Page 1644 - Sports
Ronaldinho to play exhibition match in Peru
Retired Brazilian football great Ronaldinho will play in an exhibition match between Peruvian clubs Alianza Lima and Sport Boys del Callao next month, the organisers said.
Beijing 2022 looks to learn from PyeongChang 2018
The organisers of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics recently concluded a series of talks centering on PyeongChang 2018 and what can be learned for Beijing's showpiece event in 2022.
Guardiola yet to conclude talks over new City
Pep Guardiola has yet to conclude contract negotiations over a new deal with Premier League champions Manchester City but said on Tuesday there is no urgency to do so. The Catalan has led City to the title in his second season in charge at the Etihad and is now two-thirds of the way through the initial three-year contact he signed when he moved to Manchester in the summer of 2016. It means Guardiola, 47, has now won the league title in all three of the major European countries in which he has managed, following success in Spain with Barcelona and in Germany with Bayern Munich. But he has also established a habit of short spells with those clubs, having spent four seasons managing his hometown club Barca and three in the Bundesliga. Guardiola, talking ahead of City's final home game of the season against Brighton, remained relaxed about the situation, not least because club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, plus chief executive Ferran Soriano and director of football Txiki Begiristain are .
Atletico 'fed up' over Barca's pursuit of Griezmann
Atletico Madrid chief Miguel Angel Gil Marin attacked Barcelona on Tuesday over their pursuit of highly-prized striker Antoine Griezmann, saying he was "fed up" with the Catalan club's attitude. Marin issued his strongly worded rebuke hours after a Spanish radio station reported that Barcelona were poised to pay the French international's 100 million-euro release clause. The Atletico CEO said the club's stance was very clear. "Not once have we negotiated for Griezmann nor do we have any intention to do so," he said in a statement issued on the team's official website. "A few months ago, I personally expressed to Barcelona's president that our player isn't for sale nor are we going to sell him," he continued. "At the same time, I let him know that his inappropriate conduct was against the integrity of the competition..." The uncertainty over Griezmann's future could not have come at a worse time for Atletico as they prepare for next week's Europa League final against Marseille. Marin ..
Lehmann takes on new mentoring role in CA
Former national team coach Darren Lehmann has been assigned to supervise the development of Australia's National Performance Squad (NPS) until October, Cricket Australia announced on Wednesday.
Australia keen on Iniesta as a marquee star
Australian football chiefs plan to contact the agent of Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta to sound him out about a move to the A-League, reports said Wednesday, as the domestic competition looks to recruit a marquee star. Spain's Sport website named the A-League as the World Cup-winner's "preferred destination" this week, although Japan's Vissel Kobe is also seen as one of his possible next moves. China's Chongqing Lifan Tuesday denied reports that the 33-year-old legend will be joining them "as a player", but left the door open to future cooperation in some capacity. Football Federation Australia's website indicated the governing body planned to contact Iniesta's agent after he announced he will leave Barcelona at the end of the season following two decades of phenomenal success. A-League boss Greg O'Rourke said four Australian clubs have signalled their intent to make use of a recently announced Aus$3 million (US$2.2 million) 'marquee fund', which could be used to lure a player of ...
Muguruza advances at Madrid Open
Garbiñe Muguruza defeated Donna Vekic, ranked 50th worldwide, 2-6, 6-4 and 6-1, making it past the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open for the first time.
Nothing is impossible for Portugal with Ronaldo: Mourinho
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho believes that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will single-handedly carry the hopes of Argentina and Portugal respectively when the World Cup begins next month.
PSG win 4th straight French Cup
Paris Saint-Germain hoisted the French Cup for a fourth consecutive year after a 2-0 victory over third-division side Les Herbiers.
Middle order remains a concern, says KXIP coach Brad Hodge
KXIP coach Brad Hodge has made no bones about his team's over reliance on openers Chris Gayle and K L Rahul though he hopes the middle order will deliver going forward in the Indian Premier League. Yes I admit that we rely heavily on Chris Gayle and KL Rahul but that is the case with almost every team. It (middle-order) has been (a concern), for sure," said Hodge after the loss against Rajasthan Royals here yesterday night. "We know that KL is in great form and when Chris Gayle fires, anything can happen." We have got some extremely talented players and we need them to lift a little bit and contribute a little bit more to what they are doing." KXIP lost by 15 runs despite an unbeaten 95 off 70 balls from Rahul. It was their fourth loss in 10 matches. "Unfortunately, we did not have anyone to help KL Rahul get the job done. It is a slight area of concern. Every team has a couple of good players and the rest of the batting revolves around them. But we have been getting good ...
