Page 1941 - Sports

Arsenal stand in way of Pep's first Man City silverware

Pep Guardiola is anxious to play down suggestions that winning his first piece of silverware for Manchester City in tomorrow's League Cup final against Arsenal would herald a period of dominance. The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach takes his side to Wembley with the Premier League title virtually in the bag and a place in the Champions League quarter-finals looking certain. But despite City's dominance this season, Guardiola will be eager to get his hands on a trophy, even if it would have been fourth on the list of his priorities when the campaign began. City are clear favourites to beat Arsenal but Arsene Wenger's men have made a habit of cup success in recent years, winning the FA Cup in three of the past four seasons. "Not even in Barcelona when we won the first title in the cup did I expect to win 14 titles in four years," said Guardiola, anxious not to over-burden his players. "I'm more pragmatic. "I think in football it's a big mistake to think what might happen in the

Onus on Mourinho to get Pogba performing for Conte clash

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is under pressure to show a more daring approach and get the best out of Paul Pogba and Alexis Sanchez for a grudge match against Chelsea's Antonio Conte tomorrow. Pogba hasn't completed 90 minutes in over a month after being dropped by Mourinho for Wednesday's 0-0 draw at Sevilla in the first leg of United's Champions League last 16 tie. Despite avoiding defeat in Spain, thanks in large part to the heroics of goalkeeper David de Gea, Mourinho's ultra-defensive approach has drawn stinging criticism from pundits and sections of the United support alike. The Portuguese reacted angrily when quizzed whether the club's two marquee signings of his reign in Pogba and Sanchez need more creative freedom to perform. Sanchez's only goal in a United shirt since joining from Arsenal last month came in bundling home the rebound after his penalty had been saved by Huddersfield goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. Mourinho also has personal pride as well as vital points in .

Seema Poonia enters final at Strandja Memorial boxing

Asian Championships bronze-medallist Seema Poonia (+81kg) entered the finals, while two other women boxers settled for bronze medals at the Strandja Memorial Tournament here. In the final session late last night, Seema, who got a bye into the semifinals, defeated Bulgarian Mihaela Nikolova 5-0 to make the summit clash along with M C Mary Kom (48kg) among others. Settling for bronze medals were world championships silver-medallist Saweety Boora (75kg) and Bhagyabati Kachari (81kg). While Saweety lost to China's Li Quian, Bhagyabati went down to Russia's Mariia Urakova in a split decision. Earlier last night, former world and Asian champion L Sarita Devi (60kg) and M Meena Kumari Devi (54kg) had also lost in the semifinals for a third-place finish in the event where five male boxers will be in action in the semifinals today.

ISL: Chennaiyin play goal-less draw against Blasters

Chennaiyin FC finished on a goalless draw against Kerala Blasters to inch closer to a play off play-off spot in the Indian Super League (ISL) being played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here.Blasters are in fifth place, just one point behind Jamshedpur FC, who have a game in hand, while Chennaiyin FC are placed third after accumulating 29 points from 17 matches, the same as second-placed FC Pune City, who have a better goal difference.The Blasters could have won the game when they got a penalty just seven minutes into the second half.Gudjon Baldvinsson had stormed into Chennaiyin's box and took a tumble when Jerry Lalrinzuala made contact from behind. Courage Pekuson took responsibility and went low to Karanjit's right - but the keeper had guessed early and made a fine save.The 78th minute saw both teams create chances within seconds.Jackichand Singh slipped in Baldvinsson and his first-time shot was brilliantly saved by Karanjit. There was a rebound but CK Vineeth simply couldn't ...

Snowboard queen Ledecka fastest in Olympic history bid

Ester Ledecka remained on course for a historic Olympic double today when the Czech crossover star clocked the fastest time in qualifying for the women's snowboard parallel giant slalom. The Czech world champion and hot favourite, who stunned the world of alpine skiing by capturing gold in last week's super-G, recorded an aggregate time of one minutes, 28.90 seconds for her two runs -- more than a second ahead of her nearest rival. Russian Alena Zavarzina, bronze medallist in Sochi four years ago, was second quickest in 1:30.16 with Germany's Selina Joerg qualifying third in 1:30.27. Ledecka is looking to become the first woman to win gold medals in different sports at the same Winter Olympics. The 22-year-old can join Norwegians Thorleif Haug and Johan Groettumsbraten as the only athletes to do a multi-sport double. Haug did the cross country and Nordic combined double at the 1924 Olympics and Grottumsbraten won the same events at the 1928 Games.

New format for Copa Libertadores final

The Copa Libertadores -- South America's premier club competition -- will feature a single final at a neutral venue from 2019, the region's football governing body CONMEBOL has said.

