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Sunil Chhetri scored a hat-trick in Indias 3-1 win over local football club Al-Shaab in a friendly match in Dubai.

India beat Al-Shaab 3-1

Sunil Chhetri scored a hat-trick in Indias 3-1 win over local football club Al-Shaab in a friendly match in Dubai. Chhetri opened the scoring in the 24th minute and then struck two minutes later to double the lead. Going into the second half with a 2-0 cushion,India continued playing a solid game and the striker struck again in the 46th minute. Subrata Pal,Bhaichung Bhutia,Gouramangi Singh,Sameer Naik and N Mohanraj did not play the tie.

Button fastest,Liuzzi fourth

Jenson Button of McLaren was fastest in Formula Ones penultimate test session. The defending champions lap of 1 minute,18.871 seconds set the pace as the 11 cars ran in dry conditions for only the second of eight testing days at the Jerez Circuit. Renaults Robert Kubica was second,followed by Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber,Tonio Liuzzi of Force India and Nico Rosberg of Mercedes GP rounding out the top five.

Sharath loses to end challenge

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Achanta Sharath Kamal became a second-round casualty as Indian challenge in the Pro Tour Qatar Open table tennis championships came to an end in Doha. All three woman paddlers,including new national champion Poulomi Ghatak,who qualified for the main draw of the tournament also lost. Poulomi and Mouma Das also failed to clear the first-round hurdle in doubles.

Mankad-Shamasdin in quarters

Top seeds Harsh Mankad and Canadas Adil Shamasdin reached the doubles quarter-finals of the ATP Challenger event in Tanger,Morocco without playing a ball after their opponents handed them a walkover. The top seeds will take on Belgian Steve Darcis and Dominik Meffert of Germany next. In the Marseille Open,Rohan Bopanna and Jeff Coetzee lost their semi-final to top seeds Julian Knowle and Robert Lindstedt 4-6 6-0 6-10.

Bhat to cut down on events

With fitness problems and form plaguing his career last season,Indian shuttler Aravind Bhat has decided to cut down on tournament appearances this year to dedicate more time for training. Bhat,who left on Friday night to take part in Thomas Cups Asia zone competition,said he is completely fit and confident of impressive showing this year. My plan will be to train for one month and than play a tournament. In short,I will concentrate on quality rather than quantity.

Venus defends Dubai title

Venus Williams successfully defended her Dubai Championships title by beating Victoria Azarenka 6-3,7-5 in the final on Saturday. Williams broke Azarenka a third time at 5-5 in the second set and served out for her 42nd singles title on the WTA Tour. Unlike last year,Williams didnt lose a set,and in the final she lost her serve only once to Azarenka,ranked No. 6,one spot behind Williams.