Sports Bar

Hingis ties the knot

Retired tennis star Martina Hingis has married French showjumper Thibault Hutin in Paris. The 30-year-old former Grand Slam champion and the 24-year-old rider held their civil wedding on Friday in the presence of close family. “Our wedding came as a surprise for many,but it has been in planning long in advance,” Hingis said. The pair intends to hold their wedding feast next summer,said Swiss celebrity magazine Schweizer Illustrierte,which will publish exclusive wedding pictures on Monday.

Stuttgart hires coach

Stuttgart FC has appointed its third coach of the season,giving Bruno Labbadia the task of leading the 2007 Bundesliga champion out of the relegation zone. Labbadia replaces Jens Keller,who was fired after only two months in the job following Friday’s 2-1 loss to Hannover. Stuttgart has dropped to next-to-last in the Bundesliga after the defeat. The 44-year-old Labbadia,a former striker who played for a number of top Bundesliga clubs including Bayern Munich,was fired by Hamburger SV in April.

Khan defends title

Amir Khan successfully defended his WBA 140-pound title with a narrow unanimous decision over Marcos Maidana. Khan (24-1,17 KOs) knocked down Maidana with 10 seconds left in the first round. The free-swinging Maidana seemed to be close to stopping Khan during a brilliant 10th round,but Khan absorbed every shot and responded with a strong 11th. The British champion answered every question about his toughness in his third title defense,finishing the fight with blood dripping from his nose. Maidana (29-2),of Argentina,also was hurt by a point deduction by referee Joe Cortez.

Eto’o in final list

Strikers Didier Drogba,Samuel Eto’o and Asamoah Gyan have been named as finalists for Africa’s 2010 player of the year award. Ivory Coast’s Drogba is a two-time winner and last claimed the honor in 2009. He won the English Premier League title with Chelsea last season,finishing as the league’s top scorer with 29 goals in 32 games. Eto’o of Cameroon,Africa’s player of the year in 2003,2004 and 2005,won an Italian league,cup and Champions League treble with Inter Milan in 2010.

AI,SCR in semi-finals

Air India and last year’s runners-up South Central Railway registered contrasting wins over their respective opponents to make the semi-finals of the Coal India 115th Beighton Cup Hockey Tournament at SAI artificial turf in Kolkata,on Sunday. Coached by former captain Dhanraj Pillay,Air India struck through Len Aiyappa (10th),V S Vinaya (19th),Sameer Dad (53rd) and Birender Lakra to blank Karnataka XI 4-0 in their quarterfinal league match to finish on top of group B and set up a last-four battle with Punjab Sports. South Central Railway set up a tough semi-final clash with defending champions Indian Oil after a hard-fought 3-2 win over Western Railway.

Sethuraman in lead

International Master S P Sethuraman defeated overnight joint leader Grandmaster B Adhiban in the fourth round to take the sole lead with three and half points in the National Premier Chess Championhip in New Delhi. Playing with white pieces in a Queen’s Indian defense game,Sethuraman put enormous pressure on the King side of his Grandmaster rival in the middle game to post a victory in 36 moves. Overnight leaders — top seed G N Gopal and second seed Parimarjan Negi — had to be contend with half point against S Kidambi and M R Venkatesh.