Page 1934 - Sports
Game of tennis has become better: Edberg
Legendary Stefan Edberg says the game of tennis has become better with technology assisting its evolution. Edberg, winner of six Grand Slams including two Wimbledon titles, said there is lot of information available which can be used to train in much better way. "Tennis has changed, it is better today. It is more physical, played a little bit quicker and it is due to technology with racquets with strings, the knowledge is better today (on) how to train, the nutrition is better today and lot of things have improved," Edberg told PTI in an interaction. The Swede, known for his brilliant serve and volley game, also said if anyone who can equal Roger Federer's feat of winning 20 Grand Slams are Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. Federer currently holds the world record for winning 20 Grand Slams in men's singles and has appeared in 30 finals. At 36, he is also the oldest world number one player. "There have been a lot of great players throughout here, but if you look at his (Roger ...
Putin congratulates ice hockey team for Olympic victory
Head Coach of Russias 'neutral ice hockey team Oleg Znarok said on Sunday that President Vladimir Putin has congratulated him after the teams victorious final at the PyeongChang Olympic Games.
Udayan Mane emerges triumphant at Golconda Masters 2018
Ahmedabad-based Udayan Mane today won the fourth edition of the Golconda Masters Golf Championship held at the Hyderabad Golf Club. Udayan (27) emerged triumphant in a four-way playoff at the fourth edition of the Golconda Masters, being organised by the Hyderabad Golf Association (HGA), Telangana Tourism and the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), a release from PGTI said here. Mane outclassed Delhi's Shamim Khan, Chandigarh's Abhijit Singh Chadha and Sri Lankan N Thangaraja in the playoff after the quartet had ended the regulation 72 holes with identical totals of 14-under-270, it said. Mane, who went home richer by Rs 4.5 lakh, has now climbed from 39th place to third position in the 2018 PGTI Order of Merit, the release said. Udayan said: "At the start of the round I said three words to myself focus, patience and determination. I did have some frustrating moments today but I handled them well." Joint runners-up Shamim Khan, Abhijit Singh Chadha and N Thangaraja .
Despite injury worries, Aizawl coach calm ahead of Minerva game
Out of the title race and with as many as 10 frontline players ruled out due to injuries, Aizawl FC coach Santosh Kashyap said the reigning champions have nothing to lose in their I-League encounter against Minerva Punjab here tomorrow. Contenders Minerva Punjab, who sit on the third spot in the league table with 29 points from 15 matches, have a chance of rewriting a fairytale script the same way it was written by Aizawl FC last year when they completed a memorable title triumph. Aizawl FC started their season well but then went through an eight-match winless run which dashed their hopes of regaining the title and also led to the sacking of coach Paulo Menezes. On being asked to sum up Aizawl FCs season so far, Kashyap stated: I think most of the players left the club. New coach, new squad. He (Menezes) tried his best from his side but again expectations were high as defending champions. They started well I think but later on, eventually injuries took a toll. Aizawl scored and then ..
Udayan wins four-way playoff to grab Golconda Masters title
Udayan Mane pipped close rivals in a four-way Play-off to grab the Golconda Masters, his sixth professional trophy, here today. Mane outplayed Delhis Shamim Khan, Chandigarhs Abhijit Singh Chadha and Sri Lankan N Thangaraja in the playoff after the quartet had ended the regulation 72 holes with identical totals of 14-under-270. Mane (67-66-69-68), lying one off the lead in tied second at the start of round four, was even-par for the day through seven holes after an early birdie and bogey. But he began his title charge with birdies on the eighth, 10th and 11th. He came up with an unbelievable recovery on the 10th as his approach from a different fairway landed within 20 feet of the pin for eagle. He made two putts to pick up a birdie there. A long conversion followed on the next hole. Manes three-putt bogey on the 16th almost dashed his title hopes. But he came roaring back with his best drive of the day on the 17th that set up another birdie for him. Mane, who was second on the 2017 ..
