Santosh Kumar and Rohini Raut won the men's and women's titles in the inaugural New Delhi Marathon as 7198 Delhiites took part in different categories here today.
     Santosh clocked 2:20:51 to win the men's marathon while Sanjith Luwang of Army Sport Institute, Pune was second in 2:21:05.
     Another runner from Army Sports Institute, Rahul Pal took the third spot in 2.21.46.
     "I felt good as this was my first marathon since 2010 as I was suffering from pain. With only one chance remaining to qualify for the Olympics, I would like to participate in the London marathon to be held in April," said Santosh of Western Railways.
     On Friday, the IDBI Federal Life Insurance New Delhi Marathon has been conferred with an AIMS certification, helping it to attain qualification status for major marathons like Tokyo, Boston and Berlin. The event has also been granted the status of National Championships by the Athletics Federation of India.
     In women's marathon, Rohini Raut of ...

Santosh and Rohini win titles in New Delhi Marathon

PTI Automatic

Former Pakistan players Hanif Muhammad, Javed Miandad and Muhammad Yousuf have praised India's Virat Kohli for playing a sensible and mature innings on a difficult pitch against a top bowling attack to guide his side to victory over the arch-rivals in the Asia Cup.
     The three greats said Pakistani batsmen also needed to show the same game sense in the Asia Cup as Kohli had done in Saturday's match.
     "All this talk about power hitting is fine but you have to learn to bat according to the conditions and opposition. Our batsmen need to give respect to the bowlers and conditions where necessary. They didn't do this against India and paid the price," Hanif Muhammad said in an interview.
     He said Kohli had played a very mature innings in difficult conditions and it didn't surprise him.
     "For years now India have produced a line of fine batsmen starting with Sunil Gavaskar and now Kohli. Because of the number of top batsmen they are producing Indian youngsters also gain ...

Pakistan greats laud Kohli's match-winning effort

London Olympian Basant Bahadur Singh Rana clinched the gold medal in men's 50km race walk event on the second and final day of the National Championships here today.
     Delhi walker Rana clocked 4 hours seven minutes 24 seconds to finish first but he must have been disappointed as he could not touch the revised Olympics qualification time of 4:06:00 on a fast Jaipur course which yesterday saw as many as seven men's 20km race walkers breached Rio Games cut-off mark.
     32-year-old Rana has a personal best of 3:56:48 which he clocked a in the 2012 London Olympics, which was a national record then.
     Uttarakhand's Chandan Singh, who has already achieved Rio qualification mark in men's 20km event, finished second with a time of 4:09:50 while Jitender Singh Rathore of Rajasthan took the bronze medal in 4:12:10.
     In contrast to yesterday which saw a record seven race walkers go past the Olympics qualification standard, none could breach the Rio Games mark in men's 50km race walk .

Rana wins gold in 50km race walk in National Championships

India opener Rohit Sharma today underwent a precautionary x-ray after being hit on the left toe in the very first ball he faced against Pakistan.
     Rohit was hit on the left toe by pacer Mohammad Amir in the very first ball of India's chase yesterday. The left-arm pacer's next ball was another full length inswinger, trapping Rohit in front of the stumps for a duck. India eventually won the high-pressure match by five wickets.
     India play their next match against Sri Lanka on Tuesday and a call on Rohit's inclusion will be taken by the team management.

Rohit undergoes x-ray after being hit on toe

Racing against time to seal his Olympic berth, a fit-again Parupalli Kashyap is back in the hunt for the Rio spot after recovering from a series of injuries which derailed his preparation for the Summer Games.
     Kashyap will be participating in three tournaments on the European circuit starting with German Grand Prix Gold from Wednesday, followed by the prestigious All England Championship (March 8-13) and Swiss Grand Prix Gold (March 15-20).
     "I've butterflies in the tummy. After four months of intensive training and rehab, it feels great to be back on the international circuit. All England open and Swiss Open to follow soon," said Kashyap, who will take on Ukraine's Artem Pochtarev in his opening round of German Open.
     "I didn't play the BAC in Hyderabad, I was training then. I just want to do well in the first match and rest will fall into place. I am happy with my preparation, I have reached a good level now considering where I was two months back.
     "So it is one ...

