Page 1536 - Sports
Devon Smith in brief W.Indies return against Sri Lanka
Devon Smith's return to international cricket after a three-year hiatus was cut short by a run out decision as the West Indies reached 99 for three at the lunch interval on the opening day of the first Test against Sri Lanka today. The match at the Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad is the first of a three-match series. Opening the batting alongside Kraigg Brathwaite after captain Jason Holder chose to bat first on winning the toss, the 36-year-old left-hander watched his partner depart in just the third over. Brathwaite stabbed indeterminately at a probing delivery from experienced seamer Suranga Lakmal to give wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella a straightforward catch and departed for three. Smith, who last represented the regional side against England in his native Grenada in 2015, would have been especially keen to make an impact amid speculation by critics that his recall, despite a prolific regional season with the Windward Islands, was more of a backward step for a West Indies team ...
Rixon to step down due to differences with PCB
Pakistan fielding coach, Steve Rixon has decided to step down after the two T20 internationals against Scotland next week as he is apparently unhappy with the Pakistan Cricket Board. The differences between Rixon and PCB, in fact, have grown to such an extent that before the second Test against England at Leeds, Rixon even refused to come with the team to the ground for a practice session. According to a report in the Jang newspaper, relations between Rixon and the board deteriorated over small complaints by the former Australian test wicketkeeper who had joined the Pakistan team's support staff two years back when Mickey Arthur took over as head coach. Rixon has several complaints like not being given proper residence in Lahore, slow internet connections at the academy, not getting the due protocol and delay in his monthly salary payment, the report claimed. It said that things came to a head before the Leeds Test which Pakistan lost by an innings and 55 runs when Rixon got angry ...
Man-U sign Portugal U-21 defender Dalot
A day after roping in Fred, English football giants Manchester United on Wednesday made their second signing of the summer with the capture of Portugal under-21 defender Diogo Dalot.
Halep, Muguruza enter French Open semis
World No.1 Simona Halep and 2016 winner Garbine Muguruza won in different manners over Germany's Angelique Kerber and Russia's Maria Sharapova respectively to set up their semi-final clash at the French Open on Wednesday.
Jorginho replaces Ze Ricardo as Vasco da Gama coach
Jorge de Amorim Campos, better known as "Jorginho," has been hired to replace Ze Ricardo as the coach of Brazilian football league club Vasco da Gama, the management said on Wednesday.
Argentine soccer fans write stadium anthems
The San Lorenzo soccer team has just scored the decisive goal to qualify for the Libertadores Cup. But in the stands behind one of the goals, fans of the Argentine team barely notice. In those seats, reserved for the most passionate followers, nobody is paying much attention to the match. Under a sea of the team's blue and red banners, so many that they make it almost impossible to see the pitch, the fans dance, jump and sing. They play trumpets and crash cymbals and chant pop songs with the lyrics changed, turning them into odes to their team. Carolina Rutkoweski waves her arms and shakes her hips as she sings: "San Lorenzo, what I feel I can't explain / I'll be with you always / Because the blue and red runs in my soul," to the music of Luis Fonsi's hit "Despacito." "You feel the football match in your body, through your veins. No need to watch it," says the 44-year old woman with her young son at her side, both dressed in blue and red San Lorenzo shirts, at halftime of the game ...
Israel to file FIFA protest against Palestinians over Argentina game
The Israel Football Association announced today it will file a complaint to FIFA accusing its Palestinian counterpart of pressuring Argentinian players and staff into cancelling a friendly match. Rotem Kamer, vice-president of the Israeli FA, accused the Palestinian side of "football terror" after its leader called for protests against Argentina in the build-up to the game that had been scheduled for Saturday. "We are confronting a football terror from the Palestinian Football Association and its president (Jibril Rajoub)," he said, accusing them of "threatening football players (against) coming to Israel." He also alleged the families of players were threatened, without providing any evidence. "We are seeing it as crossing a red line and we cannot accept it." "We are going to send an official complaint to (world football's governing body) FIFA and the disciplinary committee to take action." The game, which was due to take place in the disputed city of Jerusalem, was cancelled ...
