Page 1077 - Sports
No high hopes from Pakistan at hockey World Cup: Waseem
Former captain Waseem Ahmed is not hoping much from Pakistan side at the upcoming hockey World Cup, saying the premature exit of coach Roelant Oltmans will hurt the team badly. Oltmans, who was also India coach, left the Pakistan shores barely nine month after joining as their head coach, citing lack of suitable circumstances. "I personally do not expect a lot from Pakistan in this World Cup because they have a difficult pool. They have to beat Malaysia and finish third in pool to play cross over match with other pool. After the sudden resignation of Oltmans it will be more difficult for them, Waseem said. Under Oltmans, Pakistan could not do much at CWG, Asian Games and the Champions Trophy but Waseem felt that the team was showing progress. "The timing of his resignation is really bad. He was doing a good job and Pakistan team was improving gradually but he resigned just before Asian Champion trophy and WC. It will definitely hurt Pakistan team," Waseem said. The FIH World cup will .
Valverde accepts blame for Barca draw after Messi rested
Ernesto Valverde admitted his gamble to rest Lionel Messi backfired on Saturday as Barcelona drew 1-1 at home to Athletic Bilbao to make it three games without a victory. Messi came on in the 55th minute at the Camp Nou and it was the Argentinian's shot that was turned in by another substitute, Munir El Haddadi, with six minutes left to play. By then, however, Oscar de Marcos had given Bilbao a deserved first-half lead and despite a late rally, Messi and Barca could not find a winner. After drawing at home to Girona and being beaten by Leganes, Barca will head to Wembley to face Tottenham in the Champions League on Wednesday short of rhythm and lacking confidence. They will also be without Sergi Roberto. Barcelona confirmed after the game he had picked up a thigh strain. The last time Bilbao took a point at the Camp Nou, Valverde was sitting in the away team's dug-out, in 2004, during his first spell as Bilbao coach. Now in charge at Barca, he will have questions to answer, having ...
History shows us Ryder Cup isn't over, says Bjorn
European captain Thomas Bjorn called on his side to look back down the years as motivation to raise themselves for one last day despite taking a 10-6 lead over the United States in the Ryder Cup. The Americans need to equal the record for the largest-ever Ryder Cup comeback to lift the trophy and win on foreign soil for the first time since 1993. The hosts' dominant play at Le Golf National since falling 3-0 behind on the opening morning has seen them move to the brink of a sixth straight home win in golf's greatest spectacle. But a four-point deficit heading into Sunday's singles is not insurmountable, as shown by the USA's victory from 10-6 down at the 'Battle of Brookline' in 1999, and the European 'Miracle at Medinah' six years ago. Europe also only managed to hold on by a single point at Valderrama in 1997 on Bjorn's Ryder Cup debut, despite taking a five-point lead on Saturday. "You keep reminding yourself that we had a big lead at Valderrama, we had a big lead at Brookline, and
Dhawan dropped, Mayank, Siraj picked for West Indies Tests
The All-India Senior Selection Committee has picked the Indian team for the upcoming two-match Test series against West Indies, starting October 4.The first Test will be played at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot from October 4-8, followed by the second Test at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad from October 12-16."Taking stock of the recent workload, the selectors have decided to rest Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Both Ishant Sharma and Hardik Pandya were not considered for selection, as they are yet to recover from their injuries," Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary said in a statement.Indian team for the West Indies Tests: Virat Kohli (captain), KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur.
Chess Olympiad: Crucial duel for India against Russia on Sunday
After a day of rest on Saturday, a crucial sixth round duel is waiting to happen on Sunday between the fifth seeded Indian open team and the second seeded Russia at the 43rd World Chess Olympiad underway at Georgia.
