Page 1564 - Sports
Abul Hasan replaces injured Mustafizur Rahman in B'desh T20I squad
Abul Hasan has been called in the Bangladesh T20I squad as a replacement for injured Mustafizur Rahman for the three-match series against Afghanistan, beginning June 3 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Dehradun.The 25-year-old, who last appeared for Bangladesh during an ODI tri-series in January-involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, will arrive in India ahead of their only warm-up game on the tour.Abul's inclusion seems to have come in the wake of his impressive performance in the 2017 edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), where he bagged 10 wickets at an average of 24.40 and finished the tournament with an economy rate of 8.13, ESPNcricinfo reported.Earlier, fast bowler Rahman was ruled out of next month's T20I series against Afghanistan due to a toe injury.Later, BCB's senior physician Dr Debashis Chowdhury said a scan had revealed that Mustafizur would take up to three weeks to recover fully from the injury.
HC disposes off Minerva owner Bajaj's plea, asks AIFF to decide his appeal in 6 weeks
The Delhi High Court today directed banned Minerva Punjab FC owner Ranjit Bajaj to approach the All India Football Federation's Appeals Committee for the revocation of his suspension while disposing off his writ petition. Earlier this month, the AIFF had banned Bajaj for one year from all football activity and also imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh after the federation found him guilty of making racist remarks against a referee. The incident happened during Minerva's U-18 Youth League play-off match against Aizawl FC that ended in a 1-1 draw at the JLN Stadium in Shillong on May 12. It is learnt that the court, while refusing to entertain Bajaj's plea, has directed him to approach the AIFF's Appeals Committee. The court has given him two weeks' time to do so. Bajaj, on his part, said, "The HC has given AIFF six weeks' time to hear and decide on our four appeals before the AIFF Appeals Committee which has been pending." The AIFF Disciplinary Committee, while slapping the sanctions, said ...
10th Basketball without Borders Asia camp starts
The 10th edition of Basketball without Borders (BWB) Asia camp started on Wednesday with 66 high-school age boys and girls from 16 countries and territories across Asia.
FIFA World Cup: Salah likely to be out for a month
In a body blow for Egypt and their star striker Mohamed Salah, Liverpool's physio has said that the player faced three to four weeks out with the shoulder injury suffered in the UEFA Champions League final.
Gowda, India's only male CWG gold medallist discus thrower, retires
Top discus thrower Vikas Gowda today retired after competing at the highest level for more than 15 years, during which he became the first and only Indian male to win a Commonwealth Games medal in the discipline. The retirement of the four-time Olympian, who will turn 35 on July 5, has not come as a surprise as he has not taken part in any major international event since winning a bronze in the Asian Championships last year in Bhubaneswar. His retirement was announced by the Athletics Federation of India on its twitter page after Gowda sent the AFI a letter, declaring his intent to call it quits. "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," said Gowda, who is based in the United States. "It was an honour and privilege to represent India and I will forever miss it." The Mysore-born Gowda's family moved to Maryland, USA just before he turned six. His father ...
Gopichand inaugurates Hyderabad Hunters' badminton academy
In the presence of national team coach Pullela Gopichand, around 150 kids from across Telangana took part in a two-day badminton tournament for under 13 boys and girls in singles and doubles categories as the Hyderabad Hunters got its academy underway here on Wednesday.
We are not going to the World Cup as favourites: Messi
Star forward Lionel Messi feels Argentina are not going to the World Cup in Russia as favourites but have players in their arsenal who can "fight against anyone".
Injured Morgan included in England ODI squads
England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) selectors on Wednesday named their one-day international squads to play Scotland and Australia next month, with injured skipper Eoin Morgan included in the playing group despite fracturing his finger playing for Middlesex at the weekend.
