Page 141 - Sports
Our performance speaks for itself, says Chauhan
Indian women's football team goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan Friday said it was great that people have realised the potential of women's football in the country and her team's performance spoke for itself. Earlier in March, India continued its dominance at the SAFF Women's Championship by lifting its fifth straight title with a 3-1 victory over hosts Nepal in the final. "It (the scenario) is changing. Since December, we have played 20 international matches, which is the best till now in my 10-11 year career in the national team. That is the most we have played in such a short duration," Chauhan told reporters here. Chauhan and India's fastest woman Dutee Chand were present for the launch of 'Skechers GoRun 7'. "There is lot of effort being put in by the AIFF and the government to bring us to a level and for the world to notice. "Because of that experience and match practice, we got a good result in SAFF championship, beating Nepal in the final and then qualifying for second ...
Pantsulaia, Tukhaev settle for draw
GM Levan Pantsulaia of Georgia settled for a draw with GM Adam Tukhaev from Ukraine in the seventh round of the 12th Mumbai Mayor's Cup here Friday. Pantsulaia (Elo 2614) and Tukhaev (Elo 2527) called truce after 55 moves. Pantsulaia, playing white, couldn't get much out Reti opening. As the game progressed, it was Tukhaev who slowly improved the position of his pieces and built up considerable pressure on the white's kingside. Soon things started looking ominous for white, but just then, Tukhaev made some loose moves allowing his opponent to escape with a draw on board 2. Meanwhile, the top board witnessed an engrossing encounter between GM Samwel Ter Sahakyan (Elo 2611) of Armenia and GM Amonatov Farrukh (Elo 2624) of Tajikistan, which also ended in a draw.
We have not played anywhere near our best cricket: Finch
Australia are comfortably placed on the points table with wins in three out their World Cup games but skipper Aaron Finch feels his team has played nowhere near to its potential. At the top of the order Finch, David Warner and Steve Smith, have hit the ground running with big scores aplenty. But the middle order has yet to fire with Marcus Stoinis's side strain that will keep him out of the Sri Lanka clash at the Oval on Saturday not helping matters. While in the bowing department, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc remain two of the world's best but behind them spots are still up for grabs. But with so much cricket still to come, Finch is confident that their best cricket is just around the corner. "I don't think we have gone anything near our best which is still a good thing. We have six points on the board but are not playing anywhere near our best cricket which is a real positive," said Finch here on Friday. "But as long as we are improving and continue to go up and not backwards, I .
Chotrani, Agarwal in semifinals
Veer Chotrani and Abhishek Agarwal, both from hosts Maharashtra, sailed into the men's semifinals at the MSRA 76th Senior National Squash Championship here on Friday. In the quarter finals, unseeded Chotrani continued his impressive run by ousting seeded Sandeep Jangra of Services 11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 11-5. Third seed Agarwal struggled midway but recovered to get past Ranjit Singh, also of Services, 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 11 -9 to enter the last four. In the women's quarter finals, third seed Tanvi Khanna of Delhi stopped host state player Sunita Patel's run closing out the match 11-4, 11-6, 11-6. Results: Men (Quarter finals): Veer Chotrani (Mah) bt (9/16) Sandeep Jangra (Ser) 11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 11-5; (3/4) Abhishek Agarwal (Mah) bt (5/8) Ranjit Singh (Ser) 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9. Women (Quarter finals): (3/4) Tanvi Khanna (Del bt Sunita Patel (Mah) 11-4, 11-6, 11-6.
South Africa score late goal to enter title clash of FIH Series Finals
South Africa scored a late goal to eke out a 2-1 victory over the USA and enter the summit clash of the FIH Series Finals hockey tournament here Friday. The first semifinal between South Africa, the second highest ranked team in the tournament at 16, and world no. 25 USA was a hard-fought duel with the Americans looking on course for another upset win till the 42nd minute. Despite South Africa dominating the early exchanges, it was USA who took the lead in the 15th minute through a penalty corner conversion by Aki Kaeppeler. Stunned by the goal, the Africans pressed hand in the second quarter but failed to utilise the chances and USA went into the breather leading by a solitary goal. South Africa kept up the pressure in the third quarter and eqaulised when Austin Smith converted a penalty corner in the 42nd minute. From there on, both the teams tried hard to score the all-important winner but just when it looked the tournament would witness its first shoot-out, South Africa capitalise
Wood & Archer steal show as Windies fold up for 212
England's Jofra Archer and Mark Wood blew West Indies away with serious pace as they were bundled out for just 212 in 44.4 overs, in their World Cup clash on Friday. Archer (3/30) and Wood (3/18) got support from Chris Woakes (1/16) as Nicholas Pooran was the sole batsman who looked good during his 63 off 78 balls (3x4, 1x6).
