Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales stormed to pole position for the Australian MotoGP on Sunday, continuing his dominant weekend performance around the Phillip Island circuit.
The Spaniard, who won in Australia last year, ruled supreme, constantly clocking fastest laps to seal first place on the grid in 1min 28.492sec.
French rookie Fabio Quartararo, who was second in Japan last weekend, maintained his hot run of form, securing second ahead of world champion Marc Marquez, who ran onto the grass in the dying seconds as he pushed the pace.
Petronas Yamaha rider Quartararo had a nasty spill on Friday and was forced to battle through preliminary qualifying (Q1) for the first time.
He set a scorching time to make Q2 and again signal his emergence as a key rival to the dominant Marquez, who has already wrapped up his sixth MotoGP world title.
Qualifying was abandoned on Saturday due to strong winds swirling around the beachside circuit, but the inclement weather eased sufficiently on Sunday to ..

Vinales takes pole for Australian MotoGP

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Diego Simeone's decision to leave out Diego Costa was vindicated as Atletico Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao and Costa's replacement Alvaro Morata scored in the 2-0 victory.
Morata had been the one to sit on the bench against Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday but his winning goal as a substitute earned him a start against Bilbao and the Spaniard delivered again.
"The changes were good for the team," said Simeone on Saturday.
"It was a great performance." Morata's finish in the second half at the Wanda Metropolitano, after Saul Niguez had opened the scoring, secured Atletico a comfortable win that puts them above Real Madrid in the La Liga table and level on points with Barcelona.
The postponement of the Clasico due to unrest in Catalonia gave Simeone's side the chance to close the gap on the top two and sustain momentum from their gritty win in the Champions League.
Morata had rescued Atletico against Leverkusen but the decision to omit him, and now Costa, suggests Simeone feels there is a need 

Costa left out as Morata on target again in Atletico victory

Ireland and Netherlands secured qualification for the play-offs at the World T20 qualifier after registering convincing wins over Nigeria and Bermuda by eight wickets and 92 runs respectively.
Craig Young's four for 13, alongside Mark Adair's two for ten, meant Nigeria always struggled were not allowed to get going with the bat against Ireland and could only register 66 for nine from 20 overs on Saturday.
Ireland were never in trouble as Kevin O'Brien's 32 and Paul Stirling's 11 again got the side off to a fast start, and the target of 67 was reached in just 6.1 overs as they now sit top of Group B on eight points.
However, second place Oman still have one group game remaining.
In Group A, Bermuda were no match for Netherlands as a Dutch record opening stand of 123 put them on their way to registering their highest ever team total of 206 for three.
Ben Cooper and Max O'Dowd both hit 58 and Colin Ackermann bashed a late 43 before Paul van Meekeren took three wickets for 26 as Bermuda ..

Ireland, Dutch edge closer to World T20 finals

Championship challenger Valtteri Bottas admitted he "had to risk it" when he buried his Mercedes into a trackside wall in a frantic conclusion to qualifying at the Mexican Grand Prix.
"I knew that I had to risk it in the last run to gain positions, so I tried to squeeze everything out of the car," said Bottas who is the only driver who can deny teammate Lewis Hamilton from securing a sixth world title.
"The lap was good until the last corner where I went a bit wide on the exit on the dusty part of the track and that's where I lost it and hit the wall.
"I'm all okay, but I've unfortunately given the boys in the garage some extra work to do tonight. Hopefully we can avoid taking any penalties for tomorrow. It's annoying because looking at the times, I think I had a chance at qualifying third."
Bottas was checked out at the circuit medical centre after the crash on Saturday with his team going on to post on Twitter: "He's OK! Valtteri Bottas has returned to the paddock. Great ...

'I had to risk it,' says Bottas after Mexico horror crash

World champion elect Lewis Hamilton said he was looking forward to an exciting fight with both Ferraris and Red Bull's pole sitter Max Verstappen despite qualifying back in fourth for Sunday's Mexican Grand Prix.
Hamilton, who can clinch his sixth world title if he outscores Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by 14 points in Sunday's race, said he had hoped to qualify in third position before Bottas' crash in the final seconds.
Bottas was severely shaken, but climbed out of his wrecked car and was transferred to the circuit medical centre.
He qualified sixth, making it unlikely that the drivers' title race will be settled on Sunday.
"I think third place was possible, but the last sector went to pot (when it was controlled by double yellow flags) so that was it," said Hamilton.
"Generally, I was quite happy with today. I knew it would be difficult, but I have a fighting position and I am going to give it everything.
"Red Bull look very quick on the long runs and I think it will be ...

