Page 1032 - Sports

India can succeed in China: Cahill

Tim Cahill knows India will have tough task in China, but the Australian striker feels that the visitors can secure a positive result when the two countries face each other in an international friendly on Saturday. Cahill, who recently made his Indian Super League debut for Jamshedpur FC, has first-hand experience of China's footballing scenario. The former Everton striker plied his trade in China for two years with two different Chinese Super League teams - Zhejiang Greentown and Shanghai Shenhua - and scored 15 goals during his time there. "I am not going to compare the levels of the leagues because I have only been in India for a short space of time. I know that India have a big task ahead but they are definitely capable of getting a result if they are disciplined and are set up well," Cahill was quoted as saying in a media release issued by ISL. The Indian team is playing an international match for the first time in China though the two countries' senior sides have .

Arindam inches closer to Raid de Himalaya crown

Arindam Saikia of Team Polaris was within striking distance of the 20th Raid de Himalaya crown, building up a substantial 15-minute lead by the end of Day 3 here on Friday.

PKL-6: Steelers edge past Fortunegiants in Haryana leg opener

Haryana Steelers began their home leg of Pro Kabaddi Season VI with a win over Gujarat Fortunegiants 32-25 here on Friday.

Federer, Djokovoic power into Shanghai Masters semis

The quarter-finals of the ongoing ATP Shanghai Masters saw top two seeds Roger Federer and Novak Djokovoic advancing into semi-finals with straight sets wins here on Friday.

We can't take India lightly, says China's Italian coach Lippi

Former World Cup-winning coach Marcelo Lippi acknowledged India's rapid rise in the recent FIFA rankings and said China cannot afford to take the visitors lightly in the historic friendly to be played at the iconic Suzhou Olympic Stadium here on Saturday. "Indian football has witnessed a rapid development in recent years and we cannot ignore their effort and strength. As a result, we, of course, need to give great importance to them for tomorrow's match", said China's coach Lippi. The 70-year-old Italian, who is the only football coach in the history to win the UEFA Champions League, AFC Champions League and FIFA World Cup, has taken the charge of the Red Dragons in 2016. Though China has not been able to win the last two ties against Qatar and Bahrain, they are still a force to reckon with and Indian coach Stephen Constantine warned that they "won't get fooled by the recent results." Asked whether he' will focus on any particular department of the Indian team, the Italian coach said .

Pakistan ready for 'dangerous' Australia, says Arthur

Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur admitted Australia will be a "dangerous" proposition in the second Test after they clung on for an improbable draw in a thrilling series opener in Dubai. Australia put up a remarkable fightback to deny Pakistan victory on a wearing fifth day pitch, as they avoided defeat by holding on with just two wickets remaining. Set a daunting 462-run target, Australia ended on 362-8 as opener Usman Khawaja anchored the recovery with a magnificent 141, ably assisted by debutant Travis Head (72) and skipper Tim Paine, who made 61 not out. Arthur, who took the Pakistan job in May 2016, told AFP his team will be ready for a reinvigorated Australia in Abu Dhabi come the start of the second match on Tuesday. "Of course Australia will be dangerous after the fight they put up, no doubt about that," said Arthur. "But I am confident that we are playing good enough cricket and we will come harder." Arthur, who previously coached his native South Africa and Australia, said .

Federer fires to join Djokovic in Shanghai semis

Roger Federer blazed into the Shanghai Masters semi-finals with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) victory over Kei Nishikori as the Swiss great's title defence belatedly caught fire on Friday. The 20-time Grand Slam champion and top seed will meet 13th seed Borna Coric on Saturday after the Croatian defeated unseeded Australian Matthew Ebden 7-5, 6-4. The other semi-final tees up Novak Djokovic against young German star Alexander Zverev, just the second time they will have met. The 37-year-old Federer was forced to battle through the first two matches of his title defence, first to Daniil Medvedev and then Roberto Bautista Agut. But he put Nishikori under the cosh immediately, breaking the eighth seed in the first game of both sets, though the Japanese did well to recover and force a second-set tie break. Federer had to play catch-up in the tie break and said afterwards that he was relieved to avoid another three-setter. "I saw Kei was playing extremely aggressive, especially towards the end of the ...

SG ball difficult to get lower order: Umesh Yadav

The Indian team continued to criticise the 'SG Test' ball as not being ideal after pacer Umesh Yadav on Friday said the bowlers are unable to run through lower-order when it gets old.

