Page 1866 - Sports
England must learn to live without Kane - Southgate
England manager Gareth Southgate insisted his side must learn to cope without star striker Harry Kane in case he should miss this summer's World Cup. Kane has been ruled out for England's friendlies later this month against the Netherlands and Italy due to an ankle ligament injury. Southgate is confident Kane will be fit in plenty of time before the showpiece in Russia, with Tottenham hopeful he will return next month. However, Southgate is conscious to avoid England's past failings of resting their hopes on one star player. "It's a disappointment for us not to have Harry with us," said Southgate as he announced his squad for the March friendlies on Thursday. "I think of the 14 games I've had, he's only be available for six and, within those six, he's scored seven goals so that's an indicaton of his importance and standing for us. "Having said that we've had to cope without him, it's important we learn to cope without him because you never know what's going to happen in ...
England 'desperate' to attend World Cup despite Russia tensions
England manager Gareth Southgate said today his players are "desperate" to go to the World Cup in Russia despite soaring political tensions between London and Moscow over the poisoning of an ex-spy. Britain on Wednesday said it would expel 23 Russian diplomats and suspended high-level contacts over the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, which it has blamed on Russia. Prime Minister Theresa May also said earlier this week that no ministers or members of the royal family would attend the showpiece event, which starts in mid-June. But Southgate said there are no plans for a boycott by the team, although the security of players and staff would be taken into consideration. "We are desperate to go to a World Cup and that's really where my remit ends on that matter," Southgate said as he named his squad for friendlies this month against the Netherlands and Italy. "We're preparing to go to the World Cup, there's no doubt in our mind that's what we .
Champions League centurion Messi still has more goals to achieve
Marcos Alonso's attention had been diverted for only a second and Lionel Messi was through. It was not in the last minute, when tired legs and minds are most vulnerable to lapses in concentration, but the third, when Chelsea's rearguard should have been at its sharpest. Alonso was hardly to blame. The ball ricocheted off him in the penalty area to Luis Suarez and momentarily the full-back's gaze followed to the Uruguayan's foot. Behind, Messi scampered into space, controlled and drove under the body of Thibaut Courtois. Nine of Chelsea's 11 players were yet to even touch the ball. There were spells at the Camp Nou on Wednesday when Messi seemed to be playing within himself. In the first half, a few minutes passed when he even locked into an area on the right wing, receiving possession, keeping it, winning a free-kick, taking a throw-in. The ball was switched to the other flank but came back and Messi had hardly moved. It was as if he had been set a challenge to dictate the match from .
I-League sides Churchill & Gokulam enter Super Cup final round
I-League teams Churchill Brothers and Gokulam Kerala notched up victories against their repective Indian Super League sides to enter the final round of the inaugural Super Cup football tournament here today. Churchill rode on Trinidadian striker Willis Plaza's double strike to beat Delhi Dynamos 2-1 while Gokulam Kerala blanked NorthEast United FC 2-0 -- also via two goals from Ugandan striker Henry Kisekka -- on the first day of the qualifying round matches at the Kalinga Stadium. The qualifying round matches are being played among teams which had finished from 7th to 10th positions in the I-League as well as the ISL. The top six finishers in each of the league have been handed direct entry of the main round which begins at the same venue on March 31. Churchill will now face Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan -- another I-League team -- on April 1 in their round of 16 match while Gokulam play Bengaluru FC -- ISL finalists side -- on the same day. In the first day of the match, Plaza ...
