Page 1562 - Sports

Costa Rica at full strength with addition of Navas

The Costa Rican national team preparing for next month's 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia held their first practice at full strength here with the addition of goalkeeper Keylor Navas.

Sardara Singh returns to Indian hockey squad for Champions Trophy

Veteran defender Sardara Singh has been recalled in the 18-member Indian men's hockey team for the final edition of the prestigious Champions Trophy 2018, beginning June 23 in the Netherlands.Besides Sardara, forward Ramandeep Singh and midfielder Birendra Lakra have also returned to the squad after former coach Sjoerd Marijne dropped the trio for the 21st edition of the Commonwealth Games.The team will be led by ace goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, under whose captaincy the Indian team created history in the previous edition by clinching the silver medal after a tense final encounter with world number one Australia. It was India's first podium finish at the Champions Trophy in 34 years."I think that was the closest we came to winning the Gold and most importantly beating Australia. Though we had to settle for a second place, it was a memorable tournament. This time too, we want to make it a memorable one as it's the last edition of the prestigious event," stated the skipper.Sreejesh will be ..

Viaan Industries launches 'Game of Dot'

A real money skill based game on cricket

Sardar, Lakra return to Indian side for Champions Trophy

Former captain Sardar Singh was today brought back to bolster the Indian hockey team's mid-field while Birendra Lakra was included to shore up the defence line-up for the upcoming Champions Trophy, beginning on June 23 in Breda, The Netherlands. Hockey India announced the 18-man squad for the last edition of the prestigious event and made a lot of changes to the side, to be led by goalkeeper P R Sreejesh. Sardar was not part of the Indian team, which had a disappointing outing at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. He was expected to reclaim his place in the side after being included in the national training camp in Bengaluru. Also making a comeback to the side is Lakra, who like Sardar, was not part of the CWG squad. The selectors have dropped defenders Rupinder, Kothajit Singh and Gurinder Singh while Jaramanpreet Singh and Surendra Kumar were included. Among the strikers, the axe fell on Lalit Upadhyay and Gurjant Singh as Ramandeep Singh earned his place back. The selectors also ...

AIFF congratulates Real Kashmir FC for winning 2nd Division I-League

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has congratulated Real Kashmir FC after they clinched the 2017-18 Second Division League title to secure promotion to the I-League.In the process, they became the first club from Jammu and Kashmir to have qualified for the premier league of the country, the I-League.Real Kashmir FC defeated Hindustan FC 3-2 at Bengaluru's FSV Arena last evening to finish their final round campaign with seven points from three matches, three ahead of Hindustan FC.Lauding praises on Real Kashmir for their achievement, AIFF President Praful Patel said that the club's performance would inspire the youth of the country to take up the sport."Congratulations Real Kashmir FC for becoming the first club from Kashmir to qualify for the I-League. I am sure the achievement will inspire the youth to take up the beautiful game and take our Country to higher echelons of International Football," Praful said.Meanwhile, AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das said, "The I-League finds

We get to bottom of fixing allegations: Richardson

The International Cricket Council (ICC) says it will meet representatives of the channel that claims to have unearthed 'spot-fixing' and 'pitch-fixing' in Test matches through a sting operation, insisting that the allegations will not be brushed under the carpet. The Qatar-based Al Jazeera has claimed that pitches of matches involving India, Sri Lanka, Australia and England were doctored at the behest of match-fixers. The matches in question were India vs Sri Lanka (Galle, July 26-29, 2017), India vs Australia (Ranchi, March 16-20, 2017) and India vs England (Chennai, December 16-20, 2016). The ICC while launching an investigation, said that the news network was refusing to share the unedited footage of the sting, a claim also reiterated by the Boards of England and Australia. But ICC Chief Executive Dave Richardson said they are set to meet Al Jazeera officials very soon. "I am always concerned if people are talking about fixing in cricket. I am a little perturbed by any accusation ..

Real Kashmir FC promoted to I-League

Real Kashmir FC have secured promotion to the I-League after clinching the 2017-18 Second Division League title last evening.David Robertson's side only needed a point to win the title and promotion on the final day of the 2nd Division League season, but Real Kashmir FC produced a clinically efficient performance to blank Hindustan FC 3-2 at the FSV Arena in Bengaluru.Real Kashmir scored through Ifham Tariq Mir (22'), Danish Farooq (42') and Nadong Bhutia (67') while Kushant Chauhan (34' & 80') was on target for Hindustan FC.Hindustan FC started the match like a house on fire as they took the game to Real Kashmir. Hindustan FC created the first threat in the 17th minute when Nikhil Gehlot delivered a free-kick into the box, but Pawan Pratap Singh was unable to hit the target with his header.That proved to be a costly miss as Real Kashmir took the lead five minutes later through Ifham, who collected a pass from Danish before calmly slotting past Mithun Samonto.Hindustan FC then ...

