Page 1293 - Sports
Atletico Madrid hold final practice before flying to Italy
Atletico Madrid carried out their final practice session on Friday before flying to Bruneck, Italy to complete training sessions in preparation for upcoming friendlies.
We need players who are proud to play for Germany: Neuer
The German national football team requires major changes if they are to recover quickly from the disappointment of its early exit from the 2018 World Cup, said German team captain and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
Virat's knock will spur his teammates: Gayle
Virat Kohli's hundred in the first Test against England provides just the kind of inspiration that a struggling Indian batting line-up needed, feels Chris Gayle. Kohli scored a classic 149, his first hundred in England to rescue India from a precarious position in the first Test. "I was busy with a shoot in Mumbai yesterday and only watched the highlights. It was a captain's knock from Virat. The best part was how he batted with the tail. That is the perfect start you want in a series," Gayle told reporters during an interaction at a promotional event on poker. While the other Indian batsmen came a cropper, Gayle expects that Kohli's will certainly lift the spirits. "A knock like this, especially from the captain and lot have been said about his form in England and hopefully this knock will spur him and the team during the series," the flamboyant Jamaican said. When asked if India could win the series against England, Gayle replied: "Why not? Aren't they humans?" Asked to compare Joe .
1st Test: NACC blames pricing for poor attendance
The National Asian Cricket Council (NACC) has blamed excessive ticket prices for the lack of crowd at the ongoing first Test between India and England here.
Rate this knock second to Adelaide 2014: Kohli
Virat Kohli single-handedly kept India in the first Test with his maiden hundred in England but the captain would still rate the memorable knock second to his 141 in a lost run-chase against Australia in Adelaide almost four years ago. "I don't know. This could come second to Adelaide. Adelaide remains very special to me. It was second innings and we were chasing a target (364) on day five," Kohli told 'bcci.tv' after his masterful 149 on day two here. "I had total clarity in my mind that we were going for the target. That was a beautiful zone to be in. About this innings, I am very happy and grateful," he added. Kohli had scored two hundreds in the game at Adelaide in December 2014 but lack of support led to India losing the game by 48 runs. It was tough in the middle yesterday with the ball moving around but Kohli overcame the challenge to register his first 40-plus score in England. His 149 was 15 more than the sum total of his 10 innings in England four years ago. Kohli was the ...
Fabio Fognini advances to Los Cabos semifinals
Top-seeded Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina breezed into the Mifel Open semifinals Thursday night, beating Egor Gerasimov of Belarus 6-1, 6-1. Del Potro won for the second straight night in the hard-court event after a rest break following a five-set loss to Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Del Potro has 22 career victories, winning this year on hard courts at Indian Wells and Acapulco. In the semifinals, the 2009 U.S. Open champion will face third-seeded Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the semifinals. Dzumhur beat American Michael Mmoh 6-2, 6-3. Dzumhur has three career victories, taking a grass-court tournament in June in Turkey after breaking through last year with indoor titles in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Second-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy will play British left-hander Cameron Norrie in the other semifinal. Fognini beat Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2, 6-2, and Norrie topped fourth-seeded Adrian Mannarino of France 6-4, 6-4. The 31-year-old Fognini, ...
Andy Murray sobs after another 3-set win in Washington
Andy Murray sat in his changeover chair and sobbed into a towel after winning his third consecutive three-setter to reach the Citi Open quarterfinals. Murray worked deep into the night to get past 93rd-ranked Marius Copil of Romania 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (4) in a match that ended just past 3 am. If Murray came to Washington in hopes of getting in some extra work as he tries to return to form after hip surgery in January, he is certainly accomplishing that. After rain delayed earlier action, three-time major champion Murray and Copil didn't even start playing until midnight as Thursday turned to Friday. By the end, there were 100 or so fans in the main stadium at the hard-court tuneup for the US Open. After taking a 5-0 lead in the opening-set tiebreaker, Murray dropped seven consecutive points to hand the lead over to Copil. Former No. 1-ranked Murray is now at No. 832. He returned from an 11-month absence in June, playing just three matches before arriving at the Citi Open. In Friday's ..
