Former US Open winner Del Potro improved to 16-3 on the season with his 6-2, 6-3 victory over the hard-serving Canadian Raonic in just 65 minutes.

Del Potro is looking for his 22nd career and second straight ATP title in a row after winning earlier this month in Acapulco where he beat three top eight players in a row.

“I broke his serve quick in both sets and that gave me control of the match,” said Del Potro. “It was an easier match than I expected.”

This is the 29-year-old Argentinian’s second trip to the Indian Wells championship match, where he will face defending champion Federer.

The last time Del Potro and Federer played was last year in the Basel final where Federer won 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-3.

“I love to play against him,” Del Potro said. “Everybody was expecting that final, and I will try to enjoy the atmosphere on court.”

Del Potro is back in the final for the first time in five years, having lost to Rafael Nadal in 2013 after beating Novak Djokovic in the semis.

Del Potro now has 400 career match wins, becoming the second Argentine to reach the milestone. But he has a long road to catch the legend Guillermo Villas, who retired with a whopping 929 wins.

Del Potro hit three aces, won 89 percent of his first serve points and broke Raonic’s serve four times.

Raonic, who is coming back from an injury-riddled 2017, blasted six aces but made two double faults.

“Every time you play a little short, he punishes you,” Raonic said. “He served well. He struck the ball well. I just didn’t do what I needed to do.”

World No. 1 Federer extended his season win streak to 17 matches, booking his spot in the Indian Wells Masters final by rallying past Borna Coric 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 earlier on Saturday.

The Swiss superstar survived a stern test from world number 49 Coric but managed to hold on for a 17-0 record this year, surpassing his prior career-best calendar year start in 2006 when he opened with 16 wins.

“It took a while to get the record,” Federer said. “But I’m happy. It was just a fighting match …. It didn’t come easy, so I had to go get it.

“I got a little bit lucky. I hung tough and put a lot of effort into it to get the record.

“The focus has to be the finals right now. But it’s nice to get off to a good start this year, and I hope I can play well again tomorrow.”

The defending champion will be aiming for a record sixth Indian Wells title when he squares off against world number eight Juan Martin Del Potro in Sunday’s championship match.

The 36-year-old Federer said he had to draw on every ounce of experience and mental toughness to pull out the match.

“Margins are slim at the top of the game,” he said. “And I have been there so many times.

“You just hope to take the right decisions along the way, and then it ends up falling your way.

“But for that you need to have a very positive mindset. You need to be match-tough, you need to be confident, have experience, and I think I have a bit of all of that right now.”

Down a set and trailing 4-2 in the second, Federer had to claw his way back from the brink of defeat.

In the third set he fell behind again 4-3 but won the final 11 points of the match to claim the victory.

Federer clinched the match when Coric hit a shot wide. The ball was called out but Coric challenged and after the video review the original call was confirmed.

“Borna was incredibly steady,” Federer said. “Those 10 minutes when I was down a set and a break it was hard for me to accept.

“I got a bit lucky. It was a good match.”

Federer had not dropped a set (8-0) entering the semi-final. But he looked out of sorts in the opening set Saturday as Croatia’s Coric took it handily.

The match was played under difficult conditions with winds swirling around the main stadium. Federer said he had to be conservative with his shotmaking to get back in it.

“At some point you are happy with very little,” Federer said.

The 22-year-old, with five birdies against a lone bogey, carded her third successive 68 for a three day total of 12 under-par-204.

“MY iron was way better than yesterday. I just missed some tee shots. But overall it’s a good round,” said the Thai No 1 who is looking for her first title since winning the CME Group Tour Championship in November.

“When you saw the leaderboard and Inbee hit like 9-under, but I still really want to focus on my game. So don’t think too much ahead.

“Tomorrow I think it’s going to be the same. Just be patient with every hole. You never know what’s going to happen tomorrow,” the former world no 1 said.

