The Supreme Court on Friday decided to hear on Monday the pleas seeking an independent probe into the alleged mysterious death of special CBI judge B H Loya.

The top court fixed January 22 for the hearing and directed listing of petitions before “an appropriate bench”.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said an appropriate bench of the apex court would hear the petitions filed by Congress leader Tehseen Poonawalla and Maharashtra journalist B S Lone.

Advocate Varinder Kumar Sharma, appearing for Poonawalla, said they wanted clarification on the date of hearing of the petition in the wake of the order passed by a bench of Justices Arun Mishra and M M Shantanagoudar.

“List the matters on January 22, 2018, before the appropriate bench as per the roster,” the CJI’s bench said.

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra had on January 16, ordered the matters to be listed before an appropriate bench and had not fixed any specific date for the hearing.

It had left it to the Maharashtra government to decide which documents, relating to Loya’s death, could be handed over to the petitioners.

The state government, which had filed documents in a sealed cover relating to Loya’s death, had during the hearing opposed the petitioners’ demand that the entire material should be handed over to them for perusal.

The apex court, in its January 16, the order said, “Let the documents be placed on record within seven days and if it is considered appropriate, copies are furnished to the petitioners. Put up before the appropriate bench”.

The case, whose assignment to the bench hearing the PILs was a bone of contention of the unprecedented press conference by four senior-most judges of the apex court on January 12.

Loya, who was hearing the sensitive Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, had allegedly died of cardiac arrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014, when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague’s daughter.

In the encounter case, the BJP President along with Rajasthan Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria, Rajasthan-based businessman Vimal Patni, former Gujarat police chief P C Pande, Additional Director General of Police Geeta Johri and Gujarat police officers Abhay Chudasama and N K Amin, have already been discharged.

The issue of Loya’s death had come under the spotlight in November last year after media reports quoting js sister had fuelled suspicion about the circumstances surrounding his death and its link to the Sohrabuddin case.

However, Loya’s son had on January 14 said in Mumbai that his father died of natural causes and not under suspicious circumstances.

The court had earlier termed as “serious matter” the issue of Loya’s death and had asked Maharashtra government to file certain documents, including the autopsy report.

Poonawalla’s counsel had told the court that this was a case of alleged mysterious death of a judge, who was hearing a sensitive case, and an independent probe was required.

In his plea, he had claimed that circumstances revolving around the death of the judge were “questionable, mysterious and contradicting”.

The other plea filed by the journalist has submitted that a fair probe was needed into the mysterious death of Loya, who was hearing the Sohrabuddin encounter case in which various police officers and BJP president Amit Shah were named as parties.

A PIL seeking probe into the judge’s death was also filed before the Bombay High Court on January 8 by the Bombay Lawyers’ Association.

The Indian judiciary was thrown into a turmoil on January 12, when four senior apex court judges, Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph, had convened an unprecedented press conference raising some issues, including “selective” allocation of cases by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra. The cases indicated by them included this case.

 Following their four-wicket win in the second One-Day International (ODI) here on Friday, England captain Eoin Morgan has warned Australia that his team has the ability to perform even better.

England restricted Australia to 270/9 before chasing down the target with more than five overs to spare.

If England can win the third ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday, they will win the five-match series. It will be the first ODI series win by England in Australia since 2007.

“I’d like to think we can get better but today we were great. It was far from our best performance with the bat and I suppose that’s exciting in a way. Hopefully, our best is coming at Sydney. We have a level of trust in the group that someone will put their hand up and do it for us,” Morgan was quoted as saying by the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) official website after the match.

Morgan praised the England bowlers and hoped that they will be able to continue in the same vein over the rest of the series.

“I thought our bowlers were exceptional, especially on a really hot day. They put pressure on the Australia batsmen,” he said.

Meanwhile, Australia captain Steve Smith admitted that the hosts need to pull up their socks if they expect to make a strong comeback in the series.

Smith felt that poor batting by the Australian lower order proved to be costly in the end.

“Unfortunately, we’re not playing good enough ODI cricket at the moment. We were in a good position at 209/3 but we didn’t score enough at the back-end,” he said.

