Page 1438 - Sports

India lose 2-3 to Australia, suffer first defeat in Champions Trophy hockey

India put up a valiant fight before defending champions Australia pipped them 3-2 in an absorbing encounter in the six-nation Champions Trophy hockey tournament, here today. The reigning World Champions produced their best show of the tournament, scoring through Lachlan Sharp (6th minute), Tom Craig (15th) and Trent Mitton (33rd) to secure full points. The Indians, however fought till the end, scoring through Varun Kumar (10th) and Harmanpreet Singh (58th), producing a nail-biting finish. The defeat meant that India slumped to third spot in the standings with six points from three games while Australia climbed to the top with seven points from identical number of matches. Netherlands are second in the table with six points. The top two sides after the round robin stage of the six-team event, will play in the final on Sunday. India's next match is against Belgium tomorrow. The match witnessed plenty of scoring chances earned by both the sides in the form of penalty corners. While ...

Koreas to meet Asian Games officials over joint teams

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) said today it would meet with representatives from South and North Korea to hammer out plans to field joint teams at the Asian Games. The sit-down with members of the National Olympic Committees of both countries, and Indonesian organisers of the Games, is set for tomorrow in Jakarta, it said. "We hope to decide everything on Thursday because there is not a lot of time left," the OCA, the Games' governing body, said in a statement. "The South Koreans have an idea of how many sports could feature a joint team, and we need to discuss this with North Korea." North and South Korea agreed this month to form unified teams for some sports and march together at the Games' opening and closing ceremonies, in the latest sign of thawing tensions. The two Koreas formed their first-ever unified Olympic team -- a joint women's ice hockey squad -- for February's Winter Games in the South Korean resort of Pyeongchang. "It is very exciting times on the Korean peninsula

Jinson smashes legendary Sriram's 42-year-old 800m national record

Jinson Johnson ran one of the most memorable races in recent times as he smashed legendary Sriram Singh's 42-year-old 800m record, the oldest one in Indian athletics, to steal the spotlight on the second day of the 58th National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships here today. The 27-year-old Johnson, representing Kerala, clocked one minute and 45.65 seconds to clinch the gold and to better the earlier record of 1:45.77 in the name of Sriram set during the 1976 Olympic Games. He also booked a ticket for the Asian Games as the qualification mark is 1:47.50. I have been improving my physical fitness and the conditions were very good. Before the race, I was not thinking about the gold. I told myself that I will go for the national record, Jinson said after the race. Jinson's earlier personal best was 1:45.98 in Bangalore in 2016. My (earlier) personal best timing was not that far away (from Sriram's). So I knew I can break it and I have done today. I was disappointed that I ...

Ajax agree on signing of Southampton midfielder Tadic

AFC Ajax on Wednesday reached an agreement with English Premier League (EPL) side Southampton to buy Serbian attacking midfielder Dusan Tadic.

Ireland put India in to bat in first T20I

Ireland skipper Gary Wilson won the toss and opted to field against India in the first of the two-match T20I series here on Wednesday.

Perception towards women's cricket has changed: Mithali

Legendary cricketer Mithali Raj, who has been playing for two decades, believes that things for women's cricket changed after the last year's World Cup. India ended as a runner up in the Women's World Cup when they were defeated by hosts England in the final played last July. "It hasn't been very easy to take up a sport which was a very male-dominant sport back then in the 90s," Mithali, who made her ODI debut in 1999, said at an event here. "I am sure after the World Cup things have changed (for women's cricket)...perception about people in India has changed towards women's cricket and things look very good from now on under BCCI," she said after the launch of UN Women's 'Mujhe Haq Hai' anthem . Mithali also said her parents stood by her every time. "I am sure, Sania (Mirza) will also agree that we had our parents to support us through thick and thin and that is why they have been the revolutionist to give us the stage and the platform and give us the independence to ...

India bat in first T20 as Ireland opt to bat

Ireland won the toss and put India in to bat in the opening T20 International of the two-match series here today. Teams: Ireland: Gary Wilson(captain), Paul Stirling, James Shannon, Andrew Balbirnie, Simi Singh, Stuart Poynter(w), Kevin O Brien, Stuart Thompson, George Dockrell, Boyd Rankin, Peter Chase. India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli(captain), Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal.

