Anand in joint lead after securing first win

India’s Viswanathan Anand came up with an inspired performance to outplay Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France and jump to joint lead on 3.5 points after the end of the seventh round of Altibox Norway Chess tournament. The win came after five draws and one battle against Chinese Ding Liren that was declared as a non-played game after the latter withdrew. Anand came up with a surprise weapon by going for the open Spanish and as expected, Vachier-Lagrave chose a double edged continuation that gave Anand enough chances. Although more than 20 years older than the Frenchman, Anand showed why he is still a force to reckon with. The Indian ace simply out-calculated his opponent when it mattered. Anand shares the lead with Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Wesley So of United States. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan played out a draw with Wesley So, while Armenian Levon Aronian signed peace with Sergey Karjakin of Russia. The other game of the day also ended in a draw between Americans Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura.

5 Armenians charged in Belgium over tennis fixing    

Five Armenians have been charged in Belgium with corruption, money-laundering and other crimes as part of a major international investigation into match-fixing in tennis, Belgian federal prosecutors have said. They were among 13 people detained in Belgium amid simultaneous raids also launched in the US, Germany, France, Bulgaria, Slovakia and the Netherlands. An investigating judge in Belgium issued an arrest warrant for five people, “all of Armenian nationality,” the federal prosecutor’s office said.

Vijender to fight Briton Lee Markham for third title

Indian boxing star Vijender Singh will be gunning for his third professional title when he takes on Briton Lee Markham for the Commonwealth Super Middleweight belt on July 13 in London. “I will be competing for my third title on July 13 against Lee. I am training for it right now. The fight will take place in York Hall, London,” the Indian, who is undefeated and holds the WBO Asia Pacific and Oriental titles, said from his training base in Manchester.

Porto defender Diogo Dalot moves to Man United

Manchester United completed the signing of Porto defender Diogo Dalot. The Portugal under-21 international is the second acquisition in 24 hours for United manager Jose Mourinho, after the Red Devils reached an agreement with Shakhtar Donetsk to sign Brazil midfielder Fred.