Page 1807 - Sports
Sharma misses putts, misses cut at Houston
Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma missed a lot of makeable putts on the second day to miss the cut at the Houston Open but took a lot of positives as he got into Masters' mode a week ahead of the year's first Major. Making his debut at Houston Open, Sharma, a two-time winner on Asian and European Tours, was one-over 73 on first day and needed to get to at least 4-under to have a chance of making the cut. He finished at two-under 70 for a total of one-under 143, but missed the cut by two. He must be ruing his misses on second (7 feet for par), 12th (12 foot for birdie), 15th (6 feet four for birdie) and 18th (6 feet nine for par). Yet he can be satisfied with his game as he heads to Augusta two days earlier than planned, but it will give him a chance to get used to what many golfers call as the best' Major. Meanwhile, Beau Hossler moved into lead as better-known players faltered down the stretch on Friday. Hossler has a one-shot lead heading into the weekend. The 23-year-old Hossler shot
Christchurch Test: Watling, de Grandhomme lead Kiwis fightback on Day 2
BJ Watling and Colin de Grandhomme smashed half-centuries each to bring their side out of the hot water by stumps on the Day Two of their second and final Test against England here at Hagley Oval on Saturday.In reply to England's first-inning score of 307, New Zealand made a poor start to their innings, losing openers Jeet Raval and Tom Latham cheaply for five and duck.Subsequently, skipper Kane Williamson chipped in with 22 runs before being dismissed off James Anderson's delivery while Ross Taylor (two) and Henry Nicholls (duck) were also bowled out cheaply.Wicketkeeper-batsman Watling then combined with all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme to notch a record partnership of 142 runs for the sixth wicket to bring New Zealand back on track against England.While Watling secured his 14th Test half-century and was unbeaten at 77, De Grandhomme was dismissed for 72, his third Test half-century, when bad light stopped play about five overs short of scheduled stumps.At the end of the second day's
Khelo India champions set to debut at the Commonwealth Games
Set to make their debut at next month's Commonwealth Games, teenagers Manu Bhaker and Srihari Nataraj are two prodigious talents who emerged as champions from the Khelo India School Games, government's ambitious flagship programme. While Manu shot her way to a gold in women's 10m Air Pistol with a score of 241.1 in the finals to rewrite her own final national record of 240.5 set at the National Shooting Championship in December, Srihari broke his own 100-meter backstroke national record while winning six gold and a silver medal at the Khelo India School Games. Srihari said his participation in Khelo India was part of his training ahead of the CWG. "I was aiming for a 56.50 finish since I am preparing for the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires and the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast," Srihari had said after clocking 56.90 seconds in the 100m backstroke to improve on his own National record of 56.99 which he clocked in Tashkent last year. Srihari started swimming when he was about two
Zverev enters Miami Masters final
Alexander Zverev of Germany entered the final of the Miami Masters tennis tournament after defeating Spain's Pablo Carreno 7-6(4), 6-2 in the semi-finals.
Mourinho sad to see Ibrahimovic leave for US
Manchester United coach Jose Mourinho expressed regret about the departure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to play in the United States.
Ibrahimovic ready to conquer MLS
Major League Soccer (MLS) in the United States has another European star in the autumn of his career, Sweden's Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who arrived here like a Hollywood star to introduce himself as new player for the Los Angeles Galaxy team.
Warner sorry for role in cheating scandal
Former Australian cricket vice captain David Warner has apologised for his role in the ball-tampering crisis that saw him suspended from the sport for 12 months.
Big players missing from visiting Windies side due to prior commitments: PCB
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi on Friday clarified that two key players of the visiting West Indies side had opted out from T20I series against Pakistan as they had prior commitments, and it was not due to security concerns.Refusing to accept the visiting team as "weak", Sethi, according to the Dawn, said, "It is not fair to say that big West Indies players are not coming. Just two of their players have refused to come to Pakistan due to their [prior] commitments in the Indian Premier League."Also, many of the high profile and experienced players are not a part of West Indies T20I side, so their absence from the three-match series should not be considered as their refusal to visit the country due to security reasons, Sethi said at the Karachi's Jinnah International Airport.All-rounder Jason Mohammed will lead the notably weakened 13-man West Indies national side in the three-match T20I series against Pakistan, beginning April 1 at the Karachi's National Stadium.West
Playing under Cannavaro a 'dream come true': Alan
Guangzhou Evergrande striker Alan has described playing under coach Fabio Cannavaro as a "dream come true" and praised the Italian World Cup winner's positive influence on the team.
