cup finals.
Ankita Raina and Karman Kaur Thandi will have to punch above their weight when the battle to qualify for Fed Cup tennis tournament's World Group II,
Playing his first match since injuring his knee at Indian Wells last month, Nadal showed no signs of rust as he raced into a 5-0 lead in the first set on Court Rainier III.
In April and May, there were additions by RBI of 600 kg and 900 kg. RBI's total gold holding is now 561.9 tonnes.
Alexander Vinokourov returned to cycling on Tuesday after a two-year doping suspension looking relieved and relaxed in a low-key race in France.
Tour de France winner Alberto Contador has turned down an offer to extend his contract with Astana and wants to leave the Kazakh-funded team, his brother and agent was quoted as saying on Friday. Astana had made the rider a lucrative offer to sign for another four years but the Spaniard declined it, Fran Contador told French sports daily L'Equipe.
Andy Murray was still troubled by the sore hip that had bothered him in the build up to Wimbledon - but they weren't enough to stop him from marching straight into the second round.
Arsenal teenager Bukayo Saka scored his first goal for the club as they beat 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0, while Manchester United's 17-year-old Mason Greenwood secured a 1-0 win over FC Astana as the Europa League group stage began on Thursday.
Maria Sharapova came back from a break down in the decider to book her place in the third round of the French Open with a 6-2, 1-6, 8-6 victory over fellow Russian and 11th seed Nadia Petrova on Wednesday.
Russia began their Euro 2008 preparations in style by crushing Kazakhstan 6-0 in a Moscow friendly on Friday.
Thirteen of the country's boxers -- seven men and six women -- are assured of at least bronze medals after advancing to the last-four stage of the marquee continental championship.
In the women's draw, world silver-medallist Sonia Chahal (57kg) advanced to the last-four stage at the continental showpiece.
Former European champions Red Star Belgrade, Ajax Amsterdam and Celtic all made it comfortably through to the third qualifying round of the Champions League on Wednesday after surviving away legs.
Kazakhstan will give ONGC Videsh Ltd an oil block in the Caspian Sea.\n\n
The Indian GM went down to Kazakh GM Darmen Sadvakasov in the fifth round of the Aeroflot Chess tournament.
India's best medal hope, five-time World boxing champion M C Mary Kom lived up to expectations as she beat Zhaina Shekerbekova of Kazakhstan to win the gold medal in the flyweight category (48-51kgs) at the Asian Games, in Incheon, on Wednesday.
Alexander Vinokourov and his Astana team became the latest high-profile casualties in the war against doping on Tuesday, with cycling descending into chaos once again.
India's top singles star lifted his third ATP Challenge title as he outclassed top seed Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-3, 6-1 in the final of the $ 100,000 ONGC-GAIL Open in New Delhi on Sunday.
Grandmaster Koneru Humpy got back into the reckoning after defeating International Master Sergey Kayumov of Uzbekistan in the sixth round of the Dubai International Chess championship in Dubai on Saturday.
Keys will next face 10th seed Sloane Stephens, nine months after her compatriot beat her in the US Open final
Indian boxer Gaurav Bidhuri (52kg) is fast making a name for himself at the International Boxing Association's semi-professional World Series of Boxing, churning out three consecutive wins for his franchise Italia Thunder in the ongoing season.
Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis continued to display their rampaging form as they extended their winning streak to 32 after progressing through to the third round of the Australian Open in the women's doubles event on Saturday.
Tour de France champion Vincenzo Nibali can ride in this year's race after his Astana team kept their world tour licence on Thursday despite a string of doping cases, the International Cycling Union (UCI) said on Thursday.
India is said to be the most active party in the project
Williams had little trouble against the 31-year-old German although the gusty breezes at Auckland Tennis Centre played havoc with her ball toss, especially when she was serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set.
Manchester United ended their one-year Champions League hiatus in emphatic style when Wayne Rooney struck a hat-trick in a 4-0 destruction of Club Bruges that sent the three-times winners through 7-1 on aggregate on Wednesday.
A technical problem caused the crash of a plane in Azerbaijan, which killed 23 people including eight foreigners, officials said Saturday.\n\n
India's Kiran Yalamanchi and Bijender Singh bagged the bronze medal in Men's Lightweight Double Sculls event.