Mountaineering institute team scales Everest
An eight-member team from the National Institute for Mountaineering and Allied Sports has scaled Mount Everest, an official statement said on Wednesday.
FM Rithvik upsets GM Neverov
FM Raja Rithvik R produced a spirited performance to defeat GM Neverov Valeriy of Ukraine in the 5th round of the 11th Mumbai Mayor's International Chess Tournament today. Ritvik (ELO 2296) started with Kings Knight opening. On the 19th move instead of exchanging the pawns, the Ukrainian blocked the position on the queen's side in the LIC-sponsored tournament being played at the Mount Litera International School, Bandra Kurla Complex. Taking advantage of this Ritvik attacked from the king side. On the 30th move, Valeriy tried to force a draw by repeating the position on board. After exchanging the queen, Ritvik got an active bishop in the end game. At a crucial juncture in the game, Ritvik looked like he had a clear winning position but he was not able to go for the kill. However, the Indian player got another shot at victory on the 73rd move when Valeriy lost focus and faltered on his move and this time Ritvik kept his composure and ultimately finished the game in the .
Petrucci to join Ducati's MotoGP team in 2019 after Lorenzo leaves for Honda
Italian MotoGP rider Danilo Petrucci is to join Ducati's factory team in 2019, the team said on Wednesday.
Spain not the only favourite to win FIFA World Cup, says ex-coach
Former Spain coach Vicente del Bosque on Wednesday said that the Spanish national team is not the only strong favourite to win the 2018 FIFA World Cup, set to kick off in Russia next week.
Daksh, Ruma topple top seeds to enter last four
Daksh Agarwal and Ruma Gaikaiwari upset top seeds to enter the semifinal of the boys and girls singles event at the MSLTA KPIT - Arun Wakankar Memorial ATF Asian under 14 Series Tennis Tournament today. In the the boys quarterfinal, fifth-seeded Agarwal outplayed top-seeded Shivam Kadam 6-3, 6-0 while in another upset under 12 national champion Manas Dhamne upset fourth-seeded Nithis Nallusamy 7-6(5),2-6,6-1. Omaansh Saharia continued the upset spree in the boys singles, accounting for second seed Krishang Raghuvanshi 7-5, 6-3 to make it to the last four. Third seed Anargha Ganguly was the lone seed to survive as he outplayed Manuel Josh of Great Britain 6-1, 6-2. In the girls singles, Pune girl and wild card Ruma created the biggest upset of the day by knocking out top seed Pari Singh 3-6,6-2,6-4 to make it to the semifinal round. Veda Prapurna , Shruti Ahlawat and Sonal Patil were the other girls to make it to the last four stage in the girls singles. The results .
Spain coach Lopetegui hedging bets on Carvajal's injury
Spain chief coach Julen Lopetegui has decided to hedge his bets on Dani Carvajal's injury and will fly to Russia with 25 footballers rather than the 23 allowed in the final squads for the FIFA World Cup.
Muguruza condemns Sharapova to worst Slam loss in six years
Garbine Muguruza thrashed Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-1 to reach the French Open semi-finals today, condemning the Russian to her worst Grand Slam defeat in more than six years. The Spanish third seed, who was the champion in Paris in 2016, will face either top seed Simona Halep or two-time major winner Angelique Kerber for a place in Saturday's final. Sharapova, playing at Roland Garros for the first time since 2015, suffered her most one-sided defeat at the Slams since a 6-3, 6-0 loss to Victoria Azarenka in the 2012 Australian Open final. "I am very pleased to be in another final in Paris," said Muguruza who has yet to drop a set in the tournament. "I was up against a great player so I had make sure I brought my best tennis." Sharapova, who missed the 2016 tournament because of a doping ban and last year after she was refused a wild card, was broken six times, committed 27 unforced errors and won just five points on her own serve in the second set. It was just her fifth loss in 25 Grand
Australia say sledging is good, but abuse crosses line
Australia coach Justin Langer insisted "sledging's a good thing" as the team prepared to face England in their first series since March's dramatic ball-tampering scandal in South Africa. Langer, however, stressed that "banter" would not be allowed to descend into "abuse", as captain Tim Paine promised Australia "won't be silent" during a five-match one-day international series. Former Australia captain Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner were banned for a year for their part in the ball-tampering incident during the third Test in Cape Town. Meanwhile batsman Cameron Bancroft -- who applied sandpaper to the ball in a clear breach of cricket's rulebook -- was given a nine-month ban by Cricket Australia. The trio were all sent home in disgrace, with wicket-keeper Paine taking over as captain in South Africa. Darren Lehmann then resigned as coach and was replaced by Langer. After the ball-tampering scandal, there were concerns that sledging or verbal taunts had contributed to a toxic .