Park fired a nine-under par 63 to seize a one-stroke lead where Britain’s 54-year-old Laura Davies chased a historic triumph.

Park, a seven-time major winner, opened with four birdies and an eagle in the first five holes and vaulted atop the leaderboard at 14-under 202.

That was one stroke ahead of Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe at Wildfire Golf Club in Phoenix, Arizona.

Davies shot a 63 for the first time since 2005 in jumping into a share of fourth with South Korea’s Chella Choi on 205.

The Englishwoman would become the oldest champion in LPGA history by winning Sunday in the first event of the season on US soil.

“I’ll certainly have a crack at it,” Davies said. “I’ve given myself a chance.”

The sizzling start had Park pondering the all-time LPGA record low 18-hole score of 59 fired by Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam in 2001.

“For a little bit I think a 59. I got off to a really good start,” Park said. “On the back nine, it was different, a little bit more boring golf.”

But after the fantastic start, Park only birdied the par-4 ninth and par-5 11th until she closed her bogey-free round with a birdie at 18.

“To finish with a birdie on the back nine was a big relief,” Park said. “The front nine felt great. The back nine I was hitting pretty solid but the putts didn’t drop like they did on the front nine. If they did I would’ve had a 59.”

Park, who has won nine times in 15 prior attempts when leading entering the final round, matched Davies for the day’s low round.

Davies, who has not won since the 2001 Rochester Invitational, would break the oldest LPGA winner mark held by Beth Daniel, who was 46 when she won the 2003 Canadian Women’s Open.

Davies, in her 32nd LPGA campaign, birdied five of the last six holes on the front nine, eagled the par-5 11th and birdied the par-5 15th and par-3 17th holes.

“I hit a lot of fairways and that gives you a chance to get relatively close to the hole,” Davies said.

“I haven’t been holing the putts but today I did. The no bogeys part for me is the biggest key because that is what has been letting me down.

“I know I can still play great golf. My short game is really coming around and a day like this tells me that we are really doing the right things.”

Davies is struggling to walk with a sore left calf and Achilles tendon.

“It’s a struggle,” she said. “It’s just walking. Swinging is fine. I can swing as hard as I want to. But every step is just misery.”

A Thai sporting legend, Paradorn Srichaphan, has indulged in several other passions during his stellar life. Immediately after his retirement in 2010 he raced motorbikes, then attempted a career in golf after breaking both hands and injuring a knee on two wheels.

Now, finally, he has returned to his favourite arena, the tennis court.

This time, though, he is feeding the ball to a group of youngsters who hope to follow in his footsteps as the most successful tennis player in Thai history.

The former world No 9 is now running his own teaching programme, the True Arena Paradorn International Tennis Academy, in Hua Hin.

“After retirement I did several things but in the end I found out tennis is always my thing,” said Paradorn, who spent 3-4 years on local golf tours but he was far from a success, despite receiving his pro status in 2016.

“So I decided to open an international academy with True Arena so that these kids won’t have to travel far to Europe or the US to enter international academy,” added Paradorn, who was forced to quit playing professionally due to wrist injury.

Paradorn Srichaphan is training youngsters in Hua Hin.

The winner of five ATP titles said physical strength was the main focus of his academy, which is designed for those pursuing a career in tennis.

“Strong legs are very important in tennis. But at the same time players need to have strong muscles in the upper part of their bodies as well,” the 39-year-old Paradorn said.

In terms of hitting techniques, the former tennis star said his training programme was intensive but variety would be added to make it fun for the youngsters.

“Enjoying the training is the key so players have a good time on court and pay attention to the instruction,” he said.

As the first Asian man to make the world’s top 10 in 2003 – he had a string of big-name scalps, including former world No 1s Andre Agassi,  Lleyton Hewitt and  Andy Roddick – Paradorn said he wanted to pass on his tour experience to his students so they could benefit form it once they started playing overseas events.

However, his mission comes with a warning: don’t expect the results to show in the short term.

