SPORTS Thursday, September 7, 2017 23

New York American semi-final. oCo Vandeweghe reached The last time four US the US Open semi-finals women were in the semis was yesterday,C knocking Karolina 36 years ago when eventual Pliskova off her world number champion Tracy Austin, Chris one perch as Rafael Nadal Evert, Martina Navratilova and Roger Federer plotted a and Barbara Potter all made it. dream New York match-up “Let’s make it four from for the first time. four,” said Vandeweghe. American 20th seed Pliskova, who had to save CoCo Vandeweghe claimed a a match point to beat China’s 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 win over the Zhang Shuai in the second Czech Republic’s Pliskova, round, needed to fight back whose brief eight-week stay from breaks down in both sets as world number one ends to keep her challenge alive. with Wimbledon champion But a final break from the Garbine Muguruza taking American for a 4-2 lead in over. the second set proved decisive stuns Vandeweghe’s victory and the match was hers when means that the US Open will Pliskova buried a return into have an all-American semi- the net. final line-up for the first time Later Wednesday, Nadal since 1981 if Madison Keys faces Russian 19-year-old defeats Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi Andrey Rublev with plenty on Pliskova later Wednesday. the line. “I won the juniors here Should Nadal lose and when I was 16 and dreamed Federer defeat Juan Martin of playing on the real stage,” del Potro, then the veteran Indian poses with the trophy after win- said 25-year-old Vandeweghe, Swiss will reclaim the world ning the international cricket match who also made the semi- number one spot. finals at the Australian Open, It would make 36-year- beating then world number old Federer the oldest men’s one Angelique Kerber in the number one since the rankings Kohli fires India process. were introduced in 1973. Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens ‘Lot of regrets’ to 7- win had Federer faces del Potro for Colombo already the first time in New York kipper Virat Kohli hit a blazing half-century as India completed set-up an since the towering Argentine their rout of on this tour, winning the one-off all- rallied from a set and a break STwenty20 by seven in Colombo yesterday. down to shock the Swiss The visitors remained unbeaten in their nine matches against legend in the 2009 final. Sri Lanka as they won the Test and one-day series 3-0 and 5-0 That thrilling five-set respectively. triumph ended Federer’s five- Chasing 171 for victory, India rode on a 119-run second- year reign as champion as well wicket stand between Kohli (82) and Manish Pandey (51 not as his 40-match win streak. out) to achieve their target with four balls to spare. Del Potro had also Kohli remained calm in a tricky chase with Pandey for crushed Nadal in straight company after India lost their openers for 42 runs in the sets in the semi-finals. sixth over. “I felt like that I left that Rohit Sharma fell to veteran paceman match with a lot of regrets. for nine and Lokesh Rahul was done in by a superb catch Probably feels like one of by Dasun Shanaka at short cover off . those matches I would like to But Kohli took the attack to the opposition with 7 play over again,” said Federer. fours and a six during his 54-ball knock before falling to Del Potro, who saved two with India requiring 10 runs to win. match points to defeat sixth Pandey finished off the game with a boundary that seed Dominic Thiem from brought his maiden T20 fifty in 36 balls. two sets down in a fourth- Earlier leg-spinner played his part round thriller, has been by claiming three wickets to restrict Sri Lanka to 170-7 after plagued by injury ever since being put into bat first. his moment in the New Czech Republic’s Karolina Dilshan Munaweera hit a 29-ball 53 before York spotlight eight years CoCo Vandeweghe of the United Pliskova leaves the court scored a run-a-ball 40 to lift the Sri Lankan total after a ago. States falls to her knees middle-order collapse.

Abdulrahman Janahi and Ali Khonji were crowned winners in the Super Doubles of the August edition of the Bahrain Tennis Club (BTC) Members Circuit follow- ing a 6-3, 6-0 win over top seeds Ali Al Asfoor and Roy Boutagy at the Bahrain Tennis Club (BTC) premises in Juffair. Janahi had previously won the singles title in July. In the doubles competi- tion final, Mahmood Janahi and Mohammed Al Mosawi defeat- ed Ahmed Omran and Sayed Mohammed 6-4 , 6-3. After the final matches, BTC President, Khamis Al-Maqla and BTC Vice- President Mirza Samak, Vice President and BTC Chairman of Sport Activities, Khalid Nass pre- sented trophies to the winners.