Amjyot, Satnam coach campers at BWB Asia 2018
India's Amyjot Singh and Satnam Singh today shared their knowledge with 66 campers at the 10th edition of Basketball without Borders Asia Camp at the at The NBA Academy here. The camp is being attended by top high-school age boys and girls from 16 countries and territories across Asia. They took the court and had the opportunity to learn from Corey Brewer (Oklahoma City Thunder; US), Caris LeVert (Brooklyn Nets; US), Kelly Olynyk (Miami Heat; Canada; BWB Americas 2009), Dwight Powell (Dallas Mavericks; Canada), two-time WNBA Champion Ruth Riley, besides former WNBA player Ebony Hoffman. Indian players Satnam and Oklahoma City Blue's Amjyot were also on hand to coached the top high school age campers from throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Amjyot, who plays for NBA G League's Oklahoma City Blue, said: This is a great setup for all the campers here. I'm glad that I could come here and share things that I have learnt so far. The level of coaches and players here is very good and the ...
Record 425mn posts on Facebook during IPL 2018
With 425 million posts, comments and reactions by millions of fans around the world, IPL 2018 drove the highest level of conversation Facebook has measured for any IPL season so far, the social media giant has revealed.
Messi warms up for World Cup with hat-trick against Haiti
Lionel Messi warmed up for next month's FIFA World Cup with a hat-trick as he inspired Argentina to a morale-boosting 4-0 win over Haiti in a pre-tournament friendly here. Messi scored a quickfire second-half double (58th and 68th minutes) to add to a first-half (17th minute) penalty, before setting up substitute Sergio Aguero (69th) as Jorge Sampaoli's side hammered the Caribbean minnows in their final phase of preparations for the showpiece event. With this hat-trick, the FC Barcelona talisman took his international tally to 64 goals in 124 appearances. The Albicelestes, who are two-time world champions, had struggled throughout the qualifying campaign but the thoroughly dominating display here should boost their confidence even though the win came against a side that has not qualified for the World Cup. Haiti could not even register a shot at the goal in the whole match. It was a night of celebration for another Barcelona star as Javier Mascherano joined Javier Zanetti as ...
I'm on right track: Serena post French Open return
Just eight months after she "almost died" giving birth to her first child, former world number one and American tennis ace Serena Williams believes she is on right track after making a winning start at the French Open.Serena ended her 15-month absence from tennis during which she gave birth to daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr in March this year.But, the former world number one slumped to early defeats in Indian Wells and Miami Open before she recently pulled out of Madrid Open and Rome Masters--something which saw her world ranking tumble to number 453.Serena, who was denied seeding at the Roland Garros, made a successful return to her first Grand Slam tournament since giving birth by clinching a comfortable 7-6 (4), 6-4 win over 70th-ranked Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic in the French Open.Though it was not a perfect performance, the 23-time Grand Slam champion admitted that it was encouraging enough to help her improve and get back on track."I feel like I'm on the right ..
Anand holds Nakamura to an easy draw
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand played out an easy draw against American Hikaru Nakamura in the second round of Altibox Norway Chess tournament here. After conceding a draw with white against Levon Aronian of Armenia, Anand got the favour returned although he had to work relatively harder to maintain parity against Nakamura, often termed as his nemesis. For the record, the American went for a rare sixth move in the Queen's gambit declined and Anand admitted he was a confused a lot by this approach. However, as it turned out, the surprise remained just that and did not contain much venom as Anand got a healthy position with some strategic manoeuvres. Nakamura's attempt at applying pressure met with some perfect response and the pieces treaded almost in a heap as the players reached a perfectly drawn rook and pawns endgame. The peace was signed after 39 moves. The day did not feature any decisive games and the status quo after the first round remained on what was a pretty ...
Morgan named in England ODI squads after finger fracture
England captain Eoin Morgan has been included in the one-day international squad for matches against Scotland and Australia despite suffering a fractured finger. Morgan was ruled out of his scheduled appearance for the Rest of the World against the West Indies in a Twenty20 fixture at Lord's on Thursday after chipping the end of his right ring finger. Morgan's county Middlesex confirmed he suffered the injury when he was fielding during the Royal London One-Day Cup match against Somerset on Sunday. The batsman was set to captain the World XI in a game which is being held to raise funds for stadiums in Dominica and Anguilla damaged by hurricanes last year. But while he won't be able to play in that match, Morgan -- England's limited-overs skipper -- will take charge on June 10 against Scotland and then in five matches against Australia. The Irishman was named on Wednesday in a 13-man squad to travel to Edinburgh and then one of 14 against Australia in a series starting at The Oval on ..
