Page 1124 - Sports
Asia Cup: All-round Bangladesh crush Sri Lanka
The Bangladeshi cricket team produced an all-round performance to wallop Sri Lanka by 137 runs in the opening match of the Asia Cup at the Dubai International Stadium here on Saturday.Winning the toss and electing to bat first on a flat track, Bangladesh suffered an early blow when opener Tamim Iqbal was hit on his wrist by Sri Lankan pacer Suranga Lakmal earlier in the game, effectively ruling out of the tournament. He left the field soon after, and medical scans later showed that he suffered a fracture.Coupled with this, Liton Das and all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan were sent back to the pavilion without scoring by Sri Lankan pace spearhead Lasith Malinga in the fifth and sixth balls of the first over to leave Bangladesh reeling at 3 for 2.Wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim and Mohammad Mithun joined forces and the duo stabilised Bangladesh's innings. The two batsmen took advantage of the conditions, playing attacking shots and milking runs to keep the scoreboard ticking.Sharing a 133-run ...
Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka in Asia Cup opener
Bangladesh dominated with both bat and ball to outclass Sri Lanka by 137 runs in the opening match of the Asia Cup cricket tournament here on Saturday.
Mushfiqur stars in Bangladesh's 137-run win over Sri Lanka
Mushfiqur Rahim's superb hundred complemented by a collective effort from the bowlers saw Bangladesh thrash Sri Lanka by 137 runs despite Lasith Malinga's brilliant international comeback in the Asia Cup opener here Saturday. Mushfiqur scored a career-best 144 off 150 balls with 11 boundaries and four sixes for his sixth ODI hundred as Bangladesh scored 261 all out in 49.3 overs after opting to bat. Save the 131-run stand with Mohammed Mithun (63) for the third wicket, the former skipper didn't get any assistance from other Bangladesh batsmen as the wily Malinga showed that he is still a force to reckon with. Malinga, whose last ODI was against India in a home series in September 2017, took 4/23 on his return. Chasing 262 for a win, Sri Lanka suffered a batting collapse with none of their batsmen showing intent to stay at the crease as they were all out for 124 in 35.2 overs. This was Sri Lanka's lowest ODI total versus Bangladesh. There was no rotation of strike and no partnership ...
Gold for Mary Kom, Jyoti; Sarita ends with bronze in Polish boxing tourney
Five-time world champion M C Mary Kom (48kg) Saturday clinched her third gold medal of the year, while Jyoti Gulia (51kg) picked up the country's lone gold in the youth category of the Silesian Open Boxing Tournament for women in Gliwice, Poland. India's junior boxers also performed exceptionally well to claim 13 medals, six of them gold, while senior pro L Sarita Devi (60kg) ended with a bronze. Mary Kom, returning to the ring after recovering from some niggles that kept her out of the Asian Games in Jakarta, was up against Kazakhstan's Aigerim Kassanayeva and prevailed 5-0 with a fine tactical performance. Her other two gold medals this year came in the India Open in Delhi and the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. The 35-year-old former Olympic bronze-medallist deserved credit for having a rock solid defence to deny any clear shot to Kassanayeva. The Manipuri, who is also a former Asian Games gold-medallist, took full advantage of her rival's hesitation to launch attacks and went ...
Cricket Australia to investigate Moeen Ali's racial abuse allegations
Cricket Australia is set to investigate the allegations of racial abuse levelled on an unidentified Australian player by England all-rounder Moeen Ali.The allegations of the abuse were mentioned in Ali's yet-to-be-released autobiography, an excerpt of which appeared in the UK newspaper - The Times, reported cricket.com.au.Ali claimed, in his book, that he was told, "Take that, Osama," by an Australian player during the first Test of the 2015 Ashes series in Cardiff, wherein Ali made a brilliant Ashes bow, starring with a five-wicket haul and scoring 77 runs in the win."It was a great first Ashes Test in terms of my personal performance. However, there was one incident which had distracted me. An Australian player had turned to me on the field and said, 'Take that, Osama'. I could not believe what I had heard. I remember going really red. I have never been so angry on a cricket field," Ali wrote in his book."I told a couple of the guys what the player had said to me and I think ...