I have butterflies in my tummy, says Kashyap

India's men paddlers had a perfect to start to their campaign in the World Table Tennis Team Championships as they blanked out Vietnam 3-0 in the first round of the Second Division here today.
     Clubbed in group F, they took on the Vietnamese first this morning and thumped their rivals in quick time. Opening the attack for India, Sharath Kamal defeated Anh Tu Nguyen 11-8, 11-6, 5-11, 11-6. The Indian had a fine start but after leading 2-0, he dropped a game when Anh came back nicely. However, the experienced ace Indian shut out the challenge by winning the next game.
     For Anthony Amalraj, who took on Tien Dat Le in the next rubber, it was rather easy when he quickly disposed of his opponent 12-10, 11-5, 11-6 and after that Harmeet Desai downe Ba Tuan Anh Doan 11-5, 13-11, 2-10 in a tough contest. Despite the threat from Doan, the Indian had things under control.
    Both Soumyajit Ghosh and G. Sathiyan, the other members of the men's squad, had a free day today.
     ...

Indian men blank Vietnam in World Championship opener

The use of umpiring devices like ear-piece doesn't please
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni at
all as he feels such a technology prevents the on-field officials from hearing snicks and edges in a packed stadium.
     Bangladeshi umpire SIS Saikat failed to detect a nick from Khurram Manzoor's bat off Ashish Nehra's bowling in yesterday's India-Pakistan Asia Cup clash and Dhoni wasn't happy about the goof-up.
     Asked about umpiring, a sarcastic Dhoni said, "You don't want me to get banned before World T20. You have all seen umpiring. It's your call."
     "(But) One thing certainly should be done. Umpires now use walkie talkies as well as wear ear piece in one ear which effectively means they are umpiring with one ear. It's a difficult job. One needs to consider this. They are hearing with one ear. I believe there is no point having a ear piece when the bowler is bowling as you don't need to use it then. It's better to use both ears as a lot of things might happen on the field," ...

Dhoni unhappy with umpires using ear piece

Indian women's hockey team lost 0-3 to Germany to slump to their first defeat in their tour to South Africa, here.
     The first period of the match started with both the teams moving cautiously in order to understand each other's game plan.
     Both India and Germany concentrated on maintaining ball possession and a lot of the game was played in the mid-field.
     The Indian eves came ou with more attacking intent in the second period and in the process earned a penalty corner in but they failed to capitalise on the opportunity.
     The Germans finally broke the deadlock in the final minutes of the second quarter through a field goal from Lydia Haase.
     Germany doubled their lead in the third quarter through another field goal by Pia-Sophie Oldhafer before making the scoreline 3-0 
through a penalty corner conversion by Julia Muller in the fourth and final 15 minutes of the game.
     India will again play Germany in their next match o the tour later today.

India lose 0-3 to Germany, suffer first loss in SA tour

A hurt Pakistan are set to intimidate minnows United Arab Emirates with their four- pronged pace attack in a round robin league game of the Asia Cup Twenty20 cricket tournament, here tomorrow.
     While Pakistan are a little hurt after losing to arch- rivals India by five wickets in a low-scoring encounter yesterday, it is expected that to be a cakewalk when Shahid Afridi's boys take on the qualifiers in their second league encounter.
     UAE's problems against big teams have been their batting as they lost to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh despite restricting the two Test playing nations to scores of 129 or 133 respectively. UAE could manage 115 and 82 in these two matches.
     Pakistan coach Waqar Younis believes that whenever his team bats first, they are more confident even though their batting collapsed against India last night.
     "I believe if we can put 135 to 140 on board, we can win against any opposition with the kind of fast bowling attack we have. So the plan in coming ...

Pakistan to unleash barrage of pace on UAE

Statistical highlights of the Asia
Cup match between India and Pakistan, here.
     # India have won five and lost one out of seven T20Is played against Pakistan -- winning per centage 78.57.  The tied game at Durban on September 14, 2007 had resulted in Indian win in the bowl-out.
     # Jasprit Bumrah became the second Indian bowler to deliver two maiden overs in T20Is. Harbhajan Singh (4-2-12-4) had achieved the distinction vs England at Colombo (RPS) on September 23, 2012
     # The match did not witness a single six - the sixth such instance in a completed match in T20Is.
     # Mohammad Amir (3/18) has produced his best bowling performance in T20Is, surpassing the 3 for 23 vs Australia at Gros Islet on May 2, 2010.
     # Shahid Afridi was dismissed run-out for the third time in T20Is - twice vs England at Bridgetown on May 6, 2010 and at Abu Dhabi on February 27, 2012 and vs India at Dhaka on February 27, 2016.
     # Rohit Sharma has recorded his third duck in T20Is - one each 

