New Delhi, October 25
Delhi Dynamos fired three stunning goals and scored another one from the penalty spot to outplay Chennaiyin FC 4-1 and record their first win in the Indian Super League here today.

Wim Raymaekers and Mads Junker scored in the second and 21st minutes before Bruno Arias and Gustavo dos Santos found the net in the 79th and 90th minutes for the Dynamos. Brazilian Elano Blumer pulled one back for Chennaiyin in the 69th minute with another brilliant goal through a free-kick on the night of four stunning goals.

Dynamos were searching for a win after a goal-less draw in their opening match against Pune City FC and 1-1 stalemate against table leaders Atletico de Kolkata and they were the deserved winners as they had more possession and more shots at goal.

Captain Alessandro Del Piero did nothing extraordinary but Dynamos midfield of Bruno, Hans Mulder, Steven Dias and Shylo Malsawmtulanga controlled the middle of the park to give the home side the upper hand.

Chennaiyin came back a better side in the second half after off-colour captain Bojan Djordijic was replaced by Colombian John Mendoza as they had more shots at the Dynamos goal but tasted their first defeat after back-to-back wins.

With today’s win, Dymanos are now on fourth spot in the table with five points while Chennaiyin remained on third with six points.

Former India international Dias found a place for the first time in the Dynamos starting line-up in place of injured Morten Skoubo and he made an impact with a perfect assist that led to the home side’s second goal.

He made another fine overlapping run at the right flank but his attempt at goal got the outstretched hands of Chennaiyin goalkeeper four minutes into the second session. Even as the weekend crowd was yet to settle down, central defender Wim Raymaekers scored a stunning goal in the second minute to give the home side an early lead. — PTI

New Delhi, October 25
The All India Football Federation today suspended head coach of Atletico de Kolkata Antonio Lopez Habas for four matches while two players Robert Pires and Fikru Lemessa have been banned for two matches for breaching disciplinary code during the Indian Super League.

Both the players and the coach were involved in ugly altercations during an ill-tempered match between Atletico de Kolkata and FC Goa at Margao on October 23.

Apart from the suspensions, all three have been fined Rs 5 lakh by the AIFF’s Disciplinary Committee for breach of Disciplinary Code related to Offensive Behaviour and Fairplay.

Mohali, October 25
With a handsome first-innings lead of 81 runs, Central Zone had virtually made it to the final of the Duleep Trophy on the third day itself. The only thing remaining was to keep hosts North Zone at bay on Day Four. They looked a little circumspect with three down for just six runs and when it became 95/6 North Zone were warming up to the idea of a comeback on Saturday. However, Mahesh Rawat (116) and half-centuries from Karn Sharma (69) and Kuldeep Yadav (56) put paid to the hopes of a turnaround.

North Zone played only five overs and ended the match at 24/1. With this, the four-day semifinal ended in a draw, giving Central Zone a berth in the final against defending champions South Zone — joint winners with North Zone. The final will begin on October 29 in New Delhi.

Central had put up 538 in the first innings with wicketkeeper batsman Naman Ojha top scoring with 217. North replied strongly with skipper Gautam Gambhir hitting 167 but the rest of the team failed to respond (457 all out), giving Central the all-important first innings lead.

Himachal Pradesh’s Rishi Dhawan (2/52) and Delhi’s Parvinder Awana did the early damage but it was a little too late for the North Zone bowlers as Rawat scored his tenth first-class century to arrest a collapse. His partnerships of 98 with Karn and 103 with Kuldeep took the match away from North Zone.

Central were eventually bowled out for 312, giving their opponents a stiff target of 394 to chase with only a few overs remaining in the final day’s play.

Brief Scores: Central Zone: 538 & 312 (Rawat 116, Karn 69, Kuldeep 56; Awana 3/30, Rishi 2/52, Chahal 2/91) drew with North Zone: 457 & 24/1.

New Delhi, October 25
Cuttack will host the opening match of the hastily-arranged ODI series between India and Sri Lanka on November 2 after the West Indies pulled out midway owing to a pay dispute.

The matches, all of which are day-night, will be played on November 2, 6, 9, 13 and 16. The series will conclude in Ranchi, the BCCI said in a release.

Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Kolkata will host the second, third and fourth ODIs. The ODIs will be preceded by a practice game between the visitors and the India A team in Mumbai on October 30. Sri Lanka are filling in for the West Indies after the Caribbeans pulled out owing to a pay dispute with their Board.

West Indies, who left after the fourth ODI in Dharamsala, were supposed to play a one off Twenty20 and a three-match Test series.

Sri Lanka’s offer to step in prompted the BCCI to agree to a tour of the island nation in July-August next year. Sri Lanka were scheduled to play Tests in India next year but that plan has now been reworked.

Cuttack was scheduled to host the only T20 international against West Indies while Kolkata was the venue for the fifth ODI to celebrate 150 years of Eden Gardens. — PTI

Kingston, October 25
West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo has hit back at Marlon Samuels for claiming that he was not part of the ODI team’s plan to abandon the troubled tour of India, saying that his team-mate was an “interested party” and spoke “vigorously” during the meetings he attended.

Samuels had said that since he was not accredited with the West Indies Players Association, he wanted to focus on finishing the India tour before raising any objections concerning the contract and memorandum of understanding signed between the WIPA and the WICB.

“Wavell Hinds cannot negotiate on behalf of me so I know that once I continued (to play) I just needed to finish this tour and then I would have asked questions,” Samuels was quoted as saying by the local media.

Bravo said he was “shocked” at the claims made by Samuels. He said Samuels contributed vigorously to the discussions held and indicated clearly at that time that he would stand with any decision taken by the team.

“I note the comments attributed to Marlon Samuels from media reports and wish to state that Samuels was invited to and did attend the majority of meetings with the players on tour,” Bravo said.

“We extended invitation to Samuels with full knowledge that he is not a member of WIPA but was an interested party. Samuels contributed vigorously to the discussions held and indicated clearly, at that time, that he would stand with any decision taken by the team.” — PTI

New Delhi, October 25
Ten world titles, five Asian titles, two Asian Games gold medals and 24 national titles. India’s top cueist Pankaj Advani has won almost everything on offer in cue sport.

Advani, the ‘smiling assassin’ of Indian cue sport, has already scripted a lasting legacy, but the hunger to remain on the top is what makes the 29-year-old Bangalorean different from others.

Advani was yet again the cynosure of all eyes when he annexed another world title this year to take his total tally to a whopping 11.

Displaying sublime touch, the country’s numero uno cueist clinched his 10th World Billiards Championship title after defeating Peter Gilchrist 6-2 in the Points Format (150-up) final in Leeds on Friday.

Advani, thus, avenged his 2-3 defeat in the round-robin fixture to Singapore’s Gilchrist, who has three World titles to his credit.

Opting out of the professional snooker circuit in the UK, Advani chose to return to India to focus on billiards along with snooker (as opposed to only snooker) and represent India in all the majors. His decision proved him right yet again.

“I am on 11th heaven! I returned to India to focus on this very event and it has paid off. Gilchrist was the most dangerous competitor of the tournament and in a dream final I am happy with the way I performed,” said an elated Advani.

Gilchrist was off to a flying start, registering a 145 unfinished and securing the first frame. However, Advani responded with a 127 in the second to even the score.

Gilchrist surged ahead to 2-1, but that was the last frame he was going to win in the final. The next two frames saw the Indian score heavily with two unfinished breaks of 108 and 150 to go into the interval with a slender 3-2 lead. On return from the mid-session break, Advani was in demolition mode and won the next three frames to lift his eleventh world title.

Advani now is the holder of three different world titles in 2014 — the IBSF World 6-Red Snooker title, the World Team Billiards title and now the World Billiards Championship (point format), an unprecedented record in itself.

Advani has little time to celebrate his famous win as he would be concentrating his energy and efforts on the job at hand. “The job is only half done. I have to now focus on the Point (longer) format and try for a double. Celebrations will have to wait, but no complaints,” he said.

Madrid, October 25
Real Madrid trimmed Barcelona’s lead at the top of La Liga to one point when they recovered from conceding an early goal to secure a stirring 3-1 comeback win in the ‘Clasico’ on Saturday.

