Page 112 - Sports
Federer survives 'emotional' Tsonga scare to reach last eight in Halle
Roger Federer admitted that he got lucky after avoiding a major setback in his preparations for Wimbledon in a gruelling 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 7-5 victory over Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the ATP event in Halle on Thursday. Federer, 37, appeared firmly on course for a place in the quarter-finals at a set and a break up before an impressive comeback from Tsonga took the second-round match to a decider. "I knew when I gave away that lead that it would be tight. Then it was about holding my nerve," he said. "The third set was more of a battle. I tried to stay calm. "It had a bit of everything: happiness, sadness, frustration. I maybe got a bit lucky, but you need that sometimes. "It was a bit emotional at the end, which was nice." Federer said he felt for the defeated Tsonga, who returned to the tour this year after a seven-month absence due to a knee operation in 2018. "I was pleased for him when he got an ovation at the end." The Swiss, who is eyeing a record tenth career title at Halle .
Sizzling Murray makes winning return at Queen's
Former world number one Andy Murray made a victorious return after what he described as "life-changing" hip surgery at a raucous Queen's on Thursday. The three-time Grand Slam champion partnered Spain's Feliciano Lopez to a 7-6 (7/5) 6-3 victory in his first competitive match in five months. Playing on a packed centre court including his wife Kim, Murray showed little fear in stretching himself despite being off the circuit since January. His friend Lopez did not show any sign either of being burdened by the allegations made against him of match-fixing in the Spanish media, which he strongly denied on Wednesday. Murray said afterwards he would be playing doubles at Wimbledon with Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert. Murray said he had learned quite a bit from the match. "I expected to be the worst player on the court and to not feel particularly good on the court which you know was probably the case in the first set," he said. "I started to play better in the second and have zero ...
Bangladesh's Mashrafe still aiming for semi-finals despite Australia loss
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza refused to write off his side's chances of qualifying for the World Cup semi-finals despite a 48-run loss to reigning champions Australia at Trent Bridge on Thursday. "I think still you never know," Mashrafe told reporters. "I think, we have still three matches left. We have to play hard and then let's see." "And it's going to be difficult for sure, even if we win all those three matches," added Mashrafe, whose side next play strugglers Afghanistan in Southampton on June 24. Only the top four at the end of the 10-team round-robin group phase will advance to the knockout stages and Thursday's defeat left Bangladesh, who have beaten both South Africa and the West Indies, in fifth place. They are two points behind fourth-placed India, having already played two games more than Virat Kohli's men. The current top four of Australia, New Zealand, England and India are starting to look uncatchable even though there are several rounds of group matches ...
Messi focussing on positives as Argentina's Copa hopes hang by thread
Lionel Messi was looking at a glass half full after his penalty kept alive Argentina's hopes of reaching the Copa America knock-out stages following a 1-1 draw with Paraguay. Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Messi's 57th-minute penalty cancelled out a first-half opener from Paraguay's Richard Sanchez on Wednesday night. But Argentina also had goalkeeper Franco Armani -- perhaps lucky to still be on the field at that point after denying Derlis Gonzalez a clear goalscoring opportunity in the first half -- to thank for saving a second-half penalty. "We have to think positively and keep our confidence," said Barcelona forward Messi. "We need to improve and arrive in the best shape possible for the next match ... and we have to win." Defeat would not have ended Argentina's hopes of reaching the quarter-finals since eight of the 12 participating teams will progress to the knock-out stages. As well as the top two in each of the three groups, the best two third-placed finishers qualify. "It would
Tsitsipas edges through, Kyrgios blasts officials
Top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas came perilously close to joining a host of big names exiting at Queen's on Thursday by coming from a set down to beat journeyman Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 4-6, 7-6 (7/0), 7-6 (7/4) and reach the quarter-finals. The 20-year-old Greek came through two matches to reach the last eight having polished off his rain-delayed first-round clash with Kyle Edmund earlier in the day. Resuming at 3-3 in the second set, Tsitsipas eventually sealed a 6-3, 7-5 win against the British number one on his seventh match point. Tsitsipas struggled to overcome 32-year-old Chardy when he returned to the centre court for a near three-hour contest that will have drained the Greek's resources for Friday's quarter-final with Felix Auger-Aliassime. Canadian rising star Auger-Aliassime also came through two matches on Thursday as Nick Kyrgios made a characteristically explosive exit. The Australian accused a line judge of match-rigging in his first-round victory over Spaniard Roberto ...
