Page 1601 - Sports
2016 Wimbledon runner-up Raonic pulls out of French Open
Milos Raonic, the 2016 Wimbledon runner-up, has withdrawn from the French Open a week before the clay-court Grand Slam tournament begins. Raonic says on Twitter today that he needs "to continue working hard to put myself in the best position when I step out on the court." He hasn't played since a straight-set loss to fellow Canadian Denis Shapovalov at Madrid on May 10. Shapovalov will overtake Raonic in the rankings as Canada's top tennis player for the first time tomorrow. Raonic is ranked No. 22 this week. His career high is No. 3. The French Open begins May 27. Raonic intends to return during the grass-court portion of the season. Wimbledon, where he lost in the 2016 final to Andy Murray, starts July 2.
Bayern Munich fans pay tribute to Jupp Heynckes
Bayern Munich fans turned up in their thousands to bid farewell to Jupp Heynckes for a second time today. The veteran coach is going back into retirement after leading Bayern to another league title. The side was five points adrift when he returned in October, but rebounded to wrap up the title with five rounds to spare. It might have been more for Heynckes, but Eintracht Frankfurt stunned the side to win the German Cup final on Saturday and Real Madrid emerged triumphant from the sides' Champions League semifinal. Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge paid tribute to the 73-year-old Heynckes for bringing "old values" such as "humanity and empathy" back to the side. "The little downside for us is that we would have liked to give our Jupp, our coach, the nearly perfect finish, but it didn't quite work out," Rummenigge said of the shock defeat to Frankfurt. Heynckes led Bayern to the Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup titles in his previous stint in 2013, before he retired for .
Costacurta hails Balotelli return, Mancini vows Italy 'rebirth'
Top Italian FA official Alessandro Costacurta today welcomed Roberto Mancini's decision to recall Nice striker Mario Balotelli as the new Italy coach promised a "rebirth" of the national side. Balotelli, who has not played since Italy's humiliating group-stage exit from the 2014 World Cup, has been recalled by Mancini for three upcoming friendlies. And Costacurta said Balotelli's form at Nice had warranted him being given another a chance. "Becoming a parent does change you and nobody can attest that more than Mancini," said the former AC Milan defender and current federation deputy commissioner. "I think Balotelli's performances on the field were worthy of a call-up." Balotelli -- who Mancini coached at both Inter Milan and Manchester City -- has scored 13 goals in 33 appearances for the Azzurri but had been overlooked due to behavioural issues. Mancini took over last Monday, six months after Gian Piero Ventura was sacked following Italy's failure to qualify for the World Cup in ...
In search of big win, Punjab post -- against CSK
Young paceman Lungi Ngidi took four wickets for just 10 runs but Karun Nair hit a timely half-century to help Kings XI Punjab recover from a top-order collapse and post 153 against Chennai Super Kings in an IPL mach, which they need to win by at least 53 runs to qualify for the Play-offs. Delhi Daredevils had done a favour to Punjab by knocking out Mumbai Indians with an 11-run win in the first match of the day as it kept Punjab in the hunt. Punjab now need to restrict CSK to 100 runs to seal the last-available spot in the Play-offs and if they fail to win big, Rajasthan Royals will qualify. When Punjab batsmen needed to fire in unison, only Nair showed stomach for fight with his 26-ball knock, which was laced with three fours and five sixes. It was South African paceman Ngidi (4/10) who triggered a top-order collapse as he swung the ball both ways to confound the Punjab batsmen. He first had dangerous Chris Gayle (0) caught behind and then bowled other opener KL Rahul with a peach of
Can't blame Indian players, consistent batting could have made us a
Delhi Daredevils coach Ricky Ponting today heaped praise on the Indian players, especially Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer, but rued the lack of consistent performance from the rest of the batting unit during the IPL season. Delhi Daredevils notched up back-to-back wins in their last two round-robin matches and Ponting said his team could have been a threat to leading teams if they were consistent. "We can't blame the Indian players, they have been outstanding, we can't complain," Ponting said after Delhi knocked out Mumbai Indians with a 11-run win here. "Prithvi Shaw, Sandeep are some of the talented players we have and I hope they will have a long and successful IPL career here with us." Talking about Pant, who accumulated 684 runs in 14 matches with the help of five half-centuries and a hundred, Ponting said: "It's been an outstanding season for him (Pant). Obviously he is wearing the orange cap right now and it would be great if he can manage to retain the orange cap by the end of
IPL: Delhi knock out Mumbai from play-offs
Delhi Daredevils (DD) rode a strong bowling display to notch up an 11-run victory and eliminate Mumbai Indians from the race for the Indian Premier League (IPL) play-offs at the Ferozshah Kotla here on Sunday.
Figo expects Portugal to win World Cup
Portuguese former football great Luis Figo said he expected Real Madrid to win the Champions League and was picking Portugal to take the World Cup title in Russia.
