Paris – Rafael Nadal moved into the last 16 of the Paris Masters on Wednesday with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over French wildcard Adrian Mannarino.

The 33-year-old was not at his imperious best against world number 43 Mannarino, but did enough to win with relative comfort.

The 19-time Grand Slam champion, who has never won the tournament but does hold a record 35 Masters titles, will hope to improve in the third round against Stan Wawrinka after the Swiss beat Marin Cilic 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/5).

Nadal, playing his first event since getting married earlier this month, can secure the year-end top ranking ahead of Novak Djokovic for a fifth time by winning the trophy on Sunday.

Results from the third day of the ATP Paris Masters on Wednesday (x denotes seeding):

2nd round

Novak Djokovic (SRB x1) bt Corentin Moutet (FRA) 7-6 (7/2), 6-4

Kyle Edmund (GBR) bt Diego Schwartzman (ARG x14) 7-5, 6-3

Alex de Minaur (AUS) bt Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP x9) 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/1)

Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE x7) bt Taylor Fritz (USA) 7-6 (7/3), 6-3

Cristian Garin (CHI) bt John Isner (USA x15) 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4)

Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) bt David Goffin (BEL x12) 7-5, 6-3

Dominic Thiem (AUT x5) bt Milos Raonic (CAN) 7-6 (7/5), 5-7, 6-4

Denis Shapovalov (CAN) bt Fabio Fognini (ITA x11) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

Gael Monfils (FRA x13) bt Benoit Paire (FRA) 6-4, 7-6 (7/4)

Stan Wawrinka (SUI x16) bt Marin Cilic (CRO) 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/5)

Rafael Nadal (ESP x2) bt Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 7-5, 6-4

Cape Town – Kaizer Chiefs are brimming with confidence – and rightly so.

Claiming bragging rights in a feisty battle with arch-rivals Mamelodi Sundowns on Sunday meant they further distanced themselves from the chasing pack.

A rowdy Loftus Versfeld crowd saw Ernst Middendorp’s long-standing feud with Pitso Mosimane intensify following Amakhosi’s 2-0 victory.

The two had a heated exchange at half-time, but it was Middendorp who had the last laugh with a crucial title-chasing victory in which Mosimane responded: “Is he sweetening me up?

“He’s (Middendorp) one of the luckiest coaches, the goal that they scored was offside,” is what Mosimane said on SuperSport TV in his post-match interview.

Pitso’s jab was not enough to lure the German into a war-of-words as Middendorp complimented Mosimane, saying, “One of the most decorated coaches is still Pitso Mosimane.” 

However, the Chiefs mentor’s parting words in his post-match interview prove he has his eyes on the Absa Premiership title, something Mosimane had previously dubbed the ‘Big Fish’.

“I think we’re on the right track if everybody keeps their feet on the ground and not get ahead of themselves,” he said.

With 21-games left for the Soweto giants, you can’t blame the Amakhosi supporters for dreaming since a run like this for Chiefs in the Premiership has not been seen since Stuart Baxter’s days at the helm.

Momentum carriers

A 12-point margin of victory for Amakhosi in Baxter’s last title-winning season defined the club’s dominance under his tutelage. He helped the club hoist four major honours – Absa Premiership (2012/13, 2014/15), Nedbank Cup (2012/13), MTN8 (2013).

Amakhosi collected 25-points from their first nine matches during the 2014/15 campaign – eight wins, a draw and no defeats.

Baxter, however, did have several key figures in the squad that played an integral part in their title quest.

Itumeleng Khune, Tefu Mashamaite, Eric Mathoho, Tsepo Masilela, Siphiwe Tshabalala, Willard Katsande, Kingston Nkhatha and Reneilwe Letsholonyane were the core figures during that campaign.

A key statistic?

Chiefs conceded only 14 goals which led to Mashamaite claiming the Footballer of the Season, Players’ Player of the Season and Defender of the Season awards.

In the current campaign, after nine matches, Chiefs are five points ahead of second-placed Sundowns with 22-points from seven wins and a single draw and defeat.

