Page 1945 - Sports

Barcelona renew midfielder Sergi Roberto's contract

Midfielder Sergi Roberto has signed his contract renewal with Barcelona, a deal that runs until 2022.

Sampdoria send Dodo to Brazil's Santos on loan

Serie A side Sampdoria have confirmed the loan of left-back Jose "Dodo" Rodolfo Pires Ribeiro to Brazilian side Santos for the rest of 2018.

Russian curlers stripped of Olympic medal

Russian curlers Anastasia Bryzgalova and Aleksandr Krushelnitskii returned the bronze medal they won in the mixed doubles at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics after the male athlete was disqualified for doping.

Rani to lead Indian hockey eves in Korea tour

Rani will lead the 20-member Indian women's hockey team while Sunita Lankra will serve as her deputy in the Korea Tour, which is slated to be held from March 3.India are slated to play five matches against the hosts at the Jinchun National Athletic Centre, Korea.With celebrated goalkeeper Savita rested for the tour, Rajani Etimarpu will be joined by debut player Swati to guard the Indian goalpost in Korea. The defence will see experienced Deepika, who was out of action following a knee surgery last year, make a comeback. She will be joined by Suman Devi Thoudam, Deep Grace Ekka, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam and Gurjit Kaur who will double up as dragflicker.Monika, Namita Toppo, Nikki Pradhan, Neha Goyal, Udita and Lilima Minz will form the midfield while Rani, Vandana Katariya, Lalremsiami, Navjot Kaur, Navneet Kaur and Poonam Rani, who is also returning to squad after long injury haul, will form India's attack.The Korea tour will be Indian team's first event after their historic Asia Cup

BFC winger Edu Garcia joins Chinese outfit Zhejiang Luchng

Bengaluru FC today reached an agreement with Chinese League One side Zhejiang Luchng for the transfer of Spanish winger Edu Garcia for an undisclosed fee. The deal makes BFC the first Indian club to earn a fee from a foreign club for the transfer of a player, BFC said in a statement here. The League One season kicks off on March 10 and Garcia will join the team in Spain where they are on a pre-season tour. He will team up with Spanish coach Sergi Barjuan for the club which plays at the Yellow Dragon Sports Center in Hangzhou. Luchng, who also go by the name Zhejiang Greentown, showed interest in Garcia and an agreement with Bengaluru was reached after close to two weeks of negotiations. The formalities were completed yesterday, five days prior to the closing of the Chinese transfer window on February 28. "It was an offer that worked well for the club, Edu and Luchng. Its also a matter a pride that the deal is a historic one in Indian football and that Bengaluru FC is involved in it," .

Indian women eye a rare double series win against South Africa

An unbeatable 2-1 lead already in its grasp, the Indian women's cricket team would look to extend its domination in the shortest format and achieve a rare double series win when it takes on South Africa in the fifth and final Twenty20 International here tomorrow. Having already won the three-match ODI series 2-1, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led team is 2-1 up in the five-match T20I series after rain washed out the fourth game in Centurion and the visitors would look to end the South Africa tour on a high. India have been quite clinical in the first two T20 games which they have won convincingly -- by seven and nine wickets respectively -- but a five-wicket loss in the third match kept the series alive for South Africa. The visitors had fancied their chances in the fourth T20I but rain played spoilsport as the match was abandoned after South Africa were 130/3 in 15.3 overs. A win tomorrow will make Harmanpreet and Co. the first Indian side to have won two series on a single tour of South ...

Hockey: Rani named captain for women's tour of Korea

Ace striker Rani Rampal was today named captain of a 20-strong Indian women's hockey team for next month's season-opening away series against Korea, where fit-again forward Poonam Rani will make a comeback. India will play five matches against the hosts at the Jinchun National Athletic Centre, from March 3 to 12. Defender Sunita Lakra will be Rani's deputy during the trip. With celebrated goalkeeper Savita rested for the tour, Rajani Etimarpu will be joined by debutant Swati to guard the Indian goalpost in Korea. The defence line will feature the experienced Deepika, who was out of action following a knee surgery last year. She will be joined by Suman Devi Thoudam, Deep Grace Ekka, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam and Gurjit Kaur who will double up as dragflicker. Monika, Namita Toppo, Nikki Pradhan, Neha Goyal, Udita and Lilima Minz will form the midfield while Rani, Vandana Katariya, Lalremsiami, Navjot Kaur, Navneet Kaur and Poonam, who is also returning after a long injury haul, will form

Windies not taking anything for granted in WC qualifiers

Two-time world champions West Indies are considered the most high-profile side in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier with the likes of Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels in their ranks.The William Porterfield-led Ireland, on the other hand, are another leading side that goes into the tournament with some strong recent performances.The teams, who are drawn to play each other on March 10 in the preliminary league, swear by the balance in their side.And West Indies captain Jason Holder is cautious not to take any team lightly.Holder says coming off the back of their domestic 50-over competition ensures the players are in touch and that the team can hit the ground running."Leading up to the first match against the United Arab Emirates, we should be more than ready when that challenge comes. We have two warm-up matches before the first tournament match, so we have been preparing well. We should not be short of cricket when that first match comes around."We have a very good balance, ..