“We just lost a couple of wickets in a row and we just couldn’t get the power at the back-end. Our in-batters need to bat for longer,” he added.

The Indian telecom regulator on Friday recommended that both Internet access and mobile phone calls should be permitted on board aircraft in Indian airspace.

“The operation of mobile communication on aircraft (MCA) services should be permitted with minimum height restriction of 3,000 metres in Indian airspace,” the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said.

This means beyond 3,000 metres phone calls can be made or received and Internet services can be accessed. The height restriction is placed to avoided accessing the terestrial mobile networks.

The TRAI said to promote the adoption of in-flight connectivity, IFC service providers should be allowed to be set up at a flat annual token licence fee of Re 1. The framework recommended for IFC services in Indian airspace should be made applicable to all types of aircrafts such as commercial airlines, business jets and executive aircrafts, it said.

TRAI said it had arrived at the recommendation after analysing the comments received from consultations and open house discussions on the issue.

The sector regulator said Internet services through Wi-Fi onboard should be made available when electronic devices are permitted to be used only in flight/airplane mode.

“It is good set of recommendations. It will help companies who want to take part i” it,” Mahesh Uppal, CEO of telecom consultancy firm Com First told IANS.

“In-flight connectivity will expand significantly by 2018. It will be a wonderful service for the traveller as it will help them to use their time productively and be in touch with their near and dear ones. But the downside could be the noise levels in flight could increase,” said Hemant Joshi, Partner, Deloitte India.

TRAI said IFC service providers should be required to get itself registered with DoT (Department of Telecommunications) and it need not necessarily be an Indian entity.

The IFC service provider be permitted to provide IFC services, after entering into an arrangement with Unified Licensee having appropriate authorisation.

TRAI asserted that the regulatory requirements should be same for both Indian registered and foreign registered airlines for offering IFC services.

TRAI also suggested setting up a gateway in India to provide an effective mechanism to lawfully intercept and monitor the in-cabin internet traffic while the aircraft is in Indian airspace. All traffic on board should be touted through the satellite gateway, irrespective of the ownership of the satellite.

Stating that 83 per cent of the passengers would prefer airlines that provided internet connections, TRAI said that air passengers expect the same kind of connectivity on board as they do at home or office. Also, there was an increasing interest in use of mobile phones on aircraft, it said adding that already over 30 airlines, and 40 jurisdictions, allow such usage on board.

TRAI said IFC services are generally provided through use of mobile satellite service with a mobile earth station installed in the aircraft to establish backhaul link with the ground. The onboard access technology can also be Wi-Fi, e-mail, internal corporate networks or other, it said.

Delhi’s Wasim Khan surged ahead in round three of the Final Qualifying Stage for the 2018 Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) season being held at the Kensville Golf & Country Club here on Friday.

Wasim Khan (74-71-71) climbed five places from his overnight tied sixth as a result of a second successive round of one-under 71 that took his total to even-par 216, according to a release.

Wasim’s two birdies on the front-nine were negated by his double-bogey on the fourth. But the professional from the Delhi Golf Club had a better back-nine where he made three birdies at the expense of two bogeys.

He closed the round in style with a mammoth 70-feet birdie conversion on the 18th after having recovered well from the hazard.

Second round leader Kunal Bhasin (75-67-75) of Australia slipped to tied second place at one-over 217 after returning a score of 75 on day three.

Chennai-based amateur Shivnaren Srinivasan (72-71-74) joined Bhasin in tied second as he carded a 74 on Friday.

At the end of round four on Saturday, the top 36 players will earn full cards for the 2018 PGTI season.

The Congress on Friday demanded the resignation of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying he has lost the moral right to rule after the Election Commission’s recommendation for the disqualification of 20 AAP legislators in the office of profit case.

“Today we are happy to hear that the EC has sent its recommendation for disqualifying 20 AAP MLAs to the President,” Delhi Congress Chief Ajay Maken told media here.

“We were waiting for it as in June 2016 we had approached the Chief Election Commissioner demanding the disqualification of 21 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs for holding office of profit as Parliamentary Secretaries to the Delhi Cabinet Ministers,” he said.

