Page 107 - Sports
Not the first time we lost to India in WC, so it's fine: Sarfaraz
Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed does not seem too affected by the defeat to arch-rivals India in their World match and is rather confident of his team's comeback against South Africa here on Sunday. Pakistan have won just one of their five matches in the World Cup so far, but what drew major flak for the team was the loss to India by 89 runs in their last game at Manchester. Sarfaraz insisted that it was not the first time they had lost to India in the World Cup and hence "it's fine". "Everything is fine after the India match," Sarfaraz was quoted as saying by ICC website. This was Pakistan's seventh loss to the traditional rivals in the 50-over showpiece event. "Psychologically there is a pressure on you as a Pakistan captain if you lose against India in a World Cup match. People will think we are beaten but it's not the first time we have lost to them in a World Cup, so it's fine. We all are OK and we are all are backing ourselves, so hopefully we will bounce back," he added. After .
No six pack but Malinga still a big-game hunter: Jayawardene
Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene praised Lasith Malinga for his ability to step up in big games after the paceman inspired his country's shock World Cup win over England. Malinga returned figures of four for 43 to help Sri Lanka dismiss England for 212 as they stunningly beat the hosts by 20 runs in Leeds on Friday. The 35-year-old, often criticised for his unathletic body, rolled back the years at Headingley when he removed England openers James Vince and Jonny Bairstow. He then got rid of dangermen Joe Root and Jos Buttler to leave England in turmoil. It was a welcome riposte to the social media doubters who poked fun at Malinga when he was photographed with his shirt off exposing a portly belly before the England match. "It's not about the six pack, it's about the skill and Lasith Malinga showed that in spades in Sri Lanka's win over England," Jayawardene wrote in his column for the International Cricket Council. "He has done it so many times for Sri Lanka over the years
Hamilton powers to French Grand Prix pole
Lewis Hamilton timed his best lap to perfection on Saturday when he took pole position ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas with a blistering late effort at the French Grand Prix. The five-time world champion, who had struggled to match the Finn's pace in the previous two practice sessions, reeled off a fastest lap in one minute and 28.319 seconds. It was the 86th pole of his career for Hamilton, who won last year's race from pole, and a record-increasing 63rd front-row lock-out for Mercedes. Hamilton has taken 60 of his poles with Mercedes. It was a master-class from the dominant Silver Arrows team while their rivals laboured in pursuit, with Monegasque Charles Leclerc taking third for Ferrari ahead of Max Verstappen, fourth for Red Bull. British rookie Lando Norris impressed with a fine effort to take fifth ahead of his resurgent McLaren team-mate Carlos Sainz and, surprisingly, a despondent Sebastian Vettel down in seventh in the second Ferrari after a gearbox issue ...
Doctor collapses to death while playing badminton
A 48-year-old doctor, who was participating in a badminton tournament at a stadium here, collapsed and died while playing a match Saturday. Dr Rajesh Bhat, obstetrician and gynaecologist, suffered a heart attack and collapsed while playing in the Mangalore Premium League, tournament officials said. Other doctors gave him first aid and rushed him to hospital, but to no avail, the officials said. Following his death, the tournament was cancelled.