Pyeongchang Olympics, "Games of new horizons", declared closed
The Pyeongchang Olympics were hailed as the "Games of new horizons" as the curtain came down on the biggest Winter Games in history today. Declaring the Games closed, International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach said they had opened up the Olympics to new athletes, countries, events and technologies. "Therefore I can truly say: the Olympic Winter Games Pyeongchang 2018 are the Games of new horizons," he said. "We are embracing these new horizons. We offer our hand to everybody to join forces in this faith in the future.
Lahiri moves up to T-46, Woods show good form but List leads
Anirban Lahiri carded a second successive one-over 71 but improved his position marginally to T-46th at the end of the third round of the Honda Classic, here. Lahiri, who had rounds of 73 and 71 on first two days, did well to recover from two bogeys in his first five holes. On the seventh he got his solitary birdie of the day and then followed that with up with 11 straight pars. He would, however, be ruing a couple of close birdie misses from inside 10 feet besides another one for par. The PGA National continued to play tough and the average for the round was 71, which however may have been somewhat better than 72.6 for the first day and 73.1 for the second. Meanwhile, Luke List recorded a second straight 66 and moved into sole lead at seven-under and he was one clear of Justin Thomas, whose 65 was the best of the day. Much as List and Jamie Lovemark, the co-leader after 36 holes, were playing well and keeping their cards clean on the front nine at PGA National, the focus of the fans .
Gopi, Monika triumph in New Delhi marathon
T. Gopi and Monika Athare won the men's and women's titles respectively at the New Delhi Marathon here on Sunday.
I-League: Minerva aim to reclaim top spot against Aizawl (Preview)
Contenders Minerva Punjab FC aim to go top of the table and brighten their chances of an improbable I-League triumph when they take on reigning champions Aizawl FC at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium here on Monday.
Winter Olympics: Russia grabs gold in ice hockey
The closing day of the 2018 Winter Games here saw the team of neutral athletes from Russia edging the team from Germany 4-3 in the overtime of the Olympic ice hockey match for the gold medal on Sunday.
'Baashagar' wins the main race
'Baashagar' ably ridden by Akshay Kumar claimed the Telangana Plate, the chief event of Hyderabad Winter Races held here today. The winner was trained by Arjun Anne. Trainer Arjun Anne scored a treble while Jockeys Akshay Kumar scored a quadruplet and N S Parmar scored a double. Two first favourites obliged in a card of eight events.
Kashyap lifts first title in three years in Austria
Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap clinched his first international title in over three years as he overcame Malaysias June Wei Cheam to emerge men's singles champion at the Austrian Open International Challenge. Kashyap, a former National champion and second seed, saw off Cheam 23-21 21-14 in a 37-minute clash late last night. "It has been a tough week. I haven't won so many matches in a single tournament for quite sometime and then playing two rounds in a day was tough. I have been struggling against almost same set of players in the last three super series and I knew I have to cross them here. So happy with my performance," Kashyap told PTI. His last title came at the Syed Modi International Badminton Championships in 2015. The 31-year-old Indian, who had reached the finals of US Open Grand Prix Gold last year, looked in good touch throughout the tournament as he didn't drop a single game en route the title. The final, however, was not a cakewalk as world number 126 ...
All-round Saurashtra enter Vijay Hazare final
Saurashtra produced an all-round performance to defeat Andhra Pradesh by 59 runs and enter the Vijay Hazare final at the Feroz Shah Kotla here on Sunday.
Aruna finishes 7th in floor event at Gymnastics World Cup
After clinching a historic bronze medal in vault at the Gymnastics World Cup, Aruna Budda Reddy today finished a lowly seventh in the final round of women's floor event here. Aruna had created history yesterday by becoming the first Indian gymnast to win an individual medal at the Gymnastics World Cup but the 22-year-old from Hyderabad couldn't bring her best today as she scored 10.833 to finish in the seventh position. Among others, Rakesh Patra also finished seventh in the final round of the parallel bars after scoring 13.433, 1.400 points behind gold medallist Xiaoming Wu of China. Delhi Commonwealth Games and 2014 Asian Games bronze medallist Ashish Kumar also endured a difficult day as he finished eighth in the men's vault event final round after scoring 13.583.
