Page 1512 - Sports
West Bengal: Messi fan paints house in Argentina's flag
A resident of West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, who is a die-hard fan of Argentinean striker Lionel Messi has painted his house in the colour of Argentina's flag.The tea-seller, who is supporting the Lionel Messi led-side in the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Russia, has painted his three-storey house in the team's blue and white colours."My biggest wish is to see Messi play in real life," said Shiv Shankar Patra.Having grown up watching the Argentine great Diego Maradona, enchanting the world and opposing defenders, eventually captaining Argentina to their second World Cup triumph in 1986, Patra hopes Maradona's heir apparent and his 'god of football' Lionel Messi can lead Argentina to glory and seal his place in the annals of football alongside Maradona and Pele."I am an Argentina supporter. I have been one from the beginning but ever since I saw Maradona play in '86, my love became more profound," Patra told ANI.However, his hopes of watching a World Cup live from the stands ...
More than half of Brazilians don't care about World Cup: poll
More than half of Brazilians have no interest in the World Cup in Russia, according to an opinion poll today, despite the country's stellar history at the championship. Fifty three per cent are treating the World Cup, which starts Thursday, with a giant shrug, the Datafolha poll found. That was up from 42 per cent in January, possibly reflecting a steady diet of bad news about the economy, corruption scandals, and a truckers' strike that brought the country to a standstill for more than week in May. The respected pollsters reported that this was the most tepid build-up to a cup since the question was first posed in 1994. The least interested in the upcoming action in Russia were women (61 per cent), people aged between 35 and 44 (57 per cent), and those living in the south of the country (59 per cent). Brazil go to their opening game against Switzerland on Sunday with high confidence after an impressive series of qualifiers and warm-ups. Many believe that Neymar, Gabriel Jesus and ...
Spain, Germany, France and Brazil: Chhetri's top-four World Cup pick
Talismanic Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri today rated Lionel Messi as the greatest player of all time but did not include Argentina among his favourite four teams to lift the World Cup in Russia. "If you're asking me four good teams then I would say Germany, Spain, Brazil and France look really strong," Chhetri said. "I hope some other team proves me wrong. England are darkhorses, while Belgium have a very good side." Chhetri rated Lionel Messi as the "greatest player to have ever played the sport" and hoped he lived up to his fans' expectation by lifting the World Cup. "I will be very happy if he scores. I am his fan. I don't take comparisons seriously. I don't think anyone should. These are baseless. I hope Messi scores and Argentina do well," Chhetri said. "A lot of people say that since he hasn't won the World Cup, he is not a great player or whatever. I think he is the greatest player ever to play football. He is extraordinary. I just hope, for his sake, that he does .
Asian Cup is at different level altogether: Chhetri
The Intercontinental Cup triumph was an achievement in itself but the Asian Cup next year would be a different ball game, Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri said today. "It (Intercontinental Cup) was a great preparatory tournament for us. We don't play teams like Kenya and New Zealand everyday. It was a different challenge. No matter how much we improve, it might still be less," Chhetri told reporters after receiving the Indian Player of Year at the Football Players Association of India Awards here. "Let me correct you, with due respect to Kenya and New Zealand the teams that are competing against us in the Asian Cup -- Thailand, Bahrain and UAE -- they are at least two-three levels up. It's a different level altogether." Chhetri said it's not about getting carried away but to keep their heads down and work hard. "Where we want to reach is very very far. We are just taking small steps. There is no point getting carried away. We should work hard keeping our heads down and try ..
Murali becomes 2nd fastest Indian in 10,000m, puts himself as medal contender at Asiad
Young long distance runner Gavit Murali Kumar bagged a gold in men's 10,000m race at the Gouden Spike meeting in Leiden, Netherlands to become the second fastest Indian in this event as the country's track and field athletes continued their build-up for the upcoming Asian Games. The 21-year-old Kumar, a bright talent from Gujarat, clocked a personal best of 28 minute 43.34 seconds, the best by an Indian in the ongoing season. Current long-distance coach Surendra Singh, who holds the national record of 28:02.89, has run faster than Kumar on four occasions. Kumar's earlier best was 29:33.85 during the Federation Cup in Patiala in March. The men's 10,000m bronze medal winner in the 2014 Asian Games had clocked 28:45.65. The Gouden Spike is one of the top meetings in The Netherlands. Its current European Athletics status is Outdoor Meetings with National Permit. Meanwhile, Indian athletes continued their preparations by taking part in various competitions during their ...
