Virat Kohli retained the top spot among batsmen while India were placed third among ODI teams in the latest ICC Rankings issued today.
     Kohli leads South Africa's AB de Villiers by four points and he will aim to consolidate his number-one batting position and also help India reclaim the number-two ranking when he captains his side in the five-ODI series against the West Indies, starting tomorrow.
     Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan were at joint 10th in the list of batsmen while there were no Indians among top-10 bowlers and top-5 all-rounders.
     India (116 points) can leapfrog second-placed Australia (117 points) by a fraction of a point if the Kohli-led side win all the five matches of the ODI series against the West Indies.
     In contrast, if the West Indies win two matches in the series, then India will drop behind England in fourth place on 112 points. Victories in two matches will also lift the West Indies from 77 points to 81 points, thus, narrowing the gap with ...

Kohli retains top spot, 5-0 win over WI to give India 2nd spot

PTI Automatic

India's Aditya Patel aims to get back on the podium in round three of Blancpain GT Series Asia in Suzuka this weekend after a disappointing round in Thailand.
     The race in Suzuka will feature a 25-car grid again and team OD Racing's Patel, who shares driving duties with Malaysian Mitch Gilbert in Audi R8 LMS, is keen to return to winning ways.
     In Thailand, Patel and Gilbert dropped from the top of the standings to third overall and second in the Silver cup after a gearbox failure forced them to retire from the first race, a press note here said.
     Patel, who is backed by Audi India and Jubilant Motorworks said Suzuka, a high speed circuit, would be their best chance to fight back before they head to Fuji in August.

Aditya Patel aims to return to winning ways in Suzuka

Kidambi Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth eked out thrilling victories in the men's singles second round to set up an all-Indian quarterfinal clash at the USD 750,000 Australian Super Series, here today.
	Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu and defending champion Saina Nehwal also advanced to the quarterfinals of the women's singles competition.
	Srikanth, who had edged out Son Wan Ho in the semifinals of Indonesia Open last week, once again had an upper hand against the World No. 1 Korean, beating him 15-21 21-13 21-13 in a 57-minute clash.
	After this win, Srikanth had taken his head-to-head record against the Korean to 4-4.
     "In the third game I thought I have to get the extra shuttle, that worked for me," said Srikanth.
     "He's someone who doesn't attack too much, just keeps the rally going. You have to be more steady than him or you have to crack him. In these conditions it's hard to go on all-out attack. My training is paying off. I'm really confident about my fitness."
     In 

Saina, Sindhu, Srikanth, Praneeth enter quarters in Australia

India's Mahesh Mangaonkar today made a confident start to his campaign in the Squash XL Open in Auckland, with a fluent 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 win over Valantino Bong to reach the quarterfinal.
     Playing his third tournament in New Zealand, Mangaonkar, seeded six, needed just 26 minutes to beat his rival, a qualifier from Malaysia, said a SRFI press note here.
     The Indian maintained a clean slate in his head-to-head matches against the Malaysian with a fourth straight win. Bong had also lost all his three earlier meetings with Magaonkar, the last being three years ago.
     The Indian had in recent times lost in the final of the New Zealand International Classic in Palmerston North and faltered in the quarters of the NZ Southern Open squash tournament.

Mangaonkar sails into last eight of Auckland squash tourney

Commonwealth Games silver-winner L Devendro Singh (52kg) assured himself of his first international medal of the year by advancing to the semifinals of the Ulaanbaatar Cup boxing tournament in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia today.
     Devendro, who jumped to the flyweight category late last year, defeated Russia's Dimitrii Yusupov to make the last-four stage of the tournament.
	The triumph is a major confidence-booster for the 23- year-old from Manipur, who missed out on the Asian Championships earlier this year after surprisingly going down in the trials. He had also lost early in the Strandja Memorial in Bulgaria and the King's Cup in Thailand.
	Among other Indians in the fray, it was curtains for King's Cup bronze-medallist Rohit Tokas (64kg), who lost to Chinzorig Baatarsukh of Mongolia.
	Tomorrow, five-time world champion M C Mary Kom (51kg), who got a bye into the quarterfinals, will open her campaign against the winner of the bout between Russia's Anna Aedma and Korea's Chol Mi ...