Justin Langer aware of challenges ahead of Australia if Stoinis fails to recover
Australia are going to face some major challenges in their upcoming matches in the ongoing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup as the team's coach Justin Langer is still uncertain about Marcus Stoinis' comeback.Langer said that they will have to adapt if the all-rounder fails to feature in the team again."We've talked a bit about it, but we'll just see how he pulls up over the next few days. We know that it's important to have an all-rounder in the side if we can and if we can't we've got to adapt but we'll just have to see how he pulls up," Cricket.com.au quoted Langer as saying.Stoinis picked a left side strain while bowling during his team's match against India on Sunday. Keeping the seriousness of the injury in mind, the team has called Mitch Marsh to London, who will join the squad as cover.During their match against Pakistan, the Australia skipper was forced to bowl two overs in the match because of Stoinis' absence and conceded 13 runs but was able to take the crucial wicket of ...
Eden Hazard hails Kylian Mbappe, Paul Pogba
Eden Hazard, who recently joined Real Marid, said that Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe and Manchester United's Paul Pogba are two of the best players even as he refused to talk about their transfer to Real Madrid from their respective clubs.However, the former Chelsea player Hazard refused to shed any light on the rumours of Mbappe and Pogba joining Real Madrid as well for the next season."I'm not here to discuss transfers. I came to play with the best. There are new players already and we'll have some time to adapt. It's true that we want to play with the best and the guys you've mentioned are two of those, but I don't decide these things," Goal.com quoted Hazard as saying.Hazard opined over his career also and said that he is in the best moment of his career."I do not think it's too late, I'm 28 years old, I think I'm in the best moment of my career. The dream of playing for Madrid has been there for a long time but in my career I have always had several stages and now I ...
England pacers sink West Indies despite Pooran's maiden fifty
Nicholas Pooran chose the biggest stage to strike his maiden ODI fifty but West Indies' big guns failed to fire as England pacers bounced out the Caribbeans for a paltry 212 in their World Cup match, here Friday. Young pacer Jofra Archer (3/30) had the West Indies batsmen dancing on the pitch, troubling them with the steep bounce after home skipper Eoin Morgan opted to field. The England pace battery, including Archer, Mark Wood (3/18), Chris Woakes (1/16), Liam Plunkket (1/30) delivered the goods for the home favourites, taking just 44.4 overs to bowl out the Caribbeans. Extravagance, when the situation demanded patience, resulted in Chris Gayle (36) and Andre Russell (21) throwing away their wickets. Had it not been for some sensible batting by young Pooran (63) and Shimron Hetmyer (39), who added 89 runs for the fourth wicket, the West Indies would have struggled to cross the 200-run mark. The ball was hurrying on to the batsmen and whether it was a Shai Hope (11) or big-hitting ...
Gilchrist masterclass denies Kothari a double
Reigning world champion Sourav Kothari was denied a back-to-back title when veteran Peter Gilchrist won the 2019 Pacific International Billiards Championship with a commanding display here Friday. Kolkata cueist Kothari had been on a roll winning the International Reventon Classic Snooker championship, a triple crown event of Australia and thereafter went on to display some outstanding billiards en-route the final. But in the final, the former multiple times world billiards champion from Singapore was at his best to tame the Indian cueist 1500-706. The seasoned campaigner and world record holder of highest billiards break of 1346 under modern rules, Gilchrist avenged his 2018 WBL World Billiards Championship defeat in the finals in Leeds. In the race to 1500 points final, Kothari drew the first blood with a magnificent break of 290 points showing early promise of a great battle ahead. However, unperturbed by the initial blow by Kothari, Gilchrist in his characteristic style parked ...
Shivpal finishes 8th in Diamond League javelin throw
In his first Diamond League appearance, Indian javelin thrower Shivpal Singh finished eighth with a best effort of 80.87m here. The 23-year-old Shivpal had won a silver in the Asian Championships in April with a personal best of 86.23m, but in the Norwegian capital, he could only come up with 80.87m in a nine-man field on Thursday All the other competitors also came up with below-par performances with world champion Johannes Vetter of Germany winning the gold with a best throw of 85.27m. Magnus Kirt of Estonia was second with 84.74m while Asian record holder Cheng Chao-Tsun of Chinese Taipei was third with a best throw of 84.30m. Olympic champion Thomas Rohler of Germany was sixth with a below-par 82.63m.