Yuki, Sharan in second round at French Open

The Indian pair of Yuki Bhambri and Divij Sharan advanced to the men's doubles second round of the French Open after blunting the challenge of Fabrice Martin and Purav Raja. Bhambri and Sharan, who had also teamed up at the inaugural Maharashtra Open, sent Raja and Martin packing with a 6-3 5-7 6-4 win in the opening round of the clay court Grand Slam. They next face second seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic. Another Indian in the second round is Rohan Bopanna, with his partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin. The 13th seeded Indo-French pair are up against local team of Benjamin Bonzi and Gregoire Jacq.

Pakistan's Amir aims for win of a lifetime against England

Mohammad Amir has had some of the greatest and undoubtedly the worst days of his career in England -- sometimes during the very same match. But fresh from helping bowl Pakistan to a crushing nine-wicket win over England in the first Test at Lord's, the left-arm paceman hopes he can enjoy the "best memory" with a series win in the second and final Test at Headingley, starting Friday. Amir, who burst on the world scene as a teenager, got his name on the Lord's honours board with a six-wicket haul against England in 2010. But in the same game at the 'home of cricket', Amir was caught up in a spot-fixing scandal at the which led to a jail sentence and a five-year ban. That same season, Amir took three wickets for 20 runs in 11 overs at Headingley during a sensational bowling display as an Australia side featuring Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey and Steven Smith were dismissed for just 88 in the first innings of the second 'neutral' Test. The match, which Pakistan eventually .

Young people do like cricket, insists ICC chief

England's top cricket administrator may feel young people no longer care about cricket, but the man running the sport's global governing body is adamant youth interest is rising worldwide. And David Richardson, the chief executive of the International Cricket Council, added that that next year's World Cup in England and Wales represents a brilliant opportunity to prove the doubters wrong. Colin Graves, the England and Wales Cricket Board chairman, sparked controversy with his recent comment that young people "are just not attracted to cricket". It appeared he was trying to justify the proposed introduction of a new 100-ball format into the English game in 2020. But many cricket lovers were aghast at Graves's seeming lack of faith in his own sport, while others were equally dismayed by what they saw as a slap in the face for various youth cricket initiatives, including those of the ECB itself. Photographs of young fans enjoying themselves at various English county grounds and other ...

Voges replaces Langer as Western Australia coach

Former Test batsman Adam Voges has replaced Justin Langer as the new head coach of Western Australia and the Perth Scorchers, officials said Thursday. The 38-year-old, a former WA captain who led the Scorchers to two of their three Big Bash League titles, takes over from Langer, who is now in charge of the national team. Voges, who played 20 Tests, scoring 1,485 runs at 62, including five centuries, finished his 15-year playing career after this season's BBL. "We already have strong foundations in WA and I'm looking forward to building on them, the values, the structures and the people are all excellent," he said. "The high-performance staff are some of the best in the country, even in the world." Voges also had English county stints with Hampshire, Nottinghamshire and Middlesex along with a spell in the Indian Premier League with the Rajasthan Royals.

Pro Kabaddi League: Iran's Atrachali becomes first-ever player to enter 1 crore club

Iran's Fazel Atrachali has became the first player in the history of Pro Kabaddi League to enter the one crore club after he was bought by U Mumba at a record-breaking price in the auctions.Atrachali went into the auction at a base price of Rs. 20 Lakhs, but later was fetched by U Mumba at a five times more price.Atrachali said, "I am very happy to be back in my second home - U Mumba. I have immense respect for the U- Mumba team because it is where it all began for me. The fact that I beat the record for the highest bid in VIVO Pro Kabaddi is truly an incredible feeling."Meanwhile, U Mumba team owner, Ronnie Screwvala said, "We wanted to be strong in defence. We had an extremely strong defence in season 1 and season 2 and that was part of the reason why we bargained for Fazal so fiercely. Fazal is someone who has played with us and we are quite happy to have him back. We wanted to be sure that we got who we wanted rather than going right until the end and then have to hastily pick a .

