Teenage phenomenon Coco Gauff missed out on her first Grand Slam quarter-final as fellow American Sofia Kenin fought back to win in the Australian Open fourth round.

Gauff, 15, lost 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-0 to the 14th seed in Melbourne.

She showed all her undoubted quality in the first set, but tired in the third as Kenin wore her down.

Kenin will next face Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, who beat Serena Williams’ conqueror Wang Qiang in straight sets.

After a warm embrace at the net, Kenin and Gauff broke out in tears following an intense battle on Melbourne Arena.

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South Africa Under-19s 299 for 8 (Beaufort 85, Parsons 84, Bird 43, Lakra 3-48, Sanchit 3-57) beat UAE Under-19s 112 for 3 in 23.5 overs (Figy 36*, Aravind 31) by 23 runs (DLS method)

Bryce Parsons and Luke Beaufort struck classy half-centuries but it was inclement weather that had the final word in South Africa’s game against United Arab Emirates. It ensured the hosts qualifed into the quarterfinals, winning by 23 runs via the DLS method in what was a must-win game for both sides.

UAE were at 112 for 3 after 23.5 overs when a dust storm – and subsequently rain – stopped play at 4pm. The rain relented thereafter, but conditions didn’t improve enough for a restart, and the match was called off at 5.30pm, securing South Africa’s quarterfinal appointment against Bangladesh on January 30.

Aware that the weather may play a role later in the day, UAE had begun their chase of 300 in blazing fashion, scoring 46 runs inside the first six overs, but they lost both openers within that period. No. 4 Ansh Tandon then fell in the tenth over, after which Jonathan Figy and Kai Smith put on an unbroken 45-run stand for the fourth wicket. Both batsmen were set and enjoying the pace on the ball, but then the weather got in the way.

UAE captain Aryan Lakra felt the game was his team’s to be won, had it not been abandoned. He vowed to make an impression in the Plate League, where UAE now find themselves, fighting among the teams that finished in the bottom two of their groups.

“Really heartbreaking for the team,” Lakra said at the post-match press conference. “We got pretty close. If it wasn’t for DLS, we had two set batters in the crease. If we had the full game, we had enough firepower to chase the total down.”

South Africa’s innings, of 299 for 8, was set up by the 152-run third-wicket stand between Parsons and Beaufort, their third straight fifty-plus stand of the tournament. Parsons was the aggressor, scoring his 84 off 83 balls, and Beaufort dug in after his dismissal to finish with 85 off 104. South Africa were in a bit of trouble early on, losing openers Jonathan Bird (43) and Khaya Cotani in the 11th over, delivered by left-arm spinner Lakra, but the Parsons-Beaufort stand put them back on track. Fast bowler Sanchit Sharma, who removed both set batsmen, was the star of UAE’s bowling performance, finishing with 3 for 57.

South Africa captain Parsons later said his team had learned a lot from their opening-game defeat to Afghanistan, especially with respect to batting against spin. He also looked forward to changing cities and move to Potchefstroom, which traditionally offers a faster surface.

“We’ve got good memories at Potchefstroom and it’s now time to show the world what we can do,” Parsons said at his press conference. “We don’t know much about Bangladesh, so we need to focus on ourselves.

“The UAE spinners were really good today, so we played them well. Although the quarterfinals will now force every team to reset, we just want to carry on with the momentum. [After the Afghanistan loss] both our next two games were must-wins, so nothing changes for us.

“The boys have shown their character. We bounced back well after the first loss. The boys learned what mistakes they did against Afghanistan and practiced hard. We’ve shown in the last two games that we can play spin, get big scores, and we need to move away from that Afghanistan defeat.”

South Africa’s quarterfinal against Bangladesh is scheduled for January 30, while UAE now play Scotland in the Plate League on January 27.

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Potchefstroom: Pakistan U19 beat Zimbabwe U19 by 38 runs at the Witrand Oval, Potchefstroom on Wednesday and ensured their qualification to Super League quarter-finals.

In their chase of 295, Zimbabwe were skittled out for 256 in 46.3 overs courtesy a consolidated bowling effort from the Pakistan bowlers.

Zimbabwe were off to a good start with openers Wesley Madhevere and Emmanuel Bawa adding 64 runs for the first wicket. The partnership was broken by left-arm-spinner Aamir Ali who accounted for the wicket of Bawa (19).

Madhevere was the second wicket to fall as he was dismissed caught and bowled by Qasim Akram after scoring 53 off 55 balls (six fours, one six). Qasim also took the key wicket of captain Dion Myers (39 off 50 balls, two fours and one six) who was spectacularly caught by Mohammad Irfan Khan, who took a one-handed diving catch.

The match was turned on its head by Abbas Afridi in the 39th over of Zimbabwe innings. The right-arm medium-fast first bowled Milton Shumba, who scored 58 off 82, on a slower one and then sent back Tadiwanashe Marumani (16) two balls later to leave Zimbabwe at 208 for five.