Neymar stunned a packed and hostile Bernabeu with a superb goal to give Barca a fourth-minute lead before Cristiano Ronaldo levelled with a penalty in the 35th, the first goal the Catalan side had conceded in nine league outings this term.

Pepe made it 2-1 to the European champions six minutes into the second half and a misunderstanding between Andres Iniesta and Javier Mascherano led to Real’s third after the hour when Karim Benzema finished off a swift break with a clinical strike.

Barca are top with 22 points and Real, who had an early-season wobble but have been in scintillating form in recent weeks, second on 21. Sevilla, who host Villarreal on Sunday, are third with 19.

There was no dream return for Luis Suarez, making his Barca debut after a four-month ban for biting an opponent at the World Cup.

The Uruguay forward looked reasonably sharp and had a hand in Neymar’s goal but did not come close to scoring himself before being replaced by Pedro midway through the second half.

Lionel Messi also had a quiet night by his standards and remains one goal short of the La Liga scoring record of 251 goals set by former Athletic Bilbao forward Telmo Zarra six decades ago.

It was Real’s 71st win in 169 La Liga ‘Clasicos’ since the arch rivals first clashed in the Spanish top flight in 1929. Barca have won 66 with 32 draws.

Dortmund slump to fourth Bundesliga defeat in a row

Berlin: Borussia Dortmund's miserable domestic season continued when they lost 1-0 at home to fellow strugglers Hanover 96 on Saturday, their fourth Bundesliga defeat in a row.

Dortmund, who have taken only one point in their last six league games, dominated the first hour but were foiled by Hanover goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler before Hiroshi Kiyotake curled in a delightful free kick against the run of play. — Reuters

London, October 25
West Ham United and Southampton maintained their unlikely but impressive starts to the season when the Hammers beat champions Manchester City 2-1 and Saints moved up to second with a 1-0 win over Stoke City on Saturday.

Chelsea, who visit Manchester United on Sunday, lead the Premier League title chase with 22 points from eight matches while Saints are second with 19 from nine games. Manchester City are third on 17 after losing at West Ham through goals from Morgan Amalfitano and Diafra Sakho. The champions could trail Chelsea by eight points by Sunday night if Jose Mourinho’s men maintain their unbeaten start to the season and win again at Old Trafford.

In Saturday’s other afternoon games Arsenal won 2-0 at Sunderland, Liverpool were held to a goalless draw at home by Hull City and West Bromwich Albion fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at home to Crystal Palace.

West Ham did not have it easy against Manchester City who dominated possession but hit the bar twice through Yaya Toure and only scored once through David Silva.

Frenchman Amalfitano put the Hammers ahead with a tap-in after a brilliant low spinning cross from Enner Valencia after 21 minutes.

Senegalese Sakho became the first West Ham player to score in six successive Premier League games when he made it 2-0 with a goal given after goalline technology showed his header had crossed the line in the 75th.

Silva pulled one back for City with a great solo effort as he weaved through the defence two minutes later.

“It wasn’t a lucky victory by any stretch of the imagination today because our commitment and desire to play against the big boys and the present league champions was there for all to see,” West Ham manager Sam Allardyce said.

“After David Silva scored their outstanding goal, for me it was about the squad’s determination to make sure of what is a famous victory for us.” City manager Manuel Pellegrini denied he was under any pressure after his side also let slip a 2-0 lead against CSKA Moscow to draw 2-2 in the Champions League in midweek.

He said: “I always feel the pressure exactly the same from the first day to today.

“West Ham played very well especially in the first half and they did not allow us to move the ball but we were very unlucky because we had a lot of chances.” — Reuters

Singapore, October 25
Serena Williams, her insatiable will to win as strong as ever, regained her composure after smashing her racquet and being on the brink of defeat to beat Caroline Wozniacki 2-6 6-3 7-6(6) on Saturday and reach the title match at the WTA Finals.

The World No.1 will face Simona Halep in Sunday’s final after the pint-sized Romanian crushed Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2 6-2 in the second semifinal.

Halep also demolished Williams during the round-robin stages earlier in the tournament, setting the stage for a mouth-watering rematch with the the World No.1.

The best of friends off the court, Williams and Wozniacki slugged it out like two prizefighters for almost two and a quarter hours until Williams delivered the killer blow to end a contest filled with drama and escalating tension.