Indian women to make international debut in rugby 15 format
Indian women are set to make their debut in rugby's traditional 15-player format when they play in the newly introduced Asian division 1 championship along with fellow-debutants Philippines and Singapore next month. The country's women's outfit has already taken part in the rugby 7s and are now eager to test their skills in the tri-nation longer format tournament set to be held in Singapore from June 2-8, said team's coach Nasser Hussain at a media conference here today. "They wanted to play in the rugby 15s after seeing the men do it. We will be playing against hosts Singapore first on June 2 and then the Philippines on June 5. The other two teams are also making their international debut. Singapore are the favourites," said Hussain. The three teams featuring in the 15s have boosted the number of countries taking part in the 80-minute traditional format to six in the Asian continent, according to Hussain. "Hong Kong and Japan have already qualified for the World Cup and
Pune trials of Super Boxing League ends on a high
Boxing enthusiasts went toe-to-toe as the 'SBL Road to the Ring' contenders round of the second edition of the Super Boxing League (SBL) concluded here at the Boxing & MMA Club on Wednesday.
Countdown to 2019 ICC World Cup begins
Today marks a year to go until the greatest celebration of cricket, the ICC Cricket World Cup, gets underway when hosts England take on South Africa at The Oval in London on May 30, 2019.The format for the 2019 edition, the same used in Australia and New Zealand in 1992, will see the 10 best teams in the world go head to head in a round-robin format, resulting in a true world champion.To celebrate the milestone and start the countdown, London-based artist Caleb Femi has written a Cricket World Cup declaration setting out the promise of the event to fans around the world and what it means to cricket fans in England and Wales.A launch event on the iconic Brick Lane will bring together cricket ambassadors, such as England captain Eoin Morgan as well as ICC Cricket Hall of Famers Brian Lara and Waqar Younis, local street cricket projects, and community leaders.ICC Chief Executive, David Richardson said,"The ICC Cricket World Cup in England and Wales is truly unique. It offers every ...
PKL auctions: Iranian Atrachali becomes costliest buy
Iranian defender Fazel Atrachali became the costliest buy in the history of the Pro Kabaddi League after being pocketed by U Mumba for a whopping Rs 1 crore at the league's foreign player auctions here on Wednesday.
Gowda, India's only CWG gold medallist discus thrower, retires
Top discus thrower Vikas Gowda today retired after competing at the highest level for more than 15 years, during which he became the first and only Indian male to win Commonwealth Games medals in the discipline. The retirement of the four-time Olympian, who will turn 35 on July 5, has not come as a surprise as he has not taken part in any major international event since winning a bronze in the Asian Championships last year in Bhubaneswar. His retirement was announced by the Athletics Federation of India on its twitter page after Gowda sent the AFI a letter, declaring his intent to call it quits. The Mysore-born Gowda's family moved to Maryland, USA just before he turned six. His father Shive was a former athlete and a national coach at the 1988 Olympics. Gowda, who holds the national record of 66.28m (achieved in 2012), is one of the most decorated Indian athletes, having won a gold in the 2013 and 2015 Asian Championships. He also won silver in the 2010 Commonwealth Games and a gold .
Halep fights back in delayed opener, Kvitova into last 32
World number one Simona Halep battled back after a disastrous opening set to beat Alison Riske 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 in their delayed French Open first-round match today, while Petra Kvitova impressed in reaching round three. Halep, the runner-up in Paris in 2014 and 2017, slumped 0-5 down in the opening set to world number 83 Riske whose only win at the tournament came in 2014. The Romanian committed 16 unforced errors in the set but stepped up a gear from that point on to book a second-round match against Taylor Townsend of the United States. "It's always difficult in the first round of a Grand Slam, you are always nervous," said Halep. "But I started to run more, played better and kept more balls in play." The 26-year-old, who is still looking for a first Grand Slam title, will play for the second straight day on Thursday, after the match with Riske was pushed back from Tuesday due to rain. "I think I'll be ready tomorrow, I feel strong in my legs," said the top seed. "Anything can happen .