He said that in their appointment it was clearly written that they were appointed as Parliamentary Secretaries to the Ministers of Delhi government and not as the Parliamentary Secretaries to the Chief Minister.

“As per rule, Parliamentary Secretaries are only allowed to the Chief Minister,” he said.

Maken’s remarks came after the poll panel on Friday is said to have recommended the disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs on grounds of holding office of profit as Parliamentary Secretaries.

The Congress application said 21 AAP MLAs, including Jarnail Singh (Rajouri Garden) who resigned to contest the Punjab Assembly polls last year, had been appointed Parliamentary Secretaries to Ministers in the Delhi government.

The Congress leader said the poll panel had heard the cases of both the parties for over last 18 months.

“Our petition was heard by three Election Commission officials, then CEC Nasim Zaidi, A.K. Joti and O.P. Rawatji,” he said, adding that Rawatji recused himself after Kejriwal accused him of being close to the BJP leadership, while Zaidi retired last year.

“Thus Jotiji had to take the decision as he is also set to retire on January 23,” he said.

The former Union Minister said the President will soon give his order on the issue as the Election Commission has submitted all the proof of the 20 AAP MLAs availing the benefits as Parliamentary Secretaries and “he is bound to act in accordance with the poll panel’s recommendation”.

“The evidences were given to the Election Commission by none other than the Chief Secretary of Delhi,” he said.

Demanding Kejriwal’s resignation, Maken said, “Kejriwal has lost the moral right to rule the city.

“Before coming to power, the AAP had said that they have pledged not to avail benefits like using government vehicles, bungalows.

“But soon after coming to power in 2015, Kejriwal appointed them as Parliamentary Secretaries,” he said.

Maken, who was also a Parliamentary Secretary to then Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit between January 1999 to November 2001, said that earlier on similar charges Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had resigned as MP in March 2006.

The panel on October last year issued notice to the AAP MLAs seeking an explanation after rejecting their pleas to drop the ‘office of profit’ case against them.

In March 2015, the AAP government passed an amendment to the Delhi Members of Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualification) Act, 1997, to exempt the post of Parliamentary Secretary from the definition of office of profit with retrospective effect.

But then President Pranab Mukherjee refused to give assent, following which the appointments were set aside by the Delhi High Court in September 2016, declaring them illegal since the order had been passed “without concurrence/approval of the Lt Governor”.

Asked if in case of their disqualification was the Congress ready for polls, Maken said: “Yes, we are ready for the polls as out of those 20 seats about 13 are traditional party seats.”

Maken said his party would hold a protest on January 22 at the Delhi Secretariat and also demand the resignation of the 20 AAP MLAs.

The makers of Akshay Kumar starrer Pad Man has now decided to shift the release date of the film from 26th January to 9th February.

There are now specific reasons why the makers have decided for such a bold step after aggressive promotions already scheduled for the film in the coming days. But many speculate that the decision was made in regard to avoid a big clash with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat.

#BreakingNews: #PadMan postponed… Shifted to 9 Feb 2018.

A post shared by Taran Adarsh (@taranadarsh) on Jan 19, 2018 at 5:00am PST

Padmaavat starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor finally got a green light for the release of the film on January 15 to get a worldwide release on January 25 in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

Initially the two films were supposed to release on the same date thus clashing at the box office. But due to some reasons unknown, the film is now all set to release on February 9 alongside its former competitor, Aiyaary.

R Balki’s biopic drama is now scheduled to clash with Neeraj Pandey’s espionage thriller, Aiyaary, starring Sidharth Malhotra and Manoj Bajpayee in the lead. Interestingly the two films were supposed to release on January 26 but due to the release of much awaited film Padmaavat, the course of action was changed for both of the films.

With that being said, Padmaavat is all set to get its solo release on January 25 while Aiyaary and Pad Man will clash in what is touted to be as one of the first biggest clashes of 2018.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Friday held the administration and intelligence agencies responsible to prevent stoning incident on Chief Minister’s cavalcade a few days back and said the CM should undertake “paschatap yatra” (penitence) instead of “Vikash Samiksha Yatra”.

