Page 2020 - Sports
West Indies to host first day-night Test against Sri Lanka
The West Indies will host their first ever day-night Test when Sri Lanka tour the Caribbean in June, cricket officials said today. The final Test of the three-match series will be a day- night encounter at the Kensington Oval in Barbados starting June 23, said Sri Lanka Cricket. Sri Lanka depart for the West Indies in late May and will play a two-day warm up match before the opening Test starting June 6 at the Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad and Tobago. The second Test gets under way June 14 at St. Lucia. The West Indies have played two day-night Tests but never on home soil. Sri Lanka made their pink-ball Test debut against Pakistan last year in the United Arab Emirates. Australia hosted New Zealand for the first-ever Test played under lights with a pink ball at the Adelaide Oval in November 2015.
Russia's athletes 'hugely disappointed' with IOC verdict
Russia's Olympic Athletes Commission today expressed "huge disappointment" over the International Olympic Committee decision not to invite to Pyeongchang 15 Russian athletes and staff whose life bans for doping were lifted. The IOC ruled yesterday that 13 Russian athletes and two ex-athletes now working as support staff will not be invited to the Pyeongchang Winter Games despite having their life bans for doping removed last week by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The IOC has barred Russia from the Pyeongchang Olympics, which open on Friday, over a widespread doping conspiracy. But 169 Russians who have passed strict anti-doping protocols will compete under a neutral flag as Olympic Athletes from Russia. "With a huge disappointment, the members of ROC's Athletes' Commission have found out about decision of IOC's Invitation Review Panel not to invite 13 Russian athletes and 2 coaches fully acquitted by (the CAS) to 2018 Winter Olympics," the commission ...
Asian zone is toughest to get to World Group: Kazakh captain
Kazakhstan Fed Cup captain Dias Doskarayev says it is a wrong perception that Asia/Oceania zone provides the easiest passage to the World Group since the level of competition is stiffest in the Group. Doskarayev said they have brought their best singles players for the competitions but refused suggestions that his side will be favourite to win the tie and seal a berth in the Play-offs for the World Group II. World number 50 Yuliya Pitintseva will lead the Kazakh challenge and will be supported by world number 60 Zarina Diyas with Gozal Ainitdinova and Zhibek Kulambayeva. Yulia and Zarina are the highest-ranked players in Asia/Oceania Group I competition this year. "Yes, we have the highest-ranked players but we are not favourites. There are no easy matches in Asia zone. Our number three and four players are upcoming players, so we will rely on our leaders (Yulia and Zarina)," Doskarayev, who was elected Vice President of the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation, said after ...
Confident India eye 3-0 lead against depleted S.Africa (Preview)
Buoyed by the convincing wins in the opening two ODIs, India will fancy their chances to take an unprecedented 3-0 lead when they take on a depleted South African team, plagued by injuries, in the third One-day International of the six-match series at Newlands here on Wednesday.
Shivajians beat Bengaluru FC to enter Nike Premier Cup final
It was jubilation for DSK Shivajians FC as they beat Bengaluru FC 5-4 in a penalty shootout to enter the finals of the Nike Premier Cup 2018 which is organised by the All India Football Federation. The result saw Bengaluru FC lose the opportunity to advance to their first-ever final despite being dominant throughout the 90 minutes. Bengaluru FC started out strong, pressing and harrying the DSK Shivajians into losing possession and playing loose passes. The two sides restricted each other to half-chances and ended up cancelling each other out. In the end, it went down to the wire. With a penalty shootout needed to declare a winner, Bengaluru FC took the first kick. Arkaprabha Das, Aryan Sonowal, Manish Chaudhary and Lalhmunmawia scored for them while Saikat Das missed. Seigoumang Doungel, Sonminthang Haokip, Mintu Mech and Rewang Lepcha scored for DSK in the shootout with Bawi Rou Sang missing. Both teams locked at 4-4, it was sudden-death and Shresth Joshi's miss for ...
