Chennai, November 21
Challenger Magnus Carlsen closed in on the crown after defeating defending champion Viswanathan Anand in the ninth game of the World Chess Championship match here today.

On what turned out be a dramatic affair, Anand missed out on his chances in white pieces and suffered a painful defeat that almost sealed the fate of the match.

Carlsen leads 6-3 and needs just half a point from the remaining three games to become the new world champion.

It was a Nimzo Indian defense that Carlsen chose as black and Anand, realising well that this was his last chance for a strike, went for the Saemisch variation.

Anand had used this system before, in World Championship match against Kramnik and later in a gem of a match against Wang Hao of China. Carlsen showed some signs of nervousness in the early stages of the middle game after he went for a line that is not favoured in top level chess.

Anand got his chances by way of a King-side attack while Carlsen pushed harder on the other flank. The position in the middle game looked very dangerous for Carlsen but with precise calculations, he kept himself in the game. Even till the end of the game, Carlsen's queen and one Bishop remained on the initial squares as mere spectators to the proceedings, while he defended his position with all available resources.

On the 22nd move, Anand had about 25 minutes more than Carlsen and optically dominating position, but the Norwegian world number one had calculated that his King was guarded against any checkmate threats.

On the 23rd move, Anand spent nearly 40 minutes and decided to continue the attack instead of equalising once again. This was more to do with match situation as Anand had things under control but another drawn result would not have improved the match situation.

Carlsen found the best possible moves from this point and Anand simply blundered on his 28th move by moving his knight to a check coming from a new promoted queen. Another move would have helped continue the game but this was certainly not Anand's day.

With just a draw needed, Carlsen should be able to take home the title in the 10th game itself when he gets white pieces.

Kochi, November 21
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma hit sparkling half-centuries as a clinical India continued their domination over West Indies by thrashing the visitors by six wickets in the opening ODI of the three-match series, here today.

Asked to bowl, spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina exploited the low and slow conditions of the Nehru Stadium wicket effectively to bundle out West Indies for a meagre 211 in 48.5 overs.

Kohli then smashed 86 off 84 balls, while Rohit made 72 off 81 balls to help India chased down the target with consummate ease in 35.2 overs and take a 1-0 lead in the series. Kohli decorated his knock with nine boundaries and two huge sixes, while Rohit's innings was laced with eight hits to the fence and one over it.

India, however, received a jolt early on in their chase in the form of Shikhar Dhawan (5). Dhawan departed in the fourth over as he edged a back of a length delivery from Jason Holder to Johnson Charles behind the stumps with scoreboard reading 17.

But then Rohit and Kohli joined hands and shared a 133-run second wicket stand that came off just 130 deliveries to lay the foundation for an easy win.

None of the West Indies bowlers seemed to create any trouble for Kohli and Rohit as both the batsmen adopted attacking approach from the onset to take the game out of the visitor's grasp.

Rohit brought up his 19th ODI fifty off 53 balls as India reached the 100-run mark in 15.3 overs. Kohli was not to be left behind as he reached his half century in 58 balls with a single off Dwayne Bravo in the 24th over.

But just when it seemed the duo would take India home without any further damage, Rohit mistimed a pull to Lendl Simmons at deep midwicket off Ravi Rampaul's bowling in the next over.

Kohli, however, was in no mood to get bogged down by the dismissal as he continued his attacking game. With India needing just 26 runs to win, Kohli clobbered Holder over the square-leg boundary to bring up his 5000 runs in the 50-over format in just 114 innings and become the joint quickest to reach the landmark along with West Indian batting legend Viv Richards.

But Kohli perished in the very next ball in search of one too many as, looking to loft the ball straight over the bowler's head, he mistimed a shot to Sunil Narine, who gleefully accepted the skier.

Next in, Suresh Raina's woeful form with the bat continued as he went for a duck. Yuvraj Singh (16 not out) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (12 not out) then ensured that there was no further damage as they took India home. — PTI

Score board

West Indies
Gayle run out (Kumar) 0
Charles c & b Jadeja 42
Samuels b Raina 24
Bravo b Shami 59
Simmonslbw b Raina 29
Deonarine b Raina 4
Bravo st Dhoni b Jadeja 24
Sammy c Kumar b Jadeja 5
Holder not out 16
Narine c & b Ashwin 0
Rampaul c Dhawan b Ashwin 1
Extras (lb 1, w 6) 7
Total (all out; 48.5 overs) 211
Fall of wickets 1-0, 2-65, 3-77, 4-142, 5-152, 6-183, 7-187, 8-204, 9-206, 10-211

Bowling
Kumar 5-0-26-0
Unadkat 6-0-39-0
Shami 6-0-28-1
Jadeja 10-0-37-3
Raina 10-1-34-3
Ashwin 9.5-0-42-2
Rohit 2-0-4-0