“It will take up to five or maybe 10 years to have the next stars in Thai tennis. Things like this take time,” he said.

“But the kids must have be really committed to intensive training if they want to succeed.”

After Paradorn and Tamarine Tanasugarn, his counterpart on the women’s side,  Thailand has yet to produce a tennis star.

Luksika Kumkhum is Thailand’s top-rated current player at world No 98 but she still has a long way to go before she can be regarded as having achieved as much as her illustrious predecessors.

Paradorn was divorced from his first wife, former Miss Universe Natale Glebova, in 2011 after a three-year marriage.

He is now living with his second wife Nitchapak, with whom he has a three-month-old daughter, Cherlyn.

The 52-year-old carded a closing 69 for a four-round total of 21 under-par-259 that gave him the Thai PGA Tour season-opener by four strokes.

Thanyakorn chased down his more experienced opponent all day and got within two shots after 13 holes but his chance slipped away after hitting two bogeys on the 15th and 17th.

“After he made that error on the 15th, it was over for him. Even though I bogeyed the next hole I was confident I was going to win,” said the Hua Hin-based Prayad.

“As not many top Thai players coming to this tournament, only a few including me stood a great shot at winning. Normally there ar so many on the local tours that I lose count,” added Prayad, who ended his long Thai PGA Tour title drought with victory in Nakhon Nayok in 2016. He also picked up a winner’s cheque for Bt240,000.

Khon Kaen-born Thanyakorn, with a final 68, was runner-up with a total 17 under-par-263 that earned him prize money of Bt132,000.

Amateur Witchayanon Chothirunnrungrueng was alone in third after a final-round 68 gave him a total 15 under-par-265

Prayad and the country’s other leading players will next compete in Thursday’s Bt5 million Singha Masters, an All Thailand Golf Tour event, in Chiang Rai.

“We are going to have in 2018, for the first time, a World Cup with VAR,” said Infantino after a meeting of the FIFA Council which, as expected, rubber-stamped the go-ahead given by the rule-making International Football Association Board (IFAB) in Zurich two weeks ago.

“This has been approved and we are really very happy with this decision.”

The World Cup, which takes place from June 14-July 15, will see VAR used to judge whether or not a goal has been scored, analyse whether a penalty should be awarded, decide on red cards and rectify if a player has been mistakenly sanctioned.

“What we want is to help and to give the referee the possibility to have extra help when he has to make important decisions, and in a World Cup we make very important decisions,” added Infantino.

“It cannot be possible that in 2018 everybody, in the stadium or at home, knows in a few seconds if the referee has made a mistake but not the referee himself — not because he doesn’t want to know about it but because we forbid him to know.

“The VAR is helping the referee and we are going to have a more transparent and fairer game, and that’s what we want.”

VAR has been trialled since 2016 by 20 federations, including the German Bundesliga and Italian Serie A, with around 1,000 matches involved.

But it has not been universally welcomed with even UEFA, the European governing body, still to be convinced.

“Nobody knows exactly how VAR will work. There is already a lot of confusion,” said UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, who insists that VAR will not be used in next season’s Champions League.

“I am not at all against it but we must better explain when it will be used. We will see at the World Cup.”

One of the problems that dogs VAR, say its critics, is not the accuracy of its decisions but the time it takes to arrive at them.

It’s a drawback which has left many fans and purists frustrated that the flow of a game is interrupted.

“The intervention of VAR takes one minute on average in each game. If we lose a minute to correct mistakes, I think we have done something good,” said Infantino earlier this week on a visit to Lima.

– 30-year Iraq ban lifted –

However, Colombia coach Luis Fernando Suarez added in an interview with AFP: “It seems hurried to me. I think we should do other trials in other tournaments, analyse them well, and then put it in place.”

Suarez, who led Ecuador at the 2006 World Cup in Germany and Honduras in 2014 in Brazil, remains a fan in general of the use of technology in football, which he has witnessed close up.