Barcelona fight back to beat Real Sociedad after Atleti held
Barcelona came from behind to beat Real Sociedad on Saturday as Atletico Madrid lost further ground in the La Liga title race by drawing at home to Eibar. Seven points is now the gap between Atleti and Barca, who were in danger of slipping up themselves when Aritz Elustondo put Real Sociedad in front at Anoeta. But the hosts missed a series of excellent chances and paid the price, as two goals in three minutes from Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele clinched a hard-fought 2-1 win. "The league is defined by these kind of games," Suarez said afterwards. "Last year we also came back from 2-0 after many years without winning here. The reaction says a lot about this team." Atletico rallied too, Borja Garces equalising with virtually the last kick of the game, but there were no celebrations at the Wanda Metropolitano. Garces' strike was enough only to rescue a 1-1 draw for Diego Simeone's side, who had looked on course for defeat when Eibar's Sergi Enrich bundled home in the 87th ...
France cruise past Spain into Davis Cup final
Defending Davis Cup champions France took an unassailable 3-0 semi-final lead over Spain on Saturday when Nicolas Mahut and Julien Benneteau beat Feliciano Lopez and Marcel Granollers 6-0 6-4 7-6 (9/7) in the third of five rubbers on the Lille hardcourt. France, captained by 1983 French Open winner Yannick Noah, will meet either Croatia or the United States in the final in late November. "The way my guys played today - they were so good," said Noah. "Benneteau was probably the best player on the court and his attitude was unbelievable," Noah said of the man set to retire after the final. Davis Cup rookie Benoit Paire gave France a winning start on Friday when the bearded 29-year-old enjoyed what he termed "a dream" 7-5 6-1 6-0 defeat of Pablo Carreno Busta. Lucas Pouille's nerve-jangling five-set victory -- 3-6 7-6 (7/5) 6-4 2-6 6-4 -- over Roberto Bautista-Agut in the following match made it 2-0. Spain coach Sergi Bruguera said he was very proud of his team despite the scoreline. "It
Gold for Jyoti, Sarita ends with bronze in Polish boxing tourney
Jyoti Gulia Saturday picked up India's lone gold medal in the youth category of the Silesian Open Boxing Tournament for women in which the juniors ruled with 13 medals and senior pro L Sarita Devi (60kg) ended with a bronze in Gliwice, Poland. Jyoti, a former world youth champion and India's only boxer to have qualified for next month's Youth Olympic Games in Argentina, out-classed Poland's Tatiana Pluta in just the second round of her final bout to clinch gold. The 17-year-old connected some lusty right hooks and straight punches to force three standing eight counts on her rival, two of them in the opening three minutes. By the time the third eight-count came about, the referee decided that the local favourite had taken enough of a thrashing and awarded the bout to Jyoti. Earlier, former world champion Sarita signed off with a bronze medal in the senior category. Sarita, also a multiple-time Asian champion a former Asian bronze-medallist, was joined by Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) and ...
Need to review state's sporting performances: Manipur CM
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Saturday said there is a need to review sporting performances of the state in view of declining medals tally in recent events. "We are not achieving what we are expecting," he said, informing that other states, particularly Haryana, have overtaken Manipur, referred to as the 'sports capital of India' by President Ramnath Kovind. Biren was speaking at the felicitation programme of state players, who participated in the recently-concluded 18th Asiad and 21st Commonwealth Games. The CM said shortcomings in sporting activities will have to be determined in order to improve performance. He also emphasised the need for framing a new policy to focus on certain sporting disciplines in which the state excels. Biren added that an astro-turf would soon be developed in the state for hockey players.
Asiad bridge gold medallists felicitated
Asian Games gold medallists duo of Pranab Bardhan and Shibnath De Sarkar were Saturday felicitated by Tollygunge club on the sidelines of an invitational bridge tournament here. Bronze medallist Debabrata Mazumder and non-playing captain and coach Debashish Roy were also handed out mementos. Other city-based bronze medal winner Sumit Mukherjee could not be present at the felicitation programme due to prior engagement. Meanwhile, Bangur Cement, comprising former international Debashish Roy (captain), S K Ienger, Uttam Gupta, Kamal Mukherjee and Suman Mukherjee bounced back into the reckoning and finished at the top with 137.71 victory points (VPs) at the end of the 10-round swiss league on the second day. Overnight leader Dakshin Kolikata Sangsad (DKS) could not repeat Friday's performance but finished second with 133.40 VPs.
Bopanna, Myneni lose doubles but India still in hunt for year-end Davis Cup finals
Rohan Bopanna and Saketh Myneni lost the do-or-die doubles rubber against Serbia as India conceded an unassailable 0-3 lead to lose the Davis World Group Play-off tie here Saturday. However India can still have a shot at the qualification for the Davis Cup finals in five months from now as per new rules. After losing both the singles on Friday, India needed a win to stay alive but Bopanna and Myneni, who replaced originally nominated N Sriram Balaji, could not keep the country afloat. They lost 6-7(5) 2-6 6-7(4) to relatively inexperienced pair of Nikola Milojevic and Danilo Petrovic after two hours and 22 minutes on indoor courts at Kraljevo Sports Venue. The reverse singles, scheduled for Sunday, have now become inconsequential. Bopanna and Myneni, who recently made a comeback to the competitive tennis from an injury, had a set point in the third set, serving at 5-3 but dropped serve. The Serbians did not give the Indians any more chances and sealed the tie in the hosts ...
