Page 1841 - Sports
Ibrahimovic close to MLS move - report
Zlatan Ibrahimovic's time at Manchester United could come to an end as early as this week with a move to Major League Soccer in the pipeline, according to a report today. Ibrahimovic, whose contract expires in June, has made just seven appearances for United this season on his return from a cruciate knee ligament injury. "Zlatan Ibrahimovic has played his last game for Manchester United," said an ESPN report. "He is close to sealing a move to Major League Soccer this week following persistent links to LA Galaxy." The Galaxy have a history of luring ageing stars to America with David Beckham, Steven Gerard and Robbie Keane among those to have made the move to Los Angeles. Ibrahimovic, 36, hasn't featured at all for Jose Mourinho's side since being substituted at half-time in a 2-2 draw with Burnley on December 26. The Swede scored 28 goals in 46 appearances during a stunning first season in England before tearing knee ligaments in a Europa League tie against Anderlecht in April. His ...
Satwik-Chirag jump to 20th spot in badminton rankings
India's young men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty jumped one place to be 20th in the rankings released on Thursday while singles shuttler H.S. Prannoy rose four places to be 12th.
Ready to bat anywhere: Saha
Wriddhiman Saha prefers to bat at the top but the India Test wicketkeeper-batsman said he is ready to bat lower down the order for his new IPL side Sunrisers Hyderabad as they have a formidable duo of David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan to open the innings. Sunrisers will face Rajasthan Royals at home two days later to begin their campaign in the 11th edition of the Indian Premier League. "I prefer batting at the top but I have kept rotating in terms of my batting position. With SRH, I will probably bat in the lower middle order. We have great openers (Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner) so they will do well. I am ready to bat anywhere for the team," said Saha, who was bought by former champions Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 5 crore. "I was playing in Mohali and I know the wicket there. Now I will be playing for Hyderabad, so I will have to adjust to the wicket. As far as gelling with the players is concerned, it won't be a problem. Everybody is familiar at this level," the fit-again Saha ...
Golfer Neha shoots historic 10-under in sixth leg of Hero women's Tour
Golfer Neha Tripathi played one of the finest rounds in Indian womens golf as she shot a scintillating 10-under 62 to open up a 11-shot lead after 36 holes in the sixth leg of the Hero womens Pro Tour at the Classic Golf and Country Club here on Thursday.
We should try to invite Indian payers for PSL: Afridi
Flamboyant Pakistan allrounder, Shahid Afridi believes Indian cricketers should also be invited to play in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) T20 event. Speaking at a function of his foundation in Lahore, Afridi said he knew that Indian players had contracts which didn't allow them to play in other foreign T20 leagues. But we should at least try to invite them for the PSL. I know it is difficult that they will come as they only play in the Indian Premier League. But we should invite them for the next edition of the PSL, he said. The former Pakistan captain's remarks come at a time when India has not played a full bilateral series with Pakistan since 2008. Afridi, who was injured during the course of the third PSL which eventually led to his franchise, Karachi Kings failing to reach the final, also said that the increased number of foreign players coming to Pakistan for the playoffs and final was exciting. It is a very big step forward but I also believe that in future only those foreign .
Elgar, De Villiers lift tempo
Dean Elgar and AB de Villiers scored freely as they lifted the tempo of South Africa's innings on the first day of the third Test against Australia at Newlands today. South Africa were 175 for two at tea after winning the toss and choosing to bat on the best batting pitch of any of the Tests South Africa have hosted against India and Australia this season. Opening batsman Elgar was unbeaten on 91 while De Villiers had scored 46 not out. Elgar and Hashim Amla (31) stabilised the innings with a second wicket partnership of 86 off 174 balls after Josh Hazlewood had Aiden Markram caught at second slip for nought. Hazlewood struck again when Amla was caught at fine leg soon after lunch. Hazlewood was Australia's only successful bowler, taking two for 23. He also had Elgar dropped at backward point by Nathan Lyon when the batsman was on 53 and four runs later hit Elgar on the helmet during a sustained spell of fast, short-pitched bowling. De Villiers, the leading batsman in the series, ...
