Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/751614
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 16 NOVEMBER 2016 23 Sport Answers to the MaltaToday crossword will be published next Wednesday WEATHER: Rather cloudy with the possibility of some isolated showers VISIBILITY: Good except in showers WIND: East force 3 to 4 locally force 4 to 5 becoming Southeast force 4 to 5 SEA: Moderate SWELL: Low Southerly Sea Temp.: 22°C A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 White to play and mate in four moves A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Last week's solution Sudoku rules are extremely easy: Fill all empty squares so that the numbers 1 to 9 appear once in each row, column and 9x9 box. PARTLY CLOUDY 20 º C / 16 º C UV INDEX: 3 Today's Weather Chess Sudoku Pursuits Across 3. Academic world (8) 9. Narrow street (5) 10. Acquire (3) 11. New Zealand parrot (3) 12. Defraud (5,6) 14. Meat (5) 16. Drama (4) 17. Summed (5) 19. God-like (6) 20. Drinking vessel (3) 22. Opera by Bizet (6) 23. Former Russian rulers (5) 25. Wind instrument (4) 26. Raw hides (5) 28. At once (11) 30. Storage container (3) 31. Ingot (3) 32. Eccentric (5) 33. Engrossed (8) Down 1. 24 hour periods (4) 2. Body of peers (7) 4. Universal in extent (8) 5. Of delicate beauty (6) 6. Temporary expedient (9) 7. Wide open (5) 8. Pile (5) 13. Made by hand (8) 15. Not normal (8) 18. Bandages (9) 21. Heaven (8) 24. Stopping place (7) 25. Tool used for driving nails (6) 26. Common people (5) 27. Seventh sign of the zodiac (5) 29. Spool-like toy (2-2) e8=Q+ Kf6 (Kh6) Bd4# (Qf7#) ... Kh6 Rh5# (Be3#, Qh5#, Qe6#)) TENNIS Thiem keeps the dream alive Dominic Thiem won the battle of the debutants against Gael Monfils to boost his chances of reaching the semi-finals of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals THE 23-year-old Austrian re- covered from a second-set wob- ble to win 6-3 1-6 6-4 and post his first victory at London's O2 Arena. Despite having lost both his matches, Monfils is not yet elim- inated but will have to beat No- vak Djokovic on Thursday and hope other results go his way. The unpredictable Frenchman, who appeared to be struggling physically at times, played a ma- jor part in his own downfall by serving three double faults in the final game and then driving a backhand long. Thiem said: "I think it was a very close match. I had a much better start, he played a good second set. The third was very tight, luckily he helped me a lit- tle bit in the last game." The eighth seed will take on fourth seed Milos Raonic on Thursday in what could be a straight fight for a place in the last four. Thiem was rewarded for great- er consistency with a break for 4-2 in the first set and it was clear all was not well with Mon- fils when he hobbled through the final game. The Frenchman came into the tournament nursing a rib injury and admitted after his opening loss to Milos Raonic that he was not fully fit. The O2 Arena has played host to many weary bodies since the tournament moved to London in 2009, to the detriment of the quality of tennis. But Monfils roused himself and, helped significantly by his opponent, raced into a 4-0 lead in the second set. Thiem had a similar lapse in his opening match against Djokovic, winning a very tight opener and then losing the second set to love. The Austrian blamed a drop in energy - no surprise given his hectic schedule, which has left him running on empty in recent weeks. Monfils wrapped up the set with three successive aces to keep alive his hopes of reaching the semi-finals, and he was be- ginning to pull off a few show- stopping shots. The deciding set was a much better contest, and Monfils with- stood three break points in the eighth game to hold for 4-4. But serving to stay in the match two games later he came unstuck. Dominic Thiem beat Gael Monfils in the ATP World Tour Finals