India
Rohit c Simmons b Rampaul 72
Dhawan c Charles b Holder 5
Kohli c Narine b Holder 86
Yuvraj not out 16
Raina c Holder b Narine 0
Dhoni not out 13
Extras (b 5, w 15) 20
Total (4 wickets; 35.2 overs) 212
Fall of wickets 1-17, 2-150, 3-192, 4-194

Bowling
Rampaul 8-0-39-1
Holder 8-0-48-2
Sammy 2-0-14-0
Narine 10-1-57-1
Deonarine 2-0-15-0
Simmons 3-0-14-0
Bravo 2.2-0-20-0

Brisbane, November 21
England paceman Stuart Broad ignored the jeers, chants and catcalls of a hostile Gabba crowd to take five wickets and leave Australia clinging on at 273 for eight on the first day of the first Ashes test on Thursday.

Cast as a villain in Australia after his failure to walk at Trent Bridge earlier this year, Broad skittled Australia's top order with his first four wickets and returned with the second new ball to end a Brad Haddin-inspired rearguard.

"After losing the toss on what looked like a fantastic batting wicket and to get eight wickets in that day, the guys are tired in there but they are absolutely delighted," Broad said. "We probably weren't at our best but if you'd given us 260 for eight at the start of the day we'd have snapped your hand off."

Australia came into the match boasting of a renewed confidence but a batting collapse from 71 for the loss of a single wicket to 132-6 looked like very much like their performances in the 3-0 defeat in England earlier this year.

Haddin bucked that trend, however, sharing a 114-run seventh wicket stand with Mitchell Johnson (64) and was unbeaten on 78 when stumps were drawn. He will resume on day two with Ryan Harris, who had scored four.

"We fought back very hard," Johnson said. "That was quite important, had to really dig in. We want to get 300-plus and we think that definitely is a good score to have."

Australia won the toss and decided to bat on a bright, sunny morning at the Gabba and the booing of Broad, branded a "smug Pommy cheat" on the front page of the local Courier-Mail newspaper, contributed to a festive atmosphere. Opener Chris Rogers was the first victim of the bounce Broad managed to generate from the Gabba track but it was the dismissals of Shane Watson, Michael Clarke and David Warner around lunch that shifted the momentum firmly in England's favour. — Reuters

Score board
Australia 1st innings
Rogers c Bell b Broad 1
Warner c Pietersen b Broad 49
Watson c Swann b Broad 22
Clarke c Bell b Broad 1
Smith c Cook b Tremlett 31
Bailey c Cook b Anderson 3
Haddin not out 78
Johnson b Broad 64
Siddle c Cook b Anderson 7
Harris not out 4
Extras (lb 11, w 1, nb 1) 13
Total (8 wickets; 90 overs) 273
Fall of wickets 1-12, 2-71, 3-73, 4-83, 5-100, 6-132, 7-246, 8-265

Bowling
Anderson 22-5-61-2
Broad 20-3-65-5
Tremlett 19-3-51-1
Swann 26-4-80-0
Root 3-1-5-0

New Delhi, November 21
The Hero Hockey India League Closed Bid 2013 will be held here tomorrow, two months ahead of the second season of the HIL, scheduled for January next year. HI secretary general and HIL chairman Narinder Batra said the Closed Bid would give the franchisees a chance to buy new players to replace permanent withdrawals and complete their squads for the coming season.The base prices for the players would vary from $ 2,600 to $ 25,000.

Batra said around 154 players from 14 countries, including 95 from India and 59 from abroad, have made themselves available for the Closed Bid. The Bid was expected to see a lot of competition between young Indian and overseas players as the second season would be an exciting opportunity for the young and upcoming talent to leave their mark on the tournament.

Mohali, November 21
It was a knock that looked impressive even when viewed in isolation. But when seen in context of the day’s play – where 16 wickets fell and no other batsman from either team reached 25 – Punjab opener Jiwanjot Singh’s 86-run knock becomes invaluable.

The diminutive Punjab opener stood firm in the midst of ruins. Even as the batsmen at the other end kept making quick entries and exits, he held up one end, helping the team crawl to a modest 172. The young opener needed this knock as much for himself as for the team. He was after all the second highest run-getter in his debut season last year, but was yet to show similar spark and touch this time around.

Despite his returning to form, Punjab were in a deep hole with just 172 runs on the board. Gujarat just needed to survive the new ball to bat the hosts out of this game.

It, however, took Punjab seamers just 17 overs to turn the game on its head and get their side back in the contest. Showing as much incompetence as the Punjab batsmen did earlier in the day, the visitors, at the draw of the stumps, were gasping for breath at 61 for 6.

