Page 1474 - Sports
Odisha CM urges PM Modi to notify hockey as national game
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to officially recognise hockey as the national sport of India.As Odisha is all set to host the Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar in November this year, Patnaik said that he was shocked to learn that hockey -which is considered as our national game--has never been officially notified."As you know Sir, the next World Cup Hockey will be held in Odisha in November this year. While reviewing the preparations, I was surprised and shocked to know that what is popularly known as the National Game - Hockey, has in fact never been notified as our National Game," Patnaik pointed out in his letter to Prime Minister Modi.Patnaik then urged the Prime Minister to recognise hockey as the national game which will eventually serve as a tribute to the great hockey players who have made the nation proud."Hence I am sure you will agree with the crores of hockey loving fans of our country -that Hockey truly .
Ashbeer Saini sizzles with opening round seven-under-63 at Karnal
Twenty-four-year-old Ashbeer Saini of Kapurthala sizzled with a seven-under-63 on the opening day of the PGTI Feeder Tour event at the Madhuban Meadows Golf Club here. Saini enjoyed a healthy four-shot lead over the rest of the field. Vashista S Pawar of Coimbatore was in second place with a score of three-under-67. Saini, a 10th tee starter, had a whirlwind start as he picked up five birdies on his first 11 holes thanks to some quality chip-putts and a 20-feet conversion from off the green on the 17th. Ashbeer's only blemish came on the third where he three-putted for bogey but he followed that up with birdies on the next three holes to set up the tournament for himself. Saini, who turned professional in 2013 at the age of 19, said, This round is a big confidence-booster as I've been out of form for quite some time now due to a wrist injury I suffered couple of years back. I'm now back to full fitness and slowly regaining my rhythm. I drove it well today and converted everything on ..
Iran in U-turn on women in stadiums as World Cup fever takes hold
Tehran's largest football stadium is to admit thousands of women together with men for the first time since the the Islamic revolution of 1979 as World Cup fever grips Iran for its Wednesday evening group game against Spain. The decision to throw open the gates of the capital's 100,000 capacity Azadi Stadium for the landmark 10:30 pm (1800 GMT) live screening comes with Iran topping Group B after its opening game victory against Morocco on Friday. That game too had been due to be shown live in stadiums and parks but authorities cancelled all planned open-air screenings just hours before kick-off forcing fans to watch in cinemas. The U-turn by Tehran provincial council came after the 1-0 win over Morocco saw tens of thousands take to the streets of the capital in rare and wild celebration, many of them women. More than 10,000 tickets were expected to be put on sale for Wednesday's screening and at less than two euros each they were swiftly snapped up. Female member of parliament, ...
Six Indians enter quarters of Mongolian boxing tourney
Shiva Thapa (60kg) and L Sarita Devi (60kg) were among the prominent winners as six Indian boxers entered the quarterfinals to make a resounding start at the Ulaanbaatar Cup Tournament in Mongolia today. Ashish (64kg), Mandeep Jangra (69kg) and Salman Sheikh (52kg) joined Shiva in the quarters among the men after clinching contrasting victories. In the women's draw, national champion Sarjubala Devi (51kg) and veteran Sarita Devi made the last-eight stage. Three-time Asian medallist Shiva out-punched local hope Oyunbileg Munkhsaikhan in a unanimous verdict, while Salman took just two rounds to brush aside Korean Young Sik Bae's challenge. Ashish was given a tough time by local hope Mendsaikhan Batbayar before he prevailed 3-2, Mandeep gave quite a thrashing to Chinese Taipei's Hung Ming Pan in his win that took just about two rounds to come through. All the six boxers are now just one win away from securing themselves a medal. Next up for Shiva is Kyrgyzstan's Ravshanbek. Salman, on ...
No Asian footballer quota in I-League from next season
There will be no Asian player quota in the I-League from the upcoming season, it was decided the League Committee meeting of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) here on Wednesday.