Stokes to return for first England-New Zealand ODI

Ben Stokes is set to return to international cricket on Sunday when England play their first one-day international against New Zealand in Hamilton. The star all-rounder, who had been sidelined since his arrest following a nightclub incident last September, rejoined the England squad in New Zealand last week after pleading not guilty in the Bristol magistrates court to a charge of affray. Although England have not yet named their side for the first ODI, and Stokes is short of match practice, captain Eoin Morgan suggested Saturday he would be in the line-up. "He looks in great nick, he's hit the ground running since he's been involved and he's been himself, which is great to see," Morgan said. "He might be better for the more games he does play and feel more comfortable coming back ... it is his first game in quite a long time." Stokes has had long net sessions since his arrival and was said to be middling the ball well with the bat and bowling at maximum effort. Along with Stokes, Joe .

Winter Olympics: Korea's Lee enters PGS final

South Korean alpine snowboarding ace Lee Sang-ho reached the men's parallel giant slalom (PGS) final at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics here on Saturday.

Mainz hold Wolfsburg in Bundesliga tie

FC Mainz shared the spoils with Wolfsburg following a 1-1 draw in a Bundesliga football match here.

Neymar already world's best, says Pele

Neymar has surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as the world's best player, according to Brazilian football great Pele.

Cycling team announced for 2018 Commonwealth Games

The Cycling Federation of India has announced a nine-member (five women and four men) cycling team for the 2018 Commonwealth Games to be held in Gold Coast, Australia.The team has been selected on the basis of the performance in the Asian Track Cycling Championship held at Nilai in Malaysia from February 16-21, 2018, where the Indian team won four medals including three gold and one bronze.The nine-member team consists of Deborah - Sprint, Kerin, Individual Time Trial, Team Pursuit, Aleena Reji - Sprint, Individual Time Trial, Kerin, M Sonali Chanu - Endurance Events, Team Pursuit, T. Manorama Devi - Endurance Events, Team Pursuit, Amritha Reghunath - Team Pursuit, Point Race, Ranjit Singh - Team Sprint, Individual Time Trial 1000m, Sahil Kumar - Team Sprint, Keirin, Sanuraj P - Team Sprint, Individual Sprint, Keirin and Manjeet Singh - Endurance events respectively."We have announced our best team for Commonwealth Games 2018 where we are expecting a good show from our cyclists. We ..

ISL: Kerala, Chennaiyin in action packed draw

Chennaiyin FC eked out a goalless draw against Kerala Blasters in an Indian Super League (ISL) encounter here on Friday to inch closer to a play-off spot.

Mixed fortunes for Shreyas,Umesh Yadav; Tare leads from front

India internationals Shreyas Iyer and Umesh Yadav had a fruitful day for their sides, but had mixed fortunes with the match results, on the fourth day of the 14th DY Patil T20 Cup being played here. Shreyas, back after the ODI series in South Africa, stroked a 35-ball 57 with three boundaries and four sixes to star in BPCL's 84-run win over Mumbai Police at the University Ground. In a side featuring other players like Mandeep Singh (43) and Abhishek Nayar, BPCL skipper Shreyas stood out with the bat as they posted an impressive 196-6 in their 20 overs. Mumbai's Shivam Dubey, in an all-round act, first struck 34 off 15 balls and then picked 3-7 in three overs to star in his side's win. In the other match in the morning at the DY Patil Stadium, pacer Umesh Yadav's fiery spell of 3-19 helped RBI restrict Collage Group to 167-8. In reply, RBI struggled to get going with only opener Sumit Kumar (60: 38b, 4x4, 3x6) holding his own. Umesh Yadav tried using the long handle but ..

Keepers excel as Blasters, Chennaiyin draw

Chennaiyin FC eked out a goalless draw against Kerala Blasters here today to inch closer to a play-off spot in the Hero Indian Super League. It was the first 0-0 draw in the league since the December 1, and while it doesn't end the Blasters' season, they need to hope for other results to go their way to stay in contention. They're in fifth place, just one point behind Jamshedpur FC, who have a game in hand. Chennaiyin FC are placed third after accumulating 29 points from 17 matches, the same as second-placed FC Pune City, who have a better goal difference. The Blasters could have won the game when they got a penalty just seven minutes into the second half. Gudjon Baldvinsson had stormed into Chennaiyin's box and took a tumble when Jerry Lalrinzuala made contact from behind. Courage Pekuson took responsibility and went low to Karanjit's right - but the keeper had guessed early and made a fine save. The 78th minute saw both teams create chances within seconds. Jackichand Singh slipped ..

