Badminton: Bhat in China Open quarters

Indian shuttler Arvind Bhat reached the men’s singles quarter-final of the China Open Super Series defeating Peter Koukal of the Czech Republic even as Saina Nehwal’s campaign in women’s doubles ended in Shanghai on Thursday.

Bhat fought back from a game down to beat Koukal 18-21, 21-18, 21-15 in the second round.

Sania, who lost her singles match in the opening round on Wednesday, had partnered Canadian Anna Rice in doubles.

The unseeded duo went down 13-21, 11-21 to fourth-seeded Jung Eun HA and Min Jung Kim in the second round.

Tennis: Mahesh Bhupati and Mark Knowles book a berth to the Tennis Masters Cup

Indian tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles’s final appearance at last week’s Madrid Masters has booked the duo a berth in the season-ending prestigious Tennis Masters Cup to be held in Shanghai next month.
Top seven teams in the ATP doubles race apart from Roland Garros winners Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay and Luis Horna of Peru would compete in the event.

Bhupathi and Knowles are placed third in the race with 593 points while Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy are at the sixth place with 431 points.

Bhupathi and Knowles won ATP titles in Memphis and Dubai apart from reaching four finals, including three at ATP Masters Series events at Miami, Monte Carlo and Madrid.