Aditi misses cut at Women's PGA Championship; Hannah leads
Aditi Ashok's lean season continued with another missed cut as she shot six-over 78 in the second round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. She had a 77 on the first day and over two days she had just one birdie against 12 bogeys at the Hazeltine course, which is always a big test. It was Aditi's eighth missed cut in 13 starts and she has slipped to 86th in the CME rankings and to 131st in World rankings. However, she still has the second half of the season to find her form, and has the game to do it. Hannah Green is the leader after 36 holes as she moved three strokes clear of two-time major winner Ariya Jutanugarn. Green has needed 23 and 27 putts in the first two rounds and is the only player with both rounds under 70 so far. Green's 36-hole total of seven under-par 137 was posted early and even though Jutanugarn indicated she could challenge, she did not quite manage as she shot 70 to be at four-under-par 140. Defending KPMG Women's PGA champion Sung Hyun Park enters the weekend
Sanjeevani provisionally suspended for last year's dope flunk
Indian long distance runner Sanjeevani Jadhav has been placed under provisional suspension for failing a dope test last year. Sanjeevani had failed a dope test in November last year as her sample taken during the National Inter-State Athletics Championships was found to contain Probenecid, a masking agent. Her sample initially returned negative when tested at the National Dope Testing Laboratory here but later found to contain the prohibited substance when tested at World Anti-Doping Agency's Montreal laboratory. The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) did not hand her a provisional suspension as it was not required at that stage. She was allowed to compete and she won the 10,000m race in the Federation Cup earlier this year. She was selected in the Indian team for the Asian Championships held in April in Doha after clearance by the NADA, and she won a bronze by clocking 32:44.96. The Athletics Integrity Unit, an independent body set up by the international athletics federation to deal
Chawrasia lies 46th at BMW International Open
SSP Chawrasia traded three birdies with four bogeys for an one-over 73 that placed him Tied-46th at the end of the third round of the BMW International Open. Chawrasia is now two-under 214 with rounds of 73, 68 and 73. Gaganjeet Bhullar, still savouring the joy of landing a hole in one to win a 194,000 euro BMW Coupe, added three-over 75 and slipped to one-under 215 and was Tied-53rd after 54 holes. Meanwhile, Jordan Smith will enter the final round with a one shot lead. The Englishman carded a bogey free round of 66 to get to 13 under, but he had an elite pack chasing him. The car was on offer to the first player to ace the 17th this week at Golfclub Munchen Eichenried and Bhullar holed his tee shot in the second round to get the keys. He holed a six iron from 196 yards for the 16th hole-in-one of the European Tour season. There have been 30 previous editions of the BMW International Open, of which 24 have been held at Golfclub Munchen Eichenried. During that time there have been ...
Dohi fails to impress against Afghanistan, faces criticism
After India wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni failed to display a convincing performance against Afghanistan in the World Cup on Saturday, fans took no time to criticise the 37-year- old severely for his slow inning.Dhoni played a knock of 28 runs from 52 deliveries before he was stumped off Rashid Khan's delivery in the 45th over. Dhoni's slow inning along with Kedar Jhadav did not go well with the fans as they started trolling both the batsmen.A user tweeted that Dhoni should have been more mindful as it was not a game of chess."Dhoni should have been mindful today that Cricket is not Chess! Just saying #INDvAFG," the tweet read.Dhoni has retired from the test cricket but after his slow inning, a fan sarcastically tweeted: "Dhoni proving once again that he can be the best test player in the world without playing any test matches. #INDvAFG #CWC19."Despite Jhadav scored 52 runs off 68 balls, he too had to face the wrath.Interestingly, this was the second time when Dhoni got stumped in ..
Indian women's hockey team secure berth in FIH Olympic Qualifiers
Indian women's hockey team on Saturday secured their place in the FIH Olympic Qualifiers 2019 after defeating Chile 4-2 in the semi-finals of the FIH Women's Series Finals at the Hiroshima Hockey Stadium.India came from a goal down to secure the win as Gurjit Kaur scored a brace, while Navneet Kaur and captain Rani Rampal scored fantastic individual goals to give their side an emphatic victory.A well-contested match between the two sides saw the world number nine India start the match on the front foot as they made a total of six circle entries inside the first 15 minutes, creating opportunities to take five shots at the Chilean goal. However, the world number 16 side also managed to get into the Indian striking circle four times but failed to find a shot on target.Both the teams failed to open the scoring in the initial quarter, which was dominated by the Indian team as they had the better chances.The start of the second quarter was not a good one for India as they conceded the ...
Diksha tied-25th, Tvesa moves up to T-31 in Pattaya
Diksha Dagar came back home with third straight even par 72 at the Ladies European Thailand Championship to be Tied-25th after 54 holes here. She closed the day with two birdies and stayed at even par at Phoenix Gold Golf and Country Club. Diksha was the best of the three Indians who are in the fray. Tvesa Malik, after 75-73 on first two days and making the cut on the line, shot three-under 69 with a bogey-free round that ended with a birdie on 18th. She moved from Tied-60th to Tied-31st. Astha Madan had a tough day as she shot 76 and slipped to Tied-57th. Teen prodigy and ex-champion amateur 16-year-old Atthaya Thitikul built a commanding eight-stroke lead heading into the final round. The youngest winner on the LET at only 14 in the inaugural edition at the Pattaya venue in 2017, Atthaya started with a two-stroke lead over Esther Henseleit. She opened with a birdie on the fifth, followed by a sensational eagle on the long seventh. She then made five birdies in succession from holes .