Afghanistan's journey inspirational for int'l cricket: Dinesh Karthik
Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik, who was named in the Indian Test squad as a replacement for Wriddhiman Saha, has lauded Afghanistan's inspirational journey as the latter team prepare to play their historic match in the longest format of the game.Afghanistan, who have fast established themselves as a force to reckon with in the shorter formats, will become the 12th side to feature in men's Test cricket after Ireland debuted against Pakistan last month.Both Ireland and Afghanistan were granted Full Member and Test status last June.Insisting that the Indian team are looking forward to the honour of playing against Afghanistan in their maiden Test match, Karthik said that the Asghar Stanikzai-led side's journey has been an inspiration for international cricket."It's been beautiful, isn't it. Their journey has been an inspiration for international cricket. Everyone knows it's a tough place and the turmoil that they are going through, but in spite of that they are able to ...
Shubhankar Sharma ready for US Open challenge
Shubhankar Sharma, for the second successive Major, will be the lone Indian in the fray as the US Open gets underway on Thursday. The 21-year-old Indian, who was given a special invite to the Masters this April, came through a gruelling 36-hole qualifier to make it to the US Open. A good showing at the US Open could help Sharma make an attempt to gain temporary membership on the PGA Tour. Ranked as low at 462nd at the start of December 2017, Sharma rose dramatically to enter the world's Top-100 with a victory in December in Joburg Open and he added a second win at the Malaysian Championships in February. Currently at No. 77, he is now the highest ranked Indian in the world. Having already qualified for the Open Championships at Carnoustie next month, Sharma needs to stay in Top-100 to ensure a berth into the final Major, the PGA Championships in August. If he manages that, he will become only the third Indian to have played all four Majors in a single year. But, it is not just ...
Video replay to make World Cup debut in Russia
Football is practically the last major sport to start using video replay technology to help referees ensure they made the right calls on the pitch, and on March 3 FIFA took the decision to employ Video Assistant Referees (VAR) at the game's biggest tournament this summer: the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Saweety strikes gold at Russian boxing tourney
Saweety Boora was the lone Indian boxer to clinch a gold, while two others signed off with silver medals in the Umakhanov Memorial Tournament in Kaspiysk, Russia today. Saweety, who is also a former world championships silver-medallist, prevailed over home favourite Anna Anfinogenova in a unanimous verdict to finish on top in the middleweight (75kg) category. However, in the men's draw, Brijesh Yadav (81kg) and Virender Kumar (91kg) lost their respective summit clashes to end with silver medals. While Yadav lost to Russia's Murad Rabadanov, Kumar was beaten by Sweden's Alexandr Mvalbale. Earlier, world youth champion Shashi Chopra (57kg), former Commonwealth Games bronze-medallist Pinki Jangra (51kg) and Pavitra (60kg) had lost their respective semifinal bouts to settle for bronze medals. Among the men, world bronze-medallist Gaurav Bidhuri (56kg) had finished with a bronze after going down in his semifinal bout.
Villarreal signs Gerard Moreno on five-year contract
Spanish football club Villarreal on Tuesday announced the signing of Spanish striker Gerard Moreno to a five-year contract, after three seasons with Espanyol.
Koke says he hopes Griezmann will stay at Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid midfielder Jorge "Koke" Resurreccion Merodio said on Tuesday that he hoped his French teammate Antoine Griezmann stays with the team, praising him as a complete player.
Navdeep Saini is an Indian first, tweets Gambhir attacking Bedi, Chauhan
He had risked his captaincy, fought with the establishment to get Navdeep Saini into the Delhi Ranji Trophy team and no wonder a vindicated Gautam Gambhir launched a scathing attack on former skippers Bishan Bedi and opener Chetan Chauhan after the Haryana speedster made it to India's Test team. Those who were witness to Gambhir's infamous altercation with Chauhan at the Roshanara ground (December, 2013) will never forget how adamant he was to get the young pacer into the team. Gambhir's contention was that Saini is an India prospect and it's his duty as a senior cricketer to help him. Bedi, who has been Gambhir's fierce critic on and off the field, had then questioned how an outsider could get into the Delhi team. Gambhir, who is currently holidaying in Europe with his family, took to twitter to remind Bedi and Chauhan as to how a section of DDCA officials were distributing pamphlets and were ready to wear black armbands on protest of Saini's inclusion. My condolences' to few DDCA ...
Russia to be 'amazing' as World Cup host country: Ibrahimovic
Former Sweden captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic said on Tuesday that Russia will be an "amazing" host country for the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup, starting June 14.
