In Samundri, a dusty, rural town in Punjab province, Muhammad Ikram has spent eight years pushing a cue ball around with his chin, and now he can take on anyone.
Indian tennis ace Leander Paes is set to partner Spanish legend Rafael Nadal in the men's doubles event at the 3,288,530 euro Paris Masters to be played on the indoor hard courts of the Palais Omnisports in Bercy next week.
India's Rohan Bopanna and his Uruguayan partner Pablo Cuevas lifted the men's doubles crown at the Monte Carlo Masters.
Five players to watch at the Masters, which starts on Thursday at Augusta National.
India's Parupalli Kashyap reached the second round of the men's singles competition at the $120,000 Korea Masters Grand Prix Gold in Jiju, Korea on Tuesday.
The world number nine will play Hong Kong's fifth seed Angus Ng Ka Long in the last eight stage.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa was accorded a rousing reception upon his arrival at the airport in Chennai on Wednesday.
The 43-year-old Bopanna and 35-year-old Ebden, who claimed two doubles titles on the ATP Tour earlier this year, will next face the unseeded British pair of Jacob Fearnley and Johannus Monday on Sunday.
Three contenders for the men's singles title at the Australian Open, which starts on Sunday.
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.
Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth will look to arrest their slump in form when they begin their campaign at the Australia Open badminton tournament in Sydney on Tuesday.
With three Masters tournaments and two Grand Slams in the space of seven weeks, players might have to make hard choices but French Open director Guy Forget is confident they will turn up at Roland Garros.
Karthikeya Gulshan Kumar produced a thrilling performance
Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi prepared for their debut in season-ending finale by capturing the ATP Paris Masters and the Indian said the win is a confidence booster ahead of the elite event in London.
A resurgent Roger Federer swept past local favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 7-6 to clinch his maiden Paris Masters title on Sunday and send a deafening warning to his rivals ahead of the ATP World Tour finals.
The struggle of Indian women shuttlers on the BWF circuit is quite apparent, but Saina Nehwal backs her colleagues by saying that even the strong Chinese players are finding it difficult to dish out strong performances on a consistent basis and expressed hope that the lean patch of the singles players will end soon.
'I was not able to watch that 19th over bowled by Arshdeep.' 'My son and daughter were watching the match and my eyes were closed.' 'When they used to shout 'Dot ball', I used to open my eyes, that is how I saw that Arshdeep over.'
HS Prannoy, who occupies the 8th spot, is the best ranked Indian in the men's singles while Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth are placed 19th and 20th respectively.
Third seed Andy Roddick lost 6-0, 6-4 to last 16 opponent Juan Ignacio Chela.
In singles, Sumit Nagal was placed at world No. 256 as the top-ranked Indian men's singles player in ATP Rankings, while Asian Games bronze medallist Ankita Raina was the best India women's singles player at world No. 212.
Nadal skipped tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami as well as the ongoing Monte Carlo Masters after suffering the injury he suffered at the Australian Open.
Spain's David Ferrer has qualified for the season-ending Masters Cup featuring the world's top eight players.
The Indonesian had defeated Sindhu twice in the last three meetings this year, including one at the Madrid Spain Masters final, though the Indian came into the match with an overall 8-2 head-to-head record.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has charted his own path to glory and is closer to greatness than ever.
The Mumbai player was beaten by third seed Konstantin Gruber of Austria.
Jannik Sinner won his maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open on Sunday.
SKY, Ishan, Faf, Rajat, DK... so many wonderful knocks to choose from...
The world champions beat Pakistan 3-2 in the concluding match of the four-nation hockey tournament.
Priyanshu toiled hard for one hour 14 minutes before losing 21-18, 14-21, 17-21.
Earning his fourth straight win over a top-10 player this week, Khachanov, whose muscular game resembles that of his childhood hero Marat Safin, a Russian three-times winner in Paris, picked up the biggest title of his burgeoning career.
Novak Djokovic finally clinched the title missing from his resume with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Roger Federer on Sunday to win in Cincinnati and become the first player to complete the sweep of Masters series tournaments on Sunday.
The seventh seeded Thai lost to Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in the first round.
Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi crashed through the defences of world number three Hikaru Nakamura of United States, while R Praggnanandhaa went down to compatriot D Gukesh in the second round of Candidates chess tournament in Toronto.
The Indo-Serbian pair will meet seeded Michael Llodra and Fabrice Santoro of France in the title match.
Kane Williamson hit an unbeaten century as New Zealand beat South Africa by seven wickets on the fourth day of the second Test
The London Olympics bronze medallist was trailing 4-10 in the opening game when Marin decided to withdraw from the contest.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Rose, the 2013 US Open champion, conjured up seven birdies, including two at the last two holes, in a day's best round of 67.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
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