Lahiri misses cut, so does Mickelson and Spieth
Anirban Lahiri crashed out of the Travelers Championships in the second round after he had a disastrous first nine. Lahiri, who had 72 in the first round, went six-over 41 for the first nine on the back nine of the TPC River Highlands. He carded 77 and finished way down to miss the cut. Lahiri bogeyed 10th, 12th and then went twice into water on the Par-5 13th and came out with a triple bogey eight. He did birdie the 14th but that was little consolation as he bogeyed 16th and 17th and turned in six-over 41. He then had one bogey and no birdies on second nine for a total of 77. Meanwhile, the 32-year-old Zack Sucher, who missed out 13 months due to a knee surgery following the 2017 Travelers Championship, shot a 5-under 65 in the rain on second morning to reach 11-under 129 total and held the halfway lead. Chez Reavie and Keegan Bradley were two shots back. Reavie is coming off a strong showing at the US Open last week. He shot a 64 and Bradley had a 66. Jason Day made four straight ...
Brilliant Afghanistan restrict India to 224 for 8
India's famed middle-order failed miserably in their first test as Afghanistan dished out a superlative bowling effort to restrict the two-time champions to a below-par 224 for eight in their fifth World Cup match here Saturday. Skipper Virat Kohli (67 off 63 balls) again batted effortlessly before Afghanistan's IPL stars Mohammed Nabi (9-0-33-2), Mujeeb ur Rahman (10-1-26-1) and Rashid Khan (10-0-38-1) put brakes on India's other star batsmen, keeping them under tight leash on a slow track that offered both turn and bounce. It was a glorious comeback by Afghanistan bowlers, as Indian batsmen played 152 dot balls (equivalent to 25.2 overs). This was after being hit for a record 25 sixes by England in the previous game. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (28 off 52 balls) and Kedar Jadhav (52 off 68 balls) were unable to accelerate against the slow bowlers adding only 57 runs in 14 overs during the middle phase. Dhoni's inability to rotate strike during middle overs and Kedar's lack of game time was
CWC'19: Afghanistan restrict India to 224/8
Afghanistan displayed a spirited bowling performance as they restricted India to 224 runs for the loss of eight wickets in their ongoing match in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup at the Rose Bowl Cricket Ground in Southampton on Saturday.Earlier, India had won the toss and they opted to bat first. Openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul failed to provide a steady start at the top as Sharma (1) was bowled through the gate by spinner Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman in the fifth over. Skipper Virat Kohli joined Rahul and the duo ensured the team does not suffer more damage in the opening ten overs. Both batsmen mixed caution with aggression to keep the scoreboard moving.Rahul (30) was dismissed in the 15th over by Mohammad Nabi and this ended the 57-run stand between Rahul and Kohli. Rahul looked to play a reverse sweep, but he miscued it straight to the short third man. Kohli, however, kept marching on and he brought up his half-century in the 22nd over, registering his third consecutive fifty-plus score in .
Usman Khawaja opines over Australia's fluctuating batting line-up
Australia batsman Usman Khawaja said that they have prioritised their team and no one in the batting line-up has any issue with the position they are coming to bat."It's all above board, everyone is communicating, everyone is talking and no one - myself, Smithy, Maxi - no-one really has any issue batting anywhere. Where the game situation is for us, down there wherever we are, is what we will play. Whether that is against India where we needed 10 an over, or a first innings like this (against Bangladesh) where we are setting a total, we are just playing a game situation. What the team needs (comes first). We are all really happy with that," Cricket.com.au quoted Khawaja as saying.Australia have displayed a scintillating performance in the World Cup so far as they atop the points table with 10 points.Khawaja also opined that for him, it does not matter when he comes to bat as he said: "Whether I am coming in in the 15th over, 30th over, 45th over, whether we are chasing, whether we are
Mahela Jayawardene congratulates Lasith Malinga in unique fashion
Pacer Lasith Malinga's sparkling performance saw Sri Lanka stunning hosts England by 20 runs in the ongoing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup on Friday.Malinga scalped four wickets against England, which proved a match-winning performance.Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene congratulated the bowler in a unique fashion.Jayawardene posted a picture of Malinga that went viral before the team's match against England and congratulated the bowler.The former skipper posted the picture on Instagram and captioned the post as "Well bowled Mali!!! Thought I would share the most talked about picture last week for all you fans."This photo of Maliga went viral and many fans across the globe criticised the player for poor fitness and he was subjected to various trolls.But Malinga displayed a spirited bowling performance to inspire Sri Lanka. He dismissed James Vince, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, and Jos Buttler to peg England back.Malinga also reached the feat of 50 wickets in the World Cup matches ..