Daughter changed me as a person: Dhoni
He doesn't know if the cricketer in him is any different since fatherhood but Mahendra Singh Dhoni says daughter Ziva has certainly changed the person that he is, especially in his attempts to keep her on the "backfoot". The 37-year-old talismanic former India skipper, who is basking in the glory of leading Chennai Super Kings to the IPL title earlier this year, spoke on the rarely touched subject of his life after fatherhood in a show for 'Star Sports'. "I don't know whether it has changed me as a cricketer, as a person yes of course because daughters are very close to their fathers," Dhoni said. "In my case the problem is when she (Ziva) was born I was not there (three years ago), most of the time I was playing cricket, so everything bad somehow is thrown at me (to deal with)," he added. And the many tough aspects that he has had to deal with include ensuring that she falls in line by the mere mention of his name. "Khana nahi kha rahi hai, papa aa jayenge khana khao (when she is not
Gambhir slams few DDCA officials after 'outsider' Navdeep's India call-up
A day after uncapped pacer Navdeep Saini earned a maiden call-up in the Indian squad, veteran batsman Gautam Gambhir on Tuesday took a dig at few officials of the Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) for ignoring the former earlier, citing his domicile status.Former India players Bishan Singh Bedi and Chetan Chauhan, who are also members of the DDCA, had earlier shown a lot of resistance for Saini's inclusion in Delhi's Ranji Trophy team, by calling him an outsider at that time for belonging to Haryana.But Gambhir fought for Saini's inclusion and the Karnal-born pacer finally received the nod for Delhi against Vidarbha at Roshanara Club in 2013/14 season.Now, post Saini's inclusion in the Indian squad as a late replacement of Mohammed Shami for the lone match against Afghanistan, Gambhir took to his Twitter handle to slam Bedi and Chauhan."My 'condolences' to few DDCA members, @BishanBedi @ChetanChauhanCr on selection of 'outsider' Navdeep Saini to India squad. Am told black ...
Nigeria arrive in Russia ahead of FIFA World Cup
The Nigerian football team, nicknamed the "Super Eagles," arrived in Russia early on Tuesday ahead of the FIFA World Cup.
I didn't lose my place to a normal cricketer, it was Dhoni: Karthik
It wasn't easy being Dinesh Karthik in an era where Mahendra Singh Dhoni redefined the role of a keeper-batsman. Having last played a Test match way back in 2010, Karthik, during all these years of soul searching, was honest in his analysis as to why he didn't get a chance to wear the white flannels -- "he was not good enough in presence of a special player like Dhoni". "Look, I think I wasn't good enough, rather I was not consistent enough. That was a highly competitive environment and there was someone called MS Dhoni breathing down my neck, which caused a lot of stir in world cricket at that point of time. He went on to become one of the greatest captains India has ever produced," Karthik said ahead of his comeback Test against Afghanistan. Karthik, who came in as a replacement to injured Wriddhiman Saha, has not played 87 Tests since he played the last of his 23 Tests against Bangladesh in 2010. In fact, a statistician will reveal the plight of the keepers during Dhoni era'. ...
Angry Ronaldo looking to leave Real Madrid: Report
After spending nine years with the venerable Real Madrid, Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly looking for lucrative contracts elsewhere.
FIFA Security Director praises measures taken ahead of World Cup
FIFA Director of Security Helmut Spahn on Tuesday praised the measures taken by Russia to provide safety during the FIFA World Cup.
Poonam Yadav breaks into top five in ICC Women's T20I rankings
Indian leg-spinner Poonam Yadav has climbed up two places to stand at the third spot in the latest ICC Women's T20I rankings for bowlers.Yadav, who is now standing just behind Australian pacer Megan Schutt and New Zealand off-spinner Leigh Kasperek, broke into the top five of the list after ending as the leading wicket-taker in the recently-concluded Women's Asia T20 Cup with seven wickets in six games.She attained her career-best figures of four off nine balls in the Asia Cup finals, which India went on to lost by three wickets against Bangladesh.Asia Cup winners Bangladesh and Pakistan also saw some significant improvements in the players' rankings.Pakistan left-arm spinner Anam Amin, who finished with three wickets in four games with an economy rate of 2.43 in Asia Cup, jumped up 13 spots to grab the fifth spot.Bangladesh all-rounder Rumana Ahmed, who was also declared the player of the match in the Asia Cup final, climbed six places to secure 12th position in all rounder's list.In