Anand beats Sadhwani, Kidambi holds Kramnik

Isle of Man (UK)

Viswanathan Anand scored an expected victory over young gun Raunak Sadhwani while Grandmaster S Kidambi caused a huge flutter by holding Vladimir Kramnik to a draw in the first round of Isle of Man International Chess tournament. Anand maintained his cool amidst wild complications that once threatened to ruin his position against young International Master Sadhwani, who played with white. Seeded sixth, Anand went for the variation he had chosen to beat Eric Hansen of Canada in the just-concluded Chess Olympiad but clearly the Nagpur kid was much better prepared. Anand faced some tough time before he could reach an endgame where his extra pawn did the talking. Kidmabi showed his solid game against fourth seed Kramnik. The Chennai-based lad is known for his deep opening knowledge and that helped him initially in maintaining the balance. Once the endgame approached, Kramnik tried many tricks but they were all successfully thwarted by the Indian. IM CRG Krishna also played out a draw with Wesley So of the United States.. 

Jamshedpur

ISL: ATK hold Jamshedpur to 1-1 draw

ATK produced a solid defensive performance to hold an in-form Jamshedpur FC to a 1-1 draw in their Indian Super League match. Sergio Cidoncha gave Jamshedpur the lead with a 35th-minute freekick before Manuel Lanzarote curled in a corner directly into the net at the stroke of half time to level the scores.  

Pune

PKL: Dabang Delhi beat Bengal Warriors 39-30 

Dabang Delhi defeated Bengal Warriors 39-30 in the Pro Kabaddi League. Naveen Kumar scored 11 raid points for Delhi while Ravinder Pahal contributed four tackle points. Jang Kun Lee put in an impressive second-half performance to score 10 points but it was not enough for the Bengal outfit to beat Delhi.

Guwahati

MS will do well in WC but WI series crucial: Ganguly   

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Sunday backed struggling MS Dhoni to do well in the World Cup and said the current series against West Indies would be crucial for the veteran stumper. A colossus in ODI cricket, Dhoni has been struggling with his batting for some time now.  “I don’t know what combination they are looking at. But I’m sure he (Dhoni) will do well in the World Cup. It’s (against West Indies) big series for him,” said Ganguly. —Agencies