Top seeds advance

Paris: Top seeds Anna Chakvetadze, Daniela Hantuchova and Marion Bartoli got off to winning starts by booking their spots in the quarter-finals of the the Open Gaz de France here on Thursday. Recipients of first round byes, number one seed Chakvetadze needed just one hour to beat France’s Nathalie Dechy, 6-1, 6-3, while second seed Hantuchova claimed her seventh victory in as many meetings with Slovenia’s Katerina Srebotnik, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. They were joined by France’s Bartoli, the third seed, who got past Slovak Dominika Cibulkova 7-5, 6-1. — AFP

Jones takes lead

PEBBLE BEACH: The celebrity watch at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am took place everywhere but the top of the leaderboard on Thursday. Kent Jones birdied kept bogeys off his card for a 6-under 66, a one-shot lead over Roland Thatcher, Brad Adamonis and John Mallinger. Defending champion Phil Mickelson was on the verge of shooting himself out of the tournament until a birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie burst enabled him to recover with a 71. Greg Norman was holding steady until a four-putt on the 13th hole for a double bogey. He finished with a 76. — AP

Fergie angered

MANCHESTER: Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson is angry about the lack of consultations over the Premier League’s plan to take games overseas. The league’s 20 clubs agreed unanimously on Thursday to look at playing 10 games overseas, starting in the 2010-11 season. Ferguson wanted more consideration of the idea before going public. The matches would be played at five venues around the world over a single weekend in January 2011. Each city would host one game on Saturday and one on Sunday. The cities have not yet been decided. — AP