Anand crushes Vachier-Lagrave, in joint lead
World Rapid champion Viswanathan Anand came up with an inspired performance to outplay Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France and jump to joint lead on 3.5 points after the end of the seventh round of Altibox Norway Chess tournament here. The win came after five draws and one battle against Chinese Ding Liren that was declared as a non-played game after the latter withdrew. Anand came up with a surprise weapon by going for the open Spanish and as expected, Vachier-Lagrave chose a double edged continuation that gave Anand enough chances. Although more than 20 years older than the Frenchman, Anand showed why he is still a force to reckon with. The Indian ace simply out-calculated his opponent when it mattered. It was an exchange sacrifice by Anand that set the tone. Vachier-Lagrave did not think much was wrong with his position and while his judgement was right, his calculation was not as Anand almost immediately ended up in a winning endgame after the trade of queens. Vachier-Lagrave could ..
Fans watch Peru train as World Cup draws closer
Fans of the Peru national football team gathered on Wednesday to watch their favourite players take part in drills at a training camp here.
BCCI to continue with neutral curators in next Ranji season
Encouraged by the positive feedback during the last domestic season, the BCCI will continue with neutral curators in the upcoming 2018-19 Ranji Trophy, a move that also scuttled the home state associations' habit of preparing pitches as per their wishes. The matter came up for discussion during the two-day annual Curators' conclave, which concluded in Mumbai today. While Ranji Trophy was reverted to the traditional home and away format last year, the BCCI introduced the neutral curator concept in order to stop home teams from preparing "designer pitches". "We got a very positive feedback from all the curators this time about the neutral curator concept. There hasn't been any significant adverse report from the match referees with regards to poor or sub-standard pitches. So it was decided that neutral curators will continue for the upcoming domestic season also," a senior BCCI official told PTI on the condition of anonymity. The other big reason is that neutral curators "can't be ...
'India focus on getting the job done at Intercontinental Cup'
Two back-to-back victories in the ongoing Intercontinental Cup seem to have made the Indian national football team more determined to "keep the ball rolling.""We have started off in an exquisite manner but now the challenge is to get the job done in the same fashion. The momentum needs to be sustained and we have to overcome New Zealand next, and then the final," defender Subhashish Bose said.India, who sit pretty on six points from two matches, will play against New Zealand in their next league of the tournament on Thursday at the Mumbai Football Arena.Striker Balwant Singh, who has been a revelation in the national team since his return to the squad last year at the tri-nation tournament , was also aware about the "fresh challenge.""We have pulled off back-to-back wins but a fresh challenge lies ahead. We have to keep our head down and continue working. We are a confident bunch of lads and we hope we continue the job," he maintains. Singh came off the bench the other night to lay it
Ponting joins Australia's coaching staff for England series
Former skipper Ricky Ponting has joined the Australian support staff for the national side's upcoming tour to England, Cricket Australia has confirmed on Wednesday.The 43-year-old, who had worked as assistant coach for Australia's T20I side twice before, will join head coach Justin Langer for the side's five ODIs and one-off T20I match against England.Thrilled to have Ponting on board, Langer said described the former as one of the legends of the game and added that his experience and expertise would surely be invaluable for the boys."Ricky is one of the greats of the game, and since he was already in England doing some commentary, we saw it as a great opportunity to have him join our team for this important series," Langer said.Langer further insisted that Ponting had already worked with many players present in the current squad and, therefore, his inclusion would be beneficial for the side as they prepare to rebuild themselves ahead of 2019 World Cup."We have played a lot of cricket