Page 2014 - Sports
Maxwell century powers Australia to T20 win over England
Glenn Maxwell slammed a last-ball six to score a masterful century and lead Australia to a five- wicket victory over England in the second tri-series Twenty20 International, here today. Maxwell, who earlier took three wickets in two overs, was man of the match with an unbeaten 103 as the Australians chased down England's 155 for nine in the 19th over. Maxwell, who was controversially dropped from Australia's one-day team for the recent series against England, responded with a 58-ball century including 10 fours and four sixes at Bellerive Oval. "It was nice to get one over the rope and finish the job," Maxwell said. "For us to start the series the way we have has been outstanding. We haven't had a lot of success in T20 cricket for the last few years. "Missing out on the one-day squad and not playing any part in the Ashes, it was obviously where I wanted to be this summer. "I had to do a lot of work behind the scenes and I feel I've done that and got back into the Aussie ..
Mandhana stars again as India women wallop SA to seal series
Opener Smriti Mandhana slammed a quickfire 135 as Indian women's cricket team produced yet another clinical display to beat South Africa by 178 runs in the second ODI and clinch the three-match series here today. By virtue of this win, India have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, which is part of the ICC Women's Championship. Sent into bat, left-handed Mandhana started from where she left in the first game and smashed 135 off just 129 balls to form the base for India's 302 for three. She hit 14 boundaries and a six en route to her century. Incidentally, this is Mandhana's second ODI century against South Africa. Mandhana had earlier made a 98-ball 84 in India's 88-run win over South Africa in the first ODI. Besides Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur (55 not out) and Veda Krishnamurthy (51 not out) contributed to India's total. Opener Punam Raut (20) and skipper Mithali Raj (20) also got starts but failed to prolong their stay at the crease. All the South Africa bowlers
India football coach Constantine given contract extension
India football team head coach Stephen Constantine was handed a contract extension on Wednesday by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), which rewarded the Englishman for the 2019 Asian Cup qualification.
China beat India in Fed Cup tie
India went down 1-2 to China in a Pool A tie of the Federation Cup tennis tournament here on Wednesday.
Mihika stuns Rishika in round one of tennis tournament
Women's third seed Rishika Sunkara of Delhi suffered a straight-sets first round defeat against unseeded Mihika Yadav of Maharashtra in the AITA Ranking Rs 22 lakh prize money JVPG Anirudh Desai All-India Open Tennis Tournament today. The 19-year-old Mihika, from Maharashtra, had things much her own way against the 24-year-old Rishika and coasted to a comfortable 6-1 6-0 victory at the suburban Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana courts. Top seeds in singles - Arjun Kadhe of Maharashtra and Mahak Jain of Madhya Pradesh - both sailed into the quarter- finals of the respective mens and womens singles events. The Pune-based Kadhe prevailed over Dhakshineswar Suresh of Tamil Nadu 6-4 7-5, while Mahak powered her way to a 6-0 6-1 victory over state rival Sara Yadav in second round ties. Elsewhere, 43-year-old Nitten Kirrtane of Maharashtra made a second round exit, going down in straight sets to 21- year-old state mate Jayesh Punglia. Kirrtane, who upset fifth seed Hardeep Singh Sandhu .
Pumped up Ankita exudes confidence of more upset wins
After toppling world number 120 Lin Zhu, a highly motivated and pumped up Ankita Raina is raring to pull off more upset wins when India take on formidable Kazakhstan in a must-win Fed Cup tie tomorrow. Ankita came out firing on all cylinders to subdue Zhu in the second singles even as India lost the tie later following defeat in the decisive doubles. The top-ranked Indian in singles at number 253, will tackle world number 55 Zarina Diyas, to whom she had lost way back in 2013. "We are playing at home and that's an advantage. I have beaten their (Kazakh) top players," said Ankita when asked about tomorrow's clash against the favourties. She was referring to her win over Yaroslava Shvedova, winner of one WTA singles and 13 doubles title, during Fed Cup in 2016 when the latter had retired after losing the first set. The win over Zhu today was Ankita's first in fourth attempts. "I am happy with the way I played but could have played better. My movement, court coverage and ...
Africa could host Olympics as soon as 2032 - IOC boss
International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach said today that Africa could host the Olympics for the first time as early as 2032. It came after the IOC approved plans to target Africa to host the fourth Summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in 2022. "This Youth Olympic Games we hope can inspire one of the African countries to come up with a feasible candidature for 2032 or 2036," said Bach, speaking in Pyeongchang two days before the start of the Winter Olympics. "But we have enough confidence in Africa that we said we do not want to wait so long, let's go in 2022 with the Youth Olympic Games (YOG)," added Bach, declining to name which African country he had in mind for the full Olympics. In a separate statement about Africa for the YOG, Bach said that the IOC "will proactively approach a number of African (countries) to evaluate the feasibility of such a project". The IOC hopes to elect a host city at the next IOC session, to be held in October 2018 in Buenos ...