Dhruv Mohite leads 1-2 for VW Motorsport in ITC race
Kolhapur's Dhruv Shivaji Mohite led a 1-2 grandstand finish for Volkswagen Motorsport as he scored a commanding win in the premium Indian Touring Cars class in the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship 2019 at the Kari Motor Speedway here Saturday. The schedule was cut short due to heavy showers that led to cancellation of Formula LGB 1300 races just after Bengaluru based Race Concepts team made a clean sweep in the Super Stock race with Rithvik Thomas, Prateek Benya and R Rajashekar finishing in that order.' Mohite, 21, who graduated from Karting and winner of the Ameo Cup last year, marked his debut in the ITC category in the Volkswagen Vento with a comfortable start-to-finish win ahead of team-mate Karthik Tharani, while veteran Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) completed the podium. While Mohite, starting from pole position, was quick off the blocks at the start of the 15 lap race, Balu, from second position, dropped two positions as he missed a gear when ..
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra congratulates shuttler Shruti Mishra after her selection
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra congratulated Lucknow shuttler, Shruti Mishra, on his selection for the Asian Junior Badminton Championship on Saturday.Priyanka took to his Twitter and wrote a congratulatory message in Hindi, which roughly translates to, "Congratulations for your selection in the Asian Junior Championship, Shruti Mishra".Mishra is training since 2013 in the Uttar Pradesh Badminton Academy, Lucknow. Earlier, she had won a national medal in the junior and sub-junior category. She was also the part of the India under-17 team who went to Indonesia last year.The tournament will start on July 20 and Badminton Association of India declared her name on Wednesday.
CWC'19: Key players to watch out in Pak-SA clash
Both South Africa and Pakistan will try to keep their semi-final hopes alive when they take on each other on June 23 in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup.South Africa and Pakistan will be entering the match with just one win to their name. The Proteas have played six matches so far whereas Pakistan has played five.Pakistan has just defeated England in the ongoing World Cup whereas South Africa registered a win against Afghanistan.The Proteas are currently positioned at the eighth place in the tournament whereas Pakistan is placed at the ninth position.Pakistan has won the World Cup once in 1992 whereas South Africa has never managed to go past the semi-final stages of the World Cup.Following are the key players to look forward to in the World Cup match between Pakistan and South Africa:Kagiso RabadaThe right-arm fast bowler possesses the skills of bowling both in-swingers and out-swingers. The 24-year old is also known for his toe-breaking yorkers in the death overs. Rabada finished at .
We can beat any team on slow pitches: Dhananjaya de Silva
Sri Lanka spinner Dhananjaya de Silva has revealed that they like slow pitches and can beat any team in the world on such pitches after they managed to vanquish England in the World Cup by 20 runs."This was the slowest pitch we have had in England so far. We like these pitches and on them, we can beat any team in the world. We are looking forward to the good weather," Sport24.co.za quoted De Silva, as saying.Sri Lanka on Friday managed to defend a modest target of 233 runs after they bundled off England's batting line-up on just 212 runs. De Silva played a crucial part in Sri Lanka's win as he took three wickets while giving away just 32 runs in his eight overs.Apart from De Silva, it was pacer Lasith Malinga who thwarted England to score runs as he sent four of their batsmen back to the pavilion.De Silva hailed Malinga as he said that if his team manage to rack up a total of 300-plus runs, then their 'main weapon' Malinga can get them over the line."If we get 300 plus runs in every ..
I love bowling and watching stumps flying is best feeling: Jasprit Bumrah
Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah shared his fast bowling journey through a video message on Saturday. The video was posted on the Twitter handle of the apex body of the cricket, International Cricket Council (ICC)."I love bowling and could bowl, bowl, and bowl. When you see the stumps flying, that's the best feeling," ICC posted a video on Twitter in which Bumrah can be heard saying."Since I used to play in the back yard, yorker is the only delivery I used to bowl quite a lot as bowlers used to get a lot of wickets on the yorkers so I thought that is the only way to get wickets," he added.The 25-year-old speed prodigy is a key player for India. Bumrah's unconventional high-arm action and ability to bowl with variations make him a rare bowler among the cricketing fraternity. Ranked at number one in the ICC bowlers rankings."The most challenging bowler is Bumrah, who bowls good yorkers at a good pace," West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell said.Bumrah with his ability of bowling toe-breaking