'I lost three matches and didn't play poorly' says frustrated Tiger
Tiger Woods said that he "didn't play poorly" on Saturday, despite sliding to his third straight defeat of the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National as Europe grabbed a 10-6 lead to take into the singles. The 14-time major champion and Patrick Reed suffered a second fourballs loss to Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood, 4 and 3, in the morning before Woods was brushed aside by the same pairing alongside Bryson DeChambeau in the foursomes, 5 and 4. Woods was the star attraction this week in France after capping an incredible comeback season after injury with his first title since 2013 last weekend. But even at his imperious best, he was never a strong Ryder Cup player when in a pairing, and he has now won only nine, lost 19 and halved one of his 29 fourballs and foursomes matches in the event. Woods was unlucky in some respects -- being partnered with a totally out-of-sorts Reed, and also being drawn against the red-hot Molinari and Fleetwood duo three times. "Just pretty pissed off, ..
WADA ready to intervene over India cricket doping row
The World Anti-Doping Agency has warned the International Cricket Council it will intervene if it does not resolve a stand-off between Indian cricket chiefs and the country's drug-testing body. A WADA spokesman confirmed that the ICC had been sent a letter in July urging it to settle the dispute between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Indian National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA). If the row was not resolved, the case would be referred to WADA's Compliance Review Committee, raising the possibility that the ICC could be deemed non-compliant by the global anti-doping watchdog. The BCCI and NADA are at odds over the cricket body's refusal to allow the Indian anti-doping agency to conduct drug tests on cricketers. "Pursuant to the World Anti-Doping Code, the Indian National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) has testing authority over athletes who are nationals, residents, license holders or members of sport organizations in India or who are present in India," WADA ...
Arsenal ride their luck to make it seven in a row
Arsenal extended their winning streak to seven matches as Craig Cathcart's late own goal and Mesut Ozil's clinical strike clinched a hard-fought 2-0 win over Watford on Saturday. Unai Emery's side were under the cosh in the second half at the Emirates Stadium, but they kept Watford at bay and broke out to steal the points. Cathcart put through his own net with just nine minutes left and Ozil wrapped up the points two minutes later. Arsenal have now won five successive league games for the first time in over a year, with additional victories in the Europa League and League Cup making it a purple patch for new boss Emery. Not for the first time this season, Arsenal, who climb to fifth, could be considered slightly lucky after delivering another inconsistent display. But Emery will take heart from the way they are grinding out results while he continues to rebuild the damage from the final days of the Arsene Wenger era. The only problem for Emery was an injury that forced off goalkeeper .
Valverde rests Messi against Bilbao but Barcelona drop more points
Ernesto Valverde's gamble of resting Lionel Messi backfired on Saturday as Barcelona made it three games without a victory after being held to a 1-1 draw at home to Athletic Bilbao. Messi came on in the 55th minute at the Camp Nou and it was the Argentinian's shot that was turned in by another substitute, Munir El Haddadi, with six minutes left to play. By then, however, Oscar De Marcos had given Bilbao a deserved first-half lead and despite a late rally, Messi and Barca could not find a winner. After drawing at home to Girona and being beaten by Leganes, Barca will head to Wembley to face Tottenham in the Champions League on Wednesday on the back of three games without a win. The last time Bilbao took a point at the Camp Nou, Valverde was sitting in the away team's dug-out, in 2004, during his first spell as Bilbao coach. Now in charge at Barca, Valverde will have questions to answer for this result, having made the bold decision to rest Messi, presumably with Spurs in mind, along ...
Advani settles for bronze in Asian Snooker Tour
Nineteen-time world champion Pankaj Advani settled for a bronze medal in the Asian 10-red Snooker after losing to Ireland's Brendan O'Donoghue 5-0 in the semifinal here Saturday. The Indian appeared off-colour a day after storming into the semifinal. The first frame saw O'Donoghue score two 20-plus breaks to win it 48-1. In the second, a break of 61 made it 2-0. The third frame was a close encounter but with a fluke snooker from the Irish cueist, the scores swung in his favour, helping him extend the lead. O'Donoghue continued to be on song and completed the match with facile wins in the balance two frames. Pankaj returns with a silver and a bronze from the Asian tournaments. He now switches to billiards to play in the selection camp for the World Championship, to be held in Bengaluru from the October 3. The IBSF World Championships in both billiards and snooker will be conducted in Myanmar in November. Scores: Pankaj Advani lost to Brendan O'Donoghue (Ireland) 5-0 1-48, 8-61(61), ...