South Africa aim to sign off from World Cup with a flourish
Struggling South Africa need a miracle to make the World Cup semi-finals but coach Ottis Gibson said the team have plenty to play for in their remaining three matches. The Faf du Plessis-led side have flopped badly at the 50-over event in England and Wales, recording just one win, over minnows Afghanistan, in their six matches so far. The Proteas did put up a fight against New Zealand on Wednesday but lost a tense game mainly due to Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson's brilliance with the bat. South Africa, ranked fourth in one-day internationals, play Pakistan on Sunday before taking on Sri Lanka and Australia. "We've still got three games to play and I'd like to think that we can at least play the way we know we can play," said Gibson. "The thing about the squad is that there are guys playing their last World Cup and I'd like to think that they will leave the world stage having signed off on a strong note." "And there are some youngsters here that I'm sure will play in future World Cups. .
Japan, Uruguay draw after new VAR controversy
Two goals from Koji Miyoshi helped Japan secure a hard-earned point in a 2-2 draw with Uruguay at the Copa America on Thursday. Miyoshi twice fired Japan into the lead only for Uruguay to level through a controversial penalty from Luis Suarez and a second-half header from Jose Gimenez. The draw means Japan have an outside chance of reaching the quarter-finals from Group C, with one game remaining against Ecuador. Uruguay, who trounced Ecuador in their opening game, missed the chance to make certain of their place in the last eight against a Japan team who had been trounced 4-0 by Chile in their opening game. Japan had been let down by poor finishing in their defeat to Chile, but were a different proposition at the Arena do Gremio as coach Hajime Moriyasu range the changes in his starting line-up. Former Leicester City striker Shinji Okazaki started alongside Hiroki Abe up front as Moriyasu relegated Ayase Ueda and Takefusa Kubo to the bench. Miyoshi meanwhile provided attacking thrust
USA advance with Sweden win, Cameroon snatch dramatic last 16 spot
The United States made it a perfect three wins out of three at the Women's World Cup on Thursday by beating Sweden 2-0 to top Group F, while Ajara Nchout fired Cameroon into the last 16 with a last-gasp winner. The Americans will continue their bid to defend their world title against Spain in Reims on Monday after a win that saw them make it 18 goals for the tournament and break the 24-year-old record for the number of goals scored in the group stage held by Norway. Lindsey Horan opened the scoring when she tapped home Samantha Mewis' flick with two minutes on the clock, and Tobin Heath helped make sure of the points by firing past Hedvig Lindahl via a big deflection off Jonna Andersson four minutes after the break. Andersson's own goal somehow survived a VAR check from referee Anastasia Pustovoytova despite substitute Carli Lloyd looking to be offside in the build-up. However afterwards Lloyd claimed she hadn't seen the incident, with Heath saying that she would "take the goal" all ..
Inclusion of women's cricket in CWG is a brilliant news: Knight
The inclusion of women's cricket in 2022 Commonwealth Games is a brilliant move as it will take the game to new audiences who have never given "priority" to it, says England women's team captain Heather Knight. Women's cricket is set to be part of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games after the Commonwealth Games Federation on Thursday nominated its inclusion in the 2022 edition. The nomination was made at the Executive Board meeting of the CGF in Birmingham. The decision, however, is yet to be ratified by the CGF members. "It is brilliant news. I knew the ICC and ECB had pushed for it to be included and it has all clicked into place perfectly. Birmingham is the ideal place to hold it too, it's a city that loves its cricket and will really get behind the team," Knight said. "Hopefully this will take women's cricket to a new audience, to other countries who never really saw it as a priority and increase its funding." The 28-year-old batswoman, who captained England to glory in the 2017 ...
Run-machine Warner 'so grateful' for World Cup chance
David Warner said he felt "just so grateful" to be playing for Australia after his run-laden return continued with a World Cup hundred against Bangladesh. Warner's international career came to a juddering halt when he was given a 12-month ban for his part in a ball-tampering scandal during a Test against South Africa in Cape Town last year. At that stage, there was widespread speculation that Warner -- widely regarded as the instigator of an event that saw Cameron Bancroft apply sandpaper to the ball -- might never play for Australia again. But having completed a year-long ban, the 32-year-old Warner has been in superb form for the reigning champions at the World Cup. The left-handed opener made Bangladesh pay for dropping him on 10 at Trent Bridge on Thursday by scoring 166 -- his second century of the World Cup -- in a total of 381-5. That proved too much for the Tigers to chase, with Australia winning by 48 runs to go top of the 10-team round-robin table. Bangladesh's total was ...
