Page 1129 - Sports
Here to perform, not play: Asghar Afghan
Afghanistan skipper Asghar Afghan has made it clear that his team is not here just to participate in the upcoming Asia Cup, but are looking to put up a solid performance in the tournament.The 30-year-old, whose team will take on Sri Lanka in their opening clash of the tournament, further stated that they are hopeful of doing well against the island nation.Speaking to ANI, Afghan said, "We are not here just to play but to perform. Our players have got enough experience playing big international matches. They have performed well in leading cricket leagues so we are hopeful of doing well in this tournament as well.""Sri Lanka is an experienced side. We have had some good matches against them, be it in World Cup, T20 format or one-day matches. We are confident that we can perform well against them," he added.Reflecting on the much anticipated India-Pakistan clash, the right-hand batsman said that the match is going to be the best match of the tournament as the cricketing tussle between ...
Steyn back in South Africa one-day squad after 2-year absence
Fast bowler Dale Steyn was on Friday named in a 16-man South African squad for three one-day internationals against Zimbabwe, starting on September 30. Steyn, 35, has been plagued by injuries in recent years and has not played in a one-day international since October 2016. But he recently stated his determination to finish his white-ball career by playing in the 2019 Cricket World Cup in England. Steyn made a comeback to international cricket after shoulder and foot injuries when he played in two Tests in Sri Lanka in July but he only took two wickets at a cost of 89.50 runs each. He has subsequently shown a return to form during a stint with English county Hampshire, taking 20 wickets in five first-class matches at an average of 19.10. Christiaan Jonker, who made 49 in a promising debut in the third and final Twenty 20 international against India in February, is the only newcomer in the one-day squad. Batsman David Miller and wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock have been rested for .
Manisha enters final of Polish boxing tourney
Indian boxer Manisha (54kg) Friday advanced to the final after upstaging former European champion Viktoria Kuleshova in the 13th International Silesian Championship for women in Gliwice, Poland. Manisha, who claimed a silver in the world youth championships last month, fetched a 5-0 verdict in the semifinals. "Manisha showed tremendous progress in performance and played well as per expectation" coach Rafaelle Bergamasco told PTI from Gliwice. In the junior category, Tingmila Doungel (48kg) claimed a gold medal after beating Germany's Maria-Elena Avram in the summit clash. She is a product of the boxing academy established by the legendary M C Mary Kom in Manipur. Mary Kom (48kg) herself entered the finals of the event's senior competition on Thursday. Also winning a gold medal in the junior category was Sandeep Kaur (51kg) after defeating Izbala Rozkabzek of Poland in the final. Settling for silver medals were Neha (54kg), and Dinesh Naik (63kg) after losing in the final. While Neha ..
Golfer Gaurika bags season's maiden title in Hero WPG Tour
Golfer Gaurika Bishnoi completed a massive six-shot win despite two double bogeys in the final round of the 14th leg of the Hero womens Pro Tour at the DLF Golf and Country Club here on Friday.
Barcelona coach trains squad for Sociedad clash
Barcelona's head coach Ernesto Valverde could count on his full team with the exception of new signing Malcom on Friday for the final training session at the Sant Joan Despi ground ahead of the defending La Liga champion's away game against Real Sociedad.
Akshay fires 65 for breakthrough win at inaugural QA InfoTech Open
Chandigarh's Akshay Sharma pulled off a career-best seven-under-65 in the final round to post his breakthrough PGTI win with a thumping six-shot margin at the inaugural QA InfoTech Open here on Friday. The 28-year-old Akshay, who turned professional in 2011, shot scores of 73, 70, 69 and 65, to end the Rs. 50 lakh event with a total score of 11-under-277. His error-free fourth round of 65 was also the best round of the tournament. Sri Lankan Mithun Perera (69-71-73-70) finished a distant second at five-under-283. "I'm overjoyed. I've waited for my first PGTI win for almost eight years. All aspects of my game clicked today as I produced my career-best score. It couldn't have come at a better time," Akshay said. Akshay began the day in second place, trailing leader Angad Cheema of neighbouring city Panchkula by two shots. Akshay soon emerged as the top contender as he made a dream start with birdies on the first three holes even as his nearest rivals Angad and Mithun stumbled with ...
Atletico coach responds to criticism over unimpressive league start
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone on Friday said that he is used to the pressure, adding that results are always the key to change a difficult situation amid criticism that his team has underperformed so far in the new season.
