Short Corner 8212; Chandigarh

Black beats Fromberg
Fourth seed Byron Black of Zimbabwe outsmarted Richard Fromberg of Australia in straight sets to enter the semifinals of the ATP Gold Flake tournament in Chennai today. With his tenacious play and powerful double-fisted groundstrokes, the 30-year-old Black scripted a 6-4, 6-4 win in just one hour and 15 minutes. Black, who ousted India8217;s Leander Paes yesterday, will meet John Van Lottum of The Netherlands in the semifinal tomorrow. Van Lottum defeated crowd favourite and 1997 champion Mikael Tillstrom of Sweden 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a centre court match.

Clean sweep
India made a clean sweep winning both men8217;s and women8217;s team championship of the SAARC judo, defeating Nepal in the final in Lucknow. In morning, Nepal defeated Sri Lanka to qualify for the finals. In the final of men8217;s 60 kg weight category, Vikram Solanki of India defeated Himalaya Singh of Nepal with Wazari ippon. In the 70 kg, Pankaj Sharma of India defeated Prabin Kaji of Nepal through ippon.

Ganesh routs Punjab
Test discard Doda Ganesh with figures of 6 for 37 came up with one of his best performances in domestic cricket as he sent Punjab reeling for a paltry 90 runs in their first innings on the opening day of the crucial five-day Ranji Trophy match against Karnataka in Amritsar.

Sasikiran wins
With a round to go, IM Krishnan Sasikiran has won the BPCL 36th National A8217; Chess Championship by beating IM R G Hegde in the 16th round at the VBA Hall today afternoon. Sasikiran has so far accumulated 12.5 points that came through 11 wins and three draws. On way to the maiden National A8217; title, the young IM had to suffer two losses also. He meets IM G B Prakash in the last round match on Sunday. This game would be a do-or-die battle for Prakash as he has 10.5 points following his win over IM Verghese Koshy 5.5 today.