Page 2038 - Sports
Vineeth's last-gasp stunner gives Kerala full points
C K Vineeth scored a last-gasp goal as Kerala Blasters beat FC Pune City 2-1 in a thrilling Indian Super League match here today. Kerala Blasters head coach David James had said that his team would need to win every game left in the season to stand any chance of making the semifinals and his players duly delivered, thanks to goals from Jackichand Singh and Vineeth. While Jackichand's goal had class written all over it in the 58th minute and gave Kerala the lead, it was Vineeth who grabbed the limelight with a goal in the injury added time after Emiliano Alfaro had drawn level for the hosts in the 78th minute. With the scores locked at 1-1, and the clock ticking down towards the final whistle, Courage Pekuson's long ball was chested down by Vineeth outside the box and hit on the swivel with immense power to beat Vishal Kaith, a stunning goal from a man who has been Kerala's saviour so many times. After a barren first session, the second half turned out to be quite ...
Maharashtra edge ahead in Khelo India medals tally
Maharashtra turned in a fine all-around performance in athletics, wrestling and swimming with two golds each to edge ahead of Haryana and Karnataka in a tight race for medals on Day 3 of the inaugural Khelo India School Games (KISG).
Wenger not completely satisfied with Arsenal's transfer window
Arsenal chief coach Arsene Wenger on Friday said he was not completely satisfied with the London football giants' January transfer window, despite signing Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to a record deal.
Real Madrid coach Zidane focused on the present
Ahead a key La Liga away match against Levante, Real Madrid's head coach Zinedine Zidane shrugged off speculation that his future at the capital football club depended on its success in the Champions League and insisted that he would take each match as it comes.
India Open: Saina Nehwal bows out in quarters
In what may come as a huge blow to the Indian fans, ace shuttler Saina Nehwal crashed out of the India Open BWF World Tour 500 after going down in straight games to Beiwen Zhang of USA in the quarter-finals here on Friday.The fourth-seed failed to continue her good form in the tournament so far and slumped to a 10-21, 13-21 defeat at the hands of Zhang in a last-eight encounter that lasted more than half-an-hour.Last week, London Olympics bronze-medallist Nehwal made it to the finals of the Indonesia Masters before eventually losing the title to world number one Tai Tzu Ying.Ying defeated Nehwal 21-9, 21-13 in just 27 minutes to become the first player from her country to win the Indonesia Masters title.Earlier in the day, Rio Olympic silver-medallist PV Sindhu continued her rich vein of form as she bounced back from a game down against Spain's Beatriz Corrales to book her place in the semi-finals of the tournament.After comfortably winning the opening game, the top-seed went down in .
Marin vows to come back stronger in All England
Rio Olympics gold medallist Carolina Marin on Friday vowed to come back stronger in the All England Championship next month, after her campaign in the India Open BWF World Tour 500 ended following a shocking defeat to lower-ranked Hong Kong's sixth seed Cheung Ngan Yi in the quarters here on Friday.
Sindhu, Pranaav-Sikki enter India Open semis; Saina exits
India managed to grab only two spots in the semi-finals of the India Open BWF World Tour 500, with only women's singles star P.V. Sindhu and the mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N. Sikki Reddy crossing the quarter-finals stage here on Friday.
Chhetri tips India to lift U-19 cricket World Cup trophy
Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri today picked the U-19 cricket team as favourites to win the World Cup final against Australia tomorrow. "I watched them play against Pakistan. They are really good and deserve to be favourites going into the final. I wish them all the best," the Bengaluru FC captain told reporters on the eve of his side's Indian Super League fixture against ATK. Three-time champions India thrashed Pakistan by 203 runs in the U-19 World Cup semifinals for a record sixth final appearance. Chhetri, who tied the knot with long-time girlfriend Sonam Bhattacharya, daughter of Mohun Bagan legend Subrata Bhattacharya in December last year, has an emotional connect with Kolkata. "Kolkata has always had a special place in my heart. It's great to return here not just because I'm now the son-in-law here but because of my association with football here," Chhetri, who was here for the first time after getting married, said. Chhetri is not taking the two-time ISL ..
Former batsman Raza voices concern over Ajman All Stars League
Former Test batsman Hasan Raza has voiced his concern over the suspicious activities during the T20 festival cricket event in Ajman last month which is now under investigation from the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption Unit. Hasan told PTI on telephone that he was shocked like Salman Butt at the way the Ajman All Stars League was conducted. "We got invitations to play in the league for a respectable fee and we were told it would be a festive sort of event. But I gathered some concern after the first match and in the second match It was clear something was not right over the manner in which some dismissals took place," he said. Hasan, who holds the record of being the youngest Test cricketer for Pakistan and internationally, said he was told by some young players before the second match that some people had told them to throw their wickets and do some other things. "I told them to ignore the people and just play your natural game," he said. Hasan made it ...
