Page 1246 - Sports
Delhi Dynamos to have pre-season in Kolkata and Doha
Delhi Dynamos FC are set for a month-long pre-season camp in Kolkata and Doha as the two-time semi-finalists begin their preparation for the upcoming Indian Super League season. The side led by new head coach Josep Gombau will be playing three friendly matches each in Kolkata and Doha, before travelling back to Delhi where they will play a string of friendlies before the start of the new season. The Indian group of Dynamos has already reached Kolkata and will undergo a week long preparatory camp under assistant coach Mridul Banerjee. The foreign players will start joining from August 20 onwards. Six players Vinit Rai, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Nandhakumar Sekar, Sukhadev Patil, Daniel Lahlimpuia and Mohd Sajid Dhot will miss the camp due to commitments with the Indian National Team in the SAFF Camp currently being held in New Delhi. The side though will see fresh faces join the squad as Amit Tudu, Seiminmang Manchong and Shubham Sarangi will also be a part of the pre-season ...
If I am offered opening slot in Tests, will be ready for it: Rohit Sharma
Opening in shorter formats proved to be a boon for Rohit Sharma, who said that he will not mind taking a shot at it in Test matches too, if the team management ever considers that as an option in near future. The 31-year-old has scored 1479 runs at shade under 40 per innings in 25 Tests with three hundreds and nine half centuries but is currently out of favour as far as longest format is concerned. With the trio of KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay struggling, Rohit was posed a question if he would like to open the innings in Test matches too. "Look, I have never been offered (to open the innings in Tests) yet but I am open to anything as in whatever the team management wants. I never thought I will be an opener in ODIs when I started playing or when I was playing for India. But it happened along the way, so I (want to) keep my options open. No option is shut for me, so if the opportunity comes, I will take it," Rohit told mediapersons at a promotional event. While his ...
Prepare to play ugly and show grit, Shastri tells batsmen
Under-fire India coach Ravi Shastri today called on his struggling batsmen to show more discipline and grit when the third Test against England gets underway at Trent Bridge on Saturday. He said that despite tough conditions, need of the hour is to show resolve and play gritty cricket. England lead the five-match series 2-0 after winning the first two Tests in Birmingham and Lord's. "Conditions have been tough right through this series. But that's where character and discipline come into play. The resolve to know where your off stump is, leave a lot of balls, be prepared to look ugly and dirty and show some grit," said Shastri. "I don't think its fair to single out any one player," he added, when asked about Ajinkya Rahane's struggles on this tour. "Batsmen from both teams have struggled. When the occasion demands, it's a case of mental resolve how you put mind over matter. Mental discipline will be the key as far as batsmen are concerned going forward in this Test match. Rahane is ..
Ozil's claims of racism in German camp are 'nonsense': Kroos
Germany midfielder Toni Kroos says Mesut Ozil was 'out of order' to make accusations of racism within the German set up as he retired from international football last month. "Basically Mesut is a long-serving national team player and deserved a better exit as a footballer," Kroos, 28, told German daily Bild. "I have played with Mesut for many years and know that he is a nice guy. But the way he retired was out of order. "The proportion of his statement which was fair and justified was unfortunately overshadowed by a much higher proportion of nonsense. "I think he himself knows that racism does not exist within the national team and the DFB. "On the contrary, we are always committed to diversity and integration. "Mesut was a good example of that, like many of our team mates." Ozil, 29, created a furore last month when he retired from international football in an explosive three-part statement in which he accused German FA (DFB) president Reinhard Grindel of racism. "In the eyes of ...
New drug testing agency aims to restore trust in sport
The new International Testing Agency will regain the "trust" of athletes and fans who lost faith in the fairness of sport after a series of doping scandals, the body's director-general told AFP. The idea to create the ITA was conceived at the height of the Russian doping scandal that saw evidence emerge of egregious cheating orchestrated by Moscow during the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. Under intense pressure, the International Olympic Committee insisted the sporting world needed a fully independent testing agency that could back-stop federations and national anti-doping labs, which had proven vulnerable to manipulation. The ITA started operating in Lausanne just over a month ago and it is, managing-director Benjamin Cohen said, already providing services to 30 federations and would strive to build its portfolio -- including testing responsibility for the next World Cup, if FIFA agrees. "We are coming out of a rather complicated period, since the Sochi Olympics," Cohen told AFP at the ...
Indian team condoles Wadekar's demise
The Indian cricket team on Thursday observed a two-minute silence in remembrance of former skipper Ajit Wadekar, who died in Mumbai after a prolonged illness.
Barcelona train ahead of La Liga game against Alaves
Barcelona on Thursday held a training session without defender Gerard Pique, in preparation for the team's first league game of the season against Alaves.