Mayank Agarwal stars in Karnataka's 85 run win against Baroda
Mayank Agarwal continued his good form, hammering a 90-ball 109 to star in Karnataka's 85-run (via VJD method) against Baroda in the Vijay Hazare Trophy Group 'A' league here today. Sent into bat by Baroda captain Deepak Hooda, the host suffered an early setback when Test opener K L Rahul fell for just three. Agarwal was in superb touch and played shots all round the wicket to keep the scoreboard ticking. Though Test discard Karun Nair failed to get going, Agarwal found an able partner in R Samarth (77) and the duo added 95 runs to set the platform for Karnataka. After the exit of Agarwal for 109, Samarth added 74 runs with Pavan Deshpande. The stylish right-hander hit 14 fours and two sixers in his knock. A middle order wobble saw Karnataka lose a few quick wickets, but skipper R Vinay Kumar blasted a quickfire 34 towards the end to help the team finish at 312 for 9. In reply, Baroda lost wickets at regular intervals to fall behind the run rate. Only opener Kedar Devdhar
Kerala snatch thrilling tie against Bengal
Captain Manoj Tiwary's unbeaten half century went in vain as Bengal had to settle for a tie against Kerala in a thrilling Group B fixture of the Vijay Hazare Trophy One-Day cricket tournament, here today. Last year's runner-up Bengal made a mockery of a modest 236 run chase as Kerala's tidy bowling was backed up well by sharp fielding. Bengal kept losing wickets at regular intervals to remain winless from two matches to slip to fifth spot in the seven- team group. Bengal had lost their opening match to Maharashtra. Opting to bat, opener Jalaj Saxena struck an unbeaten 100 off 133 balls (10x4s) to push Kerala's total to 235 for six in their group opener. Bengal suffered two run outs including that of Kanishk Seth (8) by Arun Karthik in the last ball as Tiwary remained stranded at the other end in his 93-ball 73 not out (1x4, 1x6). Needing 36 runs from 42 balls with five wickets in hand, Bengal batsmen made a harakiri losing three wickets in 18 runs as Kerala managed to ...
Dravid paid Rs 2.4 crore as professional fees by BCCI
Rahul Dravid, head coach of the India U-19 ICC World Cup-winning outfit, received Rs 2.43 crore as professional fees from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the six-month period ended December 31, 2017. Paras Mhambrey, the bowing coach of the triumphant colts team, had received Rs 27 lakh as professional fees from the BCCI for the four-month period between August and November last, as per the details of the payments done by the BCCI for January 2018 put up on the Board's website. Former left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra has been granted a one-time benefit of Rs 60 lakh by the Board which has also paid the tour, match and retainer fees of current India cricketers Ajinkya Rahane (Rs 1.47 crore), Hardik Pandya (1.27 crore), Kuldeep Yadav (Rs 1.08 crore), Wriddhiman Saha (Rs 57.81 lakh) and Abhinav Mukund (Rs 33.69 lakh) due to them for services rendered last year. The BCCI has also paid former Delhi cricketer Mithun Minhas Rs 75.60 lakh for performing his job ..
Indian men rout Maldives 5-0 in Asia badminton c'ship
World No.5 Kidambi Srikanth led the charge as India drubbed minnows Maldives 5-0 to make a resounding start in the men's team competition of the Asia Badminton Championships, here today. Kidambi started the proceedings, easily outplaying Shaheed Hussein Zayan 21-5 21-6 in the first singles match, before B Sai Praneeth took just 17 minutes to get the better of Ahmed Nibal 21-10 21-4. The rest of the tie followed a similar script as Sameer Verma toyed with Mohamed Arsalaan Ali 21-5 21-1 to take an unassailable 3-0 lead. In the men's doubles matches too, the Indians hardly broke a sweat. In the first doubles match, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty beat Shaheed Hussein Zayan and Shaheem Hassan Afsheem 21-8 21-8 before Arjun M R teamed up with Shlok Ramachandran to tame the pair of Mohamed Arsalaan Ali and Ahmed Nibal 21-2 21-5. The Asia Team championship is also a qualifier for the Thomas Cup Final with the semifinalists earning the right to play in Bangkok in ...
Six U-19 players are ready for India A level: Fielding coach
Fielding coach Abhay Sharma feels six members of the World Cup-winning India U-19 squad, including the likes of Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill, Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkoti, are ready to play at the India A level. The other two, who have done enough to graduate to the A level, are spinner Anukul Roy and wicket-keeper batsman Harvik Desai, he reckoned. Sharma, a former wicket-keeper batsman who featured in 89 First-Class games, said fast-tracking the U-19 players to the A and the senior side has its pros and cons. "These six players are ready for the A level. I would not want to put them at the highest-level as of now. It should be a gradual process. Fast-tracking U-19 players into the national side can work both ways," Sharma told PTI. Out of the six players he picked, four have played either First-Class or List A cricket. Before their exploits in New Zealand, Shaw and Gill had already made an impact by scoring First-Class centuries. Expectations have reached sky high ...
Smriti's ton lifts Indian eves to 302/3 vs South Africa
Continuing her glorious run with the willow, opener Smriti Mandhana struck her third ODI century to help India pile a mammoth 302/3 in the second game of the three-match One-day International series against South African women here on Wednesday.