The American looked to be on the ropes after losing the first set and smashing her racquet in frustration, then falling 5-4 behind in the third set. But Wozniacki, who lost to Williams in last month's U.S. Open final, blinked first, missing her chance to serve out the match and the American made her pay by going on to win the deciding tie-breaker.

“Being so close and still losing, it really sucks,” Wozniacki said. “But, you know, I think it was a great match. I played all I could today. I played my heart out. I fought until the end.”

Williams only snuck into the semifinals on a countback but is suddenly back on track to win the elite season-ending event for the third year in a row.

Wozniacki made a flying start to the match, reeling off the first three games for the loss of just three points.

Williams lost her opening service game when she hit a half-volley just over the baseline but held her next two, sealing her first game with a booming 190 km/hr ace.

Basel, October 25
Rafael Nadal suffered a 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) loss in the quarterfinals of the Swiss Indoors to teenager Borna Coric on Friday and then shut down his season to undergo appendix surgery.

He confirmed that he will have his appendix removed on November 3.

Given the circumstances the 28-year-old Spaniard said there was no logic in him competing at either next week’s Paris Masters or the eight-man World Tour Finals in London from November 9.

“This is the day to say goodbye for the season,” said Nadal. “It's the day to say I had a good first six months this year. But it was hard after that with back and (three-month summer) wrist problems and now the appendix. I'm not going to play Paris or London, I'm not competitive enough to do that. I need to do the surgery, I need to work on my back next week before the operation. Then I need five weeks to recover.”

Top seed Roger Federer beat Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov as the Swiss continued his bid for a sixth home trophy. Federer posted a 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 win to set up a semifinal with the biggest server in the game, Ivo Karlovic after the eighth seed beat German Benjamin Becker 6-4, 6-4. “It’s like a penalty shootout playing him,” said Federer of the leading ace-maker on the ATP this season with more than 1,000 aces. — Agencies

BRIEFLY

new delhi
Sarita Devi hopes she can participate in World C’ships: Boxer L Sarita Devi has not given up hopes of participating in next month’s World Championships, saying that she has written to the International Boxing Association (AIBA) presenting her case. Sarita said she is disappointed with the turn of events ever since her emotionally-charged protest on the podium. “I am disappointed with how things have gone but I have written to Boxing India, which will forward the contents to AIBA. I am hopeful that things will be sorted,” Sarita said. The Indian has not yet given up on World Championships hope. “If my suspension is revoked by the end of this month, I can be a part of the Indian team.”

Paris
Fighting Saina bows out of French Open: Saina Nehwal crashed out of the French Open Super Series after going down to world No. 2 Shixian Wang of China in a hard-fought quarterfinal contest. Saina posed quite a challenge to her Chinese rival but in the end lost 19-21 21-19 15-21. Having lost the opening game, the world No. 6 Indian bounced back to snatch the second but failed to sustain the pressure in the deciding game.

Chandigarh
Abhay Sharma to coach Himachal Ranji side: Abhay Sharma, who has served Railways as coach for a long time, has joined Himachal Pradesh Ranji Trophy side for the 2014-15 season. Sharma is also India A fielding coach. Railways will be coached by former India pacer Harvinder Singh.

dubai
Pak spinners strike after Younus, Shehzad heroics: Pakistan’s spinners scythed through Australia’s top order in the second innings to get them close to victory in the first Test after twin centuries from Younus Khan and youngster Ajmal Shehzad helped the hosts set an improbable target. Left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar and debutant leg-spinner Yasir Shah took two wickets each as Australia crawled to 59/4 at the close of play, after being set 438 to win. Brief Scores: Australia: 303 & 59/4; Pak: 454 & 286/2 dec (Shehzad 131, Younus 103*). — Agencies

Ghaziabad 
Garhwal scores another double century: Rajasthan’s Aditya Garhwal again hit a stunning double century as he smashed his way to 212 off 132 balls against Vidarbha in the Vinoo Mankad trophy match on Saturday. Garhwal had played knocks of 263 and 196 earlier in the tournament. “I couldn't believe Suresh Raina had sent a bat for me. The best present I have got so far in my short career,” Garhwal, 18, said. — Agencies