Marquez clinches French MotoGP, earns 3rd consecutive win
Spanish rider Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) on Sunday won the French MotoGP, his third consecutive victory of the season, followed by Italians Danilo Petrucci (Ducati) and Valentino Rossi (Yamaha).
Yashraj stuns higher-ranked Rudra to advance
Wild card Yashraj Dalvi of Pune continued to impress and qualified for the boys singles main draw of the MSLTA-Yonex Sunrise 12th Ramesh Desai Memorial CCI U16 national tennis tournament today. In the final qualifying round match, Yashraj scored a stunning straight-set - 6-2 7-6(2) - win over Gujarats second seed Rudra Bhatt at the Cricket Club of Indias tennis courts here. Hitesh Yalamanchili of Andhra Pradesh recovered strongly after dropping the first set to overcome Maharashtra's Sandesh Kurale 3-6 7-6(4) 6-0 to progress to the main draw commending tomorrow. Karnataka's Aayush Bhatt also overcame pressure from state mate Monil Lotlikar before pulling through to a 6-3 6-7(6) 6-2 win and also make the tournament proper. Bhakti Parwani (Gujarat) and Krishan Hooda (Chandigarh) are the top seeds in the girls and boys singles main draw respectively. Qualifying Results: Boys singles (final round): Kritanta Sarma bt Karim Khan 7-5 7-5; Yashraj Dalvi bt Rudra Bhatt 6-2 ...
Baisoya finishes Tied-31st in Asia-Pacific golf in China
Honey Baisoya went one-over par to finish Tied-31st on the final day of the USD 300,000 Asia-Pacific Classic here today. It was a disappointing show for the youngster, who started the week with a fine 67 and Tied-2nd but thereafter shot 73-72-73 to finish at 3-under 285. He was the better of the two Indians, who made the cut this week. The other Indian, S Chikkarangappa (74) totalled 2-over 290 and ended T-55th. Baisoya, a two-time winner on Indian domestic PGTI Tour where he has won six times overall, had one birdie and two bogeys. American John Catlin won his maiden Asian Tour title after carding a final-round three-under-par 69. The 27-year-old overcame a nervous start as he dropped two shots on his opening nine holes. He recovered scoring birdies on holes 11, 13 and 14 before holding on for his maiden Asian Tour win at 16-under-par 272 total at the St Andrews Golf Club in Henan, China. Catlin took home a winner's purse of USD 54,000 and rose from 44th to 20th place on the Habitat .
Delhi Daredevils knock Mumbai Indians out of IPL with 11-run win
Wooden spooners Delhi Daredevils knocked defending champions Mumbai Indians out of the Indian Premier League after the trio of Sandeep Lamichhane, Amit Mishra and Harshal Patel starred with three wickets apiece for a 11-run win in their last league match here today. Set a target of 175, Mumbai Indians crumbled against quality leg-spin bowling by Sandeep (3/36), Amit Mishra (3/19) and medium pace of Patel (3/28). The visitors lost three wickets -- Evin Lewis (48), Kieron Pollard (7) and Krunal Pandya (4) -- in five balls at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Hardik Pandya (27) and skipper Rohit Sharma (13) added 43 runs before they were sent back as Mumbai slipped to 122 for seven in 14.5 overs. Ben Cutting tried his hand with a 19-ball 37 before MI were dismissed for 163 in 19.3 overs. Mumbai's ouster makes the final league match between Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab interesting as the latter will not only have to win the contest but also better the net run rate of Rajasthan Royals ...
Svitolina lays down French Open marker in Rome
Elina Svitolina underlined her status as a top favourite for the French Open by sweeping Simona Halep aside 6-0, 6-4 to successfully defend her Italian Open crown today. In a repeat of last year's final at the Foro Italico, Ukrainian Svitolina, seeded fourth, was up against Halep a day after the Romanian top seed had ousted Russian Maria Sharapova. But Halep's hopes of overturning last year's defeat to her 23-year-old opponent quickly evaporated in a completely one-sided encounter that saw the Romanian fail to produce a real challenge. Svitolina, the world number four, has now successfully defended three career titles, in Baku, Dubai and also Rome; she also won in Brisbane and Dubai this season to take her 2018 title total to three. The win also marked Svitolina's 12th career title on what was her eighth final in succession. "It's amazing that I could do this here a second time and defend," said Svitolina. "This is something very, very special. "Congratulations to Simona, she had a ...
Delhi knock out Mumbai from IPL play-offs
Delhi Daredevils ended Mumbai Indians chances of qualifying for the Indian Premier League (IPL) play-offs with a 11-run victory at the Ferozshah Kotla here on Sunday.