When 'captain cool' Dhoni lost his temper at Manish Pandey

It was a rare sight for everyone when former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni lost his cool during the second T20I of the three-match series against South Africa at SuperSport Park in Centurion.Dhoni, known to be 'captain cool' for his calm and composed demeanour, both on and off field, but the cricketers and fans witnessed his other side on Wednesday when the wicketkeeper-batsman lost his temper during his competent partnership with middle-order batsman Manish Pandey.After being asked to bat first, Indian lost opener Rohit Sharma (duck) and skipper Virat Kohli (one) early through the hands of Junior Dala whose spells manage to rattle the Indian batsmen.Thereafter, Suresh Raina (30) and Shikhar Dhawan (27) steadied the innings and shared a 44-run partnership, before Duminy surprised Dhawan with a low full toss and miscued it to Farhaan Behardien at mid-on. Raina departed afterwards and the visitors were in a spot of bother at 90-4 after 11 overs.However, Manish Pandey and Dhoni ...

India aim for perfect tour finale in 3rd T20I

India would be eyeing a perfect end to what has been a thoroughly roller-coaster tour when they take on a depleted but not completely deflated South Africa in the decisive third Twenty20 International here tomorrow. Having suffered a minor setback in the previous game, India will look to recover and close out this eight-week long tour with a series' win. The three-match series is level at 1-1 after the Men in Blue won the first T20I in Johannesburg by 28 runs. The Proteas bounced back in Centurion with a six-wicket win. India have never played T20 cricket at Newlands. This will be their first such outing, while South Africa have a less than impressive record here. They have played 8 T20Is, and lost 5 of them here. The two wins came in the 2007 World T20 and as such the hosts have only ever won a singular bilateral T20I game (against England in 2016) at Cape Town. It doesn't necessarily give the visitors an advantage. Through this limited-overs' leg, South Africa have shown that they ..

Noren, Simpson lead as Woods 'pleased' with even par 70

Alex Noren and Webb Simpson defied difficult blustery winds to lead the US PGA Tour's Honda Classic as Tiger Woods said he was "very pleased" with an even par 70. Noren and Simpson both carded four-under par 66 at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, where only 20 players broke par. Although he didn't manage to join that group, Woods called it the best ball-striking round of his latest comeback, which has included a tie for 23rd at Torrey Pines last month and a missed cut at Riviera in Los Angeles last week. "I'm very pleased," said the 14-time major champion, who had three birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey. "Today was not easy. It's going to get more difficult because these greens are not the best. It was tough all around today. "The wind was playing really hard, the rough's up and it's really tough to make putts out there." Nevertheless, Woods matched his best opening round in four appearances at PGA National. His decision to play in Florida this week marks his first ...

Serwa leads Canada 1-2 in women's skicross

Kelsey Serwa consolidated Canada's dominance of the women's Olympic ski cross with victory at the Pyeongchang Games today. Serwa, who won silver in Sochi, beat SX clubmate and fellow Canadian Brittany Phelan -- who finished 15th in the alpine slalom in Sochi -- into silver, with Switzerland's Fanny Smith taking bronze. Canada have won all three Olympic golds on offer since ski cross' introduction in 2010, through Ashleigh McIvor in Vancouver and Marielle Thompson in Sochi. Thompson's bid to defend her title came to an abrupt end after she came in last in her opening round-of-24 heat.

ISL: Chennaiyin to take on resurgent Blasters in crucial tie

Kerala Blasters will look to extend their unbeaten run to five matches when they welcome their Southern rivals Chennaiyin FC in their Indian Super League (ISL) clash at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Friday.Chennaiyin are not yet assured of qualification for the semifinals but even a loss will keep them among the top four. However, both teams have only two matches left.The previous match between the two sides ended in a 1-1 draw after goals in the 89th and 90th minutes from Rene Mihelic and CK Vineeth respectively. But tomorrow, neither would be happy except a win and full points from this encounter."It was a tough schedule for us to play games and then recover for a day before jumping onto the plane again. We're delighted with the amount of points we've got from these last four matches. I didn't change the team that much so it has been a huge workload for them and says everything about my squad. We're where we are because of our work ethic. Now we come into this game with ..

