Page 2018 - Sports
IOC announces Olympic reforms
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday announced an ambitious set of 118 reforms, in the name of "The New Norm", to re-imagine how the Olympic Games are delivered.
Legends feel Khelo India School Games could be a game changer
The country's sporting legends today gave a resounding thumbs-up to the first Khelo India School Games, saying these could be the game changer in Indian sport. The legends, who constitute the Talent Identification Committee (TIDC) of the Games, met Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and apprised him of the talent that they have seen in these ongoing Khelo India School Games. More than 70 Arjuna Award winners, Dronacharya Awardees and Khel Ratnas were among the TIDC which had a meeting today. The meeting was to take stock of the talent that has been seen since the start of the Games. "The idea of having all these stalwarts watching these Games and focusing on young talent is that we have a strong pool of talent for the and leading up to the Olympics in 2024, 2028 and so on," said Rathore, an Olympic silver medallist shooter from the 2004 Games in Athens. "The idea of the Khelo India School Games (KISG) is to make it aspirational and for youngsters to have regular
India men & women teams start on winning note in Asian C'ship
Olympic silver- medallist P V Sindhu led the women's team to a thrilling 3-2 win over Hong Kong while the men's side routed Philippines 5-0 as India made a positive start in the Asia badminton Team Championship here today. With London Olympics bronze-medallist Saina Nehwal pulling out of the tournament citing a groin injury, Sindhu proved her mettle as she first claimed the singles match and then combined with N Sikki Reddy to win the second doubles game here. Sindhu recovered quickly from her heart-breaking loss at the finals of the India Open last Sunday won 21-12 21-18 over Hong Kong's Yip Pui Yin in the first singles. Ashwini Ponnappa and Prajakta Sawant then played their heart out before losing 22-20 20-22 10-21 to Ng Wing Yung and Yeung Nga Ting in a 52-minute first women's doubles clash. Young Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli took the court against Cheung Ying Mei but her gallant fight ended with a 19 -21 21-18 20-22 loss in the second singles as India trailed 1 -2 .
It wasn't all work for U-19 boys, we had lose curfews: Sharma
Rahul Dravid may be a strict disciplinarian but the victorious India U-19 team was given sufficient freedom during its month-long stay in New Zealand, revealed fielding coach Abhay Sharma. India lifted a record fourth Under-19 World Cup after an eight-wicket rout of Australia in the final and stayed unbeaten in the tournament. It may have looked a walk in the park for the the Indian team but there was meticulous planning behind the team's success. "There was no curfew on them. It was not like a military regime. We just wanted to make them aware what's important in a friendly atmosphere," the fielding coach told PTI. "A lot of thought was given to minimise distractions and educate them to achieve their goals. The key was to stay humble always -- be it in a loss or win. If you stay humble, you will become balanced. All these rubbed off on them and you saw the final product." Describing Dravid as superhuman, Sharma said: "I've been working with him for last three years and .
AIFF committee to discuss Constantine's contract
The All India Football Federation's technical committee is likely to recommend a contract extension for national team coach Stephen Constantine in its meeting tomorrow. The committee, headed by former India striker Shyam Thapa, will meet in Mumbai to take a call on whether to give Constantine another extension of his contract which ends in March. Other members of the committee include former India players Prasanta Benerjee, Henry Menezes, Abhishek Yadav, former coach Savio Medeira and former IPL Chief Operating Officer Sundar Raman among others. Under Constantine, India went unbeaten the whole of 2017 besides also securing an Asian Cup berth. India have remained unbeaten in 13 matches, winning in 11 and drawing twice, and had last lost a match in March 2016 in a World Cup qualifier against Turkmenistan. The results propelled India's FIFA rankings too. The team, which was languishing at 166 when Constantine took over in March 2015, broke into the top-100 (96) last year ..
Villarreal's Castillejo rejoins training
Villarreal midfielder Samu Castillejo on Tuesday returned to working out with his teammates, signalling his recovery from a leg injury received during last weekend's La Liga match against Real Betis.