“RJD’s fact finding team found both the administration and intelligence agencies responsible for the incident (stone pelting incident on CM’s convoy)…Had the CM heard people’s grievances, such an incident would not have occurred…It was the administration which resorted to lathicharge on the people who wanted to meet the CM,” Tejashwi told reporters.

Notably, On January 12 last, the CM’s convoy was pelted with stones during his tour of Nandan village in Dumraon block as part of his state-wide Vikas Samiksha Yatra.

Five FIRs have been registered in connection with the incident against 99 named persons and 500-700 unnamed ones, Buxar Superintendent of Police Rakesh Kumar had said adding that at least 28 persons, including 10 women, have so far been arrested in connection with the incident.

“I don’t think that there is any district left where the Chief Minister’s ongoing yatra is not marked by protest.

In Begusarai, police had to resort to firing in the open.

People especially women- ANM, Anganwaid Sevikas, contractual women teachers- are protesting everywhere. The CM should dwell deep about reasons for protest and undertake ‘paschatap yatra’ instead of ‘Vikas Samiksha Yatra’,” Yadav said.

Yadav, Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly, was accompanied by party’s state unit chief Ramchandra Purbe, former minister Shiv Chandra Ram who led the party’s team that visited Nandan village and submitted its report to Tejashwi.

Even pregnant women were arrested besides handicapped persons were beaten apart from police naming those in the FIRs who live in foreign countries, the RJD leader said while announcing that the party would launch movement untill the names of innocent people named in the FIR are withdrawan.

Stating that he would visit tomorrow Nandan village to meet the people there, Tejashwi said that he has sought time from Governor’s office for a meeting on January 23 to apprise him of the incident, apart from prevailing law and order situation, corruption cases etc.

In reply to a query, he said that this (incident) was not a pre-planned incident rather it was spontaneous incident “which was nothing but a sheer outburst of people’s anger.”

He termed as “ridiculous” dragging his name into the incident by JD(U) spokespersons and dared to “put me behind the bar if I was behind the incident.”

Spaniard Rafael Nadal on Friday thrashed Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 to book a place in the fourth round at the Australian Open tennis tournament for the 11th time in his career.

The 2009 Australian Open champion, who has yet to drop a set, needed one hour and 50 minutes to become the second player to reach the fourth round in Melbourne, matching the retired Stefan Edberg from Sweden and behind Switzerland’s Roger Federer, reports Efe.

Nadal set the pace from the baseline, clinching the first set in just 22 minutes without facing any break points and seized on two opportunities out of three.

Despite conceding his serve once, Nadal managed to win the second set thanks to three breaks out of seven he had.

Two breaks were all Nadal needed to seal his first win over Dzumhur in two career matches.

The 16-time Grand Slam champion was forced to withdraw against Dzumhur in Miami Open in 2016.

Nadal is scheduled to next take on Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman, seeded No.26, who is on his best run in Melbourne after defeating Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-7(1-7), 6-2, 6-3, 6-3.

Reigning champions Aizawl FC will aim to return to winning ways when they host fellow north-eastern outfit Neroca FC in an I-League match at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Saturday.

I-League debutants Neroca has coped well in their maiden season as they have lost only one match in their nine matches and going into the north-east derby they will be brimming with confidence as they are coming from an outright win against Indian Arrows.

The Manipur based club are placed third in the league table with 18 points from nine matches. They are just one point behind second-placed East Bengal with a game in hand and four points adrift of league leaders Minerva Punjab FC.

A win on Saturday will see them go second on the points table. Aizawl are currently fifth in the league table with 14 points from eight matches.

But Neroca coach Gift Raikhan is well aware of the threat posed by the hosts.

“First of all it’s not a derby for me but more of a homecoming for me as I have nurtured many Mizo boys earlier in my career and did my B-License here in Aizawl.

“Every match is difficult and I cannot predict the result. All I can guarantee is we will give our absolute best. Aizawl FC is a very good team and it will be a tough match,” Raikhan said on the eve of the match.

