Page 1478 - Sports
Injured Yuki pulls out of Queen's Club opener, Bopanna in quarters
India's top singles player Yuki Bhambri was today forced to concede his opening round match against higher-ranked Milos Raonic of Canada at the Queen's Club Championship in London because of a knee injury. Yuki, ranked 84th in the world, was trailing 1-6 1-3 against world no.31 Raonic, when the Indian decided to forfeit the match after he started feeling pain in his knees and didn't want to aggravate it further. Yuki had qualified for the ATP 500 Fever-Tree Championships here after beating America's Taylor Fritz 6-4 6-2 in the second and final qualifying round. However, doubles specialist Rohan Bopanna and his French partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin entered the quarterfinals of the men's doubles event with straight sets 6-3 7-6(3) win over South Africa's Kevin Anderson and Julien Benneteau of France. Bopanna and Roger-Vasselin will next face top seeds Oliver Marach of Austria and Croatia's Mate Pavic. Meanwhile elsewhere, India's Purav Raja and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan have sailed it to ...
Indian paddlers have improved: Samara
Romanian Elizabeta Samara, who is representing Maharashtra United in the ongoing Ultimate Table Tennis league, believes that Indian paddlers have upped their game. "I have seen Indian players play international games and now in the UTT. They are really competitive to face and their understanding about the game has developed too," Samara, who is world no 19, was quoted as saying in a media release. In the player draft, Maharashtra United had picked Samara as its first foreign female player. A three-time European champion Samara, also has been playing mixed doubles in the league along with India's number 1 Amalraj Anthony. She has relished the new challenge alongside Anthony. "Anthony's urge to learn something new never fades. He uses his focus in a right direction and his study of the opposition during the game is very impressive," 29-year-old Samara pointed out. "There is always a scope for improvement in every sport so I would say India is on the right track," she signed
FIFA WC: Osako's header snatches 2-1 win for Japan
Contrary to expectations, 61st ranked Japan edged past 16th ranked Colombia 2-1, courtesy Yuya Osako's second-half header, in their opening match of Group H at the ongoing 21st edition of the FIFA World Cup here at the Mordovia Arena in Saransk.Japan headed into the clash as clear underdogs, having clinched just one win in their previous six matches across all competitions.Though Colombia too qualified for their straight second World Cup berth despite going win-less in their final four qualifying matches, they had a good record over Japan going into the opener.In the previous three meetings between the two sides, Japan has failed to defeat Colombia as the former lost twice while they settled with draws in the remaining game.However, Japan eventually managed to take revenge against Colombia and erase the bad memories of the 2014 edition in Brazil by clinching a triumph in the ongoing World Cup.Just four minutes into the game, Colombia were reduced to 10 men as midfielder Carlos Sanchez
Women's chess: Mongolian Batkhuyag Munguntuul becomes champion
Top-seeded IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul from Mongolia lived up to her billing to claim the top honours in the SBI Life-AICF Women Grandmaster Chess Championship today. The tournament was jointly organised by the Indian Chess School & South Mumbai Chess Academy. Thirty-year-old Batkhuyag (ELO rating 2410), who was in second position at the end of the 10th and penultimate round, scored a decisive win against Russian WIM Elena Tomilova (ELO 2334) in the final round to earn the full point and take her tally to eight from the 11-round competition, a media release said. Overnight leader WGM Guliskhan Nakhbayeva (ELO 2323) from Kazakhstan slipped at the final hurdle losing to talented Indian WIM Srija Seshadri (ELO 2207), who churned out another impressive performance against the higher rated Kazak player. Guliskhan with 7.5 points in the kitty had to settle for the second place, while the Tamil Nadu player Srija with a cumulative tally of seven points finished third, it ...
Japan make history with World Cup win against 10-man Colombia
Yuya Osako exacted sweet revenge for Japan on Tuesday as the Blue Samurai beat Colombia 2-1, becoming the first Asian side ever to beat a South American team at the World Cup. Osako's 73rd-minute winner meant the Japanese avenged their 4-1 mauling in the group stages of Brazil 2014 as Colombia played with a man down for 86 minutes in Saransk. After leaving Brazil without a win four years ago, Japan made a dream start to their Russian campaign even though head coach Akira Nishino was only appointed in April. In an explosive start to the Group H clash, Colombia defender Carlos Sanchez earned the first red card of Russia 2018 with a handball after just four minutes. Japan took a shock lead when Shinji Kagawa netted the resulting penalty before Juan Quintero equalised with a free-kick for Colombia to make it 1-1 at half-time. Brazil 2014 topscorer James Rodriguez came on for the last half-hour after labouring in training with a calf strain but could not pull his side level after Osako's
Japan stun 10-man Colombia 2-1
Japan rode goals from Shinji Kagawa and Yuya Osako to beat ten-man Colombia 2-1 in a Group H FIFA World Cup game here on Tuesday.
Stokes out of England Twenty20 squad
England all-rounder Ben Stokes was left out of the squad announced Tuesday for the upcoming Twenty20 internatonal matches against Australia and India. The 14-man squad did contain Surrey seamer Sam Curran, who made his Test debut against Pakistan at Headingley earlier this month. England said Monday the hamstring tear Stokes suffered before that second Test against Pakistan was "progressing well", and it was possible hoped he could play in the three-match Twenty20 series against India starting on July 3. That remains a possibility as the Durham star will travel with the squad selected for those three matches and the preceding one-off Twenty20 fixture against Australia, which will follow the ongoing one-day international series, at Edgbaston on June 27. Fast bowler Mark Wood, a county colleague of Stokes's at Durham, has been rested from the squad, with Jake Ball now in contention to win his first Twenty20 cap. Middlesex batsman Dawid Malan was a surprising omission given he has four .
