Marin enters China Open final

Changzhou: Reigning Olympic champion shuttler Carolina Marin on Saturday advanced to the final of the China Open after securing a hard-fought win over Japan's Sayaka Takahashi. The Spaniard came from behind to a register a 20-22, 21-13, 21-18 win over Takahashi in a thrilling semifinal that lasted 72 minutes. In the other semifinal, Taiwan's Tai Tzu-ying defeated China's Chen Yufei 6-21, 21-13, 22-20 in 53 minutes to set up a summit clash with Marin, which will be played today. Marin is returning to the court after eight months following a knee surgery in January. She could not participate in the World Championships in Switzerland last month as she failed to recover completely.

Jaipur-Gujarat play tie in pkl

Jaipur: Hosts Jaipur Pink Panthers played out a highly entertaining 28-28 tie against Gujarat Fortunegiants in the 100th match of Pro Kabaddi League season seven here on Saturday. In the second match, UP Yoddha defeated Tamil Thalaivas 42-22 in a one-sided encounter. In the first match, both defences produced a masterclass in the match of the Jaipur leg in front of a packed audience at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium but the Pink Panthers will rue missing out on a win despite taking a healthy lead for most part of the first half. Both teams started the match with aggressive defensive shapes. The raiders struggled to get a stranglehold of the match as the defenders kept putting in successful tackles.

Moeen Ali to take break from Test 

London: England all-rounder Moeen Ali, who missed out on a central contract in Test matches, has decided to take a short break from red-ball cricket. However, he has retained his white-ball contract suggesting he is still a key figure in both the ODI and T20I set-up for England. The development means that the all-rounder will not be available for selection for England's upcoming Test tour to New Zealand. Speaking to The Guardian, Moeen said: “I do feel I need a break from the longer format but not a massive one. We will see what happens after the New Zealand series. This could be just what I need. “It's disappointing to miss out on a central contract but I'm also pretty chilled about it. Cricket has never been about the money for me. I have always relied on my faith and believe that everything will work out fine.”

Bibiano cautions Indian colts

Tashkent: India U-16 football head coach Bibiano Fernandes believes that even though the team has defeated Turkmenistan and Bahrain in the ongoing AFC Qualifiers, “The job is not done yet” as they face Uzbekistan today. The U-16 boys won against Turkmenistan and Bahrain by identical 5-0 margins, and that has put them at a goal difference of +10. “We have had two good results. We need to go into the last game against Uzbekistan with the same attitude,” Bibiano was quoted as saying by www.the-aiff.com. “A draw is never in our mind.” “We want to win it and come out of the group with nine points. We had set an objective of winning all three games in the group, before coming here, and we intend to fulfill that objective, regardless of what the equations are.”