Page 1216 - Sports
Amandeep Drall holds two-shot lead at 12th Leg of Hero WPG Tour
Two early birdies and then another in the closing stages helped overnight leader Amandeep Drall keep her lead after the second round of the 12th Leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour here today. Amandeep, who began the second day with a three-shot lead, is now three-over 145 for 36 holes and still ahead by two shots over second-placed Sonam Chugh, who carded 73 after her first round of 74 to be sole second at five-over 147 at the Hyderabad Golf Club. Tvesa Malik, who shared the second place with Sonam after the first day, dropped to sole third after a second successive three-over 74. Amandeep will need to ensure she does not drop any early shots and allow Sonam and Tvesa to get any closer, or else it will be a tense battle in the final round. Amandeep, who has been on a good run with three wins in the last four starts, birdied second and third to increase her overnight lead. A triple bogey on the Par-3 fourth wiped away the gains, and she bogeyed again on the Par-5 seventh and Par-4 ..
India likely to win Southampton Test: Harbhajan
Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has backed India to win the fourth Test against England in Southampton as he feels the conditions and the pitch are likely to favour the visitors. India bounced back from consecutive losses to clinch a 203-run win in the third Test in Nottingham to stay alive in the five-match series. The fourth Test is scheduled from August 30. "After such a performance I back India to win the next Test in Southampton, and then anything can happen in the Oval Test. At the Oval, we could get a true Indian wicket with lot of bounce and the lateral movement is less there as well," Harbhajan told PTI in an interview. "So, conditions could favour India and we could even play two spinners. I think India have a very good chance (of winning the series 3-2)," he said. Harbhajan blamed India's first two losses on tough conditions and the time it takes for team to adapt to England. "At the Lord's, conditions were very bad. England batsmen would have struggled there too, but ..
Delhi Dynamos sign defender Marti Crespi Pascual
Indian Super League side Delhi Dynamos today announced the signing of the Spanish centre back Marti Crespi Pascual to strengthen their defence for the upcoming season. The defender joins his new team after completing his stint with Chinese outfit Nei Mongol Zhongyou. Born in Sa Pobla, Spain, Crespi started his career with Spanish side Mallorca before joining Elche, Granada and Xerez on loan. The defender then moved to Racing Santander in the Spanish top division in 2013 where he spent six months before joining CE Sabadell FC in Segunda B. After spending two seasons with the Spanish outfit, Crespi shifted base to China where he went onto represent the likes of Qingdao Huanghai and Nei Mongol in the span of three years. The 31-year also represented the Spanish National Team in the U-19 and U-20 category. The Segunda B winner becomes the fifth foreign signing of the club and will join the team in Kolkata for pre-season later this week. "I am really looking forward to this new challenge. .
Asiad 2018: Shooter Shardul bags silver in men's double trap
Teenage shooter Shardul Vihan bagged silver in the mens double trap final at the 18th Asian Games here on Thursday.
Veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami retires from T20Is
Veteran Indian women's team pacer Jhulan Goswami today announced her retirement from T20 Internationals, effectively ruling her out for the ICC World T20 in West Indies in November. She played 68 T20 Internationals and took 56 wickets at an economy rate of 5.45. The 35-year-old will only play ODIs (as India don't play Test cricket), in which format she is the world's highest wicket-taker with 200 scalps from 169 games. Of late, her lack of wickets in shortest version was coming under the scanner and her big-hitting abilities at the back end was also on the wane. A trigger would have been the underwhelming performance at the Asia Cup where India lost to Bangladesh twice, including in the final. Goswami, who opened the bowling, got only one wicket in four matches and never looked penetrative enough. The fastest woman pacer from India has lost out on a bit of speed and she is also not the quickest on the field. "Goswami thanked the BCCI and her teammates for all the love and support she .