Haryana Steelars beat Gujarat Fortunegiants 32-25 in PKL

Haryana Steelers beat Gujarat Fortunegiants 32-25 to start their home leg of the Vivo Pro Kabaddi Season VI on a winning note here on Friday. Steelers' star raider Monu Goyat scored seven points and was ably supported by Kuldeep Singh who chipped in with seven points as well. For Gujarat, Sachin and Prapanjan combined to score 17 points. Steelers were the better team in the first half as they scored raid points at will with Monu and Kuldeep inflicting bulk of damage on Gujarat. Just before the end of the first half, Haryana Steelers inflicted an all out and led 20-13 at the break. The fittest player of the match was Kuldeep Singh who looked sharper than all other raiders on the mat. In the crowd was Olympic Games bronze medalist YogeshwarDutt, who is also the brand ambassador for Haryana. In front of a vociferous home crowd, Steelers continued to pile on the pressure on Gujarat Fortunegiants. Sunil Kumar, at the back for Gujarat, was rock solid and scored five tackle points. In the ...

Para Asiad: Deepa bags bronze as India pocket 3 more gold

India continued their good run at the Asian Para Games here by clinching a couple of gold medals in chess and another one in badminton as Paralympic medallist Deepa Malik bagged her second bronze here on Friday.

As casual gamers play for a living, Indian eSports enter a defining phase

One of the biggest indicators of the industry evolving is when publishers (game makers) start setting up offices in India

Manu wins silver, men's hockey team progresses to semis at YOG

Young shooting sensation Manu Bhaker became the second Indian after judoka Tababi Devi to win two medals at the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) after winning a silver while the men's hockey team moved to the semi-finals with a 4-2 win over Poland here on Friday. In a unique format, Manu combined with Tajikistan's Behzan Fayzullaev in the 10m air pistol mixed international and settled for a silver after losing the gold medal match 3-10 to Germany's Vanessa Seeger and Bulgaria's Kiril Kirov. The India-Tajik pair had on Thursday come through qualification with a score of 751. They then beat an Egyptian-Thai pair 10-4 in the round of 16 at the Parque Polideportivo Roca shooting range in the Argentine capital. They beat a pair from Lithuania and Moldova 10-8 in the quarterfinals and then overcame Andria Ibarra of Mexico and Dymtro Honta of Ukraine 10-3 in the semifinals. The German-Bulgarian pair however started strong in the finals and was 3-0 ahead at one stage before winning 10-3 to emerge ...

Jhingan to captain India in China friendly

Sandesh Jhingan will don the captain's armband when the Indian football team take on China in an international friendly at the Suzhou Olympic Stadium here on Saturday.

India beat Poland 4-2 to enter semifinals of Youth Olympics hockey

The Indian U-18 men's hockey team defeated Poland 4-2 to progress to the semi-finals of the Youth Olympic Games here Friday. Shivam Anand (1st, 8th minutes) sounded the board twice while Maninder Singh (3rd) and Sanjay (17th) were the other goal scorers for India in the quarterfinals of the Hockey 5s competition at the Parque Polideportivo Roca. Poland's goals came from the sticks of Eryk Bembenek (16th) and Michal Nowakowski (18th). India started the match well and raced to a 2-0 lead inside the first three minutes as forward Shivam Anand scored the first goal within 48 seconds of the beginning while midfielder Maninder Singh doubled the lead in the third minute. Down by two goals, Poland went on the offensive and forced Indian goalkeeper Prashant Chauhan to make four brilliant saves in the first period. Shivam scored his second of the day in the eighth minute to ensure a comfortable 3-0 lead at the half time. After the change of ends, Poland pressed the gas and pulled a goal back in

Sprint legend Bolt hits first goals in football bid

Sprint legend Usain Bolt made his case for becoming a professional footballer Friday when he scored his first goals after starting up front in a pre-season game for Australia's Central Coast Mariners. The 100 metres world record-holder, who has been bidding for a professional contract since he retired last year, recovered from a painful kick in the groin to grab a double against Macarthur South West United here. Bolt, 32, finished with his left foot after some slack marking on 55 minutes, celebrating with his trademark 'Lightning Bolt' pose in front of more than 5,000 fans -- a rare turnout for a pre-season game. The Jamaican, wearing number 95 on his shirt in a nod to his 100m world record time of 9.58secs, then capitalised on a defensive mix-up to score his second on 69 minutes before being substituted six minutes later with the score at 4-0. It was the first game Bolt has started since joining the A-League club in August for an indefinite trial. "I'm just happy that I got a chance .