Dhawan dropped for West Indies Tests; Mayank, Siraj rewarded with maiden call-ups
Shikhar Dhawan was on Saturday dropped for the two-match Test series against West Indies after his horror run in England while Mayank Agarwal and Mohammed Siraj's domestic exploits were rewarded with maiden India call-up. The selectors decided to rest the duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, taking into account their "workload" in recent months, effectively thrusting upon Mohammad Shami the responsibility to lead the pace attack. Dhawan had a forgettable outing during the Test series against England with just 162 runs in 8 innings. Mayank, on the other hand, was the top scorer in the last Ranji Trophy season with 1160 runs in 8 matches. Mumbai's Prithvi Shaw has retained his place in the side after failing to make the playing XI in the last two Tests in England. Considering that Dhawan has been shown the door, young Shaw could finally get his chance to open the batting with K L Rahul, who seemed to have saved his place with a fine knock in the final Test against ...
ISL 5: ATK fail Kerala test, lose 0-2 in opener
A dominant Kerala Blasters FC (KBFC) rode on second half strikes from Matej Poplatnik and Slavisa Stojanovic to beat Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) 1-0 in the Indian Super League (ISL) season five opener at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan here on Saturday.
ATK suffer 0-2 loss against Kerala Blasters in ISL-V opener
Former champions ATK suffered a 0-2 defeat to two-time runners-up Kerala Blasters in the opening match of the fifth Indian Super League (ISL) at the Saltlake Stadium here Saturday. Matej Poplatnik and Slavisia Stojanovic scored in the second half as Kerala scored only their second win over the Kolkata franchise, and first since the 2014 edition. After enduring a nightmarish ninth place finish in the last season, ATK might have overhauled the squad roping in a trusted coach in Steve Coppell but their fate remained unchanged as they struggled to keep pace with the Kerala Blasters. The David James-coached outfit looked in their elements right from the start with Slovenian Poplatnik continuously raiding ATK's box before he broke the deadlock in the 77th minute. However, it was Stojanovic who took the first shot at the goal with his left footer but it deflected off Gerson Vieira. An alert Poplatnik got behind the defence and slotted the ball home with a perfect finish to bring up the first
Roma thrashes Lazio 3-1 in Serie A
Roma beat cross-town rival Lazio 3-1 on Saturday to win the Italian league's Rome Derby here at the Stadio Olimpico.
Sabalenka crushes Kontaveit to clinch Wuhan Open
A dominant Aryna Sabalenka thrashed Anett Kontaveit 6-3, 6-3 on Saturday to clinch the Wuhan Open in China, the biggest tournament win of her career. The Belarusian cruised to her second WTA title, facing little trouble from Estonia's Kontaveit, who was unable to reproduce the sparkling tennis she played on her way to the final. The 20th-ranked Sabalenka had often been unplayable this week in Wuhan with her mix of aggression, clever placement and a scorching serve, and left Kontaveit flat-footed several times as she raced to take the first set. Kontaveit tried to fight back in the second set, matching Sabalenka game for game until 3-3 when her resistance was broken and the Belarusian took three games on the trot to win the title. "I try to be more calm on the court, not be aggressive with every shot," Sabalenka said after her win. "I've started thinking more on the court." The Minsk-born Sabalenka is projected to climb to a career-best 16th after securing the Wuhan Open, a ...
