BIRMINGHAM, June 8 (PTI): Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza crashed out in the first round of the women�s singles event at the AEGON Classic tennis tournament here, losing to Tamira Paszek of Austria in a thrilling three-setter.
Sania, ranked 58th in the world, was stunned 3-6, 6-4, 2-6 by less-fancied Paszek at the USD 220,000 grasscourt event yesterday. The world ranked 80th Austrian will now be up against Russian sixth seed Ekaterina Makarova, who got a bye in the first round. The tournament is the first of the two warm-up events on grass ahead of next month�s All England Championships at Wimbledon.
Bhakti Kulkarni wins Asian Junior Chess Championship
Colombo, June 8 (PTI): International woman grandmaster Bhakti Kulkarni of Goa today won the Asian Junior Chess Championship held at Bentota beach resort here. Kulkarni, 20, is Goa�s first international woman grandmaster.
Having already won the under-14 and under-16 Asian crowns in 2006 and 2010, respectively, Kulkarni today got the better of Sri Lanka�s Dissanayake to clinch the top prize.
�I have to prepare well for the World junior with some specialised training,� Kulkarni said in statement. �This victory is good because the World Chess Federation awards the winner with a norm of Woman Grandmaster and Bhakti will have seeding in the World Junior Championship (Athens, Greece) and Asian Junior Championship (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) in 2012,� she said, throwing light on her preparations for the world junior championship scheduled to be held at Athens in 2012.