That came in the 2014 tournament when his Honduras team played France in Porto Alegre when the first goal decided through GLT (goal-line technology) was awarded to France.

“It’s good and necessary that there are changes but it’s essential that we don’t lose the essence of football,” added Suarez.

Meanwhile, FIFA said it was lifting the three-decade ban on Iraq hosting international football with the cities of Arbil, Basra and Karbala given the go-ahead to stage official matches.

“We are allowing international matches to be staged in the cities of Arbil, Basra and Karbala,” said Infantino

However, FIFA added that they cannot “yet” agree to a request from the Iraqi authorities to organise matches in the capital of Baghdad.

Iraq has not played full internationals on home turf since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

The ban, covering all but domestic matches, stayed in place after the US-led invasion of 2003 toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.

It was briefly lifted in 2012, but a power outage during an Iraq-Jordan match in the Iraqi Kurdish capital Arbil led FIFA to promptly reinstate it.

The FIFA Council also decided that Peru will host the 2019 Under-17 World Cup with Poland staging the Under-20 tournament.

The world No 7 had five birdies against a lone bogey as she shot a two-day total of eight under-par-136 to take the joint second place with American Marina Alex, Colombian Mariajo Uribe and overnight leader Karine Icher of France.

“Actually, I didn’t hit that good. Maybe I got some luck today. But I still have so much fun. Just been working on my commitment, so not very good on my tee shot today,” said Ariya who posed two top 10 finishes this year in Bahamas and Australia.

“I feel like the course is different. It’s pretty hard this year. When the wind picks up it’s pretty hard because like the fairway is not that firm, so we didn’t hit that far like we did last year,” she added.

Clanton holed out for eagle from the fairway at 13 and rolled in a birdie at the last to seize the second-round lead.

The American  shook off an early bogey and fired four birdies along with her eagle in a five-under par 67.

“I played really good and made some clutch putts coming in,” Clanton said. “The hole out was pretty special, any time you don’t have to putt is nice.”

Her nine-under par total of 135 put her one stroke in front of a quartet of players that included overnight co-leader Icher.

Clanton, seeking her first win on the LPGA Tour, was even through the first nine holes with one bogey and one birdie.

After a birdie at the par-five 11th, she posted an eagle two at the par-four 13th, where her wedge into the green took one bounce and found the cup. She added another birdie at 15 and took sole possession of the lead with her birdie at the last.

“It has been a while since I’ve been in the lead, so (on Saturday I’m) just going to take it one shot at a time, one hole at a time,” Clanton said.

Clanton, a rookie in 2012, has four career top 10 finishes, but no wins.

Icher, who shared the first-round lead with South Korea’s Chella Choi, had four birdies and a bogey in her three-under 69. Alex climbed the leaderboard with a bogey-free six-under 66 while Uribe Ariya both posted 68s.

It was a further stroke back to Americans Mo Martin and Jessica Korda on 137.

On a day when more benign conditions led to lower scores, Choi was unable to build on her first-round 67, her even-par 72 leaving her tied for 13th, four shots off the lead.

Former world number one Lydia Ko of New Zealand endured another tough day, following up her first-round 74 with a one-over 73 that left her well outside the projected cut line of one-under par.

The 27-year-old Raonic picked up just his fourth match win of the season and is seeking to capture his ninth career ATP Tour title.

He’ll be up against the eighth-ranked player in the world in Argentina’s Del Potro, who beat German Philipp Kohlschreiber 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the day’s other quarter-final.

“I am very happy I was able to put it together today,” Raonic said. “I’m in the semis. I am happy with that. I know I can play better.”

Raonic lost in the final of this event in 2016 and has now made it to the semi-finals in his last three appearances.

Raonic didn’t play in Indian Wells last year because of a string of injuries and surgeries that decimated his season.

“It’s been a catastrophe,” he said of the time off due to injuries.

