Page 1664 - Sports
Putin wants tough soccer from Russia at World Cup
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he wants to see "strong-willed, no-compromise" soccer from Russia's team at the World Cup. The host nation comes into the tournament with no wins from its last five friendlies. Meeting with FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Russian officials in Sochi, Putin says "we all hope that our players will give themselves fully to the game, will play at full strength, will display the strong-willed, no-compromise soccer which fans value and love." Russia hasn't gotten past the group stage at any tournament since it reached the semifinals of the 2008 European Championship. Russia opens the World Cup against Saudi Arabia in Group A on June 14 before playing Egypt on June 19 and Uruguay six days later.
Prithvi's technique is like Tendulkar: Mark Waugh
Former Australian cricketer Mark Waugh believes Delhi Daredevils opener Prithvi Shaw's batting technique resembles that of cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar.
IPL-2018: KKR win toss, elect to field against CSK
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Dinesh Karthik won the toss and elected to field against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) game at the Eden Gardens here on Thursday.
Pandya, Karthik confirmed for ICC World XI
India all-rounder Hardik Pandya and wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik will join an ICC World XI for the Twenty20 International against the West Indies at Lords on May 31, being organised to raise funds for stadia in the Caribbean damaged by hurricanes last year.
Russian will do well in FIFA World Cup, hopes Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin has wished success to the national squad in the FIFA World Cup matches and expressed the hope that all players will display remarkable willpower and determination to fight to the bitter end.
Serena withdraws from Mutua Madrid Open
American tennis star Serena Williams has withdrawn from the Mutua Madrid Open, explaining that she needed more training to be ready to compete, the tournament's director announced on Thursday.
Lakshya gives Lin Dan a scare before losing, Sai, Verma marches on
Teenage shuttler Lakshya Sen reaffirmed his status as one of India's rising talent as he gave legendary Lin Dan a scare before losing in three games at the Auckland Open Badmointon Championship, here today. Up against two-time Olympic champion Dan, 17-year-old Lakshya gave a fantastic account of himself by pocketing the first game but eventually lost out on experience. The Chinese calmly clawed back into the game to win the encounter 15-21 21-15 21-12 in a marathon second round men's singles match that lasted one hour and seven minutes. "Good Match against the Legend Lin Dan......gave my best shot!! have realised that i still have a long way to go!! I would like to thank all the coaches of Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, OGQ, SAI for their support," Lakshya tweeted after the match. Third seeded B Sai Praneeth and Sameer Verma however won their respective matches in straight games to enter the quarterfinals. Sai Praneeth defeated Malaysia's Darren Liew 21-18 21-7, while fifth seed .
Mathematics professor among 15 held for betting
A mathematics professor is among 15 people arrested here for betting on Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches, police said on Thursday.
Peru's Paolo Guerrero arrives at CAS for hearing in doping case
Peru national football team captain Paolo Guerrero arrived on Thursday at the Court of Arbitration for Sport to attend a hearing to prove that FIFA's suspension was unfounded.
Williamson hopes Bhuvneshwar gets fit for DD clash
Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Kane Williamson today hoped that pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar would be fit for their next IPL game against Delhi Daredevils on May 5. "We have had a few of days off now and obviously, he missed a couple of games. I don't think it was a serious injury, but something he did need to give rest... Hopefully, he will be fine by next game," he told reporters on the sidelines of a promotional event Kumar missed the last couple of games of SRH owing to a back problem. Sunrisers Hyderabad takes on Delhi Daredevils in their next game on May 5. Sunrisers Hyderabad are currently sitting pretty at the top of the points table, jointly with Chennai Super Kings. Sunrisers Head Coach Tom Moody said the team would like to improve in all three departments towards the business end of the tournament. "Business end of the tournament is where we want to be playing our best cricket. We feel we can still improve in all three departments," he said. Williamson and Moody also revealed who ..
Scale 'Mount India' to be considered great, new coach Langer to Aussies
Newly-appointed Australia coach Justin Langer today said his team can be considered great only if it wins a Test series in India, something that he likened to conquering Mount Everest, last done back in 2004. Langer, who took over from Darren Lehman, has plenty on his table but for him the tour of the Indian sub-continent will be the ultimate challenge, which will happen only in 2021. "We've got a World Cup, a T20 World Cup, a couple of Ashes (in 2019 and 2021-22) - I get nervous when I start thinking about it. There are some big tournaments coming up," Langer told mediapersons today. "But ultimately, if I fast forward it, the Indian Test tour in about three or four years' time (2021), to me that's the ultimate. We will judge ourselves on whether we're a great cricket team, if we beat India in India," the former opener declared. For him, being a part of the Adam Gilchrist-led side that won the 2004 Test series in India 2-1, was like scaling Mount Everest. Langer believes that a ...