Rain-threat on Akhtar's mind ahead of Indo-Pak clash
Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has joked that rain may reign supreme in the marquee World Cup clash between India and Pakistan in Manchester on Sunday.
Afghanistan, South Africa look for maiden win (Preview)
South Africa were never seen as one of the favourites to reach the last four of the ongoing World Cup largely due to their inexperienced batting line-up.
CWC '19: Wasim Akram's Australian wife is all praise for Pak team
Former Pakistan cricketer Wasim Akram's wife Shaniera Akram admitted that she was rooting for Pakistan during the match against defending champions Australia in the ongoing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup on Wednesday, even as she is an Australian national.After the match, which ended in Pakistan losing to Australia, Shaniera tweeted, "It's not over yet Pakistan. We need to fly the flag higher than ever before ! #CWC2019."She went on to post a series of tweets clarifying her decision of supporting the Sarfaraz Ahmed-led side during the match after she reportedly faced backlash on social media."A lot of comments surrounding my post yesterday & I completely understand that. To be honest I didn't know who I was going to support but when I saw our boys in green come out,I felt pride and I'm a part of that now, so I knew then and there who I was supporting (Pakistan flag emoji)," she tweeted.In another tweet, Shaniera said although she loves Australia, she is living with the people of ...
FIFA Rankings: India remains at 101, Belgium on top
India remains unmoved at 101 position, after FIFA, the apex body of football, released the latest team rankings on Friday.Belgium strengthens their top position adding nine points to the previous standings.India was not able to improve their rank as they remained at the same spot and their points too were unchanged from the previous standings of 1219 points.Interestingly, the top four teams were unmoved, FIFA World Cup 2018 winner France stayed in the second position. While Brazil and England were also able to hold there third and fourth position respectively.Portugal jumped two positions and finished at number four. FIFA World Cup runner-up, Croatia with one position down, settled at sixth rank.Spain moved two spots up and ended at seventh position whereas Uruguay, Switzerland and Denmark finished at eighth, ninth and tenth respectively.Iran climbed one spot and finished at 20th position, the only Asian nation in the Top 20. Iran is currently at the highest ranking among Asian ...
Rijiju meets athletes for morning jog, breakfast
Athletes at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium were in for a surprise on Friday morning as they were joined by Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju for a morning jog. Rijiju was keen to meet athletes during their training session for a first-hand experience of the sporting facilities being extended to them.
Howzat launches fantasy cricket league with huge welcome, referral bonuses
Howzat, India's most trusted fantasy sports game has launched an all-new Fantasy Cricket League with exciting bonuses and other lucrative offers.For a cricketing-crazy nation like India, Howzat hosts this Fantasy Cricket League in sync with the Cricket World Cup. It is a wonderful opportunity for people to use their cricket expertise and win huge rewards as well.Howzat is a go-to platform, be it for T20 formats, one day cricket or international formats like Cricket World Cup. People who want to play fantasy cricket, need to have passion and knowledge of cricket as well as an awareness about what is happening in the world of cricket."On signing up for the Fantasy Cricket League, users have a choice of entering contests by forming a team of 11 players. These players can be from any of the two teams playing in a particular contest. Each player is assigned some points based on their statistical data. A user will use his cricket knowledge along with player stats to strategize and build a ..
Thumb fracture no deterrent as Dhawan sweats it out in the gym
Opener Shikhar Dhawan is not letting his injury get the better of him as he strives to recover fast and get back to playing for India in the ongoing World Cup.
Fans gear up for high-octane clash between India & Pakistan
With fans willing to pay any amount to watch India-Pakistan fight it out at Manchester on Sunday, the expected hullabaloo around the age-old marquee fixture is at an all-time high, days before the action gets underway.
Real Madrid confirm signing of 'Japanese Messi' Kubo
Real Madrid confirmed the signing of Japanese teenager Takefusa Kubo on Friday. The 18-year-old joins from FC Tokyo and will play for Madrid's B team, Castilla, next season. "Takefusa Kubo will join Castilla next season," a Real Madrid statement read. "He is one of the most promising young players in world football, an attacking midfielder with excellent technique and great vision for the game." Kubo, who has been dubbed the "Japanese Messi", made his full international debut against El Salvador earlier this month and was also linked with Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Premier League champions Manchester City. Kubo earned his nickname after joining Barca's youth academy aged 10 but returned to Japan in 2015 as a result of FIFA sanctions handed to the club for breaching rules on signing under-age players. Barcelona have kept tabs on Kubo ever since but Madrid stole a march on their La Liga rivals with an offer of two million euros ($2.25 million) a year, according to Japanese ...