The list of things that have put him in the infirmary in the past year is lengthy and might have sent a lesser determined person into permanent retirement.

“Let’s go down the list. Right adductor, left glut at the beginning of the year. Then I tore my hamstring at the beginning of February.

“After Wimbledon I had to have wrist surgery. Through the summer I tried to play a few events, tried to treat the issue. That wasn’t possible.

“I had surgery just before the US Open. Was hoping to start my offseason in the early weeks of November.

“And then in November I hurt my knee. I hurt my meniscus, so I couldn’t play for six weeks. Started training just before the Australian Open, and I’m here today.”

Raonic blasted 17 aces and broke the 18th seeded Querrey’s serve three times in the one hour, 51 minute match on the main stadium court.

Raonic clinched the match on his second match point when Querrey hit a forehand wide.

Serving in the final game, Raonic benefitted from a challenge call that resulted in his final ace.

The serve was originally ruled out but Raonic asked for a review which showed the ball clipped the centre line. That got the score to 40-40 and he took the next two points for the match.

Raonic is now 3-2 lifetime over Querrey, having won the last three straight.

Raonic lost his composure a few times in the second set but regrouped in the third.

– ‘Little grumpy’ –

“Sometimes my emotions take me for a ride,” he said. “I was a little grumpy there. But it was good, because most of that first set and that second set I was missing some energy, so it was good to sort of get it out in whichever way. I used it as a positive.”

In the first set Querrey wasted no time breaking Raonic’s serve in the opening game. They stayed on serve until Raonic broke back in the tenth game. Raonic held serve and then broke Querrey in 12th game to take the set.

Querrey got the only two breaks in the second set as Raonic struggled with his serve, double faulting four times.

They traded aces back and forth to hold serve through the first seven games of the final set. In the eighth game Raonic finally got the break he needed by hitting a forehand winner to go up 5-3.

Raonic served two aces in the final game and hammered another 143mph serve that Querrey got a piece of.

2018 sees the Chiang Mai Sixes being held for the 31st time and the tournament is showing that like a vintage wine it certainly does improve with age. The Sixes, held at the historic Chieng Mai Gymkhana Club, itself now 120 years old, runs for seven days from 1st to 7th April.

There will a total of 109 matches with 16 five-over matches played on the first six days with semi-finals and the finals being held on Saturday 7th April. This makes it one of the largest editions of the Sixes ever held with 36 men’s teams and four women’s teams.

There will be 20 teams in the Gentlemen’s Section and 16 teams in the Players’ Section so matches should be competitive throughout. All 36 men’s teams will play three group matches in the first round and then will be divided into six different competitions for the second round.

The Cup will see the six best teams in the competition compete for the main prize and spectators should see some top-class cricket played with a number of high class teams involved. It is exciting that two teams are coming from Bangladesh this year and they will be challenged by local teams CMCC and UN Irish as well as several strong teams from Australia such as St Francis de Sales, Clifton Hill and a young team from Melbourne called Get the Runs may well live up to their name.

The Bromley Shield is the second level of competition and this often sees a surprise winner as we had last year when Margate CC from Tasmania took the honours ahead of the veteran Kiwi side Divine Felons. The Bowl allows for a mix of the best sides from the Gentlemen’s Section against the worst performing teams from the Players’ Section so even if teams start slowly they can still win some silverware.

The exciting news for 2018 is that we have a new sixth competition called the Vase, with an attractive new trophy up for grabs which will be competed for by some of the better teams in the Gentlemen’s Section, while the more social sides will be able to play for the Joe Carpenter Plate and last and probably least the Spoon.

With four ladies teams also competing in their own competition, there will be a very busy week ahead as cricketers of all abilities and from all over the world take the field and enjoy the social events provided for them. All players in teams that win a competition will be awarded with a prize and this year it is a wonderful memento in the style of the competition’s logo produced by Elephant Parade.

