Indians doing well at Canada Grand Prix

P Kashyap and rising star HS Prannoy registered straight-game wins to advance to the second round of the $65,000 Canada Grand Prix. Kashyap, seeded 16th, defeated Peru’s Daniel La Torre Regal 21-11 21-9, while second seed Prannoy beat Mexico’s Job Castillo 21-13 21 -15. Lakhanee Sarang eked out a 21-9 17-21 21-7 win over local shuttler Eugene Chan, while AbhishekYelegar saw off Vietnam’s Hoang Nam Nguyen 21-15 21-5 and Karan Rajan Rajarajan outclassed Croatia’s Zvonimir Durkinjak 13-21 21-10 21-13.

Chandimal, Tharanga to lead Sri Lanka

The sudden resignation of Angelo Mathews has prompted Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to appoint Dinesh Chandimal as the national team’s Test captain while veteran Upul Tharanga was handed over the reins of the side in the shorter formats. “Dinesh Chandimal has been appointed captain of the Test team while Upul Tharanga has been appointed captain of the ODI and T20 formats,” the board said in a statement. The new captains will kickstart their leadership stints in the full home series against India, starting July 26.

Sanchez will stay, says Mertesacker

Arsenal captain Per Mertesacker believes Alexis Sanchez will not leave the Premier League club in the transfer window, despite the Chilean striker entering the final year of his current contract with no new deal in sight. “Yes, definitely,“ Mertesacker said when asked if Sanchez was staying.“We have a strong squad and we do not want to lose any players. Even in their final contract year we need them.We cannot afford to lose them.“

Ineligible Malouda plays for French Guiana

Florent Malouda, a veteran of 80 international matches for France, played for French Guiana in CONCACAF Gold Cup  despite being ruled ineligible for the tournament. The 37-year-old midfielder captained French Guiana and played the entire match in a 0-0 tie against Honduras. But the game is likely to be ruled a 3-0 victory by forfeit for Honduras because Malouda was on the field. Malouda was born in French Guiana, played for France from 2004-12. Under FIFA’s rules, he would be ineligible to play for another national team.

US Olympic doctor pleads guilty to child porn charges

A former US Olympic gymnastics team doctor accused of molesting more than 100 female athletes has pleaded guilty  to three charges of child pornography. A Michigan federal court said Larry Nassar, 53, a doctor for USA Gymnastics from 1996 to 2015, faces up to 20 years for each of the pornography charges, adding up to a maximum allowable sentence of 60 years.

Hamilton aims for Silverstone four-timer

Lewis Hamilton will head to Silverstone for this weekend’s British Grand Prix as the focus of attention, bidding to match his late compatriot Jim Clark as the only driver to have won four British Grands Prix in a row and five in total. For the first time since March 2014 Hamilton has been off the podium for two successive races and he has no intention of completing that hat-trick at a circuit that ranks among his favourites. “It is generally when there are adversities that there is an opportunity to grow and to do something pretty special,“ he said.