Hamilton bemoans loss of possible third spot in Mexico qualifying

Max Verstappen turned in a brilliant lap to snatch a surprising pole position at the Mexican Grand Prix.
Then he opened his mouth.
Three hours later, the Red Bull driver was bumped down to fourth, the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel were back at the front, and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton was in fighting position to clinch his sixth career Formula One championship.
The changes came when Verstappen was penalised for not slowing down after Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas had a hard crash just ahead of him on his final lap of Saturday's qualifying.
Verstappen seemed to be in the clear until he admitted in the post-qualifying press conference he didn't slow under a yellow flag, even though the rules require it.
"I was aware that Valtteri crashed," Verstappen said.
When pressed later whether he should have backed off, Verstappen bristled.
"Do we have to go there? To safety? I think we know what we are doing, otherwise we would not be driving an F1 car." Verstappen said.
"It's ...

Verstappen stripped of pole at Mexican Grand Prix

The Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty continued their dream run, sailing into the finals of the French Open Super 750 with a straight game win over Japan's Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe here.
Satwik and Chirag, who had won their maiden Super 500 title at the Thailand Open in August, notched up a 21-11 25-23 win over the fifth seeded Japanese combination in a 56-minute semifinal on Saturday.
The duo's effort is commendable as this is the first time an Indian men's doubles pair has reached a World Tour 750 final.
Satwik and Chirag had come into the match with a 0-2 head-to-head record against the Japanese combination, having lost to them at the 2018 Indonesia Open and 2017 World Championship.
The Indian pair took the first game easily in just 15 minutes, using the smash to good effect, but Satwik and Chirag were under a bit of pressure early in the second game.
However, they came back strongly to lead 11-8 at the mid-break. This was after the ...

Satwik-Chirag duo in finals of French Open Super 750 event

Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty continued their dream-run, entering the finals of the French Open Super 750 with a thrilling straight game win over the Japanese pair of Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe here.
Satwik and Chirag, who had won their maiden Super 500 title at the Thailand Open in August, notched up a 21-11 25-23 win over the fifth seeded Japanese combination in a 56-minute semifinal on Saturday.
Satwik and Chirag had come into the match with a 0-2 head-to-head record against the Japanese combination, having lost to them at the 2018 Indonesia Open and 2017 World Championship.
They are the only remaining Indian challenge at the USD 7,00,000 event following the defeat of P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal at the quarterfinal stage.
The world number 11 Indian pair will now take on top seeded Indonesian pair of Marcus Gideon and Kevin Sukamuljo in the summit clash.

Satwik, Chirag enter finals of French Open Super 750 event

Star striker Asamoah Gyan handed NorthEast United FC their first victory of the Indian Super League after netting the winner in a 2-1 result against Odisha FC here on Saturday.
The  home team drew first blood when Redeem Tlang scored the quickest goal of the season (2'). Odisha equalised through Xisco Hernandez (71') before defender Carlos Delgado was sent off.
The Highlanders made their advantage count through Gyan who popped up with a header six minutes from time.
The win takes NorthEast to the top of the table while Odisha slumped to their second loss in as many matches.
The hosts enjoyed the best possible start to the game when they roared into the lead with just two minutes on the clock.
Martin Chaves started the move with a run down the left flank before finding Panagiotis Triadis down the middle. The Greek midfielder found Tlang in space down the right and the youngster tucked a finish past Arshdeep Singh to send the home crowd into raptures.
NorthEast looked assured in ...

Gyan heads winner for NorthEast

Robert Lewandowski made yet more history on Saturday by netting in Bayern Munich's home game against Union Berlin, setting a new record after scoring in each of the first nine Bundesliga matches this season.
The Poland striker showed clinical finishing by tucking away an Alphonso Davies second-half pass at the Allianz Arena to claim his 13th goal in his first nine league games this season.
He has now scored in each of his last 13 games for Bayern and means Lewandowski broke the previous league record, set by current Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who scored in each of the first eight games of the 2015/16 season for Borussia Dortmund.
Having also scored twice in Bayern's 3-2 midweek win at Olympiakos in the Champions League, the 31-year-old Lewandowski now has 19 goals in just 14 appearances in all competitions during what is turning into the best season of his career.
Lewandowski is already the top-scoring foreigner in Bundesliga history with 215 league goals for Bayern and 

Lewandowski makes history after scoring in first nine Bundesliga games

Paulo Dybala scored but Juventus were held 1-1 at lowly Lecce on Saturday with the defending champions in danger of being overtaken by Inter Milan at the top of the Serie A table.
Both goals came from penalties with Dybala's strike from the spot after 50 minutes cancelled out by Lecce's Marco Mancosu's effort six minutes later.
The Italian champions have 23 points from nine games, but could be overtaken by Antonio Conte's Inter who are two points behind before hosting Parma later on Saturday.
Juventus rested Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo after Tuesday's 2-1 Champions League win over Lokomotiv Moscow, and ahead of two Serie A matches in four days next week.
But Dybala, who scored both goals against the Russians, started up front alongside Gonzalo Higuain, with Federico Bernardeschi just behind the Argentine strike duo.
Maurizio Sarri gave starts to Emre Can and Danilo with Blaise Matuidi and Juan Cuadrado starting on the bench.
Promoted Lecce, a side from the heel of Italy, are ...