Sevilla eliminate Ujpest in Europa League qualifiers
Sevilla defeated Ujpest 3-1 in the second leg of their 2018-2019 Europa League second-round qualifier to win 7-1 on aggregate and claim a spot in the third round.
Colon beat Sao Paulo in Copa Sudamericana match
Argentine club Atletico Colon won 1-0 in an away match against Brazil's Sao Paulo FC in the first leg of the second round of the Copa Sudamericana football tournament here.
Saina knocked out of Badminton World C'ship
Indian shutller Saina Nehwal crashed out of the Badminton World Championship after going down against her Spanish opponent Carolina Marin in the quarter-final clash of the women's singles event here on Friday.The former world number one slumped to 6-21, 11-21 straight set defeat in the match that lasted 31 minutes.The tenth-seeded Indian, who was unstoppable in her pre-quarters clash against Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, failed to emulate the same against the world number eight Spaniard.Taking the opening serve, the 28-year-old started with a brilliant rally but her defensive approach resulted in Marin taking the initial lead.The Spanish shuttler kept on attacking and nothing seemed to be working for the world number ten Indian as Marin took the healthy lead of nine points.By the mid-interval, the scoreline read 11-2 in the favour of Marin. Continuing to rise on the points table, Marin won the first game 21-6 with a stunning smash.The second game started on a promising note for the ..
Venus beats Heather at Silicon Valley Classic
Venus Williams beat Britain's Heather Watson in a three-set battle at the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic tennis tournament here.
Badminton World: Saina, Ashwini-Satwik lose in quarters
India's Saina Nehwal and the mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa lost in the quarter-finals of the Badminton World Championships here on Friday.
Marin outplays Saina in quarters of World Championships
Saina Nehwal's impressive run came to a disappointing end at the World Championships as she suffered a straight-game loss to two-time champion Carolina Marin here today. It turned out to be a lop-sided contest between the 2015 edition finalists as reigning Olympic champion Marin once again produced her 'A' game on the big occasion to complete an emphatic 21-6 21-11 victory. Mixed doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy also couldn't cross the quarterfinal hurdle, losing 17-21 10-21 to top seeds Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong of China. A 5-4 head-to-head count meant little as Marin dismantled Saina with consummate ease. The Spaniard stamped her authority on the match, parading the court and screaming her heart out after winning every point. "Her movement was very quick today. She was moving so fast and covering the court very quickly. The kind of shots that she played, it seemed like she was suddenly very fast. Also I had a late match yesterday so to face someone so
'Little Singham' mobile game launched, turns out to be a hit
Anil Ambani-led Reliance Entertainments gaming destination Zapak has launched a "Little Singham" mobile game, which has garnered over 3 million downloads.
Bhullar moves to 5th; Sandhu also makes cut at Fiji International
Indian golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar recovered from a shaky start to card three-under 69 for a share of the fifth spot at the midway stage of the Fiji International tournament here. Bhullar stands five-under overall. He is six shots behind the runaway leader Kiwi Ben Campbell, who shot 67 after his first round 66 to get to 11-under. Of the four Indians in the field, Ajeetesh Sandhu (73-73) was the only other one to make the cut, while Shiv Kapur (80-72) and Chiragh Kumar (77-80) missed out. Bhullar, on his maiden visit to Fiji, is enjoying some unexpected fan following. 'Bula' in Fiji means 'Hello' and it rhymes well with his surname. The eight-time Asian Tour winner, smiled and said, "Every time I'm here (at the golf course), every third person is calling out my surname, 'Bula, Bula.' It's very good. I'm enjoying myself. My wife is here and we are enjoying ourselves, having a great time. It's a great place." Campbell, whose sole professional win came earlier this year at the NZ PGA on ..