India go down fighting 2-3 to Australia in Champions Trophy hockey

India fought valiantly before going down 2-3 to world champions Australia to slump to its first defeat in the FIH Champions Trophy hockey tournament, here today. Australia produced their best show of the tournament and scored through Lachlan Sharp (6th minute), Tom Craig (15th) and Trent Mitton (33rd) to secure full points. The Indians, however, did not give up and fought till the end, scoring through Varun Kumar (10th) and Harmanpreet Singh (58th), producing a nail-biting finish. The loss meant India slumped to third spot in the standings with six points from two wins behind hosts Netherlands (6 points), while Australia climbed to the top with seven points from three games. The top two sides after the round robin stage of the six-team event will play in the fina of the tournament on Sunday. India will next play Belgium tomorrow.

England defender Rose changes mind on family visiting Russia

England defender Danny Rose has changed his mind about the security situation in Russia after arriving in the country for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Hima steals show, wins gold in 200m to book Asian Games ticket

Hima Das lived up to her fast rising sprint star status as she pocketed the gold in women's 200m race in a meet record-equalling time of 23.10 seconds to book a ticket for the Asian Games, on day two of the 58th National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships here today. Running at lane number 7, the 18-year-old local favourite led the final race from start to the end as she left behind Dutee Chand (23.41) of Odisha by a big gap at the finish line to clock a personal best time. Another Odisha woman Srabani Nanda took the bronze in 23.87. Dutee also booked an Asian Games berth as the qualifying time in this event is 23.50. She had already clocked 23.46 in one of the heats yesterday. There was a slight drizzle just before the start of the race but that did not have any effect on Das producing a fast timing and she raised her hand after crossing the finishing line to celebrate her victory. "I am happy to have run my personal best at my home track. It is special," said Hima. Born in ..

Fit-again Maxwell to return for one-off England T20I

Australian right-hand batsman Glenn Maxwell, who was recently out of action due to a shoulder injury, is all set to make a return in the T20I side for the one-off match against England to be played on June 27 here at Edgbaston Cricket Ground.The destructive batsman was forced to miss the last two matches of five-match ODI series against England after he sustained the injury on his shoulder while diving in the field at Trent Bridge.The Tim Paine-led side, who slumped to an embarrassing 0-5 defeat at the hands of the hosts in one-day series, will be heading into the match on the back of six-match winning streak in T20 Internationals.Moreover, Australia had also defeated England twice in February before emerging victorious in the T20I series, also featuring New Zealand.And Australian T20I captain Aaron Finch assured that the team would not be carrying the baggage of ODI defeat into the T20 match."We had a debrief from the (ODI) series a couple of days ago and, not moved on as such, but ..

Neymar scores! And sister dislocates shoulder

When Neymar finally scored against Costa Rica, Brazil cheered, the superstar striker cried, and his sister... dislocated her shoulder. Brazil's SporTV reported today that Rafaella Santos was so excited at her brother's last-gasp goal in the tricky win against minnows Costa Rica on Friday that she collided with a friend and injured her arm. She later posted a picture of herself on social media showing her left arm in a sling. The goal made it 2-0 for Brazil just before the final whistle, at which Neymar, the world's most expensive player, collapsed onto his knees and sobbed. He has been heavily criticized by fans in Brazil for his performance so far at the championship in Russia. The Paris Saint-Germain striker is under heavy pressure to deliver against Serbia on Wednesday. He is playing after a lengthy layoff due to surgery on a broken foot bone.

Selection for WC will depend on how others perceive my game: Ashwin

Having lost his ODI spot to younger crop of wrist spinners, senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has resigned himself to the fate that his comeback will solely depend on how "others perceive" his brand of cricket. Ashwin and another senior spinner Ravindra Jadeja have lost their places to young duo of leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and chinaman Kuldeep Yadav, who have done well to become automatic selections. Since getting the axe in 50-over format, Ashwin had been repeatedly asked about his future and as usual gave a pointed reply. "It entirely depends on what other people (team management and selectors) perceive of my cricket. It's definitely not in my control. Like any other cricketer, I want to wear the blue jersey and represent India at the World Cup. That's obviously there deep with in," Ashwin told reporters at the unveiling of his Tamil nadu Premier League side Dindigul Dragons. With Chahal and Kuldeep firmly entrenched, it seemed that Ashwin has made peace with the fact that .

