The Indian-Bahamian duo of Mahesh and Mark Knowles entered into the quarter finals of Madrid Masters tennis Tournament after Rafael Nadal and Carlos Moya paved their way through by withdrawing from the second round match.

Bhupathi and Knowles were expected to encounter Nadal and Moya on Wednesday afternoon but could not as Nadal was reported to be suffering from intense pain in the lower back. The former duo however are yet to play a match in the tournament as they were given a bye in the first round.

On Wednesday, a major announcement was made by the International Cricket Council that if the Champions Trophy passes the security test in Pakistan, then it will be hosted there between 24 September and 5 October 2009. Earlier the Champions Trophy was supposed to be held in the beginning of this year. 

Pakistan was supposed to host the event during the last month, but the unfortunate incident of bombs across the country had implanted security fears in the minds of some teams, following which they refused to play there and thus the ICC had to postpone the event. 

While South Africa pulled out officially, Australia, New Zealand and England had registered concern. 

Despite getting a good start, India’s Somdev Devvarman lost to a first-round loss in the ATP Challenger Series' tournament in Calabasas, USA. Somdev lost the match by 6-4, 4-6, 3-6 to local favourite Alex Bogomolov.

However, hopes are still alive for Somdev fans as his doubles campaign is yet to start. In the doubles, Somdev and his Australian partner Nathan Healey will open their challenge against the third seeded South African-American pair of Izak Van der Merwe and Todd Widom. 

While a few months back the Indian Hockey Federation was in the lime light for all the wrong reasons (corruption charges against top officials), today it is in the lime light to promote Indian hockey and ensure that the Hockey World Cup is held in India. 

The President of the Indian Olympic Association sensing the need to pay more attention towards hockey has stated that seven Foreign coaches have been short listed for the men's hockey team.

The stage is all set for the second test match between India and Australia in Mohali, but it is still not clear whether the Indian skipper Anil Kumble would play the match or not. Kumble, the highest wicket taker for India, failed to pick up a single wicket in the first test match at Bangalore. Due to a shoulder injury, he also dropped two vital catches in the match. 

Commenting over his shoulder injury, the 37 year old Jumbo said, “I’m feeling better now, will decide on my playing tomorrow morning.”

The International Cricket Council (ICC) re-scheduled the postponed Champions Trophy to September 2009, and also decided to make a final decision on the location following India's tour to Pakistan early next year. The Champions trophy will now be played between 24 September and 5 October 2009.

Speaking on this, David Morgan (President, ICC) said, “The 2008 Champions Trophy has been postponed as you know. We now have a firm date with the final on the 4th October, 2009, reserve day for the final on Monday, October, 5th.”