Yokohama to host IAAF World Relays in 2019

The 2019 athletics World Relays will be held in the Japanese city of Yokohama after the hosts for the last three editions, the Bahamas, were no longer able to offer financial backing, the IAAF said Friday. "After the Bahamas government confirmed that it would no longer be able to offer the financial guarantee that underpinned the event in Nassau, several member federations contacted the IAAF directly to express their interest in hosting the 2019 World Relays," the IAAF said in a statement. "Following very careful consideration, Japan was considered to be the preferred location." Yokohama, Japan's second largest city by population, will host the two-day competition on May 11 and 12. "This will also be a great opportunity for our athletes to experience the culture and conditions of the host nation little more than a year before the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games," said IAAF president Sebastian Coe. The Nassau Guardian newspaper reported in July that the event cost the Bahamas USD 5 million to

Ireland's O'Brien retires from international cricket

Ireland wicketkeeper-batsman Niall O'Brien announced on Friday that he is retiring from international and first-class cricket after a 16-year career. The 36-year-old, who made his international debut against Denmark in 2002, played 216 times for Ireland and appeared in his nation's first-ever Test, against Pakistan, in May this year. O'Brien opted for the number 72 shirt to mark his match-winning score in Ireland's famous win against Pakistan at the 2007 World Cup. His county career included spells with Kent, Northamptonshire and Leicestershire. "It is with a heavy heart that I am announcing my retirement from international and professional cricket," said O'Brien, who has played much of his career alongside his younger brother Kevin. "I have been blessed to have been lucky enough to have represented my country for 16 years with plenty more ups than downs and for this I look back with nothing but smiles and laughter." Cricket Ireland performance director Richard Holdsworth said O'Brien

Stephen Constantine hopes to play better than China

National football Coach Stephen Constantine has maintained that his team has come to China "to give a good fight to the hosts" and that they'll give a good account of themselves when the two teams meet in an fnternational friendly at the Suzhou Olympic Stadium on Saturday.Significantly, this is the first-time ever that the Indian senior national team has travelled to China to play an international friendly.Speaking at the official pre-match press conference Central Defender Sandesh Jhingan mentioned the team is "raring to give their best.""The conditions are ideal and it's going to be a crucial game for us before the Asian Cup. It's really going to be a great football contest for all of us and the entire team is looking forward to it," he said.The coach didn't mince his words to thank the Chinese Federation for the warmth and support for the Indian contingent."I would like to thank Chinese Federation for their hospitality and warm reception that we have got since we have landed here. .

Sandesh Jhingan appointed as India captain for China friendly

Indian defender Sandesh Jhingan has been appointed as the captain of the national football team for their upcoming international friendly match against China at the Suzhou Olympic on Saturday.Reflecting on the appointment, Indian head coach Stephen Constantine said that the footballer has got the right attitude for the post and further hoped that he would take the team forward."I think the captain has to reflect the attitude of the coach. Sandesh first played for me four years ago. He is a fighter and a leader. He gives everything on the pitch which most of the players do," Constantine said."I think he is going to be one of the leaders for India going forward. Keeping the magnitude of the game in mind, I believe he deserves to lead the team," he added.The newly-appointed skipper thanked the coach for believing in him and handing the captain's armband to him."Thank you Coach, for entrusting me with the responsibility. As an Indian boy, it was always my dream to represent the country. ..

Chase understands how to play spin: Law

Roston Chase's experience of handling spinners back home was crucial in the West Indies' fightback on the first day of the second Test against India, said head coach Stuart Law. Chase was unbeaten on 98 at the end of the day, helping West Indies reach 295 for 7 as Indian spinners were rendered ineffective during final session. "I think he understands spin. They face a lot of spin back in the Caribbean in domestic cricket. He has got a long reach and he takes half-a-stride and is there to the length of the crease. He uses that to his advantage, he is a clean striker of the ball," Law said. Chase had once batted an entire day to score a hundred against India in Jamaica in a 2016 Test match. He frustrated Amit Mishra and Ravichandran Ashwin for six hours to earn a draw for his side. "One thing he has got is that he loves fighting at the cricket ground. He does enjoy playing spin. He has worked hard against the pace and it's not a weakness any more. It has started becoming a strength. "So