Novak Djokovic swept aside Karen Khachanov 6-2, 6-2 Thursday to reach the semi-finals of the Dubai Championships, ensuring he will keep hold of the No. 1 ranking.

Tough task for EB

East Bengal will return to the Salt Lake Stadium for the first time this I-League season as they cross swords with Churchill Brothers here on Saturday.

After having succumbed to five defeats since the turn of the year, the Red and Golds got their campaign back on track with two successive wins, helping them out of relegation zone. “Team is getting used to new methods, but we are still on the way,” said East Bengal coach Mario Rivera.

Weighing in on their next opponents, he added: “Churchill are a difficult team with good foreigners. They are very competitive. Last season, we couldn’t win against them in the first leg but we will try to get it this time.”

England and SA victorious

Skipper Heather Knight blasted a fluent fifty before spin twins Sarah Glenn and Sophie Ecclestone shared five wickets as England registered a 42-run win over Pakistan in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup on Friday. Knight (62) and Nat Sciver (36) continued their fine form as England posted 158 for seven. In reply, Pakistan were dismissed for 116. In the other match of the day, South Africa mauled minnows Thailand by 113 runs.

Coach Santoso

Experienced Indonesian coach Agus Dwi Santoso will be assisting India singles badminton players, including Olympic silver-medallist PV Sindhu, from next month as they prepare for Tokyo.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel posted the fastest lap on the penultimate day of Formula One’s pre-season testing on Thursday as six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton hit engine trouble. Vettel set a time of one minute 16.841 seconds.

Aravindh fourth

National champion Aravindh Chithambaram finished fourth while compatriot B Adhiban took the seventh spot in ‘A’ group of the Aeroflot Open chess tournament here.

SSP makes cut

n Muscat: SSP Chowrasia suffered a mid-round lapse to score a three-over 75 in the second round, while Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar missed the cut at the Oman Open here on Friday.

Fishy explanation

British hammer thrower Mark Dry has been banned from all sport for four years after falsely claiming he had “gone fishing” to explain why he missed an out-of-competition doping test.