When Dhyan Chand stood in queue to watch hockey
At his best, Dhyan Chand had the world queueing up to watch his wizardry with the hockey stick but the politics of Indian sports once forced him to queue up for a ticket to watch the sport he defined, a new book has claimed. Olympic gold-medallist and former captain Gurbux Singh, in his autobiography titled "My Golden Days", has shed fresh light on the legend of India's greatest athlete, whose birth anniversary is celebrated as the National Sports Day. The anecdotes include Dhyan Chand's love for fishing and cooking, the hockey politics of 1960s and 70s, and the well-documented decline of Indian hockey. It was during the 1962 Ahmedabad Internationals, the tussle between National Institute of Sports Patiala and Indian Hockey Federation had come to fore and Dhyan Chand ended up bearing the brunt of it despite being a serving chief coach. Dhyan Chand was then the chief coach at NIS Patiala and travelled to Ahmedabad with his trainees to watch the tournament, a one-off meet organised by ..
Russia expects doping ban to be lifted in 'next few days'
Russia said on Sunday it expected to have the doping ban lifted in the "next few days," saying restoring the rights of its athletes could become a major result of the Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted unanimously to keep Russia's ban for mass doping, meaning Russian athletes will not be able to march behind their flag at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics closing ceremony later Sunday. But IOC said the suspension would be lifted -- an IOC source said in "a few days or a few weeks" -- if no further positive drug tests come out of the Games, where two Russians tested positive for doping. "We hope and count on the recovery of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) membership in the IOC within the next few days," the committee said in a statement. "Our absolute priority is the status of our country and the interests of our athletes," the statement said. Restoring the rights of the ROC and the rights of "all the Russian athletes will be the major outcome" of the ...
Shuttler Kashyap hopes Austrian Open triumph precursor of successful 2018
Indian shuttler Parupalli Kashyap hopes the title win in the Austrian Open will lead to a good season as he aims to climb up the rankings.
Minerva Punjab desperate to avoid another slip-up as title race heats up
Aiming to reignite their title hopes, aspirants Minerva Punjab FC are desperate to avoid a third straight slip-up, as they lock horns with an injury-ravaged defending champions Aizawl FC in the I-League here tomorrow. Minerva FC's head coach Khogen Singh looked composed on the eve of the crucial match, but the pressure is certainly on the home team, having suffered back-to-back reverses in recent weeks after leading the pecking order. A win against Aizawl FC at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium here will not only help them recover lost ground but will also once again place them in contention for the title in only their second season in top-tier football. Challengers East Bengals 7-1 decimation of Chennai City FC in Kolkata yesterday has left the title race hanging in balance and Minerva Punjab would do well to take a cue from the red and golds attacking play. East Bengals victory, the margin of which was the highest for any team this season, brought them level on points with Minerva Punjab, ...
Once a judoka, Pooja wants to win laurels in wrestling (IANS Interview)
She may be the hottest new sensation on the Indian wrestling circuit, but the sport was not the first love for Haryana girl Pooja Dhanda.
J&K plans to spend Rs 17 crore to renovate indoor stadium
Jammu and Kashmir State Sports Council has come up with a Rs 17 crore plan for renovation of facilities at Sher-e-Kashmir indoor stadium here but sportsperson have little hope of seeing it implemented anytime soon. The Sher-e-Kashmir Indoor Stadium at Wazirbagh here suffered severe damage to sporting facilities due to flood in 2014 but even after three and a half years, the Sports Council has only been able to prepare a detailed project report for its renovation and upgradation. The massive sports complex, which was one of the best in India when it was thrown open to public in late 1980s, had provisions for conducting activities in various disciplines like badminton, basketball, boxing, table tennis, boxing, weightlifting, powerlifting, fencing and martial arts. The stadium was closed to public for many years following the eruption of militancy in 1990. It was occupied by CRPF and converted into a security camp. Although the CRPF vacated it more than a decade ago, the Sports Council ..