• ESPN staffJun 4, 2024, 08:30 AM

Tennis: Bopanna picks Balaji as his partner for Paris Olympics

Rohan Bopanna has picked N Sriram Balaji, who impressed with his performance at the French Open, as his partner for the Paris Olympic, which will also be held at Roland Garros.

The 44-year-old Bopanna wrote to AITA and also marked TOPS in the mail, conveying his decision - a development confirmed by the national federation.

"I have sent an email to AITA," Bopanna told PTI from Paris, adding that he will comment on his choice only after hearing back from the national federation.

Balaji and his Mexican partner MA Reyes-Varela Martinez had pushed the second-seeded Bopanna and Matthew Ebden before losing their men's doubles third round match at Roland Garros on Monday.

Balaji played well from the baseline with a strong serve backing his game and was equally impressive at the net -- a performance that would have convinced Bopanna, who had the choice to make after making the Olympic cut by virtute of his high ranking.

When contacted, AITA Secretary General Anil Dhupar said he does not have any objection to Bopanna playing with Balaji, ranked 84, at the Paris Olympics.

"Rohan has written to us that he wants to play with Balaji. Balaji is a good player. He played well in Pakistan also, rising to the occasion. He also did well on clay at ongoing French Open. Balaji is a big server. If Rohan wants to play with him we have no objection to that," said Dhupar.

"Let ITF publish the final list after the conclusion of French Open. Let's see if Sumit Nagal also makes it. We will have a selection committee meeting and Bopanna's decision will be conveyed to the panel which shall take a final call."

Indonesia Open: Lakshya Sen starts with win, Priyanshu knocks out Prannoy

Lakshya Sen started his Indonesia Open Super 1000 campaign with a straight-game win while India No 1 HS Prannoy was knocked out in the opener by younger compatriot Priyanshu Rajawat.

Priyanshu won 21-17 21-12, adding more concerns to what has already been a tough season for Prannoy with a spate of early exits. He didn't look at his fighting best in the match at the last major competition before the Paris Olympics before the Paris Olympics. The younger Indian will next take on eighth seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn next.

Lakshya beat Japan's Kanta Tsuneyama 21-12, 21-17 in 40 minutes, and will next taken on another Japanese in Kenta Nishimoto, who stunned seventh seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia.

The Indian women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand continued their winning momentum, beating Chinese Taipei's Yu-Pei Cheng and Yu Hsing Sun 21-15 21-11. They will play seventh seeds Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara of Japan next.

The Indian mixed doubles pair of B Sumeeth Reddy and Sikki Reddy had to battle hard before a 18-21, 21-16, 21-17 win over the American pair of Vinson Chiu and Jennie Gai in the opening round.

However, it was curtains for Kiran George, who had a match point but could not convert against Hong Yang Weng of China, going down 21-11, 10-21, 20-22 in a close battle.

Shooting: Esha Singh finishes sixth in Munich World Cup

Esha Singh finished sixth in the women's 25m pistol at the ongoing ISSF World Cup in Munich.

Esha shot 20 in the final, which was won by Camille Jedrzejewski of France. This was India's second consecutive sixth place finish in a final in this tournament, after Ramita had finished the same in the women's 10m air rifle.

Arjun Erigaisi breaks into world top-5 in FIDE rating list

More chess news as India's Arjun Erigaisi's strong showing in the French Team Chess Championship 2024 has seen him reach the top-5 of FIDE Live Rating standings, making him the highest ranked Indian by live rating.

Arjun, with a ELO rating of 2769.7, has so far added 8.7 points to his tally and is only behind Magnus Carlsen of Norway, USA's Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia. He had briefly reached a career-high live rating of 2771.2 earlier this week and is the only Indian since Viswanathan Anand to do so.

The 20-year-old, who is representing Metz Fischer Chess Club, has won four of the five matches he has played so far in the French Team Chess Championship, including victories over compatriot P Harikrishna and Germany's Vitaly Kunin. Two more rounds are remaining in the competition.

Arjun has been in fine form over the past few months, finishing second in the TePe Sigeman Chess Tournament and had finished joint-fifth in the Sharjah Masters Open Tournament. He also won the Menorca Open crown in April by edging out GMs Kirill Alekseenko and Maksim Chigaev.

Norway Chess: Praggnanadhaa wins armageddon against world champion Liren; Humpy beats Vaishali

Grandmaster R Praggnanadhaa played out a draw against world champion Ding Liren and then ensured he clinched the armageddon to take extra point. Liren avoided his fifth straight loss in the tournament but couldn't keep up the momentum in the tie breaker.

Liren had earlier beaten Praggnanadhaa in armageddon with white pieces earlier in the tournament. He was looking good to repeat the performance again but ultimately lost from a winning position.

Meanwhile, in women's section, GM Vaishali suffered back-to-back losses in the classical format. Fellow Indian Humpy picked up her first classical win of the tournament and full three points by beating Vaishali.

In other games, Hikaru Nakamura ended up winning an armageddon thriller against Magnus Carlsen. Nakumara has cut down Carlsen's lead at the top to just half a point with just three more rounds to go.

Carlsen is leading the table with 13 points followed by Nakamura at 12.5 and Praggnanadhaa with 11 points.

In women's section, Anna Muzychuk has taken the sole lead after winning in armageddon against China's Ju Wenjun. The Ukranian is on top with 12 points while Wenjun has 11.5. Vaishali is third with 10 points.

What's on today?

Shooting: Indian shooters in action at the ISSF World Cup (pistol).

Badminton: HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen open their Indonesia Open campaigns today

Chess: R Praggnanandhaa and R Vaishal are in action at the Norway Open.

What happened yesterday?

Wrestling: The National Anti-Doping Agency's Disciplinary Panel (ADDP) revoked the provisional suspension imposed on Bajrang Punia

Tennis: Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden came from a set down to beat N Sriram Balaji and MA Reyes-Varela Martinez to advance to the French Open men's doubles quarterfinals

Shooting: In a disappointing day for India's 10m Air Rifle shooters, Ramita Jindal finished sixth in the women's competition, while none of the men made it to the final.

Chess: R Praggnanandhaa and R Vaishali both lost at the Norway Open Chess Tournament.

You can find all the details of yesterday's events here.