Best of all, we will see a large number of young Thai cricketers involved in the competition, probably more than ever this year, as the Thai Thevada team will give a chance to the younger Thai boys, while the best players, all close to national selection, will have the opportunity to play for Lanna CC and UN Irish in the Players Section. The Thai girls are not forgotten as Thai

Angels are defending champions of the Ladies Cup but will face stiff competition from a new Australian team called Central Spirit.

One of the best young players in the country, Chanchai Pengkumta, has been playing in the Sixes for almost a decade and it has helped him show off his developing talent with bat and ball. He made his debut for Thailand last year and was part of the team which won a bronze medal in the South East Asian Games in Malaysia. He has just played for Thailand in a four-team tournament in Bangkok and was man of the match in their first match. He has also been representing Lamphun in the Chiang Mai Senior League and has been in great form in every match he has played.

The Chiang Mai Sixes has been supporting junior cricket in Northern Thailand since the year 2000 when the first Sawasdee Cup tournament was held for promising young school children and the event also supports coaching in local schools through the Chiang Mai Schools Cricket Alliance. Sahagon Song School from Mae On were the winners of the 2018 Sawasdee Cup as no fewer than four pitches were used at the David Buck Oval to hold a festival of junior cricket.

Millions of Baht have been raised for junior cricket by teams and spectators at the Chiang Mai Sixes over the years thanks to the efforts of Duck Lady Jenny Morgan and some of the most talented young cricketers has also had their education and living expenses paid for through the Hill Tribe Fund.

The 2018 Chiang Mai Sixes has also attracted a number of new sponsors who are willing to support an event which attracts so many teams from around the world and does so much fund raising for junior cricketers, often from underprivileged backgrounds.

New sponsors include Lanna Rehab, a company which has already done much to support young Thai cricketers as they paid the expenses for number of junior players. The kids were able to enjoy the trip of a lifetime as they took part in the Koh Chang Beach Cricket Tournament and Lanna Rehab kindly provided all the shirts for Lanna CC’s two teams and junior players won two of the individual awards.

Lanna Rehab will be supporting the Thai Thevada while Flight of the Gibbon, one of the most exciting tourist attractions in Chiang Mai, are proud to be associated with the Thai Angels in the ladies competition. Chiang Mai Custom Tailors are back for a second year and can provide all teams with blazers so they look the part when they arrive at the ground.

FAT chief Somyout Poompanmoung said the campaign was intended to inspire children to take up the sport.

The only catch is that each parent can only get one child in for free.

The competition begins on March 22, when Thailand play Gabon (7.30pm) after a game between the Slovak Republic and United Arab Emirates (4.30pm).

The losers meet in a third-placed playoff on March 25 (4.30pm) with the final immedia6tely afterwards (7.30pm).

The teenager, who was a member of the 2017 SEA Games gold medal women’s team, fired five birdies on the front and recovered from two bogeys “coming home” to create an ending birdie for a final round 68 at the opening circuit of 2018 Thai LPGA Tour.

Her total of six under-par-210 propelled her to a three-shot win over Wannasiri Sirisampant, whose 70 gave her aq three-round total of 213.

“It’s amazing to play my first Thai LPGA event and win. I had no pressure playing with the pros. They have been really nice to me,” said

Manuschaya, a student at the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Thammast University. Her next goal is to make the cut at the Asian Games in Indonesia in August.

However Manuschaya was not eligible for the winner’s cheque of Bt 142,500 due to her amateur status. Home girl Wannasiri was there for entitled to the top prize money.

“I didn’t win but the top prize money is good enough for me,” said the 27-year-old Wannasiri.

Kent State University’s new graduate Wad Phaewchimplee followed a stroke behind at lone third on 214. She took the runner-up money of Bt96,285.

The next Thai LPGA event, also with a total prize money of Bt1 million,  will stop at Kabin Buri Sport Club in Pachinburi between April 4-6.