Asiad Hockey: Title-holders India face first real test against Japan
Defending champions India will face their first real test when they take on an unpredictable Japan in a pool A match at the 18th Asian Games, here tomorrow. It has been been a cakewalk for India in the opening two matches of Pool A here as they demolished hosts Indonesia 17-0 before recording their biggest win in international hockey when they annihilated Hong Kong China 26-0. The win against Hong Kong China enabled India to better its 86-year-old record when it had defeated USA with a 24-1 margin in Olympics. The record for biggest win in international hockey remains with New Zealand, who beat Samoa 36-1 in 1994. Ranked fifth in the world, India would again start as overwhelming favourites against world no. 16 Japan tomorrow, but it would be Harendra Singh and his men's first real test in the Games as Japan are no pushovers and they have the ability to surprise higher-ranked opponents on their day. India are currently leading Pool A with two wins out of as many games. Korea and Japan
'Coffee-grinder' Schooling roasts Asian swim rivals
Singapore's Olympic swim champion Joseph Schooling shrugged off a horror turnaround Thursday to top the heats for the 50 metres butterfly at the Asian Games after a fitful night's sleep. The 23-year-old, who stunned Michael Phelps in the 100m fly in Rio two years ago to win Singapore's first-ever Olympic title in any sport, got less than five hours of shut-eye after retaining his Asian title in Jakarta on Wednesday evening. After becoming the first swimmer to deny China or Japan a gold medal at the six-day meet, Schooling admitted to staying up late -- and to drinking a few too many coffees. "It was rough," he winced, after clocking 23.84 seconds to edge out China's Wang Peng for top spot. "I went to bed at 1am and woke up at 5:57 -- that's a shitty turnaround but that's what you've got to do sometimes. "I took a lot of caffeine last night. I had about four cups of coffee, so it was hard to go to bed. "But it's normal to feel tired. It just means you've got to grind through it. You've
Asiad badminton: Sindhu, Saina move to 2nd round with contrasting wins
PV Sindhu had to dig deep to down a fighting Vu Thi Trang of Vietnam but Saina Nehwal did not break any sweat as India' top two shuttlers advanced to the women's singles second round at the 18th Asian Games, here today. World Championship silver medallist Sindhu faced stiff resistance from world number 52 Trang before prevailing 21-10 12-21 23-21 in a tough opening round which lasted 58 minutes. In complete contrast, Saina just walked into the second round with a crushing 21-7 21-9 win over Iran's Soraya Aghhajiagha in just 26 minutes. In the next round, both Sindhu and Saina play Indonesia players who will have crowd support. Sindhu takes on Tunjung Gregoria Mariska while Saina will lock horns with Fitriani. "I did not take it easy but that was a very good match. It was anybody's game, each point was important. I was making too many errors. She was not leaving any shuttle. It was not allowing me to attack. There was drift here and there but we have to manage," Sindhu said reflecting .
Asian Games: Ankita Raina bags bronze in women's singles tennis
Indian tennis player, Ankita Raina on Thursday won a bronze medal after losing to Shuai Zhang of China in women's singles event semi-final at the ongoing 18th edition of the Asian Games.The 25-year-old was defeated 6-4, 6-7 by her Chinese opponent in the two hours and eleven minutes.Raina had earlier thrashed Wong Eudice Chong of Hong Kong 6-4, 6-1 in the quarter-final of the event.In men's doubles event, Indian tennis pair of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan stormed into the final after defeating Japan's Kaito Uesugi and Sho Shimabukuro 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 to ensure another medal for the country.The India duo had thrashed Kazakhstan pair of Bublik Aleksandr and Yevseyev Denis to cement their spot in the quarter-final of the event.In shooting, India's Shardul Vihan qualified for men's Double Trap final after firing a total of 141 shots in the event.India's total medal tally at the prestigious event now stands at sixteen with four gold, three silver, and nine bronze.
Young Vihan wins Asiad silver in men's double trap
All of 15, Shardul Vihan clinched the silver medal in the men's double trap shooting event at the 18th Asian Games here today. Uttar Pradesh teenager Vihan shot 73 to claim the silver medal, while Korea's 34-year-old Shin Hyunwoo clinched the gold medal with a score of 74. Qatar's Al Marri Hamad Ali bagged the bronze after shooting 53 at the Jakabaring shooting range. As a 14-year-old, Vihan had grabbed four gold medals at Shotgun Nationals Championship last year. Coached by former Asian Championship double gold medallist Anwer Sultan, had finished a creditable sixth at the Junior World Championship in Moscow last year.
Asiad: Indian women's kabaddi team enter third successive final
Indian women's kabaddi team entered its third successive final at the Asian Games with a dominating win over Chinese Taipei in the semifinals here today. The Indian team, which won the gold medal in the last two editions of the Asian Games, continued its impressive run by defeating Chinese Taipei 27-14 in the last four contest here. The Indian women's team which won the World Cup thrice in 2012, 2013 and 2014, will face either Iran or Thailand in the finals. India had topped Group A to qualify for the semifinals. In the men's competition, seven-time gold medallist India will face Iran in the semifinals later in the day.