Gaurika Bishnoi picks up maiden title of season in Hero WPG Tour
Gaurika Bishnoi completed a massive six-shot win despite scoring a three-over 75 in the final round of the 14th leg of Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour here on Friday. The 20-year-old Rohtak golfer, who was searching for her first win this season, shot 3-over 75 which included three birdies, two bogeys and two doubles. Gaurika totalled 226 and finished six shots clear of Tvesa Malik, who finally found her rhythm on the final day with a card of one-under 71, only the second sub-par round this week. While this served her well to get to sole second, she was too far behind to challenge Gaurika. Amandeep Drall, whose 80-80 in the first two rounds put her way down on the leaderboard, could have challenged Gaurika but a bogey start, a bogey on the Par-5 15th and a triple bogey on the closing 18th saw her finish the final day at 73. Her total of 233 saw her finish third. Millie Saroha (75) and Afshan Fatima (80) ended Tied 4th. Neha Tripathi, Khushi Khanijau and amateur Sifat Sagoo were sixth to ...
Barbora Strycova rebuffs Serena's 'sexism' charge
Czech Republic tennis player Barbora Strycova has struck down Serena Williams' 'sexism' charge against Umpire Carlos Ramos during her US Open final match against Naomi Osaka of Japan."This is a bulls**t, for umpires being women or men doesn't matter. In comparison, I never saw (Rafael) Nadal shouting like that with an umpire," Sport24 quoted Strycova, as saying."I find it interesting that she did it only when she was losing," she added.The world number twenty-five further expressed shock over the support extended by Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and United States Tennis Association (USTA) to the twenty-three time Grand Slam champion."Me, as a woman, take a lot of warnings. WTA defence surprised me. Will the rules change in Serena's matches?" she said."Ramos is tough, one of the best umpires in the world. He did what he had to do in that match, because she overcame the limit. Did he have to behave differently only because she was Serena Williams?" she questioned.Williams had lost ...
Malinga fits into Asia Cup equation, says head coach
Sri Lanka head coach Chandika Hathurusingha has said that fast bowler Lasith Malinga, who made his way back to the national ODI side after almost a year, fits perfectly well into the team's equation ahead of the upcoming Asia Cup.The coach further claimed that Malinga is one of the best death bowlers in the world and is currently in a perfect shape to make his mark in the tournament."I believe that Malinga fits into our equation for this tournament. He is one of the best death bowlers in the world. In the last few matches, he has performed well and his fitness is up to the mark," ICC quoted Hathurusingha, as saying.Malinga had played his last one-day match in September last year, followed by a series of injuries which kept him out of action for quite a long time.Reflecting on the team's opening Asia Cup match against Bangladesh, Hathurusingha stated that they are not going to take any team lightly and are focusing on other factors like pitch and climate ahead of the clash."We don't ...
Rashid, Bhullar T-15 in Korea; four Indians make cut
Indian golfers Rashid Khan and Gaganjeet Bhullar were Tied-15th after the second round of the approximately USD 1,000,000 Shinhan Donghae Open on Friday. Rashid, a two-time winner on Asian Tour, trying to end his three and a half year drought, shot two-under 69 to take his total to five-under 137, while Bhullar carded one-under 70 to be tied with him. The Indian duo currently are four shots off the lead at the midway stage. Khalin Joshi (69) and Shiv Kapur (70) were the other Indians to make the cut, while Viraj Madappa (73), Ajeetesh Sandhu (72), S Chikkarangappa (72), Jyoti Randhawa (76) and Arjun Atwal (78) missed the cut. The cut fell at even par and 73 players made the weekend rounds. Rashid had four birdies against two bogeys and Bhullar had three birdies and two bogeys. Sanghyun Park of Korea carded a three-under-par 68 to maintain his top position. The 35-year-old Park, who ended the opening round with a two-shot lead, had a solid game from tee to green. Joining Park at the ...
India-Pakistan clash in spotlight at Asia Cup (Preview)
The spotlight will on the India-Pakistan rivalry when the six-nation Asia Cup cricket tournament begins here on Saturday.
India U-19 football team suffers 0-2 loss against Serbia U-19
The Indian U-19 football team put up a valiant fight but suffered a 0-2 loss in the first of its two friendly matches against Serbia U-19. The match played at Serbian town of Stara Pazava on Thursday was part of Indian team's European tour to prepare for next year's U-19 Asian Championships. A first-half spot-kick by Bosic Radijove (30th minute) and a neat finish late in the second-half by Aleksandar Kostic (82nd) ensured a win for the home side. It was a promising start for India as striker Aniket Jadhav threatened to score in the early minutes. Aniket tested the Serbian goalkeeper as early as the second minute of the game to set the tempo of the match. Within the first 10 minutes, the visitors suffered their first setback when defender Akash picked up an injury. He was replaced by Asish Rai. Serbia took the lead in the 30th minute from the spot after Jitendra Singh was adjudged to have handled the ball in the penalty area. Radijove stepped up to take the kick and placed it past ...