All England Open: Sindhu storms into quarters
Rio Olympic silver-medallist PV Sindhu advanced into the quarter-finals of the All England Championship after thrashing Thailand's Nitchaon Jindapol on Thursday.The 22-year-old Indian shuttler outplayed Jindapol 21-13, 13-21, 21-18 in the second round of the women's singles event in just 66 minutes.Sindhu, seeded fourth, comfortably won the first game in just 19 minutes.Jindapol, however, came back strong to take the second game and pushed the tie to a deciding third game.The Indian fought her way back in a gruelling third round to win it 21-18 and seal the match.Sindhu will now possibly face Nozomi Okuhara in the quarters.Later in the day, Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy will also look to qualify for the quarter-finals when they take on Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto and China's Huang Yuxiang respectively in the men's singles event.London Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal has already crashed out of the event after suffering a first-round defeat from defending champion Tai Tzu Ying of
Sanjivani Jadhav wins bronze in China
India's long-distance athlete Sanjivani Jadhav bagged a bronze medal at the 14th Asian Cross Country Championships held at Guiyang in China on Thursday.Sanjivani clocked 28 minutes 19 sec in the senior women's 8km event to finish third.China's Li Dan (28.03) won gold, while Abe Yukari (28.06) of Japan settled for silver.India's other athletes like Swati Ghadave (30.18) finished 11th while JhumaKhatun (32.14) and Lalita Babar (32.53) finished on 14th and 15th position respectively.In the team ranking, India finished third in senior women's event and bagged bronze medal with 28 points, finishing behind 1st placed Japan (12) and 2nd placed China (14).Meanwhile, 12-more members of Indian athletics team departed for the Commonwealth Games to be held in Gold Coast, Australia from April 4.The Indian team will attend a two-week acclimatisation camp at Gold Coast's Sports Super Center before the Games.The team that departed includes- DharunAyyasamy, MuhammedAnas, Amoj Jacob, Kunhu Mohammed, ...
Debutant Bengaluru eye maiden ISL title
Bengaluru FC's impressive record of winning a major trophy in each of their five seasons will be put to the test when they face Chennaiyin FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) final.Having won either the I-League or Federation Cup in each of their last four seasons, Bengaluru is just a step away from winning the ISL title on debut.They have netted 35 goals and have finished on top of the league, garnering a league-high of 13 wins in the process.Moreover, they qualified for the playoffs with four games to spare and were eight points clear of second-placed Chennaiyin FC.Much of that credit has to go to the make-up of their squad which has experienced players in key positions."We have players who have played AFC Cup semifinals, finals, Federation Cup finals. The intention is to go out there and do our best," said Bengaluru FC coach Albert Roca.Roca's first choice of playing XI has seasoned players.Right from goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, a seasoned international with European ...
Snowfall buries Moscow in white hours before Lokomotiv-Atletico clash
A large snowstorm on Thursday covered the Russian capital in white just hours before the second leg of the Europa League round of 16 clash between Lokomotiv Moscow and Atletico Madrid was slated to kick off.
Nadal struggling physically struggling since 2005, says uncle
Spanish star Rafael Nadal has been physically struggling since 2005, his longtime coach and uncle Toni Nadal said on Thursday.
Willis Plaza double strike helps Churchill outwit Delhi Dynamos
Trinidadian striker Willis Plaza struck twice, including the match-winner, as Churchill Brothers beat Delhi Dynamos 2-1 to enter the final round of the inaugural Super Cup football tournament here today. Plaza cancelled out Kalu Uche's fifth minute strike by scoring his first goal of the match in the 34th minute before finding the the match-winner in the 106th minute as the qualifying round match went into extra time after both sides were locked in a 1-1 stalemate in 90 minutes. The Goan side will now face Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan -- another I-League side -- on April 1 at the same venue of Kalinga Stadium in the main round of the tournament beginning March 31. With the win, Churchill redeemed their wretched season somewhat after they finished ninth in the 10-team I-League. For Delhi Dynamos, this was their first loss after the six-match unbeaten run in the ISL. They had finished at eighth position in the ISL. The ISL side started strong, controlling the proceedings from the midfield
WC Qualifier: Afghanistan beat West Indies by 3 wickets
Afghanistan kept their hopes alive for a place in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 when they defeated the West Indies by three wickets. Afghanistan restricted West Indies to 197 for 8 in 50 overs on a good batting surface and then achieved the target with 14 balls to spare. The feature of Afghanistan's win over the West Indies, which gave them a 2-1 lead in four head-to-head matches, was their four-pronged spin attack that included wrist-spinner Rashid Khan, off-spinners Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Rahman, and left-arm spinner Sharafuddin Ashraf. The slow bowlers bowled 39 overs between them in which they conceded 138 runs and snapped up seven wickets. Mujeeb was the most successful bowler with three for 33, while Nabi bagged two for 43, including the wicket of Marlon Samuels for his 100th ODI scalp. The slow bowlers were well supported by some outstanding fielding in the deep as the West Indies batsmen tried to break the shackles but only managed to find the alert Afghanistan fields. Shai
Bolton, Jonassen star as Australia seal ODI series
Australia continued their dominance with a comprehensive 60-run victory against Indian women to seal the three-match One-day International (ODI) series by taking an unassailable 2-0 lead here on Thursday.