TTFI announces India squad for Asian Games
A 10-member table tennis squad including Manika Batra and Sharath Kamal has been selected for the Asian Games by the the Table Tennis Federation Of India. Both the men's and women's team have undergone one change each from the successful Commonwealth Games campaign with young paddlers Manav Thakkar and Ayhika Mukharjee replacing Sanil Shetty and Pooja Sahasrabuddhe respectively. Tainted paddler Soumyajit Ghosh remained out of the team after he was accused of raping an 18-year-old, a charge he has denied. The Asian Games are set to begin from August 18 to September 2 in Indonesia. Teams: Men: Achanta Sharath Kamal, Gnanasekaran Sathiyan, Anthony Amalraj, Harmeet Desai. Manav Thakkar Women: Manika Batra, Mouma Das, Madhurika Patkar, Ayhika Mukharjee, Suthirta Mukherjee.
Hasek replaces Maradona at Al Fujairah
Czech Ivan Hasek will replace Diego Maradona as coach of UAE side Al Fujairah SC, Czech media reports said Wednesday. Hasek, 54, has signed a one-year deal to return to the club he previously managed in 2014-2015, Tyden daily reported. Maradona resigned in late April after failing to win promotion and then signed a three-year contract with Belarus side Dinamo Brest, to oversee "strategic development". Former Czech international Hasek won 56 caps between 1984 and 1994 and was twice elected Czech player of the season, spending his career with Sparta Prague and French side Racing Strasbourg. He has coached Sparta and Strasbourg as well as Saint-Etienne, Japan's Vissel Kobe, Dubai's Al Ahli, Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal and Qatar SC. Hasek was also president of the Czech football federation from 2009 to 2011.
Emery forces long-serving Wilshere to seek new pastures
England midfielder Jack Wilshere is to end almost two decades at Arsenal and leave on a free transfer after being told by manager Unia Emery he would not be a first choice next season. The 26-year-old -- scorer of 14 goals in his 197 appearances since making his debut for 'The Gunners' in 2008 -- said he had offered to take a pay cut, which persuaded former manager Arsene Wenger to recommend he be awarded a new contract. However, Emery told the injury-prone Wilshere -- who missed out on making the World Cup squad after his form faltered towards the end of the season -- even with that he would not be prominent in his planning for next season. "Following a number of extensive conversations with those at the club, and in particular a recent meeting with the new manager Unai Emery, I felt that I was ultimately left with little choice but to make the decision that I have due to purely footballing reasons," he said in a post on Instagram. "Following my meeting with the new manager I was ...
Messi's Argentina look to made amends against Croatia (Preview)
Captain Lionel Messi will again be the centre of attraction when Argentina look to recover from their shock draw against Iceland and record a victory against a confident Croatia in a crucial Group D clash here on Thursday.
Sam Curran, Overton added to England ODI squad
England on Wednesday added Sam Curran and Craig Overton to their squad for the final two games of the One Day International (ODI) Series against Australia.
VAR, free-kick crackers make it 'set-piece World Cup'
VAR and a trio of spectacular free kicks have led to a spike in the number of goals from set plays in Russia, with some already calling it "the World Cup of set pieces". With all the teams having played at least one game, roughly half of the goals at the tournament so far have come from set pieces -- which will disappoint the football purists. It led to one joke doing the rounds on social media saying that the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system, which is making its World Cup debut, will have more assists than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Aliou Cisse, coach of Senegal, said: "We know that nowadays defensive systems are very tight so set pieces will be decisive weapons during the group matches." The numbers bear that out. Following Sweden's 1-0 win against South Korea on Monday, thanks to a penalty awarded with the help of VAR, football analytics firm Opta Sports said 53.8 percent of the 26 goals up to that point had come from set plays. That chimes with the calculations of ...
Blatter in Moscow for 'private' visit: Kremlin
Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter is in Moscow on a private visit meaning that all the meetings he has during his stay in the Russian capital will be private as well, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednsesday.
Argentina wraps up training for momentous Croatia duel
Argentina's national team on Wednesday completed its final training session in the Russian town of Bronnitsy near Moscow before heading to Nizhny Novgorod, where they will face Croatia in their second 2018 FIFA World Cup match in Group D.
