Sportswire: from Delhi's win to Bopanna's loss, top 5 sports stories of the day

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After winning the first two days' fourballs and foursomes by identical margins of four-and-a-half to take a six-point lead, Europe need only three and a half points to become the first winners of the EurAsia Cup, which two years ago was tied 10-10.

But Jeev Milkha singh of Asia is staying optimistic. Here is what he had to say about a comeback -

"We got one-and-a-half points, and looking back two years ago, we were in a similar situation, and the boys pulled through. And I still believe with the pairings that have come out, my boys are going to do well tomorrow. I think in golf, I believe in the saying, anything is possible until the last putt is not holed out."

Rampaging Delhi Acers will look to continue their dominance and pull the rug from under the feet of an equally menacing Mumbai Rockets when they clash in the finals of the Premier Badminton League at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in Delhi, tomorrow.

The Acers have been in great form as they topped the table with 20 points, progressing to the final after defeating Chennai Smashers 4-3.

Mumbai, on the other hand, punched above their weight in the semifinals last night when they edged out title contenders Awadhe Warriors 3-0, who were led by World Number 2 Saina Nehwal at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad.

Photo: PTI

Indian tennis player Yuki Bhambri, who got a direct entry into the Australian Open thanks to his presence in the ATP's top-100, has been drawn against world number six Tomas Berdych in the tournament opener. Last year he had qualified and was pitted against Andy Murray.

"It's a terrible draw, playing another top-10 player again. But it should be a good match and (should give me) some good experience. I will see where I stand," Yuki told PTI.

In the match against Murray, Yuki had played out of his skin to give the Wimbledon champion a very good fight in a tight three-setter last year.

Photo: PTI

Delhi outplayed Jharkhand by five wickets to earn their first win in the Super League stage of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, riding on Nitesh Rana's unbeaten half-century to pull things back after being precariously placed at one stage.

Put into bat, Jharkhand were restricted to 134 for seven in the allotted 20 overs.

While Delhi will face Uttar Pradesh in a must-win encounter on Monday, Jharkhand have only pride to play for when they take on defending champions Gujarat.

Brief Scores: Jharkhand 134-7 in 20 Overs (Virat Singh 45, Ishank Jaggi 42; Parvinder Awana 3-28, Manan Sharma 2-28) lost to Delhi 138-5 in 18 Overs (Nitish Rana 60*, Dhruv Shorey 30; Varun Aaron 3-27) by 5 wickets.

Photo: patrika.com

Indian tennis ace Rohan Bopanna and his Romanian partner Florin Mergea lost the summit clash to Bruno Soares and Jamie Murray at the ATP Apia International today, settling with a runner-up finish.

The fourth-seeded Indo-Romanian pair lost the final 3-6, 6-7(6) to the unseeded Brazilian-Briton pair in a match that lasted for one hour and 29 minutes.

Bopanna and his Romanian partner had a chance to stretch the match to a Super Tie-breaker by racing to a 4-0 lead in the second-set tie-breaker, but were unable to do so and allowed the rivals to come back and snatch the win.