Page 1242 - Sports
Milan signs Laxalt, Castillejo on long-term basis
AC Milan on Friday announced it had reached agreements to sign Spanish forward Samuel Castillejo and Uruguayan midfielder Diego Laxalt on transfer from Villarreal and Genoa respectively.
Midfielder Marchisio leaves Juventus after 25 years
Veteran Italian midfielder Claudio Marchisio rescinded his contract with Juventus on Friday, leaving the Turinese football giants which he joined at the age of seven, by mutual agreement.
Indian eves handed tough draw in team event at Asiad
Indian women's team, led by Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu, will have to punch above its weight to salvage any hopes of a medal after being handed a tough draw in the badminton event at the 18th Asian Games. Indian women's team, which won a bronze medal in the last edition at Incheon after finishing third, will face top seeds Japan in the quarterfinals after receiving a first-round bye. The team events begin on Sunday. India are placed in the top half of the draw along with Hong Kong, Korea, Indonesia and Japan, while China, Thailand and Chinese Taipei are placed in the bottom half. Japan, who clinched the Uber Cup title this year, boasts of top singles players such as 2017 World Champion Nozomi Okuhara and world No 2 Akane Yamaguchi, besides current world no 1 and world no 2 pairs of Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota and Misaki Matsutoma and Ayaka Takahashi respectively. A depleted India, without the services of Sindhu and doubles specialist Ashwini Ponnappa, were outclassed 0-5 .
India U-15 eves confident ahead of SAFF final against Bangladesh
The Indian U-15 Womens football team will clash swords against Bangladesh U-15s in the final of the SAFF U-15 Championship at the Changlimithang Stadium here, in a re-match of the 2017 edition of the finals of the SAFF Championship.
India must come out of confusion and poor form (Column: Just Sport)
Even after two straight defeats in the five-match series in England, India are still the worlds best Test side, ranked at the top while England are fifth behind South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
De Bruyne to be out of action for three months
English Premier League (EPL) champions Manchester City will miss the services of star midfielder Kevin de Bruyne for atleast three months because of a knee injury.
India aiming to keep Test series alive vs England at Tent Bridge (Preview)
A desperate Virat Kohli-led Indian team will be hungry to keep themselves alive in the five-match Test cricket series against hosts England when they square-off in the third Test at the Trent Bridge starting here on Saturday.
Stokes back in playing eleven for third Test
All-rounder Ben Stokes today returned to the England playing eleven for the third Test against India, four days after being found not guilty of affray. The third Test of the five-match series starts at Trent Bridge tomorrow. The 27-year-old Stokes missed the second Test at Lord's as he was attending his trial for his involvement in a fracas in Bristol in September. Cleared on Tuesday after the court's not guilt pronouncement, Stokes replaced Sam Curran in the team. Both Stokes and Curran played influential roles in the home team's 31-run victory in the series opener at Birmingham. "He is desperate to get out there and wants to put in performances," England captain Joe Root said on the eve of the match. England coach Trevor Bayliss said "a collective decision" was taken to reintroduce Stokes, who was omitted when an unchanged squad for the third Test was named on Monday. Curran, 20, was named Man of the Match after the first Test at Edgbaston, having taken five wickets and scoring 87 ..
Deepika ready for Asiad after overcoming fever
Her build-up to the Asian Games was affected by a bout of fever but India's star recurve archer, Deepika Kumari, is now getting ready to erase the bitter memories of the 2014 Incheon edition, in Jakarta. They returned empty-handed from the Korean city four years ago. Down with fever for five days, the Commonwealth Games twin gold medallist's departure was delayed, with the archery contingent leaving on August 14. "There's still weakness and I'm on multi-vitamins. But I'm confident of a good show," Deepika told PTI from New Delhi, ahead of her departure for the August 18 to September 2 extravaganza. The fever meant that her practice was hampered but Deepika is buoyed by a World Cup gold medal win in Salt Lake City in June this year -- her first individual World Cup gold since 2012. "I'm beginning to find my rhythm and it has really boosted my confidence for the Asian Games," the former world number one said. "It's difficult to predict the number of medals but I can say that we ...
Abhishek, Sachika get pride of place in Otters Club Squash
Some of the country's top men, women and junior players will be taking part in the Otters Club Open Squash Tournament commencing here tomorrow. Mumbai's Abhishek Pradhan, current India No. 7, is the top seed in the men's category while Sachika Ingale, current India No. 3 will lead the field for women. Abhishek Agarwal, the current India No. 10, is second seed among men while Urwashi Joshi, who is nationally ranked 4th, is the women's second seed. In the U-19 category, India No. 1 Tushar Shahani is the title favourite followed by No. 3 Rahul Baitha as the second seed. The tournament has a total prize money of Rs 8.4 lakh.
Indian U-15 women confident ahead of clash against Bangladesh in SAFF final
The Indian U-15 women's national football team will clash swords with Bangladesh in the final of the age-group SAFF Championship in a rematch of the 2017 edition here tomorrow. Ahead of the clash, the Indian team expressed confidence. "We are ready for the final and our run in the group stages is a testament of how well we have played throughout the tournament," said head coach Firmin D'Souza. "Bangladesh are the toughest team to face in the SAFF Championship and although we respect them, we will be going for the win and try to score an early goal to cement our position in the match." India lost 0-1 to Bangladesh in Dhaka, and revenge will be on mind, the coach said. "We will certainly be looking to avenge our loss against them in last year's final. We have come a long way since then and are looking to give our hundred percent on the pitch in an attempt to win." The Indian women topped Group A with maximum points out of two matches, scoring thirteen goals in the process, while ...