DSK pip Bengaluru to enter Nike Cup final
DSK Shivajians FC beat Bengaluru FC in sudden death to qualify for the final of the Nike Premier Cup football tournament for the first time here on Tuesday.
India-England announce squash tie-up
England Squash today announced a partnership with Indian body SRFI, aimed at development of coaches and elite players in both countries. "The collaboration has been established with the key aim of assisting the training of high-performance coaches as well as developing world-class junior and senior squash players in both countries," said the Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) in a statement. Off the court, England Squash and the SRFI will share expertise in sport science and sports medicine. Keir Worth, CEO at England Squash said: "We are thrilled to partner with the Squash Rackets Federation of India. This partnership will see the start of an exciting and mutually beneficial alliance between our two nations that will boost coach and player development both on and off the court." SRFI President Debendranath Sarangi added: "To have a collaboration with England, a country where squash made its origin and the sport is steeped in tradition, would mean sharing an ...
Playing for Windies the ultimate goal: Sunil Narine
Dismissing suggestions that he is no longer interested in playing for West Indies, off-spinner Sunil Narine has insisted that featuring for the Caribbean side still remains an 'ultimate goal' for him.Recently, the 29-year-old told the national selectors not to include him in West Indies' squad for 2019 World Cup Qualifiers as he wants more time to remodel his bowling action.Currently, Narine is busy playing for Trinidad and Tobago in the Regional Super50, where he has been the second-highest wicket-taker with the best economy rate so far in the tournament of 2.10.His best figures was of five for 10.Despite the same, Narine insisted that he does not want to rush back into international cricket and wanted to give himself time to get back on track."It's nothing like that [not wanting to play for West Indies]. I just don't want to rush back into international cricket and the 50-over game. I think I need to play some [domestic] 50-overs cricket, get accustomed again [instead of] rushing ...
N. Korean Winter Olympics participation to improve ties with South: Organisers
North Korea's participation in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics will "lay the foundation for improving inter-Korean relations," the competition's top organiser said on Tuesday.
Won to bear Korean unification flag during Winter Olympics
Olympic athletes of the two Koreas will march together behind a Korean unification flag carried by Won Yun-jong, a bobsledder from the South, at the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Games this week, according to sports officials on Tuesday.
N.Korean delegation to travel to Seoul ahead of Winter Olympics
A 280-member North Korean delegation, including cheerleaders and taekwondo demonstrators, will travel to South Korea this week ahead of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Seoul's Unification Ministry said on Tuesday.
Winter Olympics organisers confident of sellout
The top organiser of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics said on Tuesday that he's confident of a sellout at the quadrennial competition.
Oly: Russia's athletes 'hugely disappointed' with IOC verdict
Russia's Olympic Athletes Commission today expressed "huge disappointment" over the International Olympic Committee decision not to invite to Pyeongchang 15 Russian athletes and staff whose life bans for doping were lifted. The IOC ruled yesterday that 13 Russian athletes and two ex-athletes now working as support staff will not be invited to the Pyeongchang Winter Games despite having their life bans for doping removed last week by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The IOC has barred Russia from the Pyeongchang Olympics, which open on Friday, over a widespread doping conspiracy. But 169 Russians who have passed strict anti-doping protocols will compete under a neutral flag as Olympic Athletes from Russia. "With a huge disappointment, the members of ROC's Athletes' Commission have found out about decision of IOC's Invitation Review Panel not to invite 13 Russian athletes and 2 coaches fully acquitted by (the CAS) to 2018 Winter Olympics," the commission ...
South Korean skater Cha Jun-hwan eyes top 10 at Winter Olympics
South Korea's figure skater Cha Jun-hwan is well prepared to make a top-10 finish at his first Olympics in PyeongChang, his Canadian coach said Tuesday.