'Khelo India' is a path to Olympics: Sports Minster Rathore
Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Rajyavardhan Rathore said on Tuesday that the 'Khelo India' programme was a path for podium finishes at the Olympics.Speaking at a Khelo India event here, Rathore told reporters, "This is the path that we have set at school right up to the Olympics.""You can live your dream at the first level at the Khelo India school games and then your second dream will be to play in the Khelo India college games. And if you play these two and if you are selected by our champion selectors you will be in the line to be on the podium in the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games. And if you be there, I can guarantee there will be many more podium finishes at the Olympics," the 2004 Olympics silver medallist added.The programme has been introduced to revive the sports culture in the country at the grassroots level and make India a sporting nation.The first Khelo India School Games, which are a part of the programme, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra ..
Carvajal remains suspended as UEFA rejects Real Madrid's appeal
Real Madrid right-back Dani Carvajal remains suspended for the first leg of the Champions League pre quarter-final, after the capital club's appeal was dismissed by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) on Tuesday.
Chittagong pitch rated below average, gets one demerit point
The Chittagong Test pitch for the opening match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka has been rated as "below average" and it has received one demerit point according to the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process. The demerit point will remain active for a rolling five- year period and if during this five-year period the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium reaches the threshold of five demerit points, then it will be suspended from staging any international cricket for 12 months. David Boon of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, whose report has been forwarded to the Bangladesh Cricket Board, said: "The pitch provided no seam movement to the fast bowlers with the new ball and also lacked carry and bounce throughout the match. "The pitch did offer occasional slow turn for the spinners early on, but it did not deteriorate as much as would have been expected as the match progressed, resulting in a pitch that too heavily favoured the batsmen across the five days," he ..
Goa upset TN, Girinath's 6/24 helps Andhra down MP in Vijay Hazare tournament
Swapnil Asnodkar cracked 103 as Goa stunned southern powerhouse Tamil Nadu by four wickets, while P. Girinath Reddy (6/24) played a big hand in Andhra Pradesh's six-wicket victory over Madhya Pradesh in Group C of the Vijay Hazare 2018 50-overs tournament opener here on Tuesday.
Churchill beat 10-man Aizawl 1-0
Churchill Brothers continued their winning streak as they scored a solitary goal win over 10-man Aizawl FC in their I-League match here today. Churchill Brothers, who dominated the match scored the all important goal through Mechac Koffi in the 22nd minute. Aizawl FC came back strongly in the last quarter of the match but their search for the equaliser ended when they were reduced to ten men in the last ten minutes when C Lalrosanga was given marching orders for a deliberate foul on Dawada Ceesay who was about to score. Churchill started on a positive note as they had better ball possession and had the first chance to surge ahead but Nicholas Fernandes headed out from close off a cross from Harshad Naik in the second minute. The visitors retaliated and Masih Saighani found the net from a corner kick taken by Andrei Jonescu but the referee disallowed the goal as the ball had crossed the line. Ceesay and Koffi combined well upfront and posed a constant threat to the Aizawl .
We are not out of series yet, insists Rabada
A depleted South Africa have not been able to compete against India in the ongoing ODI series but pacer Kagiso Rabada would like to believe that all is not lost for the home team. India have taken a 2-0 lead in the six-match series. The third ODI will be played at Newlands tomorrow. "There are a few problems. I wouldnt say theres a lot. Sometimes when you do badly all it seems like theres a lot more going wrong than what really is happening. So failure is going to happen and its going to happen again," said Rabada today. "It is very important we keep speaking the right language. Anything can happen in sport. We need to get as much momentum as we can. We are definitely not out of it. Definitely not! he added. Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have wreaked havoc in this series picking 13 wickets in the first two matches. The Proteas had as many as five different wrist spinners in their nets on Tuesday in a bid to stem the rot in the next match. "We clearly havent come to .
Khelo India a resounding success, says Rathore
Asserting that the inaugural edition of the Khelo India School Games has been a resounding success, Sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore hoped on Tuesday that it will help to improve India's performance in the international arena.
No problem at all with Rohit's form: Dhawan
Rohit Sharma's form is the only shortcoming in India's victories in the first two ODIs against injury-hit South Africa, but his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan is confident that the Mumbaikar is just a knock away from finding his groove in the six-match ODI series.
Rajasthan teen Gaurvi sets new swimming record off Mumbai
Gaurvi Singhvi, a 14-year old schoolgirl from Rajasthan's Udaipur, on Tuesday created a new national record by swimming 48 km in the Arabian Sea off Mumbai.