Sudeva FC selects 20 players for training in Spain
Delhi-based Sudeva Moonlight Football Club, which bought Spainish 3rd division club CD Olimpic de Xativa in May this year, has selected 20 players, including three underprivileged teenagers, from across the country to train in Spain. Handpicked by Ex-Real Madrid player and scout Oscar Rubio, all the 20 players will receive partial scholarship, while three of them -- Bhupinder Singh, Seigoulun Khongsai and Janjminlun Kuki have been awarded cent per cent scholarship. More than a 1000 players participated in the trails which were conducted in four cities namely Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Guwahati in different age groups from U-13 to U-23. "We have started the documentations. All the kids will be going on student visas as they will be doing their university or schooling or language learning from there apart from football training," said Anuj Gupta, Founder of the club. Sudeva has already got into an agreement with Universidad Catolica de Murcia (UCAM) and the University of Valencia to ..
Pandya not scoring enough runs, lacks control with ball: Holding
West Indian fast bowling great Michael Holding feels Hardik Pandya is not yet the all-rounder India wants him to be, because he is ineffective as a bowler and also not scoring enough runs with the bat. "The (Indian) attack has not been the right balance. Apparently they are playing Hardik Pandya as an all-rounder to help out with the bowling. When he bowls he isn't as effective as he should be," Holding was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. "If he was a good batsman, if he was getting runs - 60s, 70s, not even regular hundreds - at the number at which he bats and then he bowls and gets two or three wickets, happy, hallelujah. "Happy with that. But he is not getting the amount of runs that can then allow him to get a wicket or two in the Test match. That doesn't work." Pandya made his Test debut last July in Sri Lanka, scoring a fifty in Galle and followed it with his maiden Test century in Pallekelle in his third Test. He has played nine Tests so far and, barring the home series ...
India move up a place to 96th in FIFA rankings
The Indian football team on Thursday climbed one spot to the 96th in the recently released FIFA rankings.
Sourav Kothari slams two double century breaks
Kolkata-based Sourav Kothari of ONGC showed excellent cue touch to slam two double century breaks while easing his way past Arun Agrawal and Nishant Dossa in the Rs 3.8-lakh prize money CCI Billiards Classic 2018 here today. The former Asian billiards champion, playing fluently and striking the balls with regular consistency, compiled a mammoth break of 247 as he went on to outclass Dossa 624-169 late last evening. He returned today and maintained his impressive form by firing a break of 261 on way to drub Agrawal 658-96 in Group H. With his third successive victory, Kothari is assured of qualifying to the knockout round of 16 draw along with Dhruv Sitwala, who also has three wins in the five-team group. Mumbai-based Siddharth Parikh of the Railways made a bright positive start winning his opening two Group-E matches. Parikh scraped past Maharashtra's Loukic Pathare 374- 349 after earlier defeating teammate S Simhachalam 669-189. Alok Kumar of ONGC and Neeraj Kumar of the
Terror-hit athletes from Afghanistan appeal to India: Help us like you helped our cricketers
On reaching Indonesia for the Asian Games, hearts in their mouths after a brush with American war tanks on way to Kabul airport, Afghanistan's athletes requested India to help them the way it helped their cricket. As they headed towards the airport, a 100-odd Afghani athletes saw American war tanks approach their Asian Games-bound Contingent bus. Much to their relief, they were just asked to make way for the tanks. Three out of those athletes, who watched blasts rock Kabul yesterday, are 100m specialists Abdul Wahab Zahiri and Kamia Yousufi, who competed at Rio Olympics, and sprinter Sadia Bromand. The relief was palpable on the face of Zahiri as he spoke to PTI, reliving the scary experience at home. "You won't understand how we felt when we saw the American tanks. We constantly live in terror. But we want to live a peaceful life. We want to achieve our dreams, make our country proud," said Zahiri. They have seen how cricket has flourished in the Taliban-hit country with significant .
Indian flag raised at Asian Games athletes village
The tri-colour today unfurled at the Asian Games athletes Village following a simple flag-hoisting ceremony, attended by India's men's hockey stars and wrestlers. Since hockey players and wresters were the first ones to land here, only they could attend the ceremony as shuttlers and kabaddi players landed in the Indonesain capital this afternoon via Singapore. The tennis players, led by coach Zeeshan Ali, headed straight to Palembang from Singapore. Indian contingent's Chef de mission (CDM) Brij Bhushan Singh Sharan and two deputy CDMs were also present during the occasion. The officials from the organising committee greeted the officials and wished luck to the Indian athletes.