Sandhu leads in Korea; Kapur fifth
India's Ajeetesh Sandhu played brilliantly on a cold and windy day to emerge as the first round leader with four-under-par 67 score at the 37th GS Caltex Maekyung Open Golf Championship here today. Sandhu, who ended the day with a one-shot lead, continued to showcase the strength of Indian golf with a performance that threatens to break the Korean stronghold at the event which has not been won by a foreign player since Mark Calcavecchia of the United States in 2004. While Sandhu has six birdies against two bogeys, another Indian Shiv Kapur was tied 5th with a card of two-under 69 with five birdies, one bogey and a double bogey. Among other Indians Gaganjeet Bhullar and S Chikkarangappa shot 72 each to be tied 33rd. Jeev Milkha singh (74) was tied 70th while Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa with 75 each were tied 87th and Khalin Joshi (76) was tied 100th. The Korean trio of Heungchol Joo, LeeDong Ha and JaeBum Park stayed close to Sandhu when they signed for matching 68s at the Namseoul .
We will be called great team if we win Test series in India: Langer
Newly appointed coach Justin Langer would only term the current Australian cricket team "great" if they can win a Test series in India in three years time, an encore of the 2004 side of which he was an integral part. Langer, who took over from Darren Lehman, has plenty on his table but for him the tour of the Indian sub-continent will be an ultimate challenge. "We've got a World Cup, a T20 World Cup, a couple of Ashes (in 2019 and 2021-22) - I get nervous when I start thinking about it. There are some big tournaments coming up," Langer told mediapersons today. "But ultimately, if I fast forward it, the Indian Test tour in about three or four years' time (2021), to me that's the ultimate. We will judge ourselves on whether we're a great cricket team, if we beat India in India," the former opener declared. For him, being a part of the Adam Gilchrist-led side that won the 2004 Test series in India 2-1, was like scaling the peak of Mount Everest. Langer believes than a victory in India ...
Nehwal, Prannoy break into top 10 of BWF rankings
Few days after settling for a bronze medal at the Asia Championships in Wuhan, ace Indian shuttler HS Prannoy and London Olympic bronze-medallist Saina Nehwal have broken into the top 10 of the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings released on Thursday.Nehwal, who picked up a gold medal in the recently-concluded 21st Commonwealth Games, made it to the semi-finals of the Badminton Asia Championship, only to see herself slumping to a 25-27, 19-21 defeat at the hands of World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei.Prannoy, on the other hand, displayed some patches of brilliance against his Olympic champion Chen Long in the semi-final clash, but the Chinese shuttler and third seed eventually prevailed the Indian 21-16, 21-18 in a 52-minute match.The result, however, helped Prannoy and Nehwal climb up two places to reach career-best eighth spot and tenth spot respectively.Commonwealth silver-medallist Kidambi Srikanth, who held the top spot when the rankings were released on April
Sachin Tendulkar meets Dalai Lama in Dharamsala
Legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, who is on a four-day private visit to Dharamsala, visited Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at his adopted home in McLeod Ganj on Thursday.After meeting the Dalai Lama, Tendulkar said that he felt ecstatic to seek the Tibetan leader's blessing, adding that the duo talked about spreading happiness and communal harmony."It was an excellent, very good meeting. I always wanted to be here and take the blessings. Just wanted to spend some time and say hello to him. We talked about spreading happiness and communal harmony," Tendulkar told reporters.The spiritual leader of the Tibetans lives above the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium ground, where Tendulkar will go once again on the final day of his visit.The former opener, who is accompanied by his wife Anjali, had earlier met young cricketers at the HPCA Stadium.Considered as one of the greatest batsmen of all time, Tendulkar is the highest run scorer of all time in ...
In lower-weight categories Asian Games are like Olympics:Aware
Commonwealth Games gold medal-winning wrestler Rahul Aware equates the level of competition in the Asian Games to Olympics in the light-weight categories. Most past medal winners in Olympics in the lower-weight classes belonged to Asian countries, he points out. "Before this, I have a gold in Junior Asian (championships), a rank in the Senior Asian (championships) and have played 7-8 Asian Championships. Asian players have been medal winners in 55-60 kg category in the past Olympics, so Asian Games are like Olympics," Aware told PTI today. "Check the results in the light-weight category at Olympics -- Japan, Korea, the countries which have been carved out of Russia and are in Asia -- you see players from these countries as medallists in light-weight categories. When one becomes an Asian Champion, he is a contender for an Olympic medal," he explained. "Be it any Games, CWG or Asian or Olympics, Games are Games and every athlete comes prepared. The trials before the ...
CSL plans wage cap to curb multi-million dollar signings
The Chinese Super League (CSL) is debating whether to introduce a salary cap in order to curb the financial problems of its clubs, state media reported on Thursday.
IPL: Mumbai eyeing to salvage pride vs in-form Punjab (Preview)
Three-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Mumbai Indians will look to salvage pride when they face a spirited Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at the Holkar Cricket Stadium here on Friday.
Neymar returning to Paris to finalize recovery
Brazilian star footballer Neymar will travel to Paris on Friday to complete the final stage of his recovery from foot surgery, according to media reports.
Pant fully focussed on Delhi's resurgence in IPL
After guiding Delhi Daredevils to a much-needed four-run win against Rajasthan Royals, with a flamboyant 29-ball 69, Rishabh Pant said his primary focus is to do well for his Indian Premier League (IPL) team and not think about a prospective international future.