Meanwhile, despite boasting incredible attacking options with Samir Nurkovic, Leonardo Castro, Khama Billiat and Lebogang Manyama, Middendorp has also squeezed the best out of his youngsters, Yagan Sasman and Reeve Frosler.

Mathoho, who struggled with form and niggling injuries in the past, has been looking the part once again in the heart of defence alongside Daniel Cardoso.

The injury-stricken Khune has had a bit-part to play, but his understudy Daniel Akpeyi has been doing a decent job between the posts while Khune nurtures his way back to fitness.

Middendorp, however, will lean on the experience of Bernard Parker and Willard Katsande as the season progresses, but apart from a balanced squad, there also needs to be luck.

A bit of luck goes a long way

Along with Mosimane, Cape Town City FC coach Benni McCarthy has also been vocal about officials being lenient with Amakhosi.

“I think when you get smashed the way we did, and not because we lost … The referee was terrible today – he might as well have put on a Kaizer Chiefs shirt,” said a furious McCarthy in a post-match interview after his side suffered a recent Round of 16 Telkom Knockout defeat.

It’s been years of coaches suggesting Amakhosi receive special treatment from officials and this season the volume of the complaints have grown louder.

On Sunday, Chiefs were scored a goal that was clearly offside, but the referee awarded the goal and Sundowns had to restart the match from centre-pitch.

In eyeing a league title, every coach knows that each team needs a bit of luck along the way.

How long can Chiefs ride their luck before it runs out and can Middendorp’s charges keep the momentum until May 2020?

Tashreeq Vardien works at Sport24 and is a paper basketball dustbin champion… Follow Tashreeq on Twitter.

Johannesburg  – South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said on Friday that full-time appointments concerning the national team’s coaching staff and selectors needed to be made urgently.

Speaking on the team’s return from a three-Test trouncing in India, Du Plessis said uncertainty over key positions was “a massive red flag”.

Cricket South Africa fired coach Ottis Gibson, his back-up staff and the selectors after a poor World Cup campaign.

They announced a new structure headed by a director of cricket and a team director.

Former one-day international player Corrie van Zyl and 37-year-old Enoch Nkwe were appointed in an interim capacity, with Nkwe in charge of the team in India.

Du Plessis said he was committed to continuing as captain despite going through what he described as “the toughest period in my cricket journey”.

But he said his own position and those of the other key posts “needs to be resolved as soon as possible”.

“The most important thing right now is clarity,” he said.

“Someone needs to make decisions, the director of cricket first and then filter down so everyone else can make decisions,” he added.

Du Plessis also called for former players to be involved with the national team.

“It’s obvious that we need to make more use of ex-players but it also comes with challenges,” he said.

“I suppose it always comes down to finance. I know for a fact that we have tried to get them involved but the financial thing is a hurdle. We need experience in the team right now and that comes from ex-players.”

Du Plessis admitted that South Africa had been outplayed in India and acknowledged that the team had lacked mental strength.

“It was obvious from the way we played the last Test match. We started really well but by being put under pressure for a long period of time through the series, slowly but surely we started playing worse.”

The South African captain said losing the toss in all three Tests had made an already difficult task almost impossible.

“Every Test match they bat first, they score 500, they declare when it’s dark, they get three wickets when it’s dark and when day three starts you are under pressure. It was like copy and paste in every Test match.”

He repeated his call for the toss to be done away with for Test matches.

“Then away teams will have a better chance. In South Africa I don’t mind that, we bat on green tops anyway.”

Mumbai – Former captain Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday vowed to clean up Indian cricket as he was elected president of the sport’s rich and powerful, but troubled national board.

Cricket’s massive popularity in India has made the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) by far the wealthiest of all the national boards, netting massive sums from sponsorship and TV deals.

But it has also been embroiled in a series of scandals, including accusations of corruption and match-fixing that tarnished the Indian Premier League (IPL) – the country’s lucrative Twenty20 extravaganza.

