*Mulheim an der Ruhr (Germany)*: Indian ace shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and Parupalli Kashyap advanced to the prequarterfinals after notching up contrasting victories in the men's singles competition of the USD 120,000 German Grand Prix Gold here.World No. 10 Srikanth, who clinched the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold at Lucknow in January this year, struggled past qualifier Erik Meijs of The Netherlands 15-21 21-6 21-16 in a 48-minute match at RWE Sporthalle.
The sixth seed will take on World No. 16 NG Ka Long Angus of Hong Kong, seeded 12th, in the next round. Commonwealth Games champion Kashyap, on the other hand, hardly broke any sweat as he zoomed past Irish qualifier Joshua Magee 21-12 21-11 in another match.
The 11th seeded Indian, who is making a comeback after recovering from a series of injuries, will face Korea's Son Wan Ho, seeded eighth next. It was however end of the road for young Sameer Verma as his fierce battle ended with a narrow 21-8 19-21 19-21 loss against Korea's Lee Dong Keun, seeded 15th.
In men's doubles, Indian pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy prevailed over English combo of Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge 21-16 19-21 21-17. They will take on Chinese Taipei's Lee Sheng Mu and Tsai Chia Hsin.
Two-time bronze medallist at World Championship, P V Sindhu, who is going a slight dip in form recently, will meet World No. 16 Michelle Li of Canada. The duo has a 2-2 head-to-head record with Li having the upper hand in the last two encounter.
Meanwhile, ace woman's shuttler PV Sindhu also sailed into the quarterfinals, defeating Michelle LI of Canada 21-9 21-17 in a one-sided second round encounter.
Seventh seed Sindhu will now face fourth seeded Wang Shixian.
http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/feb/18Mithali-Raj-s.jpg
*Indian Women's Cricket team's captain Mithali Raj*
The significance of the ICC Women's Championship lies in the fact that it is a qualifying tournament for the World Cup to be held in July, 2017.
The top four sides from the ICC Women's Championship will obtain automatic qualification for the event proper to be staged in England, while the bottom four sides will get a final chance of qualification through the ICC Women's World Cup Qualifier earlier in 2017.
India are still not assured of a World Cup 2017 qualification spot. Mithali Raj's side will need to win both its final two rounds against the West Indies and Pakistan to put pressure on the other leading contenders.
India, meanwhile, was impressive against Australia, pulling one game back against the top-ranked side in an away series. This was followed by a three-nil series win against Sri Lanka at home.
The ICC Women's Championship has a clear leader in world champion Australia after an exciting month of one-day cricket, which featured seven of the eight sides in the competition. Australia, which will be aiming for its fourth straight ICC Women's World Twenty20 title in India later this month, entered the latest round of matches as Championship co-leaders with the West Indies.
But two series wins against India and New Zealand has helped it to break-away from the Caribbean side, which is now trailing by four points.
Australia beat India and New Zealand by an identical 2-1 margin to earn eight out of a possible 12 points on offer. Meg Lannings's side came from a match down to beat New Zealand and retain the Rose bowl title for the 14th time.
Australia now has two rounds of matches remaining, which will be again South Africa and Sri Lanka. West Indies has secured second position with a 2-1 win over South Africa. The Caribbean side's remaining two series are against fifth-placed India and sixth-placed England.
The Proteas hold on to fourth spot in the Championship table despite losing both outings against England and the West Indies. In ICC ODI Women's Player rankings, Australian captain Meg Lanning held on to her number-one spot in the women's batting rankings, while Bates has retained her second position and India captain Mithali Raj is in third.
http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/mar/03messi-bolt-s.jpg*Lionel Messi and Usain Bolt*
Apart from three-time Laureus winner Usain Bolt and five-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi, the other nominees are tennis No.1 Novak Djokovic and triple Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton. They are joined by first time nominees Stephen Curry, star of NBA's Golden State Warriors, and golf's world No.1 Jordan Spieth.
After a sparkling 2015 in which she won three Grand Slams, US tennis legend Serena Williams is again nominated for the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award - her record 10th nomination.
In another strong category, the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team is nominated for the second straight year for the Laureus World Team of the Year Award, along with Rugby World Cup champions the All Blacks, Champions League winners FC Barcelona, NBA champions Golden State Warriors, the Great Britain Davis Cup Team and the US Women's Football Team, who won their third World Cup.
Two sportsmen are nominated in two categories: surfer Mick Fanning (Action and Comeback) and world No.1 golfer Jordan Spieth (Sportsman and Breakthrough).
In addition to Fanning, the Laureus World Comeback of the Year category features some of the biggest names in sport - Rugby Player of the Year Dan Carter, world heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill, the most decorated Olympian Michael Phelps, Kenya's 800 metres world champion David Rudisha and US ski legend Lindsey Vonn.
Nominations for the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability include two former winners: Brazilian swimmer Daniel Dias, who won in 2009 and 2013, and France's Marie Bochet, winner in 2014, who had her second clean sweep of all five events at the Paralympic World Skiing Championships. Reported by Mid-Day 2 days ago.