Asiad 2018: Sindhu huffs and puffs to victory against lower ranked Vu
Star shuttler P.V. Sindhu snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Vietnam's Thi Trang Vu 21-10, 12-21, 23-21 in a women's singles round of 32 clash at the 18th Asian Games here on Thursday.
Kohli regains top spot in ICC Test rankings
Following his good form during the ongoing series in England, India skipper Virat Kohli regained the top spot in the ICC Test rankings for batsmen, released on Thursday.
Kohli reclaims top ICC ranking after match-winning effort
India captain Virat Kohli today reclaimed the top spot in the latest ICC Test Rankings after his brilliant show in the third Test against England. Kohli scored 97 and 103 in the third Test at Nottingham, which India won by 203 runs. The skipper first earned the pole position after his 149 and 51 in the first Test at Birmingham. However he dropped to second place after India's defeat at the Lord's but a stupendous performance has again put him at the top. Kohli now has 937 points, which is the 11th best ever in terms of rating points. The top 10 in the list are Don Bradman (961 points), Steven Smith (947), Len Hutton (945), Jack Hobbs (942), Ricky Ponting (942), Peter May (941), Gary Sobers, Clyde Walcott, Vivian Richards and Sangakkara (all 938 points). Cheteshwar Pujara remains the second highest ranked India batsman in the list in sixth position, while Ajinkya Rahane (up four places to 19th), Shikhar Dhawan (up four places to 22nd) and all-rounder Hardik Pandya (up eight places to ..
Asiad Badminton: Sindhu struggles past Trang to advance to 2nd round
World Championship silver medallist PV Sindhu faced stiff resistance from world number 52 Vu Thi Trang of Vietnam before moving to the women's singles second round at the 18th Asian Games, here today. In an unexpected tough first round, Sindhu prevailed 21-10 12-21 23-21 over Trang in 58 minutes. The third seeded Indian will face local hope Gregoria Mariska Tunjung next. After the first two games, the decider was a see-saw affair in which Sindhu took a mini 2-0 lead but her unforced errors allowed Trang to make it 3-3. Sindhu did set up the points but was not consistent in execution. Errors of judgements in leaving the shuttles from Sindhu also benefited Trang. The Indian lost her lead in the decider for the first time when she hit one out at 9-9 looking for a winner on the left side of the Vietnamese. After change of ends, Sindhu showed better control over shots and cut down on unforced errors to create a four-point lead, making it 16-12 but soon lost three points in a row. The ...
Asiad 2018: Indian shuttlers start on a high in doubles events
Indian men's and women's doubles teams got off to winning starts in their respective round of 32 matches at the 18th Asian Games here on Thursday.
Asiad 2018: Bopanna-Sharan enter final, Ankita gets bronze
The Indian men's doubles team of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan registered a hard fought victory to enter the final at the 18th Asian Games here on Thursday.
Asiad 2018: Champa finishes seventh in canoeing final
India's Champa Mourya missed a podium finish in the women's canoe single at the 18th Asian Games here on Thursday.
Deepika fails at big stage again, crashes out of women's individual recurve event
Country's top archer Deepika Kumari yet again came a cropper at the big stage as she was eliminated from the individual recurve event at the Asian Games after losing her pre-quarterfinal to Chien-Ying Lei. After getting a bye, Deepika got past North Korea's Hyang Ji Ri (6-2) but fluffed her second last shot in the third set to lose 3-7 to Chinese Taipei's Chien Ying Lei. She was leading prior to that shot, which fetched her nine points. Deepika had come into the Asian Games after winning a World Cup (Stage Event) gold. At the Rio Olympics also, she had made an early exit even though she entered the biggest sporting event as world number one. Atanu Das was the only Indian making it to the men's individual quarterfinals. He defeated both Yong Won Pak from Korea and Denis Gankin of Kazakhstan with identical 7-3 margin. "I am very disappointed with the result. Start was good, I tried hard but the second last shot in the third set was pretty bad. After that, I just could not get the 10s," .
Ankita Raina settles for bronze at Asian Games
Indian tennis player Ankita Raina settled for a bronze medal at the Asian Games after losing to China's Zhang Shuai in the women's singles semifinal here today. Ankita lost 4-6, 6-7 (6) in a gruelling contest that lasted a little over two hours. India's best women's singles performance in the Games came from Saina Mirza, who notched up a silver in the 2006 edition in Doha, followed by a bronze by her in 2010, Guangzhou. With today's bronze, the 25-year-old Ankita became only the second Indian woman to have her name in the Asian Games' singles medallists list. Both the losing semifinalists are entitled to a bronze each in the Games.