Cricketer Shardul Thakur's parents injured in road accident
The parents of Indian cricketer Shradul Thakur were injured when their motorcycle met with an accident in the neighbouring Palghar district, the police said today. The fast bowler's parents -- father Narendra Thakur and mother Hansa Thakur -- were heading towards Mahim village in district, located about 115 kms from here, when their two-wheeler skidded off the Kelwa-Mahim road last night, an official at the Palghar police station said. Some repair work was underway on the road where they met with the accident, he said. The couple sustained injuries in the mishap, the official said, adding that they were rushed to a hospital where their condition was reported to be out of danger. "We are yet to record their statements as they are undergoing treatment," the police official said. Shradul Thakur, 26, who hails from Palghar, is currently playing for the Chennai Super Kings team in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament.
Desperate DD host high-flying Sunrisers
A desperate Delhi Daredevils will have to learn from the mistakes made in the previous game against table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad when the two sides with contrasting campaigns meet in a re-match of the Indian Premier League, here tomorrow. Languishing at the bottom of the table with three wins from 10 games, the Shreyas Iyer-led team will have to win tomorrow to have any chance of progressing further in the tournament. They have looked a better unit ever since Iyer took over the captaincy from Gautam Gambhir but small mistakes at key moments have proved fatal for them. Courtesy a sublime 65 from the highly-talented Prithvi Shaw, Delhi put up a challenging 163 against Sunrisers in their away game at Hyderabad on May 5. But they were unable to defend 28 runs off the last two overs with the experienced Dan Christian and Trent Boult letting the team down. Delhi could have won rather easily if they held on to the catches of Sunrisers opener Alex Hales and Yusuf Pathan, who eventually .
Lehmann lands new coaching job with Cricket Australia
Few days after stepping down as the head coach of the Australian cricket team, Darren Lehmann has landed himself a new coaching role with the country's cricket board under National Performance Program.The 48-year-old, who had previously worked with National Cricket Centre before being associated with the national team, will work alongside former cricketers Troy Cooley, Ryan Harris and Chris Rogers towards the development of the National Performance Squad (NPS).Confirming the news, Cooley revealed that he has had a discussion with Lehmann, who is keen to continue as a coach with Cricket Australia."I had a good chat with 'Boof' (Lehmann) and he was really keen to continue his coaching.And what a great opportunity - having his expert skills in the areas that we need," cricket.com.au quoted Cooley, as saying.Lehmann's role primarily demands him to focus on the NPS besides also encompassing other pathways programs within the set-up in the CA. The former Australian head coach is expected to
Nadal looks to extend 19-match winning streak in Madrid
World number one Rafael Nadal will look to add to his 19-match winning streak on clay when he begins his Madrid Open campaign against French player Gael Monfils in their round-of-32 in Spain on Wednesday.The Spaniard tennis maestro, as the top seed in the tournament, was handed a bye into the second round and so he is yet to take to the court in Madrid Arena.Five-time champion Nadal is heading into Madrid on the back of his 11th titles in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona, respectively.Nadal, who had extended his consecutive sets won on clay streak to 46, will look to snap John McEnroe's 49-set winning streak on carpet in 1984.Monfils, on the other hand, defeated French qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in his opening-round match in Madrid, the ATP website reported.Nadal has dominated the head-to-head rivalry over the years, going 13-2 against Monfils in his career.In another last-32 clash, former world number one Novak Djokovic will lock horns with Britain's Kyle Edmund for the ...