Buttler rested for Scotland ODI, Plunkett back for Australia series

Swashbuckling English wicket-keeper batsman Jos Buttler has been rested for the one-off One-Day International (ODI) against Scotland next month, while pacer Liam Plunkett made a comeback to the 14-man squad against the Australia series, starting from June 13.Plunkett was recalled after he suffered a hamstring injury during the New Zealand series earlier in February this year.Team coach Trevor Bayliss took the decision to rest Buttler for the Scotland fixture, slated to be held on June 10 at The Grange ground in Edinburgh, espncricinfo.com reported.England skipper Eoin Morgan is expected to be fit for the Scotland and Australia series', despite suffering a finger injury on Sunday, while fielding in Middlesex's last Royal London Cup game.The injury also forced Morgan to opt out of the fund-raising Twenty20 International (T20I) match between ICC World XI and West Indies at Lord's in London on Thursday, as per the report.Meanwhile, English pacer Tom Curran has been included in the squad ..

Discus thrower Vikas Gowda retires

Discus thrower Vikas Gowda, who holds the current national record of 66.28m, officially announced his retirement from athletics on Wednesday."After a lot of thinking and consulting I have decided to retire from athletics. I do not want to punish my body anymore and I want to focus on the next phase of my life," wrote Gowda in an e-mail to the Athletics Federation of India (AFI)."It was an honor and privilege to represent India and I will forever miss it," he added.Gowda, who finished eighth with a throw of 65.20m at the 2012 London Olympics, conveyed his gratitude towards the AFI for all the support he had received from them.In the initial years of his career, Gowda was as a shot putter. However he later found his calling in discus throw, and in 2012, he broke the Indian national record with his all-time best performance of 66.28m.A recipient of the by Government of India's prestigious Padamshree Award, Gowda also represented his country at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, however failing ..

French Open: William sisters stage comeback, advance to second round

American tennis ace players Serena and Venus Williams staged a stunning comeback to win their first Grand Slam doubles match after almost two years, and advancing to the second round of the French Open here on Wednesday.The Williams' sisters, who together own 14 Grand Slam doubles' titles, defeated 14th-seeded Japanese pairing of Shuko Aoyama and Miyu Kato, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. They last won a major tournament match at Wimbledon in 2016.Although the duo lost the first set of the match, they came back strongly to win the next two sets, in a gruelling match that lasted for nearly two hours.Both Serena and Venus used their decade-long experience to thwart any chances of the Japanese seeded players getting away with the match.Earlier on Wednesday, Serena, who was denied seeding at the Roland Garros, made a successful return to her first Grand Slam tournament since giving birth to her daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr earlier in March this year by clinching a comfortable 7-6 (4), 6-4 win over ..

PKL: 6 players cross Rs 1-crore mark; Goyat fetches Rs 1.51 cr

Six players created history by crossing the Rs one crore mark on day 1 of Pro Kabaddi League auction today, which began here with Monu Goyat getting the highest bid of Rs 1.51 crore from Haryana Steelers. Goyat went to Haryana Steelers after an intense round of bidding. Iran's Fazel Atrachali became the first player in PKL history to cross the Rs one crore mark as he was fetched by U Mumba. Deepak Hooda became the first Indian player in PKL's history to join the 'crorepati' club after Jaipur Pink Panthers bought him for a whopping Rs 1.15 crore. Rahul Chaudhari emerged as the second highest bid player, bid by Delhi, but was retained by Telegu Titans through the 'Final Bid Match' for Rs 1.29 crore. Nitin Tomar (1.15 crore by Puneri Paltans) and Rishank Devadiga (1.11 crore by UP Yodha) also crossed the Rs one-crore in mark today's auction. "I am extremely happy to be the highest paid player this season, there is a huge responsibility to deliver and I am glad to receive ...

DDA's integrated sports promotion policy approved

An integrated sports promotion policy of DDA was today approved by Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal which includes provision for free coaching camps for self-defence training for girls and women in consultation with city police, the urban body said. Baijal, also the chairman of the Delhi Development Authority, chaired a meeting of its Sports Management Board (SMB) at the Raj Niwas, during which the decision was taken. It was also decided that all facilities of DDA sports complexes would be made "disabled-friendly", the DDA said in a statement. If a person with special needs or old persons require to be accompanied by attendants to visit the facilities, "DDA would not charge from the user, fees for up to two attendants for each such person." "Free coaching camps would be organised for self-defence training for girls and women in consultation with Delhi Police," it said. In the meeting, it was also decided that sports facilities would be developed at sectors 8, 17, 19-Ph I, 23-Ph-II at ...

Djokovic, Bautista qualify for French Open 3rd round

Former world No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia on Wednesday won in the second round of the French Open with a 7-6(1), 6-4, 6-4 victory over Spain's Jaume Munar.

FIFA World Cup: Goalkeeper Neuer participates in Germany training

Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer on Wednesday took part in his national football team's training session ahead of a pre-World Cup friendly against Austria.

Huddersfield renews David Wagner's contract for 3 more years

Huddersfield Town announced on Wednesday a three-year contract extension for its German-American coach David Wagner.