Lahiri tied 7th after flying start, Woods 14th
Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri shot a fine 5-under 65 to position himself in tied-7th place after the opening day of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club here. Landing six birdies against one solitary bogey, Lahiri was three shots behind the leader and two-time WGC winner, Ian Poulter, whose 8-under 62 tied the record for lowest first-round score in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. India's other player in the field, Shubhankar Sharma shot 2-over 72 and was T-63rd in the 71-man field. Sharma had two birdies against four bogeys in his third WGC appearance. Tiger Woods, T-6 at the Open last month, and an eight-time winner at Firestone, opened with a 66 to sit at T-14. Woods beginning on No. 10, sank a 50-foot birdie putt from off the green at No. 18 to make the turn in 3-under 32. His only bogey of the day came at his last hole, No. 9. Englishman Poulter produced his lowest round in eight years with eight birdies and no bogeys as favourable scoring conditions ...
It was eye-opening to watch Kohli bat, says Curran
Rookie England pacer Sam Curran says it was unreal to perform the way he did only in his second Test though bowling to Indian captain Virat Kohli made him think more about his bowling. Kohli struck a majestic 22nd Test hundred, as India didn't let advantage slip on day two at Edgbatson. England lead by overall 22 runs in the series opener, with nine wickets to play with. Curran said that Kohli's 57-run partnership with Ishant Sharma frustrated the hosts but they will try to fight back on day three. "We had them at 100 for five, and felt in the game but then Virat played really well with their tail and frustrated us a little bit. Numbers 9, 10 or 11 aren't walkovers anymore, and they can all hold a bat now. It was a frustrating partnership, but we've just got to be positive going into tomorrow," said Curran after close of play on day two. "Credit to a great innings there. I'm only in my second game, but I think it was a little eye-opener for watching the way he bats and how precise ...
Virat's flexible approach and pursuit of excellence set him apart: Bangar
Virat Kohli's flexible approach to batting and relentless pursuit of excellence enabled the Indian captain to script a spectacular turnaround and score his maiden hundred on English soil, said assistant coach Sanjay Bangar. England finished the day two of the first Test 22 runs ahead, after India were bowled out for 274 runs in the first innings with Kohli making a memorable 149. The defining knock exorcised the ghosts of 2014 tour of England where Kohli could only muster 134 runs in 10 innings at an average of 13.4. "I would say that this innings showed different facets of Virat's batting. The main thing is that Virat is flexible about his batting approach. Most of the batters are not flexible when it comes to changing technique or approach. But Virat in this respect is different, said Bangar after stumps on day two. "He showed terrific discipline I felt. At no instance did he reach out for the ball, and probably couple of our other batsmen reached out, which caused their downfall. ..
Schniederjans leads Barracuda Championship
Ollie Schniederjans eagled the closing hole on Thursday to take a three-point lead in the PGA Tour Barracuda Championship in Nevada, played using the Modified Stableford scoring system. Schniederjans landed his five-iron three feet from the pin to set up the eagle on the par-five finishing hole at Montreaux Golf and Country Club in Reno. The eagle was especially valuable in the uniquely scored event, which rather than counting strokes awards points: eight for an albatross, five for an eagle, two for a birdie, zero for par, minus one for a bogey and minus three for double bogey or worse. "Eagles are huge in this format," Schniederjans said. "So, it's a little more nerve-wracking, three-footer being three more points. It's interesting you have putts that are worth more than others." Schniederjans, who made six birdies, finished the first round on 17 points, three more than Australian Aaron Baddeley and American Denny McCarthy. American Robert Streb was alone on 13 points. McCarthy was ..
After Pacquiao loss, ex-WBA champ Matthysse calls time on career
Just two weeks after a punishing knockout loss to Filipino great Manny Pacquiao, Argentine former WBA welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse announced his retirement on Thursday. "Today I decided to hang up the gloves, another stage in my life is beginning," said the 35-year-old Matthysse, who ends his 43-fight career with a record of 38 wins, 36 inside the distance, for just five defeats and one no contest. Matthysse's last fight was a seventh round stoppage loss to Pacquiao in Kuala Lumpur, in which the previously explosive Argentine looked past his best. "Pacquiao is a great boxer, I lost to a legend," he said. "I'm proud to have stayed at the top for 10 years fighting the best in the world." He won the WBA welterweight title in January with an eighth round knockout of Thailand's Tewa Kiram. He previously held the interim WBC super-lightweight title but was narrowly beaten by American Danny Garcia in Las Vegas in 2013 when challenging for the full strap.