Tahir and Abbas took three wickets, while Aamir Ali and Qasim bagged two scalps each.

Earlier, Mohammad Haris scored a blistering 81 after Zimbabwe won the toss and opted to bat.

Haris came into bat with Pakistan placed at 140 for four after 33 overs. The boys in green added 154 runs in the last 17 overs mainly due to Haris’ brilliance. The right-hander hit seven fours and three towering sixes in his 51-ball knock.

Haris added 43 for the fifth-wicket with Qasim Akram (54 off 50 balls, five fours and two sixes), 41 for the sixth-wicket with Muhammad Irfan (15) and 42 for the seventh wicket with Abbas Afridi (10) before falling with 12 balls left in the innings.

Haris took the attack to the bowlers and made the most of the repair job done by Qasim and Fahad Munir (53 off 79 balls, five fours) who added 66 runs for the fourth-wicket to rescue the side from a tentative start which saw them reduced to 74 for three in 21.3 overs.

Openers Haider Ali (19), Muhammad Shehzad (27) and captain Rohail Nazir (0) were the first three wickets to fall.

Pakistan now play Bangladesh U19 in the last group match on Friday.

Scores in brief:

Pakistan 294 for 9, 50 overs (Mohammad Haris 81, Qasim Akram 54, Fahad Munir 53; Dylan Grant 3-46)

Zimbabwe 256 all-out, 46.3 overs (Milton Shumba 58, Wesley Madhevere 53, Dion Myers 39; Tahir Hussain 3-42, Abbas Afridi 3-55, Aamir Ali 2-51, Qasim Akram 2-41)

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LAHORE: Director General Sports Punjab Adnan Arshad Aulakh, on Thursday, said First Sports Board Punjab Junior Tennis Championship 2020 is a wonderful event for young boys and girls to express their tennis talent. “We are quite hopeful that several promising boys and girls will emerge through this championship,” he expressed these views in a statement on the second day of Sports Board Punjab Junior Tennis Championship 2020.

Director General Sports Punjab Adnan Arshad Aulakh said Sports Board Punjab is holding regular sports events every month so that young players can demonstrate their sports potential in their respective game. “We will hold more such events during the calendar year 2020 across the province,” he added.

The league round and pre-quarterfinal competitions of men’s singles, boys’ U-18, boys’ U-16, boys’ U-12 and boys’ U-10 were played on the second day of First Sports Board Punjab Junior Tennis Championship at PLTA Courts Bagh-e-Jinnah.

The quarterfinal and semifinal matches of all categories will be played on Friday at the same venue.
Results of men’s singles pre-quarterfinals:

Ahmad Kamil beat Inam Arif 6-0, 6-0
Main Bilal beat Imtiaz Riaz 6-3, 6-3
Fayyaz Khan beat Aaqib Sabid 6-1, 6-0
Nalain Abbas beat Kamraan Qureshi 6-2, 6-1
Sikander Hayyat beat Hassan Kamran 6-1, 6-2
Rana Humyum beat Zain Ch 6-4, 6-0
Zaryab Pirzada beat Jawad Zahid 7-5, 6-3
Results of boys’ U-18 pre-quarterfinal:
Zain Ch beat Khizer Mehboob 8-6
Harris Wahlaa beat Ahtesham Arif 8-7 (6)
Hassan Ali beat Shaeel Durab 8-6
Ahmad Amir beat Ifham Rana 8-3
Results of boys’ U-16 pre-quarterfinal:
Faizan Fayyaz beat Asad Zaman 8-2
Shaeel Durab beat Harris Wahlaa 8-3
Hamza Jawad beat Saeed Suleman 8-2
Hassan Ali beat Ahtesham Arif 8-1
Results of boys U-12 pre-quarterfinal:
Ameer Mazari beat Aleena Suleman 8-0
Abdullah Sajjad beat Yashar Tarar 8-2
Muneeb Majeed beat Ismail Aftab 8-1
Abdullah Yousaf beat Zeerak Mustafa 8-2
Ahtesham Humayun beat Abdullah Pirzada 8-1
Abu Bakar Khalil beat Jannat Khalil 8-4
Results of boys U-10 pre-quarterfinal:
Afaf Suleman beat Mobeen 8-3
Omer Jawad beat M. Ali 8-0.
First day’s results:
Men’s singles event:
Inam Arif beat Haram Zahid 6-2, 6-4,
Zain Ch defeat Ahtesham Sattar 6-4, 6-3,
Aaqib Sabir thrash Umair Javed 6-0, 6-0,
Kamran Qureshi beat Jahanzaib Ch 6-2, 6-2
Jawad Zahid beat Aqif Hussain 7-5, 6-1,
Hamza rout Omer Mehdi 6-2, 6-2,
Zaryab Pirzada beat Taha 6-2, 6-2.
Following players got walk over: Ahmed Kamil, Rana Humayun, Mian Bilal, Imtiaz Riaz, Fayyaz Khan, Nalain Abbas, Hassan Kamran, Sikander Hayat, Imran Bhatti.

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