Arsenal survive Ostersunds scare as policeman dies in Bilbao clashes

Arsenal scraped into the last 16 of the Europa League despite a 2-1 second-leg defeat by Ostersunds, but Thursday's action was marred by violent clashes at the match between between Athletic Bilbao and Spartak Moscow which left a police officer dead. Two quickfire first-half goals gave Swedish minnows Ostersunds hope of a sensational comeback at the Emirates, but Sead Kolasinac's goal just after the interval saw Arsenal hang on for a 4-2 win on aggregate. The north London giants move into Friday's last-16 draw, but Ostersunds will take all the plaudits for a brave display full of quality. "At 2-0 we thought we had a chance. We played well, won the game but it was just short of the miracle," Ostersunds coach Graham Potter told BT Sport. A Basque police officer died as security forces clashed with fans of Russian club Spartak Moscow in Bilbao. "We can confirm that a Basque policeman died Thursday," said a press spokesman for Ertzaintza, the Basque police region. However, he would not ...

Pakistan retain top T20 ranking after ICC error

Australian cricket chiefs have clarified that Pakistan still top the Twenty20 world rankings, despite Australia's victory in the T20 tri-series also featuring New Zealand and England. Cricket Australia said this week that Australia would take the number one spot if they were unbeaten in the tri-series, a feat they achieved with a 19-run win over New Zealand in Auckland on Wednesday. But in a statement late yesterday, it said a "clerical error" by the International Cricket Council meant the calculation was wrong and Pakistan retain the number one ranking. When ratings points were rounded off, it said, Australia were second on 125.65, 0.19 points behind Pakistan on 125.84. It means Australia have still not been rated the number one T20 side in the world since the shortest form of the game began in 2011. Australia are currently ranked third in Tests and fifth in one-dayers.

Liverpool could be winners from Mourinho-Conte clash

Manchester United and Chelsea cross swords this weekend with all eyes on the dugouts after a war of words between Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte and Liverpool could take advantage. With one or both of the sides bound to drop points at Old Trafford, Jurgen Klopp's team are in prime position to pounce, hosting West Ham after a 10-day break following the 5-0 demolition of Porto in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie. AFP Sports takes a look at some of the highlights of the weekend's action in the Premier League, with Manchester City and Arsenal meeting in the League Cup final. 'Contempt' ========== Conte and Mourinho have traded poisonous barbs this season, culminating in the pair saying they felt "contempt" for each other. The feud started when the United boss said he did not need to "act like a clown" on the touchline, a comment perceived to be aimed at the animated Conte, who responded by claiming Mourinho must have "demenza senile" -- senile dementia. When Mourinho ..

Bale blues cloud Real Madrid's return to form

Talk of a crisis at Real Madrid is over for now, but the form of Gareth Bale remains a cause of concern ahead of this weekend's meeting with Alaves in La Liga. The Welshman was back on the bench for Wednesday's 3-1 victory at Leganes, his involvement restricted to a late cameo as Zinedine Zidane's side claimed a fourth consecutive win. Bale had started in last weekend's 5-3 success at Betis but failed to impress, having also been left out of the line-up for the 3-1 Champions League win against Paris Saint-Germain. He has not completed 90 minutes since September due to injury and poor form, and the Madrid media appear to have made their minds up -- "Bale's credit has run out", said the headline in one piece in sports daily Marca on Thursday. When Zidane was asked if Bale had been left out in Leganes to protect him, the Frenchman's response hinted all is not well. "It was a little bit of everything. I am happy with Gareth, but we need to go little by little with him," he said. "We want .

National Inclusion Cup: Vidarbha men beat Mumbai to enter finals

Vidarbha men's football team booked their place in the finals of the 2018 National Inclusion Cup after sweeping aside Mumbai 4-2 in their last-four clash here last evening.Meanwhile, the women's team from Vidarbha couldn't repeat the men's team's feat as they slumped to a 2-6 defeat at the hands of Uttarakhand.The men's team will now take on Kerala in the finals who defeated West Bengal 3-2 in a closely fought encounter.But the match of the day was the second semifinals of women's category where Chhattisgarh and Orissa played out a 4-4 draw for the match to go in penalties.Chhattisgarh women's team survived the penalty shootout 6-5 to reach the summit clash where they will meet Uttarakhand.Nepal's women's team made their long trip to Mumbai worthy as they entered the finals of Women's Cup 2 beating Kerala 2-1.

Real Sociedad out of Europa League after losing to Salzburg

Real Sociedad are out of the Europa League after losing by 2-1 here to Salzburg, who prevailed 4-3 on aggregate.

Police officer dies in clashes before Europa League match

A police officer has died during clashes between fans before Athletic Bilbao's home Europa League match against Spartak Moscow at San Mames stadium in Spain's Bilbao city.