Ronaldo chases first Juve goal before Champions League return to Spain
Cristiano Ronaldo faces Sassuolo on Sunday still chasing his maiden competitive goal for Italian champions Juventus before he returns to Spain for the first time in the Champions League. Bolstered by five-time winner Ronaldo, Juventus begin their quest for the Champions League title which has eluded them since 1996 in Valencia next Wednesday. Despite a seventh straight Serie A title last season the Turin giants plunged into the red with a 19.2-million-euro (USD 22.4m) loss as a result of their European quarter-final exit. Serie A returns after a two-week international break with former Real Madrid player Ronaldo having skipped Portugal duty to focus on his new club, just as his teammate, Croatia's World Cup runner-up Mario Mandzukic, did. During the break the 33-year-old was pictured relaxing on board his yacht off St Tropez on the French Riveria. "Vitamin D," wrote the five-time Ballon d'Or winner under a photo of him lounging on the deck of his yacht. "As my teammates say, back to ..
Mourinho turns on media 'lies' over use of Rashford
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho turned on the media once more on Friday as he launched a detailed defence of his use of England international striker Marcus Rashford. The 20-year-old forward impressed for the Three Lions over the international break as he started, and scored, against both Spain and Switzerland. That led to questions over whether Mourinho was making the most of Rashford's abilities as he has struggled to hold down a regular place in the United side where he faces stiff competition from Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez and Anthony Martial. Rashford will definitely be missing when Mourinho's men travel to Watford on Saturday, though, as he begins a three-match ban after being sent-off against Burnley before the international break. "I think I can expect that Sunday I'm going to be highly criticised for not playing him tomorrow because some of the boys are really obsessed with me and, some of them, they have I think a problem with some compulsive lies," said ...
ISL: Mumbai City FC end pre-season campaign
Mumbai City FC ended their pre-season campaign on a high note, recording a 3-2 victory over Thai League 1 side Bangkok United FC at the Thammasat Stadium here.
Open to coaching an international team: Guardiola
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola on Friday revealed that he would be interested in taking up the coaching job for an international team.
30-member Indian wrestling team to compete in World Junior Championship
A 30-member team, including 10 women will represent India at the World Junior Wrestling Championship in Slovakia from September 17-23, the national federation (WFI) announced Friday. After the confident show at the Asian Championships, where India bagged eight medals including two golds, Junior Asian and Cadet championships, wrestlers will look to continue the winning-streak in the World Junior Championship as well. The Indian grapplers had managed to claim a bronze in each category -- men's freestyle, greco-roman and women's freestyle in the last edition after the team had gone without medals for three years. The last time India won a gold at the world juniors was 17 years ago, way back in 2001, during the Sofia (Bulgaria) meet. Since then the precious yellow metal has eluded the Indians and the present contingent, led by youngsters like Deepak Punia, Sachin Rathi, Suraj and Sandeep Singh Maan, would want to set the records straight. "I have a lot of faith in the young talents that ..
Unbeaten India take on Maldives in SAFF Cup final, seek 8th title
Boosted by an undefeated run, seven-time champions India will start as favourites against Maldives in the summit clash of the South Asian Football Federation Cup here on Saturday. The Indian team, comprising under-23 players except for one, has been the only unbeaten side in the tournament. It has beaten Sri Lanka (2-0) and tomorrow's opponents Maldives (2-0) in the group stages before prevailing over Pakistan (3-1) in the semifinals. The defending champions will be chasing its eight triumph in 12 editions and third back-to-back titles as it seeks to continue its stranglehold in the regional tournament. Maldives have not played in the final in the last three editions, losing in the semifinals each time. India, on the other hand, has played in the final of all the earlier 11 editions except in 2003. The last time the Bangabandhu Stadium here hosted the tournament in 2009, India and Maldives faced each other in the summit clash and both sides could not score a goal even in the extra ...
Mumbai City FC end pre-season campaign with win
Mumbai City FC ended their pre-season campaign with a gallant 3-2 victory over Bangkok United FC on Thursday evening at Bangkok in Thailand. Mumbai City began the onslaught early on, with Shouvik Ghosh providing the perfect cross to new recruit Modou Sougou as early as in the fourth minute. The former Olympique de Marseille star delicately back-heeled it over the keeper to give his side an early lead. Bangkok United FC found gaps to exploit and bombarded Mumbai City's goal with a barrage of shots. However, Amrinder Singh produced a string of heroic saves to keep his team's lead intact. In the 33rd minute, however, a vicious strike from Ekkachai Samre left him stranded, allowing the home team to restore parity. Twenty two-year-old Raynier Fernandes produced his moment of magic when he caught the opponent's goalkeeper off the line and shot right into the top corner to regain the lead. After the break, Mumbai coach Jorge Costa made a couple of changes - Milan Singh and ...