Raina aims to seal spot in India team through T20I show

Middle-order batsman Suresh Raina, who marked his comeback in India squad in the ongoing T20I series against South Africa, is looking forward to cement his spot in the team ahead of the 2019 World Cup.Raina returned to the squad after he last played in the shortest format for India in February last year while he last played an ODI in July 2015.The veteran has since struggled to get back into the side because of both form and fitness issues."It is important to win a trophy first and important to go out there as a team mindset. If you see the top order, they are all batting well. When you come to the middle order, MS (Dhoni) is there and Manish (Pandey) is also doing a good job," Raina told reporters ahead of the third T20I match against South Africa.He added, "So we will see where I can fit in. There are a lot of matches coming up now. Winning games is more important than being which format I am playing or not. Every Indian game is very important for me right now."The left-hand batsman

English FA charges Guardiola for political Catalonia ribbon English FA charges

The English Football Association has charged Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola for promoting a political message by wearing a ribbon in support of imprisoned and ousted pro-independence Catalan politicians. Guardiola was born in Catalonia and is revered in the region because of his links with Barcelona's soccer team, as both a player and coach. Guardiola has been wearing the yellow ribbon at matches and news conferences since Catalonia's failed secession bid in October when a banned independence referendum was held. The English FA says the ribbon is a "political message" which requires him to be charged with being in breach of kit and advertising regulations. Guardiola has until March 5 to respond to the charge.

Rajasthan Royals to announce team skipper on TV

Indian Premier League (IPL) franchisee Rajasthan Royals will announce their team skipper for the 11th edition of the tournament on television on Saturday.It will be the first time that an IPL franchisee would be declaring their captain in such a fashion.Rajasthan Royals, are making a comeback in the league after having faced a two-year ban in the famous IPL fixing scandal, and would be looking to aim a perfect captain to flag-bear the team.Former Australia leg-spinner Shane Warne will be mentoring the side in the season.The franchisee bought some of the most expensive players in the IPL player auction to well position themselves in their comeback.England all-rounder Ben Stokes was bought for Rs 12.5 crore while Indian bowler Jaydev Unadkat was taken for Rs 11.50 crore.Ahead of the captain announcement, Warne said, "The captain plays an important role as there are players coming from different countries and he needs to bring them all together. A captain is instrumental to create a ...

I-League: Churchill positive to end Kerala's Fairy-tale Run

Churchill Brothers will have a task to cut out against giant-killers Gokulam FC when they face one of the most in-form teams in the I-league at the Tilak Maidan, Vasco on Saturday.The 2-3 victory that Churchill Brothers recorded in the reverse fixture in January had helped them turn around their season.The Goan club was beginning to climb up the ladder with a string of wins before hitting a rough patch which saw them lose three straight games."We are in such a position that the reputation of the club and the players are at stake. We are in a hole which we ourselves have created. All the remaining three matches are literally like final for us," Churchill Brothers coach Alfred Fernandes said on the eve of the match.The deflating defeat against Indian Arrows was followed by losses against NEROCA FC and Chennai City."The three games were a lesson to us and we know what we have to do now starting tomorrow," Churchill captain Osagie Monday said.The former I-League champions are just one ...

Mourinho respects Pogba's 'professionalism' amid reports of row

Jose Mourinho said today he respects Paul Pogba's "professionalism" following reports of a heated training ground row with the out-of-favour Manchester United midfielder. Mourinho last week dismissed as "lies" any talk of the Frenchman wanting to leave Old Trafford less than two years after he returned to the club from Juventus for a then world-record fee of 89 million ($124 million). The midfielder has endured a frustrating spell in recent weeks, having been substituted twice and absent from the starting line-up three times in United's past five games. He missed last Saturday's FA Cup fifth-round victory at Huddersfield because of illness but had been expected to return from the start on Wednesday as United visited Sevilla for the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie. He was named on the bench instead, but ended up playing most of the game anyway, replacing Ander Herrera, who was forced off early with a hamstring injury in the 0-0 draw. With Herrera out of action, Pogba is

Klopp tough to please despite Liverpool form

Jurgen Klopp said Friday he is "absolutely not happy" with Liverpool's season so far despite his team's rich vein of recent form. Klopp's side start the weekend sitting third in the table, having lost just once in 18 Premier League matches, and victory would carry them above Manchester United, who are not in action until Sunday, when they host Chelsea. Liverpool are also virtually guaranteed a place in the Champions League quarter-finals after a swaggering 5-0 victory in the first leg of their last-16 tie away to Porto, which included a Sadio Mane hat-trick. But the German boss has his sights set firmly on the challenges that lie ahead. "I am absolutely not happy," he told reporters ahead of Saturday's match against West Ham at Anfield. "I want to be happy at the end of the season. Happy is not the word I have in my mind, to be honest. I am sometimes fine with it, sometimes more, sometimes less." Klopp said his thoughts turned to the match against David Moyes's West Ham immediately ...