Page 1904 - Sports
Sweet 16! Sensational Manu strikes successive second gold
The sensational Manu Bhaker, all of 16, shot her way to a second successive gold medal in a mixed team event as India consolidated their position at the top in the ISSF World Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico. Partnering Om Prakash Mitharval, the Indian teenager clinched the 10m air pistol mixed team title, a day after she won the womens 10m air pistol individual gold on what is turning out to be a memorable senior World Cup debut. The 11th standard student could be the youngest ever to win senior World Cup gold medals for India though the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) could not confirm. Also, the duo of Deepak Kumar and Mehuli Ghosh won the country its sixth medal of the competition - a bronze in the 10m air rifle mixed team event. Deepak and Mehuli, competing as India 2, shot 435.1 in the five-team final, finishing behind the Romanian pair of Alin Moldoveanu and Laura-Georgeta Coman who shot 498.4 for silver. Chinas Xu Hong and Chen Keduo won Gold in a world record score of ...
Serena has high expectations heading into Indian Wells
Serena Williams said Monday that she "can't wait for the future" as she warmed up for her return to the WTA Tour at the Tie Break Tens exhibition at Madison Square Garden. The 23-time Grand Slam champion is competing at the elite Indian Wells hardcourt tournament this week, her first tour action since her 2017 Australian Open triumph. Williams was pregnant when she lifted the trophy in Melbourne last year, and missed the rest of 2017 awaiting the birth of her daughter in September. Monday's event, which featured eight players facing off in 10-point "super tie breaks" as they vied for a $250,000 winner's prize, was a chance to sharpen her skills. Williams bowed out in the second round, gaining a 9-7 lead over China's Zhang Shuai but eventually falling 13-11. "It was good," she said of the experience. "I wish I would have made a few more shots." Williams opened the laid-back event with a 10-5 victory over Marion Bartoli, the 2013 Wimbledon champion who announced in December she was ...
United got lucky admits Mourinho
Jose Mourinho admitted Manchester United rode their luck as Nemanja Matic's late thunderbolt capped a dramatic 3-2 win at Crystal Palace on Monday. Mourinho's side trailed to Andros Townsend's early opener and Patrick van Aanholt's second half effort at Selhurst Park. But Chris Smalling got one back for United and Romelu Lukaku equalised with 14 minutes remaining. That set the stage for Serbia midfielder Matic to score for the first time since his move from Chelsea last year with a blistering blast from the edge of the area in stoppage-time. It was an escape act that seemed unlikely when United fell 2-0 behind after being out-fought and out-played by a Palace team fighting gamely to avoid relegation. But Mourinho took heart from the way his players shrugged off their limp opening to move back above Liverpool into second place in the Premier League and within 16 points of runaway leaders Manchester City. "You always need that little bit of luck to win a match in the last few minutes," .
Di Maria perfect replacement for Neymar: Ramos
Real Madrid team captain Sergio Ramos has said that his former teammate, current Paris Saint-Germain player Angel di Maria, would be the perfect replacement for injured Neymar in the highly-anticipated second leg of UEFA Champions League round of 16.
Deepak Kumar, Mehuli Ghosh help India win 6th medal in Shooting World Cup
India continued to bulge their medal tally on day three of the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun stage in Guadalajara, Mexico, as the duo - Deepak Kumar and Mehuli Ghosh won India their sixth medal of the competition.Deepak Kumar and Ghosh won India a Bronze in the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team event.The duo, competing as India 2, shot 435.1 in the five team final, finishing behind the Romanian pair of Alin Moldoveanu and Laura-Georgeta Coman who shot 498.4 for Silver.China's Xu Hong and Chen Keduo won Gold in a world record score of 502.0.The pair of Ravi Kumar and Apurvi Chandela, who competed as India 1, also made it to the finals and finished fourth on a score of 392.6, ahead of the second Chinese pair, who also made it to the finals.It was Ghosh's second medal of the competition after having won Bronze on the first day of competiton, in the Women's 10m Air Rifle.Deepak Kumar also had luck smiling on him finally, after getting beaten .
Man Utd made to sweat by Crystal Palace
A crucial save by David de Gea and Nemanja Matic's stoppage-time goal were the difference for Manchester United, who had to overcome a two goal deficit to beat Crystal Palace 3-2.
Manu Bhaker strikes two gold medals at shooting World Cup
Young woman pistol shooter Manu Bhaker contributed two gold medals for India in the ISSF World Cup here.
Rohit Sharma likens T-20 format to English Premier League
India's stand-in captain Rohit Sharma on Monday compared Twenty 20 format with the English Premier League, claiming that no one could be labelled as favourites in the shortest format of cricket."I am sure even (Sri Lanka skipper) Dinesh Chandimal and (Bangladesh captain) Mahmudullah Riyad will feel the same way because T20 is such a short format; on a given day, any team can beat anyone. The game can slip in an over or two, and there are no favourites, like the English Premier League," said Sharma, while addressing the media ahead of the T20 tri-series, Nidahas Trophy, in Sri Lanka.India is participating in the tournament alongside Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The seven-match tournament will kick off on Tuesday with hosts Sri Lanka and India playing the first match.Before the news conference, the three captains unveiled the trophy together.Sharma, who is filling-in for Virat Kohli who has been rested for the series, further said, "It is an honour for me to lead the side and it is going ..