Chennai: Students perform Yoga in World Cup trophy formation
To mark the International Yoga Day and to display their support to the Indian cricket team, school children in Chennai performed Yoga in the formation of the cricket World Cup trophy.Cricket World Cup shared a picture of children performing yoga in Chennai on Twitter and Wrote," Incredible commitment levels to #TeamIndia and International Yoga Day from these school children in Chennai, India."[{38d23fba-7813-413b-9b01-065d24b86bf6:intradmin/yoga1.JPG}]Children performed various postures of yoga and in the World Cup trophy formation on a school playground in front of tri-colour.The theme of 5th International Yoga Day 2019 is "Climate Action". The first International Day of Yoga was observed all over the world on June 21, 2015, when over 30,000 people including Prime Minister Modi performed yoga at the Rajpath in New Delhi.The idea of International Day of Yoga was first proposed by Prime Minister Modi during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on 27 September ...
Yuvraj Singh joins Toronto Nationals for Global T20 Canada
Former Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, who had taken retirement from all forms of cricket earlier this month, is set to play in the upcoming season of Global T20 Canada for Toronto Nationals.Yuvraj was signed by the Toronto Nationals in the player draft on Thursday to play in the second season of the league, commencing on July 25.At the time of his retirement, Yuvraj shared his desire of playing in the T20 leagues all around the world."With BCCI's permission, I would love to go, play and have fun for this year or maybe next year. I don't know what's left in me. It has been a very long and hard journey and I think I deserve that. I have had a word with BCCI and will have another after this announcement. Hopefully, it will be easy sailing for me," Yuvraj said during his retirement speech.Along with Yuvraj, another Indian cricketer Manpreet Singh Gony is also named in the squad of Toronto Nationals.
CWC'19: Warner shines, Aussies beat B'desh by 48 runs
David Warner's magnificent innings of 166 runs guided Australia to beat Bangladesh by 48 runs in the ongoing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup at the Trent Bridge on Thursday.Chasing a mammoth target of 382 runs, Bangladesh got off to a worst possible start as Australia skipper Aaron Finch found Soumya Sarkar short at non-striker's end and threw a direct ball to run out Sarkar for 10. Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan rebuilt Bangladesh's innings, adding 79 runs for the second wicket.Bangladesh suffered a big blow as Marcus Stoinis dismissed Shakib (41), who gave a catch to David Warner at mid off, leaving Bangladesh at 102/2 in 18.1 overs. Mushfiqur Rahim joined Tamim and stitched a brief partnership of 42 runs. Soon after Mitchell Starc clean bowled Tamim for 62, reducing Bangladesh to 144/3.Liton das could not stay longer at the crease as he got leg-before off Adam Zampa for 20. Mahmudullah came out to bat and along with Rahim formed a 127-run stand to take Bangladesh to a respectful ...
Warner takes Australia closer to World Cup semifinals
Australia moved closer to World Cup semifinals after David Warner inspired the defending champions to a comfortable 48-run win over a combative Bangladesh with his second century of the tournament. The left-handed opener contained his natural aggressive self before swinging his arms freely to build a 166-run knock, which steered Australia to a mammoth 381 for five, their second highest score in World Cup. Warner, who had hit a hundred against Pakistan as well, added 121 runs with his skipper Aaron Finch (53) in a risk-free opening partnership and then raised a 192-run stand with Usman Khawaja (89). He completed his 16th ODI hundred, his sixth 150-plus knock, which came off 147 balls with 14 hits to fence and five over the ropes. The stage was set to go after the bowlers and Glenn Maxwell produced a 10-ball 32, which had three sixes and two fours. Maxwell was run out after a mix-up with Khawaja, who sent his partner back sensing risk and was caught behind minutes later to miss out on a
IOC lifts sanctions imposed on India to host international sporting events
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday lifted the sanctions imposed on India to host international sporting events with immediate effect.The decision was taken after the government wrote a letter of guarantee to the Indian Olympic Association on June 18 that all eligible athletes, sportspersons and officials will be allowed to participate in events held in the country."Lift, with immediate effect, all provisional measures and restrictions imposed under points 2 and 3 of the IOC EB decision of 21 February 2019 in relation to awarding and hosting any international sports events in India; and inform the International Sports Federations accordingly," Director of Olympic Solidarity and NOC Relations James Macleod said in a letter addressed to Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Narinder Dhruv Batra.The letter further said that the IOC Executive Board (EB) has examined the situation and understands that: "The principle of non-discrimination of athletes and teams ...