Isner enters Miami Open final
American John Isner advanced to the Miami Open final with an impressive 6-1, 7-6 (7-2) victory over Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro, who came into the game on a 15-match winning streak.
Australian eves eye first T20I series win in 3 years
The Australian women's cricket team are looking forward to seal their first Twenty20 International series win in nearly three years as they will lock horns with England in the finals of the T20I tri-series here at the Brabourne Stadium on Saturday.Except their eight-wicket defeat to England in the second match, Australia were at their menacing best in their approach and application as they won three out of their four round-robin clashes comfortably.England, on the other hand, kicked off their campaign with two successive wins, including notching up their highest chase in T20I against India.However, they failed to capitalize on it and slumped to two heavy defeats heading into the final showdown. England suffered eight-wicket defeats against both Australia and India in their last two matches.It should be noted that it is only by the virtue of their victories in the opening two matches that the England women's team have made it to the finals of T20I Tri-series.Meanwhile, India, who also .
Canada swim sweetheart Oleksiak gets serious
Canada's Penny Oleksiak is not your average teenager. At the tender age of 16, she captured swimming gold in the women's 100 metres freestyle at the 2016 Rio Olympics to finish with four medals -- the best-ever haul by a Canadian at a single Summer Games. But after melting hearts in Brazil, Oleksiak flopped at last year's world championships, something she's determined to avoid when she makes her Commonwealth Games debut in Gold Coast. "It was crazy after Rio because there was so much hype around it," Okeksiak said after training for the competition, which begins next week. "It was pretty hard, everyone was freaking out. Even now it's just different knowing little kids look up to me and want to follow in my footsteps. "Last year it was more trying to chill out and kind of find my space and get off of 2016." Oleksiak, who dead-heated with Simone Manuel to claim gold in the 100m free in Rio, admits she has had to quickly go from being a goofy teen to a serious athlete. "It's a bit ...
Sameer enters semifinals of Orleans Open
Sameer Verma emerged as the lone Indian survivor at the Orleans Open World Super 100 tournament after reaching the semifinals with a hard-fought win over local hope Lucas Corvee in men's singles competition. Top seeded Sameer, who clinched the Swiss Open last month, saw off eighth seeded Corvee 17-21 21-19 21-15 in a battle that lasted an hour and eight minutes at the Palais des sports. The Indian will face Netherlands' Mark Caljouw, seeded fourth, next. It turned out to be a disappointing day for fifth seeded Parupalli Kashyap as he lost 18-21 14-21 to third seeded Rasmus Gemke of Denmark. After battling for 44 minutes, Indian men's doubles pair of Francis Alwin and K Nandagopal also suffered a 21-19 14-21 8-21 loss to third seeded German combo of Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Emil Seidel.
Chelsea's Champions League chances hang on same old Spurs story
Chelsea host Tottenham Hotspur tomorrow will be aiming to extend the visitors' 28-year wait for a league win at Stamford Bridge and keep their hopes of Champions League football next season alive in the process. Spurs sit five points above the English champions in the fourth and final Champions League place with just eight games of the campaign to go. Missing out on the top four would almost certainly seal Chelsea manager Antonio Conte's fate with speculation already rife over the Italian's future and who trigger-happy owner Roman Abramovich could look to as his successor. However, Conte remains hopeful that Chelsea can make up the lost ground caused by four defeats in their last six league games. "If we win, we go very close to Tottenham," said Conte. "Otherwise, we continue to stay not so close and, with seven games to go, it will be difficult to take a place in the Champions League." By contrast, Spurs are unbeaten in their last 12 league games stretching back to December. Victory .
Silent Wenger's future still up for debate
Arsene Wenger may have lost his voice before Arsenal's home match with Stoke City tomorrow but the discussion over his future is unlikely to be silenced just yet. At the end of the season Wenger will be halfway through a two-year contract many Gunners fans felt should never have been handed in the first place to a man who had not won the Premier League since 2004. The 68-year-old declared during the international break that many of his critics were simply guilty of age discrimination rather than a genuine unhappiness with Arsenal's current position. North London giants Arsenal will kick off in sixth position, 13 points adrift of fourth-placed local rivals Tottenham Hotspur, and therefore in danger of missing out on the Champions League for a second successive season. Yet the Gunners can still pin their hopes on emulating Manchester United and qualifying for Europe's elite trophy next term by winning the Europa League. The visit of second-bottom Stoke is the third in a five-game ...