Ramos, Modric, Vallejo keep to the gym during Real Madrid training
Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos, midfielder Luka Modric and defender Jesus Vallejo on Thursday kept to training at the gym while the rest of their teammates joined a training session preparation for the upcoming La Liga match against Girona.
Ronaldo, Coentrao called up for Portugal's upcoming friendlies
Real Madrid's star Cristiano Ronaldo as well as Fabio Coentrao, Andre Gomes and Goncalo Guedes on Thursday were called up for the Portuguese national football team's upcoming friendlies against the Netherlands and Egypt.
Super Cup: Churchill stun Delhi to qualify for final round
Relegated I-League outfit Churchill Brothers rallied to beat Indian Super League (ISL) side Delhi Dynamos 2-1 in extra time in a Super Cup qualifier at the Kalinga Stadium here on Thursday.
India meet Pakistan in Champions Trophy opener
India will take on Pakistan in the opening match of the Men's Hockey Champions Trophy 2018 which will be held here from June 23 to July 1.
Badminton: Sindhu in third round of All England Open
India shuttler P.V Sindhu edged past Nitchaon Jindapol of Thailand in the second round to advance in the All England Open here on Thursday.
Adhiban wins chess title in Reykjavik
India's Baskaran Adhiban clinched the title in the 33rd Reykjavik Open with an impressive performance that saw him win five of the nine games. "It is a special win for me and I am happy with the way I played," he told PTI about the triumph. Adhiban, who was in top form in the tournament, drew his final round against Mustafa Yilmaz to finish with 7.5 points. He registered five wins, which included those against two Grandmasters Alejandro Ramirez and Maxime Lagarde. Adhiban became only the second Indian after Abhijeet Gupta (in 2016) to win the prestigious Reykjavik Open. The Tamil Nadu GM rated his win over the top-seed Richard Rapport in the eighth round as his best performance in the tournament. "I think the win in the eighth round against Richard Rapport was an important one and my best performance. I won the game in less than two hours and it more or less guaranteed my title," he said. The Chennai-based player had a moderate start to the year and was off-colour in the Tata Steel ...
Australia beat Indian eves to wrap up ODI series
The Australian women defeated India by 60 runs in the second one day international (ODI) game to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series on Thursday.Coming in to bat first, the hosts scored a mammoth total of 287 runs for the loss of nine wickets.Australian Opener Nicole Bolton provided a solid start to the team as she single-handedly scored 84 runs to win Player of The Match.After Bolton's departure, an outstanding 96-run stand from Beth Mooney (56) and Ellyse Perry (70 not out) ensured India will have to chase highest ever target against Australia to keep the series alive.In reply, Indian opener Smriti Mandhana hit a half-century but no other batswomen made a significant contribution to the chase.Mandhana's opening partner Punam Raut struck 26, Deepti Sharma hit 26 while lower-order batsman Pooja Vastrakar scored 30.Medium pacer Shikha Pandey bagged three wickets while Poonam Yadav picked two.For Australia, Jess Jonassen was the top bowler with three wickets.The ...
Ex-Proteas cricketer Paul Harris compares Kohli's conduct to clown
Reacting to the ban on pacer Kagiso Rabada by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for his conduct, former South Africa cricketer Paul Harris brought Virat Kohli into the controversy, saying the India skipper acted like a "clown" during the South Africa tour and yet faced no consequences for it.The ex-cricketer also accused the ICC of having a prejudice against the South African team."I watched Kohli behave like a clown for three tests here in SA and nothing. Seems to me that @ICC either have an issue with Rabada or with the Proteas in general," Harris wrote on Twitter.Rabada has been facing a Test match ban after being found guilty of breaching Level 2 ICC Code of Conduct offence of "inappropriate and deliberate physical contact with a player".The incident happened after Rabada scalped Australian skipper Steve Smith's crucial wicket for 25 in the first innings of the second Test and celebrated the victory by brushing his shoulder against the departing skipper.Earlier in the day, ..