Dybala scores but Juventus held by lowly Lecce

Chennaiyin FC coach John Gregory on Saturday hit out at the refereeing in the ISL after his side was denied a penalty in their opening game against FC Goa.
"It was a clear cut penalty. It was unbelievable that the referee and the linesman did not make the decision. If that referee made that decision in Europe, he would never referee a game in the top level. He would be banished to the lower levels.
"In India, however, he will probably referee again this weekend. The standard of refereeing needs to improve," he told reporters here on the eve of CFC's home game against Mumbai City FC.
Gregory was unhappy with the referee Pranjal Banerjee's decision not to award a penalty to CFC after FC Goa's Seriton Fernandes brought down CFC forward Dragos Firtulescu in their away match on October 23.
He took a dig at the quality of refereeing in ISL, which he said had not improved.
"The league has improved in so many ways. The tactical knowledge, the coaches have brought and the standards of Indian ..

Chennaiyin FC coach Gregory hits out at referee

A batsman and a bowling coach involved with the Karnataka Premier League (KPL) were arrested by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) for their alleged involvement in match fixing in 2018.
Bengaluru Blasters bowling coach Vinu Prasad and batsman Vishwanathan were arrested on Friday, in another instance of alleged match-fixing.
The coach allegedly manipulated a game between Bangalore Blasters and Belagavi Panthers last year.
"Another match fixing case unearthed by @CPBlr. CCB in KPL..one team bowling coach and a batsman arrested for dealing with bookies and indulging in fixing..batsman batted slowly on pre-decided terms for a large sum of money..further investigation on," Sandeep Patil, the Joint Commissioner of Police (crime), tweeted.
CCB had arrested Ali Asfak Thara, owner of Panthers, in the first week of October. Later, police arrested Bafna. Another bookie, Sayyam, is absconding.

Karnataka Premier League: Bowling coach, batsman arrested on fixing charges

India's Shubhankar Sharma managed a three-under 68 despite missing a few scoring opportunities to be placed tied 19th in the third round of the Portugal Masters here on Saturday.
Sharma, winner of two European Tour titles in 2018, opened with a birdie-birdie and raised hopes of a quick move through the leaderboard. Then he bogeyed the third and had only two more birdies on the ninth and 14th.
Sharma was tied 19th and could end up around 80th on the Race to Dubai. He could however make the Turkish Airlines Open, but will need to get into the Top-50 to play the Race to Dubai's season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
There was a massive tussle near the top of the leaderboard. At one stage no less than five players were tied for the lead.
Gradually Brandon Stone moved slightly ahead at three-under through 12 to be 13-under.
On Friday evening, Oliver Fisher held the outright lead after a second round of 65, which saw two eagles and four birdies. He was one stroke ahead of South African ..

Shubhankar tied 19th in Spain after third round

Former BCCI president Anurag Thakur on Sunday lashed out at the International Cricket Council, saying it "has no relevance" without the world's richest board, which used to give the ICC seventy-five percent of grants to run its affairs.
Thakur, a union minister of state for finance and corporate affairs, was in the town in connection with the Sansad Mahakumbh prize distribution function.
"The ICC has no relevance without the BCCI as it used to give it seventy-five percent of grants to run its affairs," said Thakur, who is the brother of newly-appointed BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal.
He also expressed hope that the Sourav Ganguly-led new body of BCCI would take up the issue with the ICC and get its due.
Thakur said the appointment of Arun as the board's treasurer is a matter of pride for the state and he was hopeful that his brother would do the job honestly.
Recently, Arun also said that India not having a "say" in the ICC is a major concern for the newly-appointed treasurer, who has ...

ICC has no relevance without BCCI: Anurag Thakur

Indian pugilist Deepak won a silver while tennis player N Sriram Balaji claimed a bronze medal in their respective events at the ongoing seventh Military World Games here on Saturday.
Deepak had to settle for the silver in the men's light fly weight (46-49kg) category  after losing 0-5 to gold medallist Zhussupov Temirtas of Kazakhstan in the final.
Balaji then added to India's tally by outclassing Uzbekistan's Fomin Sergey 6-2
6-3 in the men's singles bronze medal contest that lasted one hour 19 minutes.
However, there was no luck for middle distance runner Jinson Johnson as he finished fifth in the men's 1500m final with a timing of 3:49.34s.
The gold, silver and bronze in this event went to Poland's Rozmys Michal (3:46.33s), Morocco's Ouladha Hicham (3:46.44s) and Lewandowski Marcin of Poland (3:46.61s) respectively.
India also missed a medal in the men's 4x400m final after the quartet of
Kunhu Muhammed Puthanpurakk, Santosh Kumar Tamilarasan, Jabir Madari Palliyalil and  Muhammed .