Former England captain Wilkins 'fights for life' after heart attack
Former England captain and Chelsea, Manchester United and AC Milan midfielder Ray Wilkins was fighting for his life following a heart attack with his wife telling British media: "It's very, very bad". Wilkins, 61, is understood to have fallen and hit his head after his heart stopped. He has been placed in an induced coma at a London hospital. "He is not in a good state at all, I'm afraid. He's critically ill," Wilkins' wife Jackie told The Mirror newspaper. "The cardiac arrest led to a fall which has meant he's had to be put in an induced coma. It's very, very bad." Wilkins played 84 times for England, captaining his country 10 times between 1976 and 1986. His playing career also took him to Paris Saint Germain, Glasgow Rangers and Queen's Park Rangers. He coached QPR, Fulham and Jordan as well as becoming caretaker manager at Chelsea when Luiz Felipe Scolari was sacked in 2009. Wilkins, who has been employed as a TV pundit, also worked alongside Guus Hiddink at Stamford Bridge and ...
Commonwealth Games to restore Australia's reputation, say organisers
Bullish hosts Australia said the Commonwealth Games will restore the country's battered sporting reputation on Saturday after a cricket ball-tampering scandal which drew criticism from around the world. Sport-mad Australia's image took a bruising after a plot to alter the ball was revealed in a Test match against South Africa, an offence which triggered an outpouring against Australia's hard-nosed cricket team. It comes just days before the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and Peter Beattie, chairman of local organisers GOLDOC, said: "Cricket has obviously damaged our national standing but the Commonwealth Games will restore it, very simply. "Because the measures that have come in for drug-testing means these will be the cleanest Games, they'll be friendly Games and at the end of it our reputation globally will be restored." Beattie was speaking hours after David Warner, former vice-captain of Australia's beleaguered cricket team, broke down in tears and ...
Watling and de Grandhomme spearhead New Zealand fightback
BJ Watling and Colin de Grandhomme hauled New Zealand back into the second Test today to trail England by 115 runs with four wickets in hand at stumps on day two in Christchurch. When bad light stopped play seven overs early, New Zealand were 192 for six. Watling was on 77 after sharing a 142-run stand with de Grandhomme which was broken in the final hour by England's man of the moment Stuart Broad. Broad, who had de Grandhomme caught behind for 72, finished the day with four for 38. It was Watling's 14th Test half-century and de Grandhomme's second highest score as they passed New Zealand's previous 6th wicket partnership record against England of 141, set by Martin Crowe and Adam Parore 24 years ago. In a match of fluctuating fortunes, New Zealand's recovery from 36 for five followed England's own revival from 164 for seven to be all out for 307. After months of misery on the road, England felt their luck had turned after Jonny Bairstow's rescue mission, with the ...
Miami Open: Zverev rolls into final, to face Isner
German tennis star Alexander Zverev showcased his finest tennis of the season to brush aside Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain and cement her spot in the finals of the Miami Masters here on Saturday.The 20-year-old surged past Busta 7-6(4), 6-2 in an exhilarating semi-final clash that lasted one hour and 28 minutes on Crandon Park's Stadium court.Zverev, who last year became the youngest player since Serbia's Novak Djokovic to clinch multiple ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles in one season with victories in Rome and Montrea, struck 30 winners and won a total of 78 per cent of service points while making just 21 unforced errors.Following the win, the fifth-seeded player revealed that he tried to be more aggressive in the tie-breaker and then he made some backhand winners which helped him in finding the rhythm during the match."I tried to be more aggressive. I made some winners; made some backhand winners finally in the match and found my rhythm.I think after that, I started to play really .
Indian squash team leaves for CWG
A nine-member Indian squash team, led by Saurav Ghosal and Dipika Pallikal Karthik, left for Gold Coast today to participate in the Commonwealth Games to be held from April 4-15. After the hectic practice sessions at the Indian Squash Academy, the Indian team including Harinder Pal Sandhu, Vikram Malhotra, Ramit Tandon, Joshna Chinappa and three officials -- coaches Cyrus Poncha, Bhuvneshwari Kumari and Physio Graeme Everard (England) left for the Games today. We have three players in the top 20. Everyone has been doing well on the professional circuit and are in fine nick. Our goal is a for a medal in the individual events while we believe that we will be there on the podium in the doubles competition, said National coach Poncha. The squash events singles and doubles - will be held from April 5 to 15. Joshna, who alongwith Dipika had won the gold in the women's doubles in the Glasgow Games 2014, said they were ready for the occasion. We are in good touch and have trained hard in ...