Karnataka beat India B by 6 runs in Deodhar Trophy
Vijay Hazare Trophy winners Karnataka overcame India B by six runs in their first match of the Deodhar Trophy 50-overs cricket tournament here on Monday.
Australia's Lyon fined over De Villiers incident
Australia spinner Nathan Lyon was fined 15 percent of his match fee for his reaction following the run out of South Africa batsman AB de Villiers in the first Test at Kingsmead. Australia won the first match of a four-Test series by 118 runs on Monday, but the tourists were criticised for their ebullient celebration of the dramatic run out of De Villiers in the second innings. De Villiers was run out for nought after being involved in a mix-up with opening batsman Aiden Markram, with Lyon, who had knocked off the bails, dropping the ball towards the sprawled batsman as he ran over to join ecstatic celebrations. The International Cricket Council ruled that Lyon's reaction amounted to a breach of level one of its code of conduct as behaviour that was "contrary to the spirit of the game". Lyon, who returned match figures of 3-136, admitted the offence and sanction proposed by match referee Jeff Crowe that also saw the 30-year-old penalised with a demerit point. The bowler was said to ...
PSG gunning for Real Madrid scalp despite Neymar absence
Paris Saint-Germain remain optimistic that they can record what would be the biggest victory since the Qatari takeover of the club, even with Neymar out injured, when they face Real Madrid tomorrow. A late collapse saw PSG lose 3-1 in Madrid last month in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie. And they come into Tuesday's return without Neymar, as the world's most expensive player recovers in Brazil from a foot operation. Despite that blow, and the prospect of having to overturn such a deficit against the two-time reigning European champions, PSG are not throwing in the towel as they bid to reach the quarter-finals. "I think that we need games like this and to beat these teams to take a step forward and so that our opponents really take notice of PSG, and don't just think we have loads of money," said Dani Alves, who played in two Champions League final victories for Barcelona and was in the Juventus side beaten by Real in last season's final. "I said last summer when I .
IAAF head Coe accused of misleading UK parliamentary inquiry
A report published by British legislators has accused IAAF President Sebastian Coe of misleading a parliamentary inquiry into doping. The digital, culture, media and sports committee's report was critical of Coe's responses to questions regarding how much he knew about doping within track and field before the problems were revealed by investigative journalists and whistle-blowers. The committee suggested Coe could have acted sooner to clean up the sport while he served as vice president of the international track and field federation until 2015, when he won an election to succeed Lamine Diack as president. Coe appeared before the committee in December 2015. In the report published Monday, legislators said Coe "sought to distance himself from any knowledge of the allegations of doping in Russian athletics before the details were exposed in the German documentary," in December 2014. This is despite allegations that Dave Bedford, a former British distance runner and London Marathon ...
Karnataka beat India 'B' by six runs
Karnataka pulled off a narrow six-run victory over India 'B' to start their campaign in the Deodhar Trophy cricket tournament on a positive note here today. Batting first after winning the toss, Karnataka notched a challenging 296 for eight in the allotted 50 overs. Ravikumar Samarth top-scored for Karnataka with a brisk 117 off 115 balls as the Vijay Hazare Trophy winners closed in on 300 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Stadium. Manoj Tiwary slammed a breezy century (120 off 110 balls) and anchored India 'B' chase, but his dismissal in the 42nd over triggered a collapse that saw the team stop at 290 for nine in 50 overs. India 'B' were reduced to 23 for three in the seventh over and then 108 for four, but a century partnership between Bengal skipper Tiwary and Mumbai's Siddhesh Lad (70 off 78 balls) brought the team back into the game. However, India 'B' lost their way after Tiwary was sent back by leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal, and even Lad could not help his team cross the ...
NADA officials absent on first day of Federation Cup Athletics
Not a single official from the National Anti-Doping Agency turned up on the opening day of the Federation Cup National Senior Athletics Championships here and national record breaker pole vaulter Subramani Siva could not be dope tested. Athletics Federation of India officials said Siva is likely to be tested tomorrow morning after the NADA officials arrive. The officials said they have informed NADA about the championships on time. National records are ratified only after dope tests of the medal winners are conducted and samples tested. Meanwhile, national record holder woman half miler Tintu Luka is set to miss the upcoming Commonwealth Games as she missed the Federation Cup. She skipped the event as she was recovering from jaundice. Her focus will now be on the Asian Games. "She has recovered from a bout of jaundice but she needs to be competition fit. So she skipped this meet. She will now focus on Asian Games," the official said. The 28-year-old Luka has never done well in CWG ...