Lahiri slips in Texas in windy and gusty conditions
Anirban Lahiri missed a bunch of putts in windy conditions to return a one-over-72 card as he slipped from Tied-20 to Tied-42 on the third day of the AT&T Byron Nelson here. Lahiri opened with a birdie but overall had three birdies against four bogeys in his 72 and is now 6-under 2017 for 54 holes. On a day when the Trinity Forest course played tough and made scoring difficult in windy conditions as gusts touched upto 30 mile per hour, 34-year-old seasoned Marc Leishman (69) shared the lead with 21-year-old Aaron Wise, who was second last week. They were both at 17-under 196. The players will go out in groups of three using split tees for the fourth straight day. Lahiri started with a birdie and but bogeyed second and fifth but a birdie on eighth meant he turned in even. Back-to-back bogeys on 12th and 13th were followed by a birdie on Par-5 14th. Lahiri had a few three-putts and the conditions made even 10-footers and under very challenging. A day earlier the cut fell at 4-under .
IPL: Chennai opts to field vs Punjab
Chennai Super Kings' skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and opted to field against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the last league game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Sunday.
Brazil is ready to win World Cup, says Cafu
The Brazilian national team is over its humiliating loss in the 2014 World Cup and pumped to win another title in Russia, retired star Cafu said.
Under 23 team players have speed and fitness: Anas
Defender Anas Edathodika today praised the Indian U23 football outfits performance in last July's Asia Cup U23 qualifiers leading to some players selection in the senior team's camp in progress here ahead of the four-nation Inter-Continental Cup. "We need to be mentally strong, thats why young players have been chosen. The coach (Stephen Constantine) is confident (of their abilities). They played very well in the Under 23 qualifiers against Qatar, I too was impressed," said Anas at a press conference today. "They can handle physical challenges with speed. Because of superior fitness they played well," said the stopper back prior to todays training in the camp at the Mumbai Football Arena in Andheri. Hosts India will kick-off their campaign in the inaugural edition of the Intercontinental Cup on June 01 when Constantines men face Chinese Taipei in a tournament also featuring New Zealand and Kenya. India had lost to Qatar 0-1 and Syria 0-2 but then thrashed Turkmenistan ..
Ex-India player Madan Lal to contest against Rajat Sharma in DDCA elections
Former India player Madan Lal has decided to contest against noted journalist Rajat Sharma for the post of president in the upcoming Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) elections on June 30. The 67-year-old Lal has the backing of the group, which is being supported by BCCI's acting president CK Khanna and Chetan Chauhan. Lal has served as head of the Cricket Advisory Committee under Justice (retd) Vikramajit Sen, the High Court-appointed administrator of DDCA. Lal played 39 Tests for India, scoring 1,042 runs at an average of 22.65, while taking 71 wickets at 40.08. The bowling all-rounder represented India in 67 One-day Internationals and picked up 73 wickets at 29.27, while scoring 401 runs. Lal has also served as coach of the Indian team from September 1996 to September 1997, after coaching the UAE team in the 1996 World Cup. He was also a member of the national selection committee in 2000-01. On the other hand, Sharma is backed by former DDCA president Sneh Bansal and .
Sanchez has to 'improve' insists United great Scholes
Manchester United great Paul Scholes has warned Alexis Sanchez he must improve following his lacklustre display in Saturday's FA Cup final defeat by Chelsea, saying his performances "can't get any worse". Former United midfielder Scholes singled out Chile international Sanchez for criticism after a match United lost 1-0 at Wembley, with Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard scoring the only goal of the game from the penalty spot. United may have finished second in the Premier League table but that still left them a huge 19 points behind champions and local rivals Manchester City. And Scholes, a key member of Alex Ferguson's trophy-winning teams at Old Trafford, said the likes of former Arsenal favourite Sanchez had to raise their game if United were to close the gap to City next season. "His performances, well they have to improve," Scholes told BT Sport. "They can't get any worse to be honest with you. "I think the next few games of next season are vital to him, he needs to get fans ...
PSG chief Al-Khelaifi dispels Buffon rumours
Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has poured water on suggestions Juventus legend Gianluigi Buffon could step in to replace the French club's number one goalkeeper, Alphonse Areola. Buffon, 40, played his final game for the Italian giants in a 2-1 win over Verona on Saturday, capping a 17-year career in Turin that harvested seven consecutive Serie A titles. Buffon's contract will expire in a matter of weeks, but asked if the French capital could be the emblematic Italian's next destination, Al-Khelaifi told L'Equipe sports daily today: "We have Areola, he's our number one." When then asked if that would also be the case next season, Al-Khelaifi replied: "Yes, for sure." He added: "He (Buffon) is a fantastic goalkeeper, he's very charismatic and is a true gentleman. I'm sure all the clubs want him." Areola underlined his feelings about the situation when he told Le Parisien newspaper Saturday he wanted to "remain number one" at PSG and would leave the club if that were ..