“It’s been a hectic schedule for us and we cannot properly train in the away matches due to lack of facilities. Some fans are coming from Imphal and I hope it will be an exciting match,” he added.

Neroca midfielder David Biakzara was excited to face a Mizoram club in the country’s top-tier league.

“Aizawl will be tough opponents and it won’t be an easy match. Being a Mizo boy I am very excited to face Aizawl FC and my friends and family will be here to support me,” the Mizo midfielder said.

Aizawl FC can’t afford to lose any more points at home as away fixtures are coming thick and fast.

The Mizoram-based side won’t be getting the services of Afghan defender Masih Saighani but head coach Paulo Menezes said that won’t prevent him from eyeing all three points on Saturday.

“We always fight for three points in every match and we will do the same tomorrow. We respect the opponents and we will need to play tough. The most important thing is to win three points,” the Portuguese coach said.

Nigerian defender Kareem Omolaja Nurain has started every I-League match this season for Aizawl and his role will be crucial in the defending champion’s quest to halt Neroca’s unbeaten run in the absence of Saighani.

Kareem, who played for Minerva Punjab FC last season, stated that the fans are a crucial factor in the way the team plays their football.

“I am very happy to play for Aizawl FC. We are happy to see the fans supporting us and it is easier to perform well with the backing of the fans. Football is a team sport and the fans make it easier to play,” he said.

Over 100 Indian women who were the first to set a milestone in their respective fields will be felicitated here on Saturday by President Ram Nath Kovind.

As many as 112 women, including the first woman judge, first woman porter, the first woman to head a missile project, first para-trooper, first Olympian, among others, have been selected after an extensive research by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. They will be honoured at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

“Keeping up with the solemn spirit of Empowered Nari, the Ministry conceptualised ‘First Ladies’. These First Ladies rose through barriers, standards and oppressive notions to become the first women to excel in the fields which were thought to be beyond them,” Minister of Women Child Development Maneka Gandhi said.

A list of 227 women was compiled from various sources, including Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Sports, Limca Book of Records, press clippings, internet and others.

Of these, 112 extraordinary women who busted stereotypes and broke the glass ceiling to become the first in their field were selected.

The Ministry had collaborated with Facebook in 2015 to recognise ‘100 Women Achievers’ who have excelled in diverse sectors of public work. ‘First Ladies’ is the second leg of the ‘100 Women Achievers’ campaign.

Officials and citizens from India and Myanmar on Friday launched a cleanliness campaign along with their border.

Myanmar Army and civilian officials came to the no man’s land to spruce up the areas which had become a dumping ground for rubbish from both sides. They brought excavators too.

On the Indian side, Superintendent of Police S. Ibomcha, Assam Rifles commanding officer A.S. Rawat and other officials took part in the drive.

Ibomcha said: “The joint campaign is welcome. It is to be seen whether such campaigns can be held once a month.”

Locals who took part in the campaign said they would cooperate with the government in the campaign.

“It will go a long way in furthering the good neighbourly relations between the two countries,” said L. Achou, a resident.

The joint campaign comes after two recent stand-offs between the two countries.

In the first, some residents of Myanmar along the border started levelling the ground at the no man’s land. The Indian authorities stopped it since India was not informed about it.

Last year, Myanmar officials came to Hollenphai village in Manipur and dismantled a sawmill saying that it was built in Myanmar territory.

 FC Pune City will be eager to secure their place in the semi-finals when they host defending champions ATK in an Indian Super League (ISL) match here on Saturday.

With 16 points from 10 matches, Pune is currently placed third on the league table. However, there are teams who have the capability to knock them out of the top places.

Fourth-placed FC Goa are also on 16 points while Mumbai City FC and Kerala Blasters FC are within striking distance with 14 points each.

With 12 points from nine matches, ATK is also in with a chance to reach the knockout stages.

Pune, in particular, will be even more determined after losing their previous clash against Chennaiyin FC by a solitary goal.

“We didn’t play as good as the first half, we had opportunities but didn’t make use of them,” Pune City assistant coach Vladica Grujic said.

“They would like to work towards not to concede goals in second half,” he added.

From the 11 goals conceded by Pune City so far, 10 have come to haunt them in the second half.