 Statistical highlights of the Asia

Pakistan coach Waqar Younis has termed Mohammed Amir's performance against India as "outstanding" but at the same time said his sufferings in the last five years after being convicted for spot-fixing has been his own fault for which no one should feel bad.
     "It was his own fault and one shouldn't cry on that. He (Amir) is definitely world class and is getting better aand stronger with every match. Even Virat Kohli has acknowledged that he is world class. He is an inspiration for young fast bowlers. Today the length at which he especially bowled and swung the ball at that pace was simply outstanding," Waqar said about the 'Enfant Terrible' of Pakistan cricket.
     Even Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni conceded that Amir's length was the key.
     "It was a great spell by Amir. His advantage was he bowled full. In this Pakistan team Amir and Mohammed Sami are the two bowlers who bowl a fuller length while the other two (Mohammed Irfan and Wahab Riaz) don't bowl too full and also 

What Amir did was his own fault, no one should cry: Waqar

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni feels that the 22-yard-strip at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium is certainly "not ideal" for the batsmen to try and practice attacking shots keeping the ICC World T20 in mind.
     "We thought it will be very good practice for T20 World Cup but in terms of hitting maybe it is not. But when it comes to reading the game and respecting conditions, it is good for us," Dhoni said after India defeated Pakistan in a low-scoring game where 15 wickets fell in 33 overs.
     "Whether it is good (advertisement) for T20 cricket is difficult one to answer with so much of bounce and movement. In games over here, it has been very difficult to come out and play big shots. In one game, we scored 170 but it seemed like we would score 140, because of the firepower in our batting and few good overs, we managed, to reach 170. Otherwise all other games have been low-scoring ones, which is not good," Dhoni was frank in his assessment.
     Dhoni also agreed that scores like 80's 

Pitch not ideal for hitting practice ahead of WT20: Dhoni

Pakistani cricket fans and former players have reacted with disappointment and anger to the national team's defeat against arch-rivals India in their Asia Cup Twenty20 match.
     A large number of fans who had gathered at different spots in Pakistan's biggest city Karachi yesterday to watch the match on giant screens amidst an atmosphere of festivity left upset and angry.
     Television channels showed some of them raising slogans against the Pakistan Cricket Board and players demanding their ouster while in some other parts of the country disappointed fans broke television sets with sticks.
     Reports said that in some areas of Punjab angry fans had burnt effigies and posters of captain Shahid Afridi and other players.
     To add insult to injury for the angry fans, Afridi said losing to India was not a big deal and the Pakistan team could make a comeback, a comment which didn't go down well at all with anyone.
     "Stop making excuses and start playing cricket. You are not ...

Fans, cricket fraternity disapointed with Pak's loss to India

At one minute past six on Friday evening in Zurich, Sepp Blatter had a glass of white wine and exhaled deeply.
     FIFA had finally elected a new president and Blatter was relieved of the title after almost 18 years.
     "It is a relief. I had this burden on me," he told The Associated Press yesterday, seeming at peace and enjoying his first day out of FIFA's employment since 1975.
     "It was even a welcome day yesterday, 18:01, when they had a new president," Blatter said in the European style.
     Blatter was unable to hand over power in person to Gianni Infantino, 35 years younger and a fellow native of the rural Valais canton in Switzerland.
     Banned from duty since October by FIFA's ethics committee, Blatter was barred from attending the election hall across the city from his daughter's apartment. There, they watched the tense event unfold on television.
     "Being suspended or not, I was still the elected president. And now it is finished," Blatter said, in an interview 

Blatter free of FIFA 'burden,' backs Infantino

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is not at all pleased with the use of some of the umpiring devices like ear-piece which he feels prevents the on-field official from hearing snicks and edges in a packed stadium.
     Bangladeshi umpire SIS Saikat failed to detect a nick from Khurram Manzoor's bat off Ashish Nehra's bowling and the Indian captain wasn't happy about it.
     Asked about umpiring, a sarcastic Dhoni said,"You don't want me to get banned before World T20. You have all seen umpiring. It's your call."
     "One thing certainly should be done. Umpires now use walkie talkies as well as wear ear piece in one ear which effectively means they are umpiring with one ear. It's a difficult job. One needs to consider this. They are hearing with one ear. I believe there is no point having a ear piece when the bowler is bowling as you don't need to use it then. It's better to use both ears as a lot of things might happen on field," the skipper said at the post match press conference.
 

Dhoni not happy with umpires using ear piece

After steering India to a crucial victory in an Asia Cup match against Pakistan, Virat Kohli extolled comeback fast bowler Mohammed Amir for his ferocious opening spell, here today.
     Kohli scored 49 in a tricky chase of 84 after Amir had reduced India to eight for three inside third over.
     "I would like to complement Mohammad Amir for the way he bowled. I actually congratulated him while he was bowling. It was so happy to play such an amazing spell. He is a world class bowler," Kohli said at the post match presentation ceremony.
     Kohli said the conditions were tough for batting and he was determined to rectify the mistakes he committed in the Bangladesh match.
     "It wasn't an easy wicket to bat on, I wasn't too happy with myself in the last game, where I went too hard at the ball, wanting to continue the way I played in Australia. I had to respect the conditions, I made mistakes in the last innings but I dug in this time."
     Asked about his batting style, Kohli ...