Devendro enters semis to confirm medal in Ulaanbaatar

Leading Indian women paddlers, Madhurika Patkar and Monika Batra, believe that the Ultimate Table Tennis league, whose inaugural edition is to be held next month, will help the sport grow and benefit players.
     "UTT will benefit the sport in India. I will be staying with other foreign players (during the tournament). When we stay together, we benefit in terms of confidence mentally, among other things," former national champion Madhurika told PTI today.
     Madhurika, currently ranked number 3 in India who will be representing Dabang Smashers in the League, said she was not specifically preparing for UTT but was focusing on next year's Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.
     "Honestly speaking we don't prepare for a particular tournament at this point. We as a (national) team are preparing for the next year's Commonwealth Games in Australia".
     Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Anthony Amalraj are Madhurika's Indian teammates in the UTT and all of them are playing currently in ..

League will bolster TT's growth in India: Madhurika

The BCCI will be getting USD 405 million as per the International Cricket Council's revenue sharing model, which was agreed during the apex body's annual conference in London.
     Originally, the ICC had agreed to give USD 293 million but, after hectic negotiations, its chairman Shashank Manohar agreed to increase it by USD 100 million.
     Finally, it was decided that USD 112 million more will be given to BCCI from the previously agreed amount.
     India is getting USD 266 million more than England, which will take home USD 139 million.
     Australia, Pakistan, West Indies, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are getting USD 128 million each. Zimbabwe will get USD 94 million.
     The revenue sharing model has been a bone of contention for BCCI as the world's most influential cricket board had demanded USD 570 million, which was unacceptable to Manohar, himself a two-time former Board president.
     A Indian Cricket Board official told PTI that "the BCCI has agreed to the ...

BCCI to get USD 405 million from ICC, Eng next at 139 million

Riding on his performance at the Indonesia Super Series Premier last week, Indian ace K Srikanth improved 11 places to jump to the 11th spot in the latest BWF World ranking here today.
     Srikanth, a former World No. 3, clinched his second Super Series Premier event last week at Jakarta. He now has 51,603 points in his kitty.
     H S Prannoy, who stunned Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei and China's Chen Long in Indonesia to reach the semifinals, improved four places to reach a 21st spot.
     However, Ajay Jayaram and B Sai Praneeth slipped two places to take the 15th and 16th spots.
     In women's singles, Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu lost one place each to slump to fourth and 16th positions respectively.
     Women's doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy improved two places to reach the 26th spot, while Sikki and Pranaav Jerry Chopra lost a place to be at 16th spot among
 Mixed doubles pairs.

Srikanth, Prannoy improve in BWF ranking

Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar, who has not competed since her historic fourth place finish in the Rio Olympics, is all set to miss the World Gymnastics Championships as she is recovering from a knee surgery.
     It is another setback of sorts for the 23-year-old who also missed the Asian Championships earlier this year due to the anterior crucial ligament (ACL) injury.
     She had undergone the surgery in April and her rehab will take at least six months before she can resume training. The World Championships will be held in Canada in October.
     "There is not much you can do in case of an injury. It is frustrating as an athlete but I won't call it a setback. Though it is surely a challenge," Karmakar told PTI today.
     Karmakar, who is camping at the IG Stadium in presence of her coach Bisweshwar Nandi, has started jogging but can only think about training once six months of rehab is over.
     Coach Nandi said that her ward will not be competition ready for the World ...

Out of action since Rio, Dipa to also miss World Championship

World Boxing Organisation (WBO) has sanctioned WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title and WBO Oriental Super Middleweight title between Vijender Singh and Chinese Zulpikar Maimaitiali in first week of August in Mumbai.
     Vijender is current WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight champion Singh while Zulpikar is WBO Oriental Super Middleweight Champion.
     Neerav Tomar, Promoter IOS Boxing Promotions said:"We are happy to know on WBO's decision sanctioning Asia's biggest battle between Vijender Singh and Zulpikar Maimaithiali. The sanction is in place and we can now move forward with Zulpikar's team SECA to finalise terms and locking the date and venue in Mumbai."
     Speaking on one of the biggest fight night of Asia Leon Panoncillo Jr., Chairman WBO Asia Pacific said:"After reviewing fight records of both the participants, I am satisfied with their past results and therefore approved this unification bout of the WBO Asia Pacific/WBO Oriental Super - Middleweight titles."
     ..

WBO sanctions Vijender vs Zulpikar bout for 1st week of August

National football team's chief coach Stephen Constantine is confident that he will be able to unearth new talent from the current pool of India U-22 players aiming to seal a spot for the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship.
     "Obviously, our primary target is to qualify for the AFC U-23 Championship. There's absolutely no second thoughts on that," the Anglo-Cypriot coach told www.The-aiff.Com after a training session at the Ambdekar Stadium.
     "I have always believed in building a 'team for the future'. Eventually, in a few years, these guys will represent India National Team. My eventual goal is to unearth some talents, who'll be ready for the Senior National Team," he added.
     Referring to the forthcoming exposure trip to California, Constantine is confident that conditions in American city will similar to the humid conditions that they will encounter in Doha.
     "Our aim is to get accustomed to the conditions of Qatar as much as possible. New Delhi is hot, California will be hot .