Pekerman 'optimistic' as Colombia seek 'decisive' Senegal win

Jose Pekerman has refused to entertain the prospect of seeing Colombia's stuttering World Cup campaign end with their final Group H clash against Senegal tomorrow. Despite following a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Japan with a decisive 3-0 win over Poland, Colombia need to beat the on-form Africans in Samara if they are to avoid what would be seen as an embarrassing exit. "We came here for more, so it wouldn't be a good result for us not to reach the second round," Pekerman said. Elimination "isn't something we're even considering," he added. After years of struggling to progress to the latter stages, James Rodriguez's tournament-topping six goals steered Colombia to their best ever finish of the quarter-finals in Brazil four years ago. But with only three points to their name in Russia, anything less than a win against Aliou Cisse's Senegal side would see 'Los Cafeteros' (Coffee Makers) exit the tournament. Colombia failed to qualify from 2002 to 2010, and their previous two campaigns,

Ankita out of Wimbledon qualifiers, Vardhan-Balaji pair and Jeevan qualify

Ankita Raina's hopes of a maiden Grand Slam main draw appearance ended in a heartbreaking defeat but the Indian pair of Vishnu Vardhan and N Sriram Balaji succeeded in their effort and qualified for the main draw alongside Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, who partnered Austin Krajicek in the Wimbledon qualifiers. Ankita lost 2-6 7-5 4-6 to the Russian world number 132 against Vitalia Diatchenko after a brave two-hour-23-minute battle in the second round of the grass court major. India has not seen a female singles player competing in the singles Grand Slams since Sania Mirza's first round loss at the 2012 Australian Open. It was a second meeting between the two players with the Russian emerging victorious way back in 2014, also in an ITF event in Egypt. However, there were cheers for the Indian fans with Vardhan and Balaji booking their berth in the men's doubles draw following a 6-3 6-4 win over top seeds Denys Molchanov and Igor Zelenay in the second round. It will be a maiden Grand Slam main

Manu shoots another gold with world record, bronze for Anish

Teen sensation Manu Bhaker fired her way to an individual gold medal with a world record score while Anish Bhanwala bagged a bronze as India continued their dominance at the ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany today. The 16-year-old Manu shot 242.5 to win the top prize in 10m air pistol event and Anish added to India's tally by finishing third in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol. This was the year's seventh individual gold in an International Shooting Sport Federation competition for Manu and the third with a world record. Their efforts took India's tally in the competition to an impressive haul of 17 medals so far. Manu shot 242.5 in the 24-shot final, to claim yet another junior world record, shrugging off the challenge of China's Kaiman Lu, whose silver winning effort of 236.9 was a massive 5.6 points behind the Indian's score. Chinese Xue Li won bronze with a final round score of 216.2. Manu had earlier combined with teammates Mahima Turhi Agrawal and Devanshi Rana to win the ...

Sindhu, Srikanth in pre-quarters; Praneeth, Satwik-Chirag exit Malaysia Open

P.V. Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the second round but B. Sai Praneeth and the young men's doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy exited the Malaysia Open badminton championships in the opening round on Wednesday.

Serena is surprise 25th seed at Wimbledon, Halep 1st

United States tennis star Serena Williams was on Wednesday named as the surprise 25th seed in the upcoming 2018 Wimbledon tennis tournament, despite being ranked world No.183.

Arjun Sharma maintains lead on day two in Jaipur

First round joint leader Arjun Sharma of Greater Noida maintained his position atop the leaderboard on day two of the PGTI Feeder Tour event at the Rambagh Golf Club here today. Sharma returned an error-free three-under-67 today to take the sole lead at seven-under-133 on a rainy and windy day. Chandarjeet Yadav (67) of Panchkula was one shot adrift in second place. Arjun Sharma (66-67), one of the five joint leaders in round one, further consolidated his position on day two despite the tough weather conditions. His 67 was the day's joint best score. Sharma struggled with his hitting in the initial stages of his round and scrambled with some quality chip-putts on the first four holes. The 25-year-old then found his ball-striking rhythm from the fifth hole onwards. Arjun, who turned professional in 2015, pocketed two birdies in quick succession on the sixth and eighth, making a 50-feet conversion on the former, to rise above the rest of the field. After missing a few short birdie putts

Liverpool give Keita Gerrard's No.8 shirt

Liverpool on Wednesday announced that new midfield signing Naby Keita will play wearing the No.8 shirt last worn by club legend and former captain Steven Gerrard.