Diego Costa sets new Super Cup record
Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa on Thursday set a new UEFA Super Cup record by scoring the fastest final-match goal in the history of the tournament.The 29-year-old just took 49 seconds to score the first goal of the final match of the Super Cup against Sergio Ramos-led Real Madrid side.Later, Atletico Madrid thrashed the city rivals 4-2 to clinch the Super Cup title.Reflecting on the victory, Costa said that the team is pretty happy with the victory and it would boost their confidence ahead of the upcoming football season."With the desire and the 'cojones' that we have, we can fight against any team. It was a victory that we had been looking for a long time, I am very happy," goal.com quoted Costa, as saying."They won two finals against us, we wanted to win a European final against them. It was very important to get confidence ahead of the season," he added.Last year, it was Real Madrid who had defeated Manchester United to retain the Super Cup title.
India climb one spot to 96 in FIFA rankings
Indian football team have climbed one spot to attain the 96th position in the recently updated FIFA rankings.The improvement came in the ranking after FIFA implemented a new ranking system called Elo where points are added and subtracted to the team's existing tally before every match. As a result, the team rankings now change with every passing match, goal.com reported.India, who are preparing for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup 2019, will take part in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship in September where they are pooled with Sri Lanka and Maldives in Group B.Meanwhile, 2018 FIFA World Cup winner France have taken a leap of six spots to clinch the number one FIFA ranking followed by Belgium, Brazil, Croatia and Uruguay.
India Red face India Green in Duleep Trophy domestic season opener
Defending champions India Red will take on India Green in the opener of the 57th Duleep Trophy at the NPR College ground here on Friday, marking the start of the 2018-19 domestic cricket season in the country.
Khushi takes lead in 11th leg of Hero WPG Tour
Khushi Khanijau shot 3-over 75 to take sole lead in the 11th leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour on Thursday. Khushi's total score is 4-over 148 and is one shot clear of second placed Amandeep Drall (75-74). Tvesa Malik (75-76) is third at 7-over 151, while Afshan Fatima, who was second after the first round, dropped to fourth with a second round card of 79. In windy conditions, it was a tough day for the golfers. While none of the players could card a birdie on the front nine, scores on the back nine were only marginally better. Jaipur teenager Khushi turned pro only at the start of this season. She finished 10th in the sixth leg, seventh in the eighth leg and those have been her best performances. Khushi ran into a rough patch with three bogeys in four holes on the front nine with bogeys on third, fifth and sixth. Her birdies came on 10th and 18th and she also had another double on the par-5 14th. Amandeep Drall, who won the previous leg, had just one birdie on 11th and three ...
US to host La Liga matches after reaching agreement to promote football
The United States is set to host several games of the Spanish football league's regular season following an agreement reached on Thursday between La Liga and the US multinational media, sports and entertainment group Relevent that aims to boost the game's popularity in America and Canada.
Ace cueist Pankaj Advani to contest KSBA Election
Ace cueist Pankaj Advani is the latest big name to take the plunge in sports administration and is all set to contest for the joint secretary's post in the upcoming Karnataka State Billiards Association (KSBA) elections. "I have played this game for a very long time and want to give something back to it. Therefore, I want to do it in as an administrator. Yes, I am contesting Karnataka State Billiards Association election, which definitely is a big decision," Advani confirmed his candidature today. Advani feels that KSBA hasn't done enough to promote the sport which is precisely why he wants to contest elections. "Though there are many in KSBA, who have done a lot, but the sport has not got the required priority. Obviously, it is very disappointing from that point of view," he added. Advani said he is contesting for joint secretary's post, which directly is connected with the activities concerning billiards, but his first priority will still be representing India at international ...
Unseeded Fadte, Sanya clinch junior titles
Goa's Yash Fadte capped his wonderful run by clinching the boys under 19 title in the 3rd Indian Classic Junior Open Squash Tournament at the Bombay Gymkhana here. The 16-year-old Fadte defeated another unseeded player, Chaitanya Shah of Mumbai, 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5 in the final to emerge champion. The corresponding girls' crown was lifted by unseeded Sanya Vats who stunned top seed Amita Gondi 11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 11-2 to clinch the title. "I have been playing Chaitanya in finals since I was 10 and have a long history with him. I kept things simple and made Chaitanya work around the court tiering him which made things easier for me," said Fadte after his title-triumph. Winners Fadte and Sanya went home richer by Rs 34,000 each while beaten finalists Shah and Amita were awarded Rs 20,000 each for their efforts. Results: U-19 boys (Final): Yash Fadte bt Chaitanya Shah 1-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5. U-19 girls (Final): Sanya Vats bt Amita Gondi [1] 11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 11-2.