India lose to Maldives in SAFF Cup final
The Indian football team lost 1-2 to much-lower ranked Maldives in the final of the SAFF Cup at the Bangabandhu National Stadium here on Saturday.
Liverpool beat Tottenham 2-1, continue 5-game undefeated start to season
Continuing their five-game undefeated start to the 2018/2019 English Premier League (EPL) season, Liverpool rode on goals from midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum and striker Roberto Firmino to beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 here on Saturday.
Ronaldo set to score 1st Juventus goal against Sassuolo, Juve's coach says
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri on Saturday said he was confident that his new Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo will score his first goal with the team in the upcoming Serie A clash with Sassuolo, after failing to find the back of the net in the previous three matches.
Injured Tamim Iqbal ruled out of Asia Cup
Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal has been reportedly ruled out of the Asia Cup after fracturing his left wrist during the tournament opener against Sri Lanka here on Saturday.
AIFF hands transfer ban on East Bengal
In a fresh setback for East Bengal, the player status committee of the All India Football Federation Saturday handed a transfer ban on the club over irregularities in their attempts to sign defender Sukhdev Singh from Minerva Punjab. East Bengal, who were dethroned in the Calcutta Football League by arch-rivals Mohun Bagan recently, cannot register any new player till the end of the first transfer window next year. Confirming the development, an AIFF official said Sukhdev, who now plies his trade for Mohun Bagan, has also been barred from playing any competitive match and must pay a fine of Rs 50,000 each to AIFF and Minerva Punjab. Minerva Punjab co-owner Heena Singh said: "East Bengal approached a couple of Minerva players in April and forced them to hurriedly sign something which they claimed as 'draft contract' to show that the players are interested in joining East Bengal. They got the players to agree in that way and did not come to us to settle on a transfer fee. "In Sukhdev's .
East Bengal likely to miss out on U-13, U-15 leagues
As if the transfer ban was not enough, the colts of city football giants East Bengal might now not be able to take part in the U-13 and U-15 leagues beginning next month after failing to register enough players before the deadline.
Mushfiqur century takes Bangladesh to 261 as Malinga takes 4 on comeback
Mushfiqur Rahim hit a superb hundred under pressure as Bangladesh scored a competitive 261 against Sri Lanka despite Lasith Malinga wreaking havoc on his international comeback in the Asia Cup opener on Saturday. Mushfiqur scored a career-best 144 off 150 balls with 11 boundaries and four sixes, his sixth hundred in ODIs. Save 131-run stand with Mohammed Mithun (63) for the third wicket, the former skipper didn't get any assistance from other batsmen as the wily Malinga showed that he is still a force to reckon with. Malinga, who last played against India in a home series September 2017, took 4/23 on his return. Opener Tamim Iqbal's heroic act will also be remembered by one and all as he came out to bat despite having retired hurt with a fractured wrist. Tamim allowed Mushfiqur to have one final blast during the slog overs. Once Malinga and off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva (2/38) reduced Bangladesh to 203/8, Mushfiqur shielded no 11 Mustafizur Rahaman (10) during the 26-run stand. Once
East Bengal handed transfer ban over transfer irregularities
City football giants East Bengal were dealt a body blow on Saturday as the player status committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) imposed a transfer ban on the club over irregularities in their attempts to sign defender Sukhdev Singh from I-League champions Minerva Punjab FC.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC)
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) defeated Indian Army 5-4 after being 1-3 down at half-time to reach the final of the 92nd All-India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup tournament here Saturday. In the final tomorrow, IOC will take on Indian Railways, which outclassed Punjab & Sind Bank 4-0. The semifinal between IOC and Army was an action packed affair as the two teams went all-out from the word go. IOC went into the lead with a penalty corner conversion from Arman Qureshi in the fourth minute. Army pulled one back in the 20th minute when Sajeeb Dung Dung scored from a penalty corner. The equaliser seemed to have galvanised the army men as they stepped up the attack and came up with threatening moves. In the 27th minute, Biraj Ekka sounded the boards from a well orchestrated move and Sanjay Toppo increased the lead to 3-1 five minutes later through another field goal. Trailing 1-3 at half-time, things didn't look too good for the strong IOC team. However, they bounced back in the second