New weapons for anti-doping fight
World anti-doping chief's plan to tighten the screws on countries that fail to crack down on drug cheats, but a lack of funding could sink their bid to clean up sport. The World Anti-Doping Agency, meeting in Lausanne this week, has adopted new powers designed to nip in the bud the kind of state-sponsored doping scheme that was allowed to flourish in Russia from 2011-2015. Specifically, WADA has listed standards that must be met from April 1 by signatories to its code, who include National Anti-Doping Organisations from member countries as well as sports federations and the International Olympic Committee. National anti-doping bodies must pledge among other things to run effective testing programmes; implement rapid and effective followup procedures and have appropriate investigative means; and also adopt clear rules for Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUE). Failure to do so will land violators in line for tough new WADA sanctions on a sliding scale of severity as is already the case for .
England's Strauss praises 'magnificent' Pietersen
Andrew Strauss has paid a glowing tribute to retired batsman Kevin Pietersen, revealing any animosity he felt towards his former England team-mate has dissipated. The pair have had a chequered history, with Pietersen admitting to sending "provocative" texts to South Africa players about then England captain Strauss during a series between the two teams in 2012. Following his elevation to director of England cricket three years ago, Strauss blamed a "massive trust issue" between himself and Pietersen for refusing to countenance an international recall for the South African-born batsman. Pietersen, who last played for England in 2014, embarked on a nomadic Twenty20 career before announcing his retirement last week. He is England's second-highest run scorer of all-time across all three formats of the game, while he won four Ashes series and amassed 8,181 runs in 104 Tests, prompting praise from Strauss. "I think the first thing to say is we've had our differences over time and they've ...
Flexible Saha ready to bat anywhere for SRH
India's Test wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha, who was roped in by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) this Indian Premier League (IPL) season, said he's ready to bat anywhere and the team has star openers like David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan to give them a solid start.
Shooter Valarivan wins gold at junior World Cup
Emerging Indian shooter Elavenil Valarivan clinched the gold medal along with a couple of world records in the women's 10 metre Air Rifle event at the the ISSF Junior World Cup here on Thursday.
India handed easy draw in Thomas & Uber Final
India will fancy their chances of reaching the knockout stage after getting relatively easy draws at the TOTAL BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals to be held in Bangkok from May 20 to 27. Both India men's and women's teams have been placed in Group A in both Thomas Cup as well as Uber Cup, the draw of which was completed in Bangkok today. While Indian women's team, which reached the semifinals in the last two editions, has been clubbed with five-time champions Japan, Canada and Australia in the Uber Cup, the men's team has been drawn alongside nine-time winners China, France and Australia in the Group A of Thomas Cup. India is seeded 5/8th in both the events. The top two teams in each group at the end of the group stage will make it to the knock-out round, which means India have to ensure they don't goof up against the lower-ranked teams in their respective groups. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's men and France's women qualified for the prestigious event due to the withdrawal of England and Spain ..
Leading sailors for three-day regatta in Mumbai
Leading sailors from India will be testing the waters and vying for the top honours in the Festival of Sails, an annual sailing regatta, to be held off the Mumbai harbour from tomorrow. The three-day tournament is being conducted by the Indian Naval Watermanship Training Centre (INWTC) along with the Royal Bombay Yacht (RBYC), and promoted by the Sailing Association of Maharashtra (SAM), a release said today. Races will be organised according to the size and type of boat. Events are to be held in 'Optimist' class for children aged between 8 to 16, the Olympic classes like single handed 'Laser' dinghy, the double handed '470', the sailboard 'RS:X' and 'keel boats'. A featured event of the Festival of Sails is the 'Away all Sails', where all the larger sailboats race on a common course. After inauguration of the event, Rear Admiral Pradip Joshi said, "The Festival of Sails is a regatta comprising multiple classes, which gives amateur sailors a chance to gain the ...
