Bopanna-Ebden, Yuki-Haase pairs advance, Nagal exits from Dubai Tennis C'ship
Dubai (PTI): Top seeds Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden entered the men's doubles quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships with a straight set win over the Tunisian-Pakistani pair of Skander Mansouri and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi here.
Bopanna and Ebden, who won the Australian Open last month, took one hour and 41 minutes to get the better of Mansouri and Qureshi 7-6(4) 7-6(5) in the round of 16 on Tuesday night.
Bopanna and Ebden, who made their first outing since winning the men's doubles title at the Australian Open, will face Ariel Behar of Uruguay and Czech Adam Pavlasek in the quarterfinals.
Another Indian, Yuki Bhambri and his Dutch partner Robin Haase also progressed to the quarterfinals, defeating Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik and Adrian Mannarino of France 6-7(6) 6-3 10-8 in a round of 16 match.
Yuki and Haase will next face the winner of the match between the Belgian duo of Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen and third seed English-Kiwi pair of Jamal Murray and Michael Venus.
However, it was curtains for India in men's singles after the country's top player Sumit Nagal exited in the round of 32.
Nagal lost 4-6 7-5 1-6 against Italy's Lorenzo Sonego.
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Eminent philosopher, Narayana Gurukula head Muni Narayana Prasad dies at 87
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Eminent philosopher, spiritual leader Muni Narayana Prasad, who headed the famed Narayana Gurukula, passed away early Saturday, sources said.
He was 87.
He breathed his last while undergoing treatment for a brief ailment at a private medical college hospital in Venjaramoodu here, said sources at Narayana Gurukula, a Varkala-based philosophical and educational organisation inspired by the teachings of saint-social reformer Narayana Guru.
A recipient of the Padma Shri in 2024 and Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for his contributions to literature and philosophy, Prasad was an engineering graduate before choosing the spiritual path.
He worked in the state government service before joining as an inmate in Gurukula, founded by Sree Narayana Guru's disciple Nataraja Guru in 1923.
Prasad later became the head of Gurukula following the demise of its then chief and prominent philosopher Nitya Chaitanya Yati.
An eminent scholar and a prolific writer, he wrote several books on various streams, especially on philosophy and spirituality.
People from various walks of life condoled Muni Narayana Prasad's demise.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in his condolence message, said that Muni Narayana Prasad was noted for propagating the Guru's teachings, critically interpreting his literary works, and delivering engaging lectures.
He described him as a scholar who deeply imbibed the philosophy of Sree Narayana Guru and presented it meaningfully to the world. He had the ability to communicate profound philosophical ideas in simple language, the CM noted.
Filled with humanism and a sense of equality in both words and actions, he influenced the thinking of many people, Vijayan said.
"With the passing of Muni Narayana Prasad, we have lost a teacher who taught society how to think," Vijayan added in his condolence message.
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