Page 1636 - Sports
Salah promises Liverpool fans: this is 'just the start'
Mohamed Salah has reassured Liverpool fans his stunning first season is "just the beginning" of his time at the club despite speculation over interest from Real Madrid. The Egyptian collected awards in Liverpool on Thursday after being voted player of the season by both the club's fans and his teammates before boarding a flight to collect the Football Writers' Association's award in London. The 25-year-old has scored 43 goals in all competitions since arriving from Roma last summer, a return that has seen him heavily linked with Spanish giants Real Madrid, who face Liverpool in the Champions League later this month. But Salah, who needs just one more goal to become the outright record-holder for the most strikes in a 38-match season in the Premier League, appears content with life at the club. "I'm very happy here, everything is fine," he said. "Of course I have got ambitions for the future with Liverpool. As you can see we had a great season, now we are in the Champions League final .
Serena to begin hard-court season in San Jose
After pulling out of the ongoing Madrid Open, American tennis ace Serena Williams has confirmed that she will kickstart her summer hard-court season at the upcoming WTA tournament in San Jose, California.The 23-time Grand Slam champion will play at the 2018 Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic, which will be held at the San Jose State University from July 30 to August 5.Announcing the news, Williams said the tournament plays an important role in women's tennis and, therefore, she is looking forward to the challenge."I am looking forward to opening my summer season at the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic and competing in the new venue. This tournament plays an historic role in women's tennis, and as a California native the fans in the Bay Area have always been incredibly supportive," the WTA website quoted the 36-year-old as saying.Besides Williams, five-time Grand Slam champion and Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova and defending champion and US Open finalist Madison Keys have also ...
Russia sends 'proof' to WADA refuting doping claims
Russian federal investigators said Friday they had sent the World Anti-Doping Agency "proof" refuting claims by whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov of a state-sponsored doping programme at the Sochi Olympics in 2014. "The investigators have collected objective proof refuting Rodchenkov's deceitful evidence concerning the delivery of athletes' doping samples to the Sochi anti-doping laboratory," the Russian Investigations Committee said in a statement. The committee said it had sent WADA documents relating to the registration of doping samples that contradicted the whistleblower's allegations, according to the statement on its website. The body, which reports directly to the Kremlin, opened an investigation into the scandal in 2016. Former Russian Anti-Doping Agency chief Rodchenkov provided key evidence leading to suspensions of Russian athletes from global sport, including a ban from competing under the Russian flag at February's Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. The suspensions followed ...
Wenger predicts European Super League
Arsene Wenger predicts a European super league will be introduced over the next few years, leading to major changes for the Premier League. The outgoing Arsenal boss believes Europe's elite clubs will fight for the introduction of a continental, weekend league to challenge the success of the English top flight. Wenger, 68, will leave the Emirates Stadium after a reign lasting almost 22 years when the season ends away to Huddersfield on Sunday. But the Frenchman is predicting a huge overhaul of football in the near future, with Premier League fixtures relegated to midweek slots. "The next evolution? Maybe I will see you in a few years and you will certainly have a European league over the weekends," he said. "A domestic league will certainly play Tuesday/Wednesday. I think that is the next step we will see." Wenger said the move was "inevitable" because the big clubs would want a bigger slice of the money that comes into football and would be less willing to share it with their ...
IPL: Laggards RCB fancy chances against struggling Daredevils (Preview)
Already out of contention for the Indian Premier League (IPL) play-offs, bottom-placed Delhi Daredevils will attempt to end the season on a bright note when they face laggards Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Ferozshah Kotla here on Saturday.
IPL: Kolkata face Punjab in must-win tie (Preview)
Kings XI Punjab will be aiming to consolidate their position in the top three of the Indian Premier League (IPL) points table when they take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Holkar Cricket Stadium here on Saturday.
Basketball Without Borders camp coming back to India
The National Basketball Association (NBA), the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) on Friday announced that Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Asia 2018 will be held from May 30 to June 2 at the NBA Academy India in New Delhi.It will be the second time that the NBA and FIBA's global basketball development and community outreach programme will be held in India.BWB Asia 2018 will bring together the top male and female players aged 17 and under from throughout the Asia-Pacific region to learn directly from NBA and FIBA players, legends and coaches and to compete against the best young players from the region."Ten years ago, India hosted its first-ever Basketball Without Borders Asia camp in New Delhi," said FIBA National Federations and Sports Director Zoran Radovic. "We're excited to return to the world's second-most populous country where basketball has really taken off over the past decade. The sport is growing extremely fast and there
Ganguly lauds Pant, says his time will come
Left spellbound by Rishabh Pant's blistering unbeaten century against Sunrisers Hyderabad, former India captain Sourav Ganguly said the Delhi Daredevils wicketkeeper-batsman will get to play for the national team in due time. Pant demolished arguably the best bowling attack of the tournament in a sensational 63-ball 128 not out, the highest T20 score by an Indian. "For Rishabh it will happen, he will get there... I think he is the future," Ganguly said at a promotional programme of Cycle Pure Agarbathies. The knock came two days after the 20-year-old was ignored from India's T20 squad for their tour of Ireland and England. "For the likes of Pant, Ishan Kishan (who scored a 21-ball 52), time will come. They are young there's no hurry. They will get matured as they play more games with time. They will play for India in the years to come. "But having said that consistency is important, hope it's not just one off. I was reading about Ishan Kishan after that knock in Kolkata... When you ...