Scoring winner in World Cup opener is dream come true: England skipper
England football captain Harry Kane has said scoring the winner at such a high level was a dream come true, according to an interview shared by the English Football Association on Wednesday.
AIFF reduces foreign player quota from 2019-20 season, abolishes Asian player rule
Including an Asian among their six foreign players will not be binding on I-League clubs in the next domestic season, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) said today while putting the cap on number of overseas stars to five from 2019-20. This was decided at the AIFF's League Committee meeting, which was chaired by senior vice president Subrata Dutta. "Regarding the foreign player rule, the committee decided to keep the regulations same as last year and abolish the rules governing the Asian player quota. Teams can now sign any six foreign players without signing any Asian quota player in the 2018-19 season," the AIFF said in a release. "However, from 2019-20 season of the I-League the foreign player registration will be reduced to a maximum five," it added. According to earlier regulations, it was mandatory for I league clubs to include an Asian among the foreign players. The committee met at the AIFF headquarters here to discuss matters concerning the I-League, AIFF Youth Leagues .
Big brands battle it out off the pitch at World Cup
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Soccer fans craving a Kit Kat, Snickers or Bounty snack at Russia's World Cup soccer stadiums need to do a bit of lateral thinking to get their chocolate fix.
Murray will wait to decide on Wimbledon bid
Andy Murray will wait to see how his body responds to his first competitive match for 11 months before deciding whether to compete at Wimbledon. Murray was beaten 2-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-5 by Australia's Nick Kyrgios in the Queen's Club first round on Tuesday as the former world number one returned from the hip injury that required surgery in January and wiped out the second half of last season. The 31-year-old Scot, back on court for the first time since a Wimbledon quarter-final defeat against Sam Querrey 342 days ago, had low expectations of his return after several aborted comeback attempts. Although the two-time Wimbledon champion, whose ranking has plummeted to 156, showed signs of rust in his shot-making and movement at times, he was generally encouraged by his gutsy display. However, Murray admitted to feeling stiffness in his back during the match and his foot afterwards, prompting him to make it clear he is still unsure if his body can hold up to the demands of best-of-five-set ...
England call up Curran and Overton for final two Australia ODIs
England have added pace bowlers Sam Curran and Craig Overton to their squad as they go in search of an unprecedented 5-0 one-day international series whitewash of arch-rivals Australia, it was announced Wednesday. Eoin Morgan's men took an unassailable 3-0 lead in Nottingham on Tuesday when they posted a new world record total at this level of 481 for six. Spin bowlers Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali then shared seven wickets between them at Trent Bridge as England won by the colossal margin of 242 runs. It was England's heaviest ODI victory, in terms of runs, and world champions Australia's largest defeat. But with pace-bowling all-rounders Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes missing the series through injury, England have decided to bolster their attack ahead of two ODIs in four days. "Surrey's Sam Curran and Somerset's Craig Overton have been called up from the Lions (the national A side) to join England's squad for the final two Royal London ODIs against Australia," said an England and Wales ...
Curran, Overton in England squad for remaining Australia ODIs
Surrey's Sam Curran and Somerset's Craig Overton have been added to the 13-man England squad for the final two ODIs of the ongoing five-match series against Australia.Both players will now travel to Chester-le-Street and will be available for selection for the fourth ODI at Emirates Riverside on Thursday and the final match of the series at Emirates Old Trafford on Sunday, providing additional fast-bowling options.The duo had been in the England Lions squad for the tri-series against India A and West India A, which starts at the 3aaa County Ground in Derby on Friday.In the absence of Curran and Overton, Chris Jordan has been added to the Lions squad, and will be available for the first two matches of the Tri-Series in Derby - against India A on Friday June 22 and West Indies A the following day.Overton will rejoin the Lions next week and will be available to play the remaining matches of the tri-series.England have already clinched the series 3-1 following their thumping win by 242 ...
Asian rivals' winning performances stimulate South Korea, says Jung
South Korean defensive midfielder Jung Woo-young on Wednesday said that other Asian teams' winning performances at the 2018 FIFA World Cup gives stimulations to his team.