Jharkhand wins Sub-Junior Girls National Football C'ship final
Jharkhand defeated Arunachal Pradesh by 4-0 to clinch the Sub-Junior Girls' National Football Championship (NFC) at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Thursday.Soni Munda and Basanti Lakra scored a brace each to help Jharkhand to their first national championship victory this season. Earlier this year, the state had also made it to the finals of the Junior Girls' NFC in Kolhapur where they lost to Himachal Pradesh.Jharkhand got off to a quick start in the first half itself as they looked to use the width of the pitch to stretch the Arunachal defence. It took them only 15 minutes to break the deadlock. Forward Soni Munda made the perfect run in between the two Arunachal centrebacks, as she was played into the box before she placed it past the keeper and into the net.Arunachal tried to get their game going but the Jharkhand defence kept cutting them off in the final third. Soon, Jharkhand doubled their lead through Basanti Lakra, who only had to tap it into the empty net after Arunachal
Sri Lanka plot how to douse England World Cup fireworks
Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne says Sri Lanka will have to think "out of the box" as they try to tame England's marauding batsmen in their must-win World Cup match against the hosts. The 1996 champions must win all four of their remaining games to have a realistic chance of making the semi-finals after winning just one of their five matches so far in the round-robin stage, with two washouts. The problem for Sri Lanka is that they still have to face favourites England and Virat Kohli's India. Eoin Morgan's England are next in line on Friday, fresh from their dismantling of Afghanistan, who were on the receiving end of 25 sixes in England's total of 397-6 on Tuesday. Morgan hit a record 17 sixes in his 148 in Manchester, but Karunaratne said Sri Lanka had a plan for each batsman to put the brakes on England at Headingley. "If we don't have good pace, we have to think out of the box so I think that is what we need," Karunaratne said on Thursday, without expanding on the details of his ...
Shooting not included in 2022 CWG programme
Shooting was left out of the 2022 Commonwealth Games programme on Thursday, dealing a big blow to India which won as many as 16 medals, including seven gold, at the 2018 edition in Gold Coast. The Executive Board of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) met and approved the inclusion of women's cricket, beach volleyball and para table tennis into the Games programme for the Birmingham edition. The inclusion of these three sports will now need to be ratified by 51 percent of the CGF members next month. "Our recommendation of adding women's cricket, beach volleyball and Para table tennis is the result of a thorough review and we believe these sports would help us to enhance the existing programme and reach new audiences, while showcasing the sports to our local community, spectators and fans across the world, watching on TV," said Ian Reid, CEO of Birmingham 2022. "It's also a selection that could help ensure that the 2022 Commonwealth Games will be the most inclusive in history, with
Women's cricket nominated for 2022 Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) on Thursday nominated the inclusion of women's cricket in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.The decision which needs to be ratified by CGF members follows a comprehensive bidding process, where the International Cricket Council (ICC) in partnership with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) presented the compelling case for women's cricket to become part of the Commonwealth Games programme.The application for inclusion of women's cricket for the 2022 tournament is part of the global ambition for cricket to inspire and empower women and girls around the world. It also aims to drive greater levels of inclusivity and opportunity throughout the sport.ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney in a statement said, "We are absolutely delighted that women's cricket has been nominated for inclusion in Birmingham 2022. I'd like to thank everyone at the CGF and Birmingham 2022 for the nomination and it would be a real honour to become part of the ...
Women's cricket set to feature in 2022 Commonwealth Games
Women's cricket is set to be part of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games as the CGF Thursday nominated its inclusion in the 2022 edition. The nomination was made at the Executive Board meeting of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) in Birmingham. The International Cricket Council (ICC) and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), which had submitted their bid in November, welcomed the decision. "The decision, which needs to be ratified by CGF members, follows a comprehensive bidding process, where the ICC, in partnership with the ECB, presented the compelling case for women's cricket to become part of the Commonwealth Games sport programme," said the ICC in a release. Cricket has made just one appearance at the CWG previously, with men playing in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, where South Africa stood on top of the podium. "The application for inclusion of women's cricket for Birmingham 2022 is part of the global ambition for cricket to inspire and empower women and girls around the world and .