Sindhu leads India to 3-2 win over Hong Kong in Asia C'ship
Olympic silver- medallist P V Sindhu led the women's team to a thrilling 3-2 win over Hong Kong 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 after three of the five-match tie. Sindhu ...
All eyes on Ankita and Karman as Fed Cup challenge begins
It will be an uphill task for Ankita Raina and Karman Kaur Thandi to catapult the Indian Fed Cup team to the World Group when the Asia/Oceania Group I challenge begins, here tomorrow. India has not qualified for the Fed Cup World Group since 1991, but the spirited youngsters are expected to push their rivals in the Asia/Oceania Group I challenge. Both Ankita and Karman had decent, if not great, 2017 season during which they were consistent on the ITF circuit. Ankita also reached the singles finals at the USD 60,000 event in Luan. Ankita has the experience of tackling top-125 players and knows what is required to pull off matches in this competition. Being the number one and most experienced player from the host team, Ankita will carry a lot of expectations on her shoulders. But she appears confident and is raring to pull of a good performance. "We are very positive going into this tie. We have upcoming players in the team and that will be a surprise factor for other ...
Sri Lanka's injured Mathews ruled out of Bangladesh tour
Sri Lanka's limited-overs skipper Angelo Mathews has been ruled out of the remainder of the Bangladesh tour due to a hamstring injury, reports said today. Mathews, who picked up the injury during the tri-nation ODI tournament that Sri Lanka won in Bangladesh last month, will miss the second and final Test against the hosts as well as the two T20 matches that follow. Mathews, 30, was recently named as Sri Lanka's captain in the shorter format until the 2019 World Cup. But he has been beset by injuries and now faces a race against time to be fit for a T20 tri-nation tournament at home involving Bangladesh and India. The tri-series will be played at Colombo's R Premadasa Stadium from March 8. "We don't want to risk Angelo for just two games (in Bangladesh). Our plan is now to bring him for next month's tri-nation Nidhas Trophy at home," Sri Lanka chief selector Graeme Labrooy was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz website. Thisara Perera is likely to stand in as captain for the ...
Disgraced ex-Pakistan skipper Butt to play in Bangladesh
The disgraced former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has arrived in Bangladesh to play his first full- fledged competition outside his homeland since serving a five-year ban for spot fixing, an official said today. He was cleared by the Pakistan Cricket Board to play in the latest edition of the Dhaka Premier League, a popular Bangladesh club franchise which runs until March 20. Butt has committed to a full season for local giants Mohammedan Sporting Club, a club captained by Bangladesh all- rounder Shakib Al Hasan. The former Pakistan skipper is expected to make his debut against Brothers Union on Wednesday. Mohammedan official Wasim Khan said the club was looking for a left-handed opener and Butt "easily fit" the profile, adding they were not concerned about his past. "It happened long, long ago. He already served out his ban," he said. "We don't think it should be an issue now. We have seen him scoring runs and that is important to us." Butt was captain of Pakistan when ...
'We're in trouble' Pound lashes IOC response to Russia doping
Former world anti- doping chief Dick Pound slammed the Olympic response to the Russian doping scandal today, warning "we talk more than we walk" and saying that the Games' credibility had taken a serious hit. Pound was speaking at an International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in Gangneung, South Korea, three days before the Pyeongchang Winter Games, which have been engulfed in complications from Russia's drugs conspiracy. Pound's tough comments prompted a complaint from the floor that he talks too much to the press, a jibe which in turn triggered a furious response from the Canadian. The IOC has formally banned Russia from Pyeongchang but has allowed 168 "clean" athletes to take part under a neutral flag and may still allow the Russian flag at the closing ceremony. Russia's suspension follows a highly orchestrated plot culminating during its hosting of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, where tainted samples were switched through a hole in the anti-doping laboratory's ..
Regulars return to practice for joint Korean hockey team
Regular members of the joint Korean women's hockey team returned to practice here on Tuesday, with the squad's first game at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics only four days away.