RSPB, Punjab, AISPB, PSPB in national hockey semis
Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB), Hockey Punjab, Air India Sports Promotion Board (AISPB) and Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) on Thursday advanced to the semi-finals of the 8th Hockey India senior men national championship (A Division).
Santosh Trophy: Mizoram thrash Odisha, Karnataka win
Mizoram pummelled Odisha 5-0 for their second successive win, while Karnataka began their campaign with a 4-1 victory over Goa in the national football championship for the 72nd Santosh Trophy here on Thursday.
Hamilton says he has not reached his peak as F1 season begins
Reigning Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes on Thursday said he has not reached his "peak" as a driver ahead of the season's curtain raiser in Melbourne.
Minerva Punjab presented with Hero I-League trophy
Hero I-League champions Minerva Punjab FC were presented with the winner's trophy at a glittering function here today. In a tightly fought tournament, Minerva Punjab FC reigned supreme to bring the Hero I-League trophy to the Northern part of India after a prolonged wait of 21 years. Minerva's impressive run earned them accolades from all quarters, including FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who wrote to All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Praful Patel and congratulated the team for their recent success. In a letter to Patel, Infantino said: "It gives me great pleasure to send my warmest congratulations to Minerva Punjab FC for their first ever title, becoming the first team from North India to win the crown jewel of Indian Football after 21 years." "This title is the result of the determination of everyone involved and my congratulations go to the players, the coach, the administration, the entire technical and medical staff as well as the fans for this great ...
Future Group to be IPL's official partner for next 3 years
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday announced that it would continue its association with Future Group as the official partner for the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the next three years.Speaking on the development, Chairman of the IPL, Rajeev Shukla said, "We are delighted to have Future Group back as the Official Partner of the IPL for the next three years. They have returned after just one year of association, which is a great testament to the value the IPL sponsorship platform delivers to its partners."Kishore Biyani, Group CEO, Future Group said, "In a country like ours, cricket holds the power of bringing the entire country together. The IPL, being the grandest cricket carnival today, connects with thousands of fans who are glued to their TV screens during the IPL season. This is a great opportunity for us to connect and engage with our consumers too. We look forward to having a good run with the IPL family, following a successful year with them as ...
Chatbot solution to answer queries on cricket
: A start-up company has developedand launched a new AI-powered chatbot solution to help cricket fans by answering queries. A feature-rich, intelligent bot API can mine relevant answers from statistical inputs obtained from every important international cricketing series and tournament, a release from Roanuz Softwares Private Ltd, that developed the solution said here. This AI-powered virtual assistant, programmed to give context-relevant answers in both text and voice, is capable of executing near-real-time exchange, increase user self-service efficiency and deliver smooth conversational customer experiences, the release said. The data-intelligent API covers information related to all ICC men's international matches from 2012, Indian Premier League, Big Bash League, Caribbean Premier League, Pakistan Premier League, Champions League T20 and Big Bash League to name a few, the release said. "Having a wide coverage of relevant information, the bot has the ability to ...
Rajnath, Rijiju wish Indian CWG contingent
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and his junior Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday wished the Indian contingent for the 2018 Commonwealth Games (CWG) during a send-off ceremony organised by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) here.
Prannoy regains world no 12, Satwik-Chirag break top 20
H S Prannoy's good run at the All England Championship saw him jump four places and regain his world no 12 spot, while men's doubles combo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty broke into the top 20 in the latest BWF ranking today. After recovering from foot warts, Prannoy produced some sensational badminton to reach his maiden quarterfinals of the All England Championship, while Satwik and Chirag were on the cusp of entering the last eight before a few service errors saw them lose to London Olympics silver-medallist pair of Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen. Their pre-quarterfinal finish at Birmingham helped Satwik and Chirag improve a place. Meanwhile, top shuttler Kidambi Srikanth (ranked 2nd) narrowed his gap with world no 1 Viktor Axelsen after a pre-quarterfinal finish at Birmingham. The Danish star had pulled out of All England due to an injury. P V Sindhu, who reached the semifinals at Birmingham, and Saina Nehwal, who lost in opening round, were also static at the third