Room for improvement exists: Sunrisers Hyderabad's Sandeep
Despite becoming the first team to confirm their place in the playoffs of the ongoing 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Sunrisers Hyderabad pace bowler Sandeep Sharma has said that there is still a room for improvement going into another clash.Yesterday, Rishabh Pant's blistering knock went in vain as Sunrisers Hyderabad thrashed Delhi Daredevils by nine wickets in their IPL clash at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in the national capital to book their spot in playoffs.Following the win, Sandeep insisted that though they were performing well, they still needed to work on every department to improve their chances of making it to the finals."There is no team or player who is perfect. There are a lot of things that we need to improve like fielding, game awareness, even batting or bowling can be further improved. It doesn't matter how well you are doing, there is still room for improvement. Going forward, we need to have plans for a player like Rishabh, who is playing really ..
Kenya's Rudisha eyes return in July
Olympic 800 metre champion David Rudisha of Kenya hopes to return to action in July a year after he incurred a quid muscle strain in the build-up to the London 2017 World Championships.
Ziganda not to continue as Athletic Club coach
Athletic Club Bilbao President Josu Urrutia has announced that Jose Angel 'Kuko' Ziganda will not remain as coach next football season.
Jharkhand CM congratulates winners in hockey & athletics
Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das has congratulated the girls team on winning the 8th Hockey India Junior National Hockey Championship, 2018 and gold medal winner of the South Asian Junior Athletics Championship in Colombo. Addressing the players here, Das said that the girls were the brand ambassadors of social development. Congratulating Sapna Kumari on winning gold medal in 100m hurdle in the South Asian Junior Athletics Championship, Das directed the Sports Department to prepare high-level infrastructure for the players. The chief minister directed to give Rs 20,000 to each of the player from his discretionary fund. In addition, they would get money from the Sports Directorate of the government, a release said yesterday rpt yesterday.
WADA satisfied with PyeongChang 2018 doping control arrangements
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has published its Independent Observer (IO) Team's Report regarding the anti-doping programme at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games.
Indian paddler G Sathiyan signs with top German club
India's top table tennis player G Sathiyan, who won three medals at his Commonwealth Games debut last month, has signed with German Bundesliga's top division club ASV Grunwettersbach Tischtennis. Sathiyan won a team gold, a silver in men's doubles alongside Sharath Kamal, and a bronze in mixed doubles with Manika Batra at the Gold Coast Games. He was also a part of the Indian men's team that finished 13th, its best ever performance, in the World Team Championships in Sweden last week. "I am really happy on becoming the second Indian to sign up with a club after Sharath Kamal in the most prestigious league in the world. I am looking forward to playing against world class players and I think it will be a great experience," Sathiyan told PTI. The World No 46 will start playing in the Bundesliga from September after the Asian Games in Jakarta. "I am looking forward to playing with players like Timo Ball, (Simon) Gauzy and Hugo (Calderano)," added Sathiyan, who has previously played in ...
S. African champions to play Barcelona to commemorate Mandela
South African Premier League champions Mamelodi Sundowns will play a friendly football match with Barcelona to commemorate Nelson Mandela.
Iniesta weighing options for life after Barça
Spain international and Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta, who is leaving the Catalan football club, has said that he is still making up his mind about where he will play next season.
Chile to meet Romania in friendly
Chile and Romania will meet in an international friendly this month as both seek competition after failing to qualify for the FIFA World Cup in Russia.
RCB fight for survival against down and out Delhi
Struggling to stay in the Play-offs hunt, a below-par Royal Challengers Bangalore will have rise to the occasion when they take on the already-eliminated Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League (IPL), here tomorrow. RCB, who have just three wins from 10 games, have to win their remaining four games to have any chance of making the play-offs. Given their ordinary run so far in the IPL, RCB don't evoke much hope. Skipper Virat Kohli had minced no words after their last game against Sunrisers Hyderabad, saying they were simply not good enough and even questioned the character of his team. Kohli, the team's leading run-scorer with 396 runs at 49.50, was understandably upset after RCB were unable to chase down a modest 147. The batsmen had also let them down against Chennai Super Kings in the previous game, managing just 127. The team has always relied heavily on Kohli and AB de Villiers but it is high time the likes of Mandeep Singh, Quinton de Kock and Brendon McCullum ...
Spain coach Lopetegui keeps preliminary 35-man World Cup list secret
Spain coach Julien Lopetegui will send a preliminary list of 35 players for the World Cup to FIFA on Monday, before reducing that to the definitive list of 23 after the end of the football season.
Brazil to decide Dani Alves' World Cup availability by weekend
A decision on whether injured defender Dani Alves will be fit for the World Cup in Russia is likely to be made by the weekend, Brazil national football team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar has said.