Part of Pune’s problems against Chennaiyin in the previous game was due to the absence of star striker Marcelinho. The Brazilian missed the game due to suspension but will be back to trouble ATK.

It was Marcelinho who scored a double against ATK during the first leg in Kolkata as Pune recorded an astounding 4-1 victory.

That defeat at home would have hurt defending champions but they have since then grown from strength to strength.

Coached by former Manchester United star Teddy Sheringham, ATK struggled during the early part of the season and tasted their first win only during the fifth game.

The slow start hampered ATK’s progress, but they now have a chance to catch up in the league.

“We are here to make amends to the result. We had to deal with the 4-1 loss in the first leg and we want to change that here,” Sheringham said.

Sheringham is aware of his team’s low scoring record this season and is looking at setting things right in this game.

“We haven’t scored goals as much as we would like to. But it’s not a reflection on our strikers. It’s tough to score goals, and we are trying to work on it. We have the strength at the front and we are looking at everything to improve in this game,” he said.

Since their last win over NorthEast United FC, ATK has strengthened their side considerably with the arrival of winger David Cotterill, striker Martin Paterson, and goalkeeper Soram Poirei.

Star striker Robbie Keane is recovering too, providing Sheringham with the perfect ammunition to gun down a place among the top four.

In a major setback to Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party, Election Commission of India on Friday recommended disqualification of its 20 MLAs for holding ‘profit for office’.

In its opinion which was sent to President of India Ram Nath Kovind, the poll panel suggested that the MLAs were “unconstitutionally” appointed as parliamentary secretaries to various Delhi ministers, therefore they are liable for disqualification.

Currently, AAP has 66 seats in Delhi Assembly and following the disqualification, the party will be reduced to 46 seats if the President seals the disqualification.

Timeline:

The controversy over appointment of 21 MLAs began after the then President Pranab Mukherjee refused to sign the Delhi government’s dual office bill. According to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, Delhi can have one parliamentary secretary, attached to the office of Chief Minister.

However in March 2015, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal passed an order to appoint 21 MLAs as parliamentary secretaries for “smooth functioning of the Delhi government”.

The Congress and BJP criticised the appointment of the parliamentary secretaries, but the AAP clarified that none of the appointees will receive monetary benefits from the post nor office space or cars.

It was alleged by the Opposition that the appointment of the MLAs “amounts to holding office of profit”.

In 2016, the Delhi High Court set aside the appointments of the 21 MLAs, stating that the appointment did lack the approval of the then Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung.

In June 2017, the EC rejected the MLAs pleas to drop the “office of profit” case against them.

On 19 January 2018, the Election Commission recommended disqualification of the said MLAs.

Aamir Khan’s movie Dangal based on wrestler Geeta Phogat’s life was a hit at the Box Office. The film also went on to top the chart in China. Now, Zaira Wasim’s film, which had Aamir Khan in the supporting role, has become a chartbuster in China.

According to Variety, Secret Superstar ended up earning $3.5 million on an opening day, acquiring 25% market share.  Zhang Ziyi starrer Forever Young acquired the second position by acquiring 16% of the market share. It is anticipated that Secret Superstar may go on to earn even more in the next few days.

Secret Superstar revolves around the struggle of a 14-year-old girl who wants to be a singer. She goes against her orthodox father and rebels to fulfill her dream. The film released in India on 19 October 2017.

Before Secret Superstar, Aamir Khan’s 3 Idiots was also a super hit in China. Aamir and Zaira Wasim starrer Dangal also went on to earn $193 million in China.

Spain’s Carla Suarez on Friday continued her Australian Open run defeating Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 in the third round.

It took the World No.40 an hour and 43 minutes to claim her third consecutive win at Melbourne Park this year, becoming the last Spaniard to continue competing in the Australian Open Women’s Singles, reports Efe.

The 29-year-old, who reached the quarter-finals twice in 2009 and 2016, is due to next play either Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, reigning French Open champion, or Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit.

Belgium’s Elise Mertens overwhelmed France’s Alize Cornet 7-5, 6-4 in two hours and one minute to qualify for the round of 16