Punjab’s seamers, taking a leaf out of Jasprit Bumrah’s book — he picked up a five-wicket haul for Gujarat — bowled with discipline. And it wasn’t long before they were rewarded.

Brief scores
Punjab 1st innings: 172 all out (Jiwanjot 86; Bumrah 5/52, Dhruv 3/37); Gujarat 1st Innings: 61/6 in 17 overs (Sharma 3/43).

Haryana restrict Delhi
Haryana bowlers produced a disciplined performance to restrict hosts Delhi to 184 for eight at stumps, on the first day of their group A Ranji Trophy encounter as India discards Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir yet again failed to post a big score.

Brief Scores
Delhi 1st Innings: 184/8 in 84 overs (Bhatia 39, Bisht 33; Badhwar 4/56, Joginder 2/32).

Himachal on top
Himachal bowled out Hyderabad for just 237 runs in their first innings, thanks to a five-wicket haul from Rishi Dhawan.

Brief scores
Hyderabad: 237 all out (Suman 65, Ravi Teja 39; Dhawan 5/75)

Chandigarh, November 21
India's Anirban Lahiri carded a one-over-par, 72 in the first round of the ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf which is being played at the par-71 Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Victoria, Australia this week.

Lahiri was in 21st place after 18 holes, while his teammate, Gaganjeet Bhullar carded a dismal 11-over-par taking the teams total to 12-over-par. India and New Zealand are currently placed last in the team standings.

Thomas Bjorn of Denmark and Kevin Streelman representing the USA topped the leaderboard with a scorecard of five-under-par, 66 today and Korean KJ Choi, Welshman Stuart Manley and Scotsman Martin Laird are tied for third place at four-under-par, 67. Australian Jason day was placed sixth after carding a three-under-par, 68.

Denmark and USA tied for the lead after day one and were three strokes ahead of Portugal who were third and Korea in fourth place. Steelman carded a 66 while his American teammate Matt Kucher shot a level-par 71 as did the other Dane in the field, Thorbjorn Olesen.

Only 12 professionals out of the 60 participants shot under par scores today. There is no cut and all team members will play all four days of golf.

Chandigarh, November 21
To keep World Kabaddi Cup dope free, the Punjab Sports Department has asked all participating nations to get their dope tests done before arriving 
in India.

The department, in consultation with the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA), will collect the samples of the Indian players before the start of the competition.

"We have zero tolerance towards doping. We have already banned players who tested positive in the previous editions of the competition. We will keep an eye on the players who are returning after serving the ban," said Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon, director sports Punjab.

The Punjab government, he said, has deputed Dr Munish Kumar to oversee the whole process.

Interestingly, the department hadn't taken any action for one year against those who tested positive in the first year of the competition.

The offenders were banned only after NADA threatened not to collect samples until the department took action against those found positive.

While 52 players were found positive in the second edition of the competition, the number dropped down to just last year.

Montevideo, November 21
Uruguay became the last team to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, with a goal-less draw against Jordan in the return leg of their play-off.

Uruguay made the most of their 5-0 win last week in Amman and just went through the motions to seal their berth before a full-capacity crowd at the Centenario stadium.

“We didn’t come here looking for a thrashing,” said Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez. — Agencies

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Saina’s poor run continues, bows out in Hong Kong
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Three new records at national aquatic meet
Thiruvananthapuram: Sandeep Sejwal and Sajan Prakash of Railways and Gujarat's Maana Patel set new records in their respective events on the opening day of the 67th national Aquatic Championship. Sejwal set new mark in the 200 m breaststroke while Prakash's feat came in 400 m freestyle in the men's category on Wednesday. Teenager Maana broke the national record in women's 100 m backstroke at the B R Ambedkar International Aquatic Complex. Sejwal achieved the target in 2 minutes, 15.22 seconds improving his own existing record of 2:15.77 minutes in the category. Prakash finished the mark in 3 minute and 58.51 seconds breaking the record of Sangvekhar while Maana set the new mark in 1:06.58 minutes.

Sachin's farewell Test garners maximum TRPs
New Delhi: Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar's 200th Test in his farewell series against the West Indies has emerged as the highest rated Test match on television in India in the past eight years. The match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai garnered 1739 average Television Viewership in Thousands (TVT). Star Sports network channels together had the maximum channel share across all genres during the six playing days of the Test series. The network's website — www.starsports.com — attracted 3.5 million visitors during the two matches.

Kallis makes a return to South Africa’s ODI side
Johannesburg: Veteran all-rounder Jacques Kallis on Thursday returned to the 14-member South African ODI squad announced for the series against Pakistan to be followed by three games against India next month. Kallis had been out of the ODI squad for close to 20 months, will play in the series taking place in November and December. — Agencies