Aim to find talent for Sr Team: Constantine on India U22 squad

Senior National championship finalist Lakshya Sen will be the main attraction when Jodhpur hosts the All India Junior badminton ranking tournament from July 9th to 15th.
     The Joint Secretary of Badminton Association of India (BAI) and Secretary of Rajasthan Badminton Association, K K Sharma told PTI that it was for the first time that Jodhpur was hosting a tournament of such magnitude.
     "It is first time that this desert city which has heritage forts and other attractions would be hosting such a big tournament which will be attracting almost 1,600 players and officials," he said.
     "The biggest attraction would be upcoming star Lakshya Sen who has recently produced scintillating results at international level," said Sharma.
     The top-ranked Junior player in world, Lakshya Sen, who trains in the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bangalore, had hogged the limelight three years ago when, as a 13-year- old, he won the Wimbledon Under-19 tournament.
     He has won the ...

Lakshya Sen to play at Junior Badminton Ranking at Jodhpur

The Indian men and women team scored expected victories against lowest ranked Egypt in the World teams' chess championship here.
     The Indian men surprisingly dropped 1.5 points despite being overwhelming rating favourites on all four boards but in the end the third victory on the trot was sweet taking them on to six points out of a possible nine.
     Grandmaster B Adhiban yet again proved his true mettle as he crushed Fawdy Adham on the second board while Vidit Gujarathi, Murali Karthikeyan and Parimarjan Negi were held to draws by Hesham Abdelrahman, Abdelnabbi Imed and Farahat Ali respectively.
     Russia emerged as the sole leader here on nine points defeating Norway by a good 3-1 margin. World champion Magnus Carlsen was sorely missed by his team as the Russians made merry on the last two boards while drawing the top two.
     China shares the second spot along with Poland on eight points each. The Chinese were held to a draw by Turkey that is certainly turning out to be the 

World teams Chess C'ship: Indian men and women beat Egypt

Captain Virat Kohli will look to put to rest, all the off-field controversies regarding Anil Kumble's controversial exit, as India gear up for the first ODI against a second string West Indies, here tomorrow.
     Ironically, it was the Caribbean Islands, where Anil Kumble's journey as the chief national coach started but within a year, the team is back without its coach.
     Skipper Kohli, whose much publicised difference of opinion with coach Anil Kumble, has grabbed the headlines more than team's performance in the Champions Trophy, couldn't have asked for a more convenient opposition than the West Indies, which even struggled against minnows Afghanistan.
     A cluster of big wins in the five-match ODI series and single T20 will help Kohli divert the unnecessary attention pinned on him with many ready to make him the 'fall guy' in the entire Kumble episode.
     This will also be an occasion when Kohli will have complete freedom in team selection as batting coach Sanjay Bangar is 

Kohli and Co start favourites vs WI despite Kumble fiasco

Fresh from a glorious season-saving triumph at one of his favourite venues, Lewis Hamilton sets out to tame his unpredictable and sometimes wayward "diva" of a Mercedes again as the Formula One circus endures sizzling heat at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
     The three-time world champion's victory at the Canadian Grand Prix earlier this month -- his sixth at the Montreal track -- hauled him back within 12 points of championship leader Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari and sharpened his appetite for a maiden success on the streets of Baku, the only venue on the current calendar where he has never won.
     "I was very quick there last year, but I just didn't deliver," said Hamilton. "So, this time, the plan is to make sure I deliver."
     After an inconsistent opening to the season in which he and Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas have struggled badly at times, Hamilton bounced back to his best in Montreal to claim his third win in seven races as Mercedes produced a crushing one-two ...

