BASKETBALL
First-ever BUDX NBA House, an interactive fan event, to take place in India in June
The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Budweiser on Tuesday announced the first-ever BUDX NBA House in India – an interactive fan event celebrating the convergence of basketball, music and culture, that will take place on June 7 and 8 at the DOME, SVP Stadium, in Mumbai.
The two-day event will feature basketball-themed activities, live musical performances, meet-and-greets with five-time NBA champion Derek Fisher and Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Gary Payton, photo opportunities with the Larry O’Brien Trophy, as well as performances by Sacramento Kings mascot Slamson, the Kings Dancers and the Kings’ dunk team.
– Team Sportstar
CHESS
GM chess, Kottayam: Jaidambareesh jolts GM Karthikeyan
Tamil Nadu’s 17-year-old N.R Jaidambareesh, the 45th seed, shocked Grandmaster P. Karthikeyan in the penultimate round of the KCA’s first international open GM chess tournament at the Courtyard Banquet Hall, Kanjikuzhi, on Tuesday.
Meanwhile Levan Pantsulaia, the third-seeded GM from Georgia, drew with IM Semetei Tologon Tegin and hung on to his lead with eight points from nine rounds.
Three players – top seed Karen Grigoryan, 12th-seeded Tegin and 15th-seeded IM V.A.V. Rajesh – are in the second spot with 7.5 points each.
SELECT RESULTS (ROUND 9):
Semetei Tologon Tegin (Kgz) 7.5 drew with Levan Pantsulaia (Geo) 8; Deepan Chakkravarthy (Ind) 6.5 lost to Karen Grigoryan (Arm) 7.5; V.A.V. Rajesh (Ind) 7.5 bt Tornike Sanikidze (Geo) 6; Manuel Petrosyan (Arm) 7) bt Dinesh Sharma (Ind) 6; Boris Savchenko (Rus) 7) bt G. Aakash (Ind) 6; E.U. Ahaz (Ind) 6.5 drew with R.R. Laxman (Ind) 6.5; Siddhanth Poonja (Ind) 6 drew with Huy Van Nguyen (Vie) 6; T.M. Abhishek (Ind) 6 drew with Marat Dzhumaev (Uzb) 6; N.R. Jaidambareesh (Ind) 6.5 bt P. Karthikeyan (Ind) 6.5; Sanjay S. Pillai (Ind) 6 drew with Vitaly Teterev (Blr) 6.
-Stan Rayan
CUE SPORT
Pankaj Advani gets top billing
Defending champion Pankaj Advani on Tuesday received top seeding in a 32-player field for the main draw of the NSCI Baulkline Snooker tournament with half of them entering from the qualifying round.
The main round of the competition will start in Mumbai from Wednesday.
Advani, who recently clinched the CCI Billiards Classic for a third consecutive time last Sunday, will face Sparsh Pherwani in the round of 32.
The tournament will feature Ishpreet Chadha who is relatively new to professional snooker. Among the other competitors are Aditya Mehta, Kamal Chawla, Sourav Kothari, S Srikrishna and Kreishh Gurbaxani.
“The first knockout round of the tournament is set to nine frames which will give opportunities for the seasoned campaigners and those inclined to challenge the big names an equal chance,” the organisers said in a release.
– PTI