Chelsea, Arsenal look to convince in packed EPL weekend (Preview)
The second weekend of the new English Premier League (EPL) football season has one standout fixture as Chelsea host Arsenal at the Stamford Bridge here on Saturday evening with both coaches having something to prove.
Bombing Balandin can find mojo in Jakarta, say Japan swimmers
Kazakhstan history-maker Dmitriy Balandin has suffered a raging hangover since winning Olympic swimming gold in Rio -- but his closest rivals are taking nothing for granted at the Asian Games. Balandin's form has nose-dived since he became his country's first Olympic swim champion two years ago, and the triple Asian Games breaststroke gold medallist arrives in Jakarta as a clear underdog to Japan's Yasuhiro Koseki and Ippei Watanabe. However, the Japanese pair have backed the Kazakh to rediscover his mojo. "Balandin took all three (breaststroke) gold medals last time," said Koseki, who won silver behind the Kazakh in 2014 over 50 and 100 metres and finished runner-up to Russian Anton Chupkov in the 200m at last year's world championships. "I'll have to raise my game for sure," added Koseki, who scooped the Pan Pacific title in the 100m in Tokyo earlier this month. "But I need to swim my own race and not worry about him. It will be important to win gold and take that momentum into the .
Asia Cup: BCCI hands over hosting rights to Emirates Cricket Board
The decks were finally cleared today for the Asia Cup as BCCI officially handed over its hosting rights to the Emirates Cricket Board. "The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Emirates Cricket Board signed an agreement today for the United Arab Emirates to host the 2018 edition of the Asia Cup," the BCCI stated in a release. The agreement was signed in Dubai with the BCCI being represented by its acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary and CEO Rahul Johri. The chairman of the Emirates Cricket Board, His Highness Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, signed on their behalf. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will take part in the tournament. They will be joined by a sixth team -- the winner of the Asian Cricket Council qualifier event. The tournament will be held from September 15 to 28 in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The event was originally scheduled in India with BCCI playing the hosts but Pakistan's participation was an issue considering the prevailing ...
FIFA fines Atletico Madrid over third-party ownership
Spanish club Atletico Madrid have been fined, FIFA said today, for signing a player to a contract that allowed third-party ownership, which is banned by world football's governing body. Atletico, who beat Real Madrid to win the European Supercup on Wednesday, must pay 52,000 Swiss Francs (45,900 euros, $52,170) for "entering into a contract that enabled a third party to influence the club's independence in employment and transfer-related matters and entering incorrect information in the International Transfer Matching System," a FIFA statement said. The player in question was not named. FIFA's disciplinary committee also fined clubs in Qatar, Dubai and Iran for failing to obey its previous decisions as well as rulings by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to pay "significant overdue amounts of money to players." FIFA also threatened the clubs with points deductions and transfer bans. The Qatar Sports Club was fined 30,000 Swiss francs and ordered to pay outstanding wages within 90 ...
UAE all set to host Asia Cup 2018
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), on Friday, signed an agreement for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to host the prestigious Asia Cup scheduled to take place in September.Speaking on the agreement, Social, Culture and Youth Development minister Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan said it was a matter of pride for the country to host an elite cricket tournament."It is a matter of great pride for the UAE to host a prestigious event like the Asia Cup. Our country is home to a large section of people from the participating nations and we feel privileged and excited by the opportunity to bring their favourite sport right here to their doorstep," he said.Thanking the ECB to host the 2018 Asia Cup on behalf of BCCI, the Indian cricket board's acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary said, "We are thankful to the Emirates Cricket Board for hosting the 2018 Asia Cup on behalf of the BCCI. We will see some of the sport's powerhouse nations go ...
UAE set to host 2018 Asia Cup cricket meet
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Emirates Cricket Board signed an agreement on Friday for the United Arab Emirates to host the Asia Cup in September.
Zenit crush Dinamo Minsk in UEFA Europa League qualification round
Zenit St. Petersburg overcame a four-goal deficit as they crushed Dinamo Minsk 8-1 in the second leg to advance to the knockout stage of the UEFA Europa League qualification round with a 8-5 victory on aggregate at St. Petersburgs Petrovsky Stadium here.
De Bruyne to miss three months with knee injury: Manchester City
Belgian star Kevin De Bruyne, a pivotal figure in Manchester City's title-winning campaign, will be out of action for three months because of a knee injury, the club said today. The 27-year-old midfielder -- who scored eight goals and provided 16 assists as City romped to the title last season -- will not have to undergo surgery on the injury which he suffered in training on Wednesday. "Manchester City can confirm Kevin de Bruyne has suffered a lateral collateral ligament (LCL) lesion in his right knee," the club said in a short statement on its website. "No surgery is required, and the midfielder is expected to be out for around three months.
Cricketer Wadekar cremated with full state honours
Former India cricket captain Ajit Wadekar, who died on August 15, was cremated at the Shivaji Park crematorium here today with full state honours. Wadekar, who had led India to its first victory in West Indies and England in 1971, had passed away at a South Mumbai hospital after prolonged illness. Wadekar served Indian cricket in different capacities -- as manager, coach and a selector. A batsman par excellence, he was also the first to captain India in the One-Day Internationals. Wadekar's body was kept at his Worli residence this morning for his well-wishers to pay their tributes. Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli, Sameer Dighe, former hockey captain M M Somaiya and past and present officials of the Mumbai Cricket Association offered their prayers and condolences. BCCI General Manager (Cricket Operations) Saba Karim also paid tributes on behalf of the Cricket Board. Politicians cutting across party lines, including Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut also offered their ...