NEW DELHI: Shruti Khanna shot a three-over 76 to be placed joint 10th in individual events after the opening round of the 21st Queen Sirikit Cup, the premier ladies golf tournament in the Asia-Pacific region, which started at Wellington, New Zealand, today.

In the team event, India was joint seventh along with Malaysia with a total of 156. Parnita Garewal played a nine-over 82, while Nonita Lal Qureshi shot seven-over 80. The best two scores out of the three are counted. Australia and Chinese Taipei were in joint lead with a total of 147.

Kumble XI win

NEW DELHI: Despite a fiery unbeaten 77 by Virender Sehwag and strokeful innings by Rahul Dravid (75) and Mohammad Azharuddin (58), Azhar XI lost to Kumble XI by 20 runs in an exhibition match organised to mark the launch of the sports channel of Doordarshan at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Thursday.

Brief scores: Kumble XI 371-6 in 47 overs (S Ramesh 43, Vinod Kambli 46, Amay Khurasia 77, Saba Karim 63,Gyanendra Pandey 71 not out) bt Azhar XI 351-8 (Rahul Dravid 75, Mohammad Azharuddin 58, Virender Sehwag 77 not out).

Kirtane in final

CALCUTTA: Reigning champion Marcus Hilpert will face 1997 champion Nitin Kirtane in the men's final of the National Grasscourt Tennis Championships being played at the Calcutta Cricket and Football Club.

On the distaff side, third seed Archana Venkatraman of Karnataka upset Sai Jayalakshmi, the top seed from Tamil Nadu in the semi-final, and will face second seed Manisha Malhotra for the title.

Results

Men (semis): Nitin Kirtane bt Mustafa Ghouse 6-4, 6-3; Marcus Hilpert bt Vasudev Reddy 6-2, 6-3. Women (semis): Manisha Malhotra bt Janaki Krishnamoorthy 7-6 (10-8) 6-2.