Hamilton hopes Mercedes 'diva' performs in Baku heat

Cristiano Ronaldo brushed aside his off-field problems by scoring the winner as Portugal edged out hosts Russia 1-0 at the Confederations Cup on Wednesday, before Oribe Peralta gave Mexico a come-from-behind 2-1 win over New Zealand.
     Ronaldo's eighth-minute header in Moscow gave Portugal their first win in the tournament and victory over New Zealand on Saturday would secure a semi-final spot.
     Goals from Peralta and Raul Jimenez saw Mexico move top of Group A later in the day, above Portugal on goals scored, and knock New Zealand out of the competition.
     Ronaldo let his football do the talking after the recent tax-evasion accusations that have left his Real Madrid future uncertain, with his second man-of-the-match performance following Sunday's 2-2 draw with Mexico.
     The forward said Portugal were worthy winners after surviving a second-half Russian fight-back.
     "We're very happy, it's the first time Portugal have won in Russia. The team played very well against a 

Problems? What problems? Ronaldo on target in Portugal win

Jonny Bairstow made a dashing 60 not out as England thrashed South Africa by nine wickets in the first Twenty20 international at Southampton on Wednesday.
     England, set just 143 to win, reached their target for the loss of only one wicket with 33 balls left.
     Opener Alex Hales was 47 not out, his unbroken second- wicket stand with Bairstow worth 98 runs. But the foundations for a victory which put England 1-0 up in this three-match series were laid by their bowlers.
     They restricted South Africa to 142 for three after Proteas skipper AB de Villiers won the toss.
     De Villiers made 65 not out and Farhaan Behardien an unbeaten 64 in an innings where fast bowler Mark Wood took two for 36.
     The fourth-wicket pair's unbroken partnership was worth 110 runs after they came together with South Africa 32 for three -- which represented a recovery after they had slumped to seven for two.
     But South Africa's total still looked short of a competitive score on what is usually 

Bairstow seals England rout of South Africa

Skipper Mithali Raj hit a strokefilled 85 as Indian women's cricket team beat Sri Lanka by 109 runs in a warm-up game for the ICC Women's World Cup, here today.
     Batting first, India scored a healthy 275 for 8 in 50 overs with half-centuries from Raj and opener Poonam Raut (69). The other significant contribution came from Smriti Mandhana (44). The Indian captain hit 11 boundaries in her 89-ball knock.
     In reply, Sri Lanka were bundled out for 166 in 48.4 overs with left-arm spinner Rajsewari Gayekwad taking 4/12 in 7 overs.
     Brief Scores: India Women 275/8 in 50 overs (Mithali Raj 85, Poonam Raut 69, Smriti Mandhana 44)
     Sri Lanka 166 in 48.4 overs (Rakeswari Gayekwad 4/12, Shikha Pandey 2/22). India women won by 109 runs.

Mithali stars in Indian eves warm-up win vs Sri Lanka

India's women's softball team won the silver medal at the Asia Pacific Middle East Little League (Senior Division) Softball Championship.
     India lost the final 0-10 to Philippines after beating hosts Singapore 11-1 in the semi-final. In the earlier league matches, India beat Guam 17-7, Singapore 14-4 before losing to Indonesia 2-4. Philippines also beat them by an identical margin 1-0 in the round robin phase also.
     All the expenses for this trip was borne by the Softball Federation of India.

Indian girls win silver at Asia Pacific Softball Event

The BCCI Chief Executive Officer Rahul Johri will seek a detailed report from Indian team's administrative manager Kapil Malhotra on the Anil Kumble-Virat Kohli fiasco after the chief coach decided to quit.
     It is learnt that COA chief Vinod Rai will discuss Kumble's unceremonious exit with the BCCI top brass in Mumbai on June 24.
     A senior BCCI official confirmed the development that Johri, who is currently in England for the ICC Annual Conference, has asked Malhotra to give a detailed report of what all transpired during the ICC Champions Trophy.
     "Johri asked for a report from Malhotra about what exactly happened in England. Johri is expected to then submit it to COA chief Vinod Rai. Malhotra is currently in West Indies -- his last assignment as Indian team's administrative manager. He is expected to give his report to CEO soon," the source told PTI today.
     When asked that the tension started much earlier than England, the source said that COA has even taken that ...

BCCI top brass asks for Managers' report on Kohli-Kumble row

Eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt will run the 100 metres at the Diamond League meeting in Monaco on July 21, organisers announced today.
     The Jamaican sprinting legend is competing in his final season before retirement and will use the Monaco event as a warm-up for the world championships in London that start on August 5.
     The world-record holder (9.58sec) won his first race of the year in Kingston earlier this month in 10.03sec, and is also due to run in Ostrava on June 28.
     Bolt, who has won three Olympic 100m-200m doubles, will only compete in the 100m for his farewell at the worlds.
     The 30-year-old saw his tally of Olympic gold medals reduced from nine to eight earlier this year, when the Jamaican team were stripped of their 2008 4x100m medals after Nesta Carter's disqualification for doping.

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