Maharashtra Snooker: Thakkar, Pherwani to clash in final
Mumbai's Rishabh Thakkar and Sparsh Pherwani worked their way into the finalof theMaharashtra State Senior Snooker & Billiards Selection (leg-1) Championship 2018. In a tense and nerve-wracking semi-final contest, Thakkar put up a doughty performance to dash the aspirations of Mukund Bharadia by scraping to a close 4-3 victory in the best-of-7-frame match at the Deccan Gymkhna on Saturday. In the other semi-final encounter, Pherwani found the going tough initially against Punes Vignesh Sanghvi. But, the young Mumbai cueist showed great tenacity and a strong fighting spirit as he bounced back, after losing the opening two frames, to carve out a satisfactory 4-2 win to have a crack at becoming the number one ranked snooker player in Maharashtra. Meanwhile, both Thakkar and Bharadia were engaged in a grim battle for supremacy and they shared the first six frames to take the match the distance. In the seventh frame, Thakkar was fully composed and potted steadily to ...
Haryana sweep 7 golds at the U-23 National Wrestling C'ship
Women grapplers from Haryana dominated day 2 of the inaugural Under-23 National Wrestling Championship, as they grabbed seven out of a possible 10 gold medals on offer here Saturday. Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chandigarh also won a medal each as all 10 women grapplers booked their tickets to Bucharest for the Under-23 World Championships starting November 12. Haryana, who finished top of the table, added one silver and two bronze medals to their tally to reach 225 points. Second-placed Uttar Pradesh were way behind the leaders with 158 points. They clinched one gold, five silver and a bronze medal, while Punjab, won one gold, two silver and three bronze, to end third. The domination of Haryana women was evident right from the beginning as Ankush was the first one to start their medal-glut beating Ankita of Delhi 5-3 in the 53 kg event. UP's Divya Tomar (50kg) held on her slender lead with few seconds to go on the clock to snatch gold from Haryana's Jyoti with a score of 5-4. Then .
Indian squad for West Indies series announced
Karnataka opener Mayank Agarwal and right-arm pacer Mohammed Siraj, who plays for Hyderabad in first-class cricket, are the new faces in 14-member Indian squad for the forthcoming two-Test home series against West Indies that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Saturday.
Under-pressure Mourinho defends Martial move after Hammer blow
Jose Mourinho defended his decision to play Anthony Martial instead Alexis Sanchez after a 3-1 loss away to West Ham on Saturday condemned Manchester United to a third defeat in seven Premier League games -- their worst start to a domestic campaign in nearly 30 years. United have 10 points from seven league games, the last time they started worse was in 1989/90, in the old First Division, though they also collected just 10 points in the first seven games of David Moyes' ill-fated reign. This latest reverse added to the pressure on under-fire manager Mourinho. "For many months people are asking for Martial," Mourinho told BT Sport about his choice of attackers. "This week it was time to agree and to say let's give a chance to Martial and let's leave Alexis out." United, who kicked off eight points adrift of leaders Liverpool, were behind as early as the fifth minute at the London Stadium, when Anderson opened the scoring for West Ham. And they were 2-0 down before half-time when Andriy
Five-wicket Lyon tunes up for Pakistan Tests
Ace Australian spinner Nathan Lyon got ready for a spin battle against Pakistan with a five-wicket haul on the opening day of warm-up match in Dubai on Saturday. The 30-year-old proved he can lead a SPIN counter-attack in next month's two-match Test series as he took 5-87 against Pakistan 'A' in the four-day practice game. The first Test is in Dubai from October 7 and the second in Abu Dhabi from October 16. Once the new-ball pair of Mitchell Starc and Michael Neser went wicket-less with Pakistan 'A' 24-0, Lyon came into his own to remove Test hopefuls Shan Masood (14) and Sami Aslam (51) to put brakes on the batting. Fellow left-arm spinner Jon Holland removed Pakistan 'A' skipper and Test regular Asad Shafiq for 14, but opener Abid Ali stood firm and at close was 83 not out. The burly 30-year-old hit only four boundaries in his 254-ball stay as he pushed to build on consistent performances for Lahore and gain a Test place. Lyon, who has 306 wickets in 78 Tests, then removed Test ...