India's Lahiri hopes to regain form at PLAYERS Championship
Golfer Anirban Lahiri, the only Indian to feature at the prestigious PLAYERS Championship, would be hoping to stay inside world's top-100 with a fine show here, starting tomorrow. Lahiri, ranked exactly no. 100, will be trying to stay inside the world's top-100 while playing the PGA Tour, courtesy his full playing rights. Lahiri needs to turn his form around to stay inside top-100 and maybe move into top-50 and play all the Majors as he did in 2015 and 2016. Lahiri has made six cuts in nine starts, but not finished inside top-25 this year, "All I need is a good round to get my confidence back, especially on the putting green, said Lahiri, who has not won on any Tour since his last win in February 2015 in the Hero Indian Open. I feel a lot of departments are working but my scoring hasn't been as good as I would like it to be. That's where I'm going to be focusing on over the next two days here. "I'm comfortable with some of the shots that you get around here, added Lahiri, who goes out
Halep sails past Mertens at Madrid Open, Del Potro wins on return
Reigning champion Simona Halep edged closer to a third consecutive Madrid Open title by beating Belgium's Elise Mertens in the second round here. Halep, the winner here in 2016 and 2017, was made to work harder in the second set on Manolo Santana but the world number one's 6-0 6-3 victory yesterday was never in doubt. Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic will now await Halep in the last 16 as the Romanian continues to prepare for the French Open, where she has twice gone the distance only to finish runner-up. Halep won the first eight games in a row to lead 6-0 2-0, with her clay-court counter-attacking too strong for the 22-year-old Mertens to handle. Mertens offered some late resistance as her opponent's concentration wavered, but a double fault confirmed Halep's victory in a brief one hour and 11 minutes. "I think I played well again," Halep said. "It is the second match of the tournament. I have a great feeling." Earlier, Petra Kvitova battled to a 6-3 7-6 (10/8) victory over ..
West Brom relegated from Premier League, Southampton win
Wst Brom were relegated from the Premier League after Southampton took a huge step towards keeping their place in the English top flight by beating fellow strugglers Swansea. Darren Moore's West Brom needed a draw between the Saints and Swans in south Wales last night to take their fight to avoid relegation into the final day of the season on Sunday. After more than 70 minutes of frenetic action yesterday, substitute Manolo Gabbiadini provided the decisive moment for Southampton when he reacted quickest to Charlie Austin's parried shot in a crowded goalmouth. Gabbiadini had only been on the pitch for four minutes and it was only his fifth goal of a difficult season for the Italian. The result means Southampton move up to 16th in the table, three points clear of 18th-place Swansea, who are favourites to joint West Brom and Stoke in the Championship. Southampton's win confirmed West Brom's return to the English second tier after eight seasons in the top flight, with an eighth-place ...
FIFA fines Russia after fans racially abused France players
Five weeks before the World Cup kicks off, FIFA fined the Russian soccer federation 30,000 Swiss francs because fans racially abused France players during a game in St. Petersburg. Monkey chants were aimed at black players, including Paul Pogba, during France's 3-1 win over Russia in a friendly in March at a marquee stadium which will host seven World Cup games. FIFA yesterday said its disciplinary panel noted "the gravity of the incident but also the limited number of fans involved." Anti-racism group Kick It Out said FIFA's "lack of effective action ... will likely result in the further abuse of black players in matches involving (Russia)." Russia faced criticism of racist incidents in domestic club games even before it was picked as World Cup host in 2010, and the federation was fined for racial incidents involving fans at the past two European Championships. Russia will play one group-stage game in St. Petersburg, against Egypt on June 19. The host nation also plays Saudi Arabia ..
Focus on Woods-Mickelson battle in PLAYERS Championship
For the first time in 17 years, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have been paired together in the first two rounds of the PLAYERS Championship here. The two have gotten closer in recent times, courtesy Woods' duties as a vice-captain at Ryder Cup. They also played a practice round together at the Masters and it was one of the highlights of the week. The careers of Woods and Mickelson, two of the best players of our generation, have almost overlapped for the last two decades, but they have played together only 35 other times in their PGA Tour careers. The last time was in 2014. Part of the excitement is that both are playing well and that their 36-hole two-round battle comes at a marquee event like the PLAYERS Championship. We haven't been paired together in years, and as I look at the cover of the newspaper and the pairing is on there and the excitement that's been going on around here, it gets me thinking, why don't we just bypass all the ancillary stuff of a tournament and just go ...
2018 BWF Thomas, Uber Cup: Saina, Prannoy to lead India's challenge
Ace India shuttlers H.S Prannoy and Saina Nehwal will lead Indias charge at the upcoming BWF Thomas and Uber Cup, slated to be held from May 20-27, in Bangkok, the Badminton Association of India announced on Tuesday.