AIFF to send coaches on exposure trips
Aiming to ramp up its grassroot development programme, the All India Football Federation's (AIFF) technical committee has handpicked around 45 AFC Pro Licence holder coaches, who will be sent abroad on exposure trips. This is being done to strengthen the setup in age-group football and field stronger youth teams in tournaments. "The technical committee's chairman (Shyam Thapa) has already selected 40-45 coaches, all AFC A and B Licence holder. "They will be sent on exposure trips to countries with whom we have MoU such as Germany and Japan. The idea is to employ them as coaches of youth teams in the future," said Henry Menezes, Thapa's deputy in the panel. Menezes is a former international and CEO of Western India Football Association (WIFA). He said the youth set-up in Indian football will be divided into many zones and the coaches will be entrusted with the responsibility to train them. The aim is to have around 20 players in each zone. Menezes was a part of the ...
Ghosal to play in singles and mixed doubles in CWG
National men's champion and the number one Indian player on the Professional Squash Circuit, Saurav Ghosal, will be playing in singles and mixed doubles events at the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, he announced here. "I will be playing in the singles and mixed doubles with Dipika Pallikal and will not play in men's doubles at the Commonwealth Games, which will be my third," he told reporters today at the National Sports Club of India in Worli here. The 31-year-old, currently ranked 14th on the world PSA circuit, is married to Dipika's sister Diya. Ghosal, a 12-time national champion, is here to take part in the inaugural Vedanta Indian Open Squash tournament, a USD 35,000 PSA event promoted by former players Rhea Bhandare and Jay Jhaveri through their firm 5Sports. Ghosal had lost to the then world no. 1 James Willstrop of England in the singles semi finals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow, Scotland. The 31-year-old, who is the top ...
Hassan Badami moves into third round of snooker championship
Seasoned Hassan Badami subdued Vaibhav Waingade 3-0 in a battle between two local cueists to enter the third round in the Rs 12.25 lakh prize-money CCI All India Open Snooker Championship here today. Badami, from the Cricket Club of India, compiled small breaks of 31, 38 and 51 in the three frames to wrap up a 55-41, 53-52, 61-9 second round victory. Amol Abdagiri of Pune led the charge of outstation cueists into the third round. Puru Dembla from Agra and Siddhesh Mulay from Chiplun, Maharashtra, were the others from outside Mumbai who won their second round matches to progress to the next round. Abdagiri quelled the late fight back from Neel Vathlani to register a 3-1 (55-8, 56-16, 84-22, 58-8) win. Dembla sidelined local player Divesh Gangwani 3-0 (52-43, 59-46, 43-30), while Mulay fought back after dropping a frame to overcome Nikhil Ghagde of Railways 3-1 (38-56, 68-61, 74-22, 67-37).
Indian para cyclists eye rich haul at Asian Championships
The Indian squad will aim to repeat their feat of securing all three podium finishes at the Asian Para-Cycling Championships which start at the Wunna Theikdi Sport Stadium here on Friday.
15 Russians challenge IOC over Olympic snub
Fifteen Russians denied a spot at the Pyeongchang Olympics despite having life bans for doping overturned have launched a fresh bid to take part, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said today. The 15 have made an "urgent application" challenging the International Olympic Committee's decision to deny them invitations to the Games, which came after the sports court controversially lifted their life bans last week. "They request that CAS overturn the IOC decision and allow them to participate in these Games as Olympic Athletes from Russia," a statement from the sports tribunal said, just two days before the Olympics open. CAS's lifting of the life bans of 28 Russians was strongly criticised by the IOC and World Anti-Doping Agency. Thirteen of the group have either retired or are unavailable for undisclosed reasons. The latest appeal comes as CAS also considers a separate bid by 32 Russians, including South Korean-born speed skater Victor An, to take part in the Games. The ..
Golfer Neha leads after Round 1 in Pune leg of Hero Women's Tour
A three-shot swing on the 18th hole handed Kolkata golfer Neha Tripathi a two-shot lead over nearest rival Saaniya Sharma after the first round of the third leg of the Hero Women's Professional Tour here on Wednesday.
Solid Delhi beat Tripura by 7 wkts in Vijay Hazare Trophy
Delhi produced a solid top-order batting performance to beat Tripura by seven wickets and register their second win in Group B of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, here today. Sent into bat, Tripura rode on half-centuries from opener Bishal Ghosh (84), Yashpal Singh (61) and Gurinder Singh (54 not out) to post a challenging 298 for seven in 50 overs. But the total wasn't enough as Tripura bowlers fizzled in front of Delhi's top-order with Nitish Rana top-scoring with a 60-ball unbeaten 94 while chasing down the target in 39.1 overs. Besides Rana, Unmukt Chand carried on his good form with a 65-ball 55 and together with Hiten Dalal (76) shared 93 runs for the opening stand to set the platform for the chase. Wicket-keeper Risabh Pant too played a fiery knock of 56 that came off just 18 balls. Despite an all-win record, Delhi are now second in Group B behind Maharashtra, who too have a 100 per cent record but are ahead on net run rate. Maharashtra defeated Uttar Pradesh comfortably ..