The appointment of the 47-year-old Ganguly – for an initial 10 months only – at a meeting in Mumbai on Wednesday ends more than two years of a committee appointed by India’s top court overseeing the board’s affairs.

“It’s an honour that I have been asked to take this role by the members when it’s a new start for the BCCI,” Ganguly, wearing his India captain’s blazer, said in his first address as BCCI chief.

“Things need to be brought back in place, reforms need to done, huge amounts of money to be paid to state associations.

“It’s a challenge and I’ll do it the way I know. The way which I feel is best for BCCI with no compromise on credibility, corruption-free and same-for-all BCCI. That’s the way I led India and that’s the way I will take forward this organisation with whatever time I have.”

A corruption and match-fixing scandal in the sixth edition of the IPL in 2013 brought about the downfall of the board’s then-president Narayanaswami Srinivasan after his son-in-law was accused of betting on matches.

The appointment of his successor Anurag Thakur and his number two Ajay Shirke was seen as representing a break with the past.

But in January 2017 Thakur and Shirke were axed by the Supreme Court over their inability to enact a series of recommended reforms.

The order came after judges slapped restrictions on the BCCI’s accounts in 2016 over its failure to implement changes put forward by a panel headed by a former top judge, Rajendra Mal Lodha.

The court then appointed a top anti-corruption troubleshooter, Vinod Rai, as head of a team to oversee the running of board.

But the board’s reluctance to implement Lodha’s recommendations, which included age limits and term limits on office-bearers, had triggered a number of legal battles.

Ganguly promised to listen to national skipper Virat Kohli, the “most important man in Indian cricket”, and said he would speak to the star player on Thursday.

“Virat Kohli is the most important man in Indian cricket, we will listen to him. Mutual respect will be there, opinions will be there,” Ganguly said.

“We will support him in every possible way, whatever he wants.”

Ganguly, a left-handed opener, retired from Test cricket in 2008 having accumulated 7,212 runs including 16 centuries – his first made at Lord’s on debut.

Manchester – Jurgen Klopp admitted he was frustrated by VAR’s failure to rule out Marcus Rashford’s goal as Liverpool were held to a 1-1 draw at Manchester United on Sunday, denying them a record-equalling 18th straight Premier League win.

Klopp felt United defender Victor Lindelof was guilty of a foul on Liverpool striker Divock Origi in the build-up to Rashford’s 36th minute opener.

Rashford eventually scored with a close-range finish and the goal stood despite a VAR check that appeared to show Lindelof catching Origi and making no contact with the ball, a decision that enraged Reds coach Klopp.

“They scored a goal which shows all the problems with VAR. Mr Atkinson let the game run I’m sure because there is VAR. For me it was a clear foul,” Klopp said.

“It’s a general problem. VAR looks and says ‘you decided like this’. But it was a foul.

“There was clear contact and Divock Origi goes down. They carried on and counter-attacked.

“I’m sure they (United) said it is not a ‘clear foul?’ That doesn’t work. That’s just not how it should be.”

Adding to Klopp’s VAR woes, Liverpool winger Sadio Mane had an equaliser disallowed by VAR moments later after he handled before scoring.

That looked like the correct decision and Klopp said: “Then we got a disallowed goal. I didn’t see it back but it was probably handball but everything just seemed to go against us.”

After a poor first half performance, Liverpool improved after the interval as United became more nervous.

The Premier League leaders, six points clear of champions Manchester City, equalised with five minutes left when substitute Adam Lallana tapped in after poor United defending.

“We were good enough for a point. We gave Man Utd an opportunity to play the way they wanted to play with five at the back. They were hardworking. Our orientation wasn’t good enough,” Klopp said.

“We felt under pressure when we weren’t. Then we scored the goal and was in charge of the game. The stadium was silent and people probably thought Liverpool would score but we take the point and move on.

“I don’t think Man Utd can play like this if the other team doesn’t have the ball as much. We play very often against a team like this. Maybe we can do better. One point is completely fine. We carry on.”