Boxer Deepak wins silver, tennis player Balaji claims bronze in Military World Games

Indian cadet girls on Saturday defeated Chinese Taipei 3-1 to grab the gold medal in the ITTF Junior Circuit Premium Oman Open here.
The Indian paddlers ended the day with a total of four medals in the cadet events while the juniors bagged three.
The B team in the girls cadet event lost their matches to India A and Chinese Taipei but registered wins over Greece, England and Sri Lanka to end up with the bronze medal.
The Indian cadet boys teams also added two bronze medals when they failed to go past the semi-final hurdle, as the A and B teams lost to Chinese Taipei and Russia, respectively.
In the junior girls event, both the Indian teams finished number two and three in group standings to win the silver and bronze medals. While, in junior boys category, one of the two Indian teams won bronze when it went down 1-3 to Iran in the semi-finals.
The gold-winning team of India A in cadet girls, comprising, Kavyashree Baskarand Nilisma Sarkar, had to fight for the yellow metal.
Kavyashree ..

Cadet girls grab gold in ITTF tourney

India's top female sportspersons, including ace shuttler PV Sindhu and world champion boxer MC Mary Kom on Saturday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharat Laxmi initiative, which empowers women of the country.
Shuttlers Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, boxers Mary Kom and Nikhat Zareen, wrestler Pooja Dhanda and paddler Manika Batra all took to Twitter to support the cause.
"I thank @narendramodi sir for his initiative to honour and empower women this Diwali. Acknowledgement motivates us to work harder and make India proud. #bharatkilaxmi," all six of them tweeted.
Last month, Modi had urged people to launch a campaign to honour daughters who have made a mark with their achievements in various fields for public good.
The Prime Minister said on Diwali, Goddess Lakshmi is welcomed at homes as it is believed that she brings prosperity and happiness.
"Daughters are considered as Lakshmi in our culture. Can't we felicitate daughters in our villages and cities by holding public programmes?" .

Female sports stars lend support to PM's Bharat Lakshmi campaign

Manchester City closed the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool to three points as Raheem Sterling inspired a 3-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola's side survived a tame opening period as second half goals from Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan put Villa to the sword.
City's second successive league victory lifted them above Leicester into second place and put pressure on Liverpool to beat Tottenham in Sunday's clash at Anfield.
The only frustration for Guardiola was a red card for Fernandinho, who was dismissed after earning a second booking when he tugged at Keinan Davis in the 87th minute.
City were upset by Wolves in their last league fixture at the Etihad Stadium, but Guardiola had never lost back-to-back home league games as a manager and Sterling was key to ensuring that impressive record wasn't ruined.
Sterling's latest virtuoso display came just days after his second hat-trick of the campaign in City's Champions League demolition of Atalanta.
The .

Sterling sparkles as Man City see off Villa

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Saturday recognised the Indian Super League as the country's premier competition while recommending the AIFF to "open a pathway" for two I-League clubs' entry into ISL by the end of 2020-21 season.
The AFC's executive committee approved All India Football Federation's (AIFF) proposed roadmap for the country's sport during a meeting in Vietnam.
In a release on Indian football's roadmap, the AFC stated, "In season 2019-20, the ISL will attain the status of premier league competition in Indian football."
Another key recommendation by the AFC is to open a "pathway for two I-League clubs' entry into the ISL by the end of the 2020-21 season, subject to the criteria being fulfilled".
The top continental body will allow the winning ISL club to represent India in the AFC Champions League play-offs, and the I-League winner will get to play in the AFC Cup play-off.
The endorsement comes days after the AFC held a summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 14 and ..

AFC recognises ISL as India's top league, recommends 2 I-League clubs' entry by 2020-21

The prevailing air pollution in the national capital region has become a cause of concern ahead of the T20 International between India and Bangladesh at the Feroz Shah Kotla on November 3.
Back in December 2017, the Sri Lankan cricket team was left gasping for breath during a Test match at the Kotla, forcing most of their players to wear protective masks even as some fell ill.
However, the rotation policy followed by the BCCI and the travel route for the visiting team forced the BCCI to schedule the first match of the tour in Delhi, and they are now hoping that the city's poor air quality doesn't become an issue during the night encounter.
Just a couple of days before the Diwali, the Air Quality Index (AQI) was rated as "very poor".
As per AQI standards, 0-50 is considered good', 51-100 is satisfactory, 101-200 is moderate, 201-300 is poor while 301-400 is very poor. Anything above 400 is considered to be severe, which can cause serious health issues.
According to the available ...

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