Discovery's DSPORT to broadcast Badminton Asia Team C'ships
The Badminton Asia Team Championships 2018 that began today and will conclude on February 11, will be broadcast by DSport, the sports channel of Discovery Communications India.The annual continental event in its 38th edition will feature Asian badminton powerhouses, competing as a team rather than individuals.This edition will see a total of 245 elite Asian shuttlers battling it out at Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaysia.This event also acts as the qualifications from Asia for the prestigious Thomas and Uber Cup 2018.The Badminton Asia Team Championships will be broadcast live between February 9 and 11.From India, London Olympic Bronze and Rio Olympic Silver Medalists Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu, World No.5 Kidambi Srikanth, World No. 11 H S Prannoy, World No 18 B Sai Praneeth, Sameer Verma, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, N Sikki Reddy and Ashwini Ponappa will take part.T.S. Panesar, Head of DSPORT Business, said, "We are happy to secure the India Broadcast Rights for the prestigious Asia Badminton
Khelo India to have separate women's championship in future
The government's ambitious Khelo India Games initiative will be expanded in the next few years to include a separate women's championship, Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore announced today. Addressing a press conference at the sidelines of the ongoing Khelo India School Games (KISG), Rathore said the number of disciplines in the ongoing event will also be increased from the current 16. The KISG will be followed by the College Games. "There will be encouragement of women's sports and for that there will be a separate championship within the Khelo India. We now have 16 sports in the Khelo India School Games but next year we will increase this number," Rathore said. "Unless we create an aspirational level in these Games there cannot be upward movement in Indian sports. Any child in every school can aspire to be in the Khelo India Games and become a hero." The Sports Minister expressed happiness at the standard of competition at the ongoing Games and hoped that it ...
Fed Cup challenge will be highly competitive: Ankita Bhambri
As the four-member Indian contingent will begin the challenge at Asia/Oceania Group I in Fed Cup on Wednesday, former tennis player Ankita Bhambri believes the tournament is going to be highly competitive.Bhambri told ANI, "All the players here are very competitive. They have played tournaments all around the world. They are used to dealing with pressure. Some of the team here have played World Group playoffs and then have come back into qualifying. Whether it is Kazakhstan, China and other teams, they are all wanting to do well."She added that it would be stressful and tiring to play different teams each day but the players will have to come out and play each tie and give their best.India's top singles player, Ankita Raina, has been named in the India squad for the event which is slated to be held at the R K Khanna Tennis stadium in the national capital from February 7 to February 10.Besides Raina, Karman Kaur Thandi, Pranjala Yadlapalli and Prarthana Thombare are also in the ...
Ireland confident of qualifying for ICC Cricket World Cup
With only 27 days to go to the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup Qualifier, Ireland are gearing up and focused on qualification to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.Ireland have played 42 matches in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier from 1994 to 2009 and have won 26 of those matches.The team is now travelling to Pretoria, South Africa, to participate in a series of warm-up matches against Netherlands and Hong Kong ahead of the Zimbabwe tournament, which takes place between 4 and 25 March.In the qualifier, Ireland will face Netherlands, PNG, the Windies and the winner of the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 in Group A.Captain William Porterfield, who will be playing his second World Cup Qualifier, is confident of his team's chances."We are very confident of our chances to qualify, we have been playing some very good cricket and we need to bring that from the start of the tournament and peak at the right time," Porterfield said.Scoring 515 runs in 10 innings with a highest
Tennis: Dalwinder, Samitha comfortably move into 2nd round
National champion and second seed Dalwinder Singh of Punjab eased past unseeded Jatin Dahiya in two sets in a mens singles first round match of the AITA Ranking Rs 22 lakh prize-money JVPG Anirudh Desai All-India Open Tennis Tournament 2018 here today. The 21-year-old Dalwinder was in complete control and hit some fine winners to cruise past Dahiya, winning 6-3, 6-2 and moving into the second round, a media release said. In other mens singles matches, Kunal Anand, seeded fourth, brushed aside the challenge from Shahbaaz Khan, scripting a 6-4, 6-3 win, while qualifier Dhruv Sunish produced a creditable performance to tame a higher ranked opponent Nitin Kumar Sinha in two sets at 6-2, 6-4. In womens action, second seed Sai Samitha also enjoyed an easy opening round as she breezed past unseeded Shruti Gupta, posting a fluent 6-0, 6-2 victory. Third seed Rishika Sunkara was in great form, dropping just one game as she packed off unseeded Mihika Yadav 6-1, 6-0 in quick time ..