Kohli praises Amir for ferocious spell

India recovered from three early jolts, inflicted by a devastating spell from Mohammed Amir, before notching up a five-wicket victory against arch-rivals Pakistan in the Asia Cup T20 tournament, here today.
     Amir (3/18) rocked the Indian top-order with a fast and furious four-over spell but the small target of 84 was not good enough to stop the 'Men In Blue' who knocked off the runs with 27 balls to spare.
     Indian bowlers had demolished the Pakistan batting line up with a superlative show as they bundled out the arch-rivals for a paltry 83 in only 17.3 overs after opting to field.
     But it required the calm and class of Virat Kohli (49) to take India home without further setbacks as his 68-run stand for the fourth wicket with Yuvraj Singh (14 not out) proved to be decisive.
     Kohli's 51-ball innings had seven boundaries and he looked cut above any batsman, who featured in today's game.
     This is their second win for India in the tournament and takes them a step closer 

India survive Amir scare to win by 5 wickets

India defeated Pakistan by five wickets in an Asia Cup cricket match at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, here today.
     India had beaten Bangladesh in their first match.
     Brief Scores:
     Pakistan: 83 all out in 17.3 overs. (Sarfraz Ahamed 25, Khurram Manzoor 10; Hardik Pandya 3/8, Ravindra Jadeja 2/11).
     India: 85 for 5 in 15.3 overs. (Virat Kohli 49, Yuvraj Singh 14 not out; Mohammed Amir 3/18, Mohammed Sami 2/16).

India defeat Pakistan by five wickets in Asia Cup

Puneri Paltan jumped to the second spot in Season 3 of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi with an easy 44-27 victory over Bengaluru Bulls here today.
     Their big guns, Manjeet Chhillar and Ajay Thakur fired when required to bring their team closer to qualification to the knockouts.
     Puneri Paltan however, had to ward off the early threat from their rivals who inflicted upon them an all-out. It came in the 10th minute. The losers went up 10-4 at that time and it seemed that the absence of their captain Surjeet Narwal may not hurt them.
      Deepak Dahiya had got a super raid of three prior to the all-out. But Ajay Thakur who wasn't in the best of form turned the corner with a super raid in the 19th minute. He dragged three defenders with him to the midline
      The Puneri Paltan defence too started functioning well and Surjeet Narwal (Services) made two crucial tackles on Deepak Dahiya and Pawan Kumar that resulted in a handy 19-13 lead at the break. In between, the winners had their 

Puneri Paltan progress with win over Bulls

Reduced to ten men in the second half, a fighting Mumbai FC held Sporting Clube de Goa to a 2-2 draw and kept their unbeaten home record intact in the I-League football match here today.
      Mumbai were forced to play without captain NP Pradeep after he was sent off following a double-booking in the first half. But the hosts fought hard to earn the draw.
      The visitors drew first blood in the 8th minute through Mahmoud Al Amna that was neutralised by Mumbai's Kyuki Kozawa in the 19th minute.
       Crossing over with only ten men on the field Mumbai took a 2-1 lead in the 53rd minute through substitute Jayesh Rane only to see substitute Victoria Fernandes equalise for the Goans six minutes later.
       The draw lifted Sporting to number 4 on the table with 12points while keeping Mumbai in 12th spot with ten points.
     Mumbai were stunned by an early strike by the Goan team in the 6th minute. A long ball was trapped on the left flank by Odafa Okolie who found an unmarked ...

10-man Mumbai hold Sporting Clube de Goa to 2-2 draw

Bengaluru FC will have their task cut out to be in the top two reckoning when they host new entrant Aizawl FC in the Hero I-League here tomorrow.
     Bengaluru FC are placed third with 15 points ahead of the match at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
     Aizawl are placed seventh on the points-table with eight points from as many matches.
     For Bengaluru, who lost an AFC Cup match against Lao Toyota FC 1-2, the schedule may seem demanding, Coach Ashley Westwood looked at the positive side of things.
     "Fortunately the game against Aizawl has come quickly which means we can get the defeat in Laos out of our system. Our performance wasn't too bad. We made one individual error and then got done in by a poor decision from the referee. But now it's all about Sunday. The pitch is looking really good. So hopefully we can match it and put on a good performance," he said.
     Before boarding the plane to Laos, Bengaluru had tasted defeat against Mohun Bagan 0-2 in their last match and ...

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