Rohit likely to take YoYo test tomorrow, Rahane kept on stand by
The drama surrounding Indian limited overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma's YoYo test continued as he is now set to appear for the fitness test tomorrow at the NCA in Bengaluru. It is learnt that Test team vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane has been kept on stand by as of now in case Rohit fails to clear the 16.1 qualifying mark. "There is nothing new in having a stand by. In case the necessity arises, Rahane is being seen as a reserve opener and will fill in that role. As of now, we have not heard that Rohit has any fitness issues," a senior BCCI official, who has worked closely with the cricket operations team, told PTI today. The entire limited overs squad (except those who were playing Afghanistan Test match), took the YoYo test at the NCA on June 15 save Rohit. Rohit was exempted from taking the test as he had already sought permission for a prior sponsor commitment in Russia as brand ambassador of a reputed watch company. However since then, there has not been any clarity as to why the date
England face anxious wait on Alli thigh problem
England midfielder Dele Alli will undergo a scan on Tuesday on the thigh injury he sustained against Tunisia. Alli seemed to be struggling towards the end of the first half in Volgograd but stayed on until the 80th minute, when he was replaced by Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Harry Kane's late winner secured England a 2-1 opening victory in Group G and Alli looked dangerous, particularly during an excellent early spell for Gareth Southgate's side. The 22-year-old has six days to recover before Sunday's game against Panama, with Marcus Rashford and Loftus-Cheek both potential replacements. "We had to keep monitoring Dele," Southgate said after the match on Monday. "He was feeling a little bit of an issue just before half-time but felt he could carry on and I thought the runs that he was making and the way he was pressing the ball was still causing a problem.
Root back for T20Is against Australia, India
England have announced a 14-man squad for the T20I series against Australia and India, with Test skipper Joe Root returning to the shortest format for the first time since September 2017.
Spain players, fans arrive in Kazan ahead of crucial Iran match
A handful of fans dressed in red and yellow gathered outside a hotel in Kazan to catch a glimpse of players from Spain's national team who arrived in the Russian city on Tuesday.
Costa Rica captain wants to beat Brazil
Costa Rica captain Bryan Ruiz on Tuesday said his team aimed to defeat Brazil in their upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup clash, in which Los Ticos must avoid a loss in order to qualify for the tournament's round of 16.
Foreign football fans touring Crimea, says local lawmaker
Foreign football fans, who have come to Russia for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, are travelling to Crimea by groups on guided tours, the Crimean parliament's tourism committee chief Alexey Chernyak has said.
Shannon Gabriel attains career-best Test spot
West Indies fast bowler Shannon Gabriel has made a huge jump to achieve a career-best 12th position in the latest ICC Test Player Rankings after his player of the match effort in the drawn second Test against Sri Lanka in St Lucia, which ended on Monday.The 30-year-old from Trinidad and Tobago has gained 11 places after finishing the match with figures of 13 for 121, the third-best match haul ever by a Caribbean bowler.Gabriel has reached 754 rating points, while his previous best was 636 points, helping him bag the 18th place in August last year.Gabriel's team-mates Roston Chase (up one place to 38th) and captain Jason Holder (up one place to 64th) were the others to gain in the latest update which also takes into account the one-off Test between India and Afghanistan in Bengaluru.For Sri Lanka, who trail the three-match series against the West Indies 1-0, captain Dinesh Chandimal gained one spot to move up to ninth position after his 119 not out and 39, while Kusal Mandis is another
India's Sandesh finishes 4th at Thailand Superbike Championship
India's Sandesh Prasannakumar finished fourth at the Thailand Superbike Championship here.
CoA asks BCCI officials to watch India-England T20Is at own expense
The rift between the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) seems to be unending as a fresh round of squabbling has erupted between the two.
Ronaldo's Portugal look to continue momentum against lowly Morocco (Preview)
Smarting after a last-gasp defeat to Iran, Morocco will have to deal with the peerless might of Portugal, spearheaded by Cristiano Ronaldo, who will attempt to follow up his World Cup opening game heroics when the two sides meet for a Group B clash here on Wednesday.
ISL: ATK rubbishes Schweinsteiger rumours
Rubbishing media reports, two-time Indian Super League (ISL) champions Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) on Tuesday said they are not in talks with 2014 German World Cup winner Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Neha favourite as Hero WPG Tour resumes after break
Seasoned Neha Tripathi will start as a top contender in the seventh leg of the Hero women's Professional Tour that resumes at the picturesque Prestige Golfshire Golf Course here on Wednesday after a three-month break.
Germany World Cup games are now finals, says Neuer
Germany captain Manuel Neuer said today that his side's two remaining World Cup group games are now effectively finals and revealed frank words were exchanged in the team camp as the holders fight to stay in the tournament. The World Cup holders are under intense pressure ahead of Saturday's second Group F game against Sweden in Sochi and the South Korea match next tomorrow in Kazan after suffering a shock 1-0 defeat to Mexico on Sunday. "From now on, we only have finals. The players have to show what they can do, but I am convinced that we can do it," Neuer said. Pre-World Cup talk from the German camp was about becoming the first team since Brazil in 1962 to successfully defend the title. Now the worry is whether Joachim Loew's team can even reach the last 16. "Complaining about what happened doesn't change anything, we all know that," said Neuer. "We have to try to put this behind us as quickly as possible." Neuer revealed that head coach Loew spoke at length during an emergency ..