Like EPL, no favourites in T20 format too: Rohit
India are seen as overwhelming favourites for the tri-nation Nidahas Trophy beginning here tomorrow, but captain Rohit Sharma played down the perception, saying anything can happen in the fickle T20 format. "Whether we are favourites or not, that is not something I think about, said Rohit ahead of India's opener against Sri Lanka. "T20 is such a format where any team can win on that particular day. The game can change in a span of one over, it can slip away On a given day, any team can beat anyone. How do I explain it? Its like the English Premier League. Some teams may be stronger, but anyone can win on a given day. Rohit is captaining the team in the absence of Virat Kohli, who has been rested alongside other key players such as Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah. Asked about leading a second-string team again, Rohit said: "I don't look at it that way that I don't have the full team. I'm very fortunate to get the opportunity to lead the ...
Investigation opened into Astori death in Italy
An autopsy into the death of Fiorentina captain Davide Astori will be carried out tomorrow while his funeral will be held in Florence two days later, the Italian football club announced. Italy was in shock following the sudden death on Sunday of the 31-year-old defender who played for his country 14 times. "Fiorentina and Davide's family inform you that the autopsy will be performed tomorrow... The funeral will take place on Thursday in the Santa Croce basilica," the Serie A club said Monday on its Twitter account. A judicial inquiry had been launched following the death of the player, who was found dead in his hotel room in Udine, where his team was due to play Udinese on Sunday. "We have opened a manslaughter investigation, against X for the moment," Antonio de Nicolo, a magistrate in the northeastern city of Udine, told Rai radio on Monday, adding that such a procedure was "mandatory". De Nicolo was quoted Sunday as saying Astori died of "natural causes" after a "cardiac ...
Siva shatters pole vault national record, Seema Punia set for CWG
Tamil Nadu's Subramani Siva shattered his own national record enroute to winning the men's pole vault title while veteran Seema Punia clinched a gold in women's discus throw to virtually book a Commonwealth Games berth on the opening day of the 22nd Federation Cup National Senior Athletics Championships here today. Siva, a havildar in the Indian Army, cleared 5.15m to break his own earlier national record of 5.14m set last year at the same venue, the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports. Despite the record effort, the 21-year-old fell short of the Commonwealth Games qualifying standard of 5.45m set by the AFI. He blamed a fever he suffered a few days ago for not jumping even higher. I was having fever for the last two days. I was jumping 5.40m in practice. If I was in good fitness, I would have come close to qualifying, he said later. Seema, on the other hand, overcame initial hiccups to achieve the AFI norms of 59m for the Gold Coast CWG with her last round throw of 61.05m ...
Popovic plots Pune Citys record run
Going into the fourth season of Hero Indian Super League, FC Pune City had the dubious distinction of being one of two teams to have never qualified for the semifinals. Pune City is one of the first club in ISL which invested early in the academy, marketing and established connect with fans. However, despite being strong on paper, they never got the results they deserved. Almost four months into the current season, the team has overcome the jinx to make maiden debut in play-offs and much of that credit goes to their Serbian coach Ranko Popovic. Indeed Pune City were smart to recruit some proven names from ISL 3; Golden Boot winner Marcelinho and Marcos Tebar, two key performers behind Delhi Dynamos semi-final run in 2016, and Emiliano Alfaro (NorthEast United FC), found their way at Pune. But it is Popovic who has made the biggest impact, despite not being involved in the any of the recruitment before the season. The Stallions had planned for the season with Antonio Habas, who was ...
East Bengal held 2-2 by Shillong Lajong in I-League
Shillong Lajong gave East Bengal a scare before settling for a 2-2 draw here today, leaving the I-League title race tantalisingly poised with one last round to go. Nigerian striker Dudu Omagbemi scored on either side of Shillong Lajong's two goals to keep East Bengal afloat in the title race at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Dudu gave East Bengal the lead in the 20th minute before a second half fightback by the home team saw Aibanbha Kupar Dohling (49th) and Samuel Lalmuanpuia (69th, penalty) score twice to push the visitors on the brink. In the 88th minute, Dudu, who scored four goals in the 7-1 drubbing of Chennai City FC in their last game, pulled one back for East Bengal to take them to 30 points, same as third-placed Mohun Bagan with one game in hand. Second-placed Neroca FC (31 points) take on East Bengal in Kolkata on March 8. Minerva Punjab FC (32 points) are top of the table and play Churchill Brothers in their last outing on the same day. On March 8, Mohun Bagan will take on .
Ravi wins 10m Air Rifle bronze in shooting World Cup
Ravi Kumar won his first shooting World Cup medal -- a bronze in the mens 10m Air Rifle event. This was Indias fourth medal of the competition with Shahzar Rizvi and Jitu Rai winning gold and bronze, respectively, in the mens 10m Air Pistol and Mehuli Ghosh winning bronze in the womens 10m Air Rifle.