Maharashtra's Tai Bamhane strikes gold at Khelo India School Games
Tribal Girl Tai Bamhane of Maharashtra bagged a gold medal in girls' 800 metres race category in the first Khelo India School Games here at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Friday.Diminutive Tai Bamhane was up against the Kerala duo of Priscilla Daniel and Sandra AS. And, from the distance, her coach Vijender Singh only had to watch her body language when she entered the track.He need not have worried as Tai Bamhane - a Warli tribal from western Maharashtra - ran the two-lapper with the assurance and fearlessness of a seasoned runner.The 15-year-old student of Marathi-medium Vidyaprabodhini Prashala (Nashik) stayed ahead of her rivals, both of whom had clocked faster times in the semifinals heats on Thursday, and won in 2:13.37.Working as a Sports Authority of India coach in the Bhonsala Military School since 1991, Vijender has been discovering, encouraging and guiding raw talent from the backwaters. He has been the guiding spirit for a number of athletes like marathoner Kavita Raut, ..
15 teams in fray for JK Tyre Xtreme 4Play
The JK Tyre Xtreme 4Play, north Indias biggest off-roading competition, was flagged off here on Friday during a grand ceremony with as many as 15 top teams from across the country competing for honours in their modified cars.
Khelo India: Zeena, Shahu Mane clinch 10m air rifle gold
Chandigarh's Zeena Khitta, Pune's Nandita Sul and Yana Rathore of Indore soared to the podium finishes in the 10m air rifle event of the first Khelo India School Games here at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Ranges on Friday.In the final elimination round of the girls' event, Zeena took command of the proceedings with the first set of five shots (53.3) and never looked back though Nandita Sul (51.6) tried to chase her down.After 24 shots, which included a couple of near-perfect 10.8s (15th & 17th shots), Zeena clinched gold by a comfortable margin of 1.9 points. The gold medal will boost her confidence going into the ISSF Junior World Cup in March in Sydney.An intense contest unfolded between Yana and Bhargavi D Kasar (Ramnarain Ruia Junior College, Mumbai) after two sets of five shots each, the lone shooter from MP was trailing by 0.3 points. But Yana turned the contest around with 10.8s on her 13th, 14th and 15th shots to establish a lead of 0.8 points. At this stage, she tied with
I-League: Churchill stun league leaders Minerva FC
Churchill Brothers registered a stunning 2-1 victory over league leaders Minerva Punjab FC in their I-League encounter at the Tilak Maidan here on Friday.
Ashish grabs pole position in racing nationals
Bengalurus Ashish Ramaswamy of Arka Motor Sports team set the benchmark by qualifying for pole position among saloon cars as the first round of the MRF MMSC fmsci National racing championship commenced at the Madras Motor Racing Track here on Friday.
Chhetri wishes U-19 cricketers luck ahead of World Cup final
Indian football team skipper Sunil Chhetri on Friday said the India U-19 boys deserve to be tagged favourites ahead of their final against Australia, and he hopes they come back with the Cup.
Abhijeet, Debashish finish in top-10 in Gibraltar
Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta ended in the ninth position, just head of compatriot Debashish Das, as for the first time two Indians finished in top-10 at the Super Open, here. Top seed Levon Aronian of Armenia won the title defeating arch-rival Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the tiebreaker that ensued after a seven-way tie for the top spot on 7.5 points. Three times winner Hikaru Nakamura of United States and Richard Rapport of Hungary were the other two in top four who were eliminated in the semi-final tiebreaker and Vachier- Lagrave found Aronian irresistible in the finals. After the seven-way tie, David Howell from England finished ninth with his best performance rating among seven pointers. Abhijeet Gupta, former world junior champion, settled for a draw with Duda Jan-Krzysztof of Poland in the 10th and final round while Debashish capped his brilliant performance with a win over higher-ranked Grandmaster Sandipan Chanda. It is first time in 16-years history of this richest ..
Dasan wins 60m bronze in national record time
India's Elakiya Dasan has won a bronze in the men's 60m sprint event with a national record time in the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships here. Dasan clocked 6.67sec to finish behind local runner Taftian (6.51) and Qatar's Ogunode Tosinjoseph (6.63m). The earlier indoor national record in men's 60m stood in the name of Sameer Mon who clocked 6.87 secs in 2009. Dasan, however, missed the World Indoor Championships qualification standard of 6.63 secs. The Indoor Worlds will be held in Birmingham from March 1-4.
Sindhu in semis; Saina bows out of India Open
Top seed PV Sindhu remained in hunt to defend her title by reaching the women's singles semifinals but Saina Nehwal, the other top home shuttler, was knocked out of the India Open, here today. Saina, who reached the finals at Indonesia Masters last week, looked a little sluggish in her movement and committed too many unforced errors to go down 10-21 13-21 to World No 11 American Beiwen Zhang. Olympic silver medallist Sindhu, however, recovered from a mid-game slump to outwit Spains world no 36 Beatriz Corrales 21-12 19-21 21-11 in the other quarterfinal. The World Championship silver medallist will next face 2013 World champion and world no. 3 Thai Ratchanok Inthanon. Mixed doubles pair of N Sikki Reddy and Pranaav Jerry Chopra, who had reached the semifinals at Japan Open last year, entered the final four again here after beating Chinese combo of Han Chengkai and Cao Tong Wei 21-8 21-13. "We are not as physically strong as Asians, so after coach Kim Tan Her joined, he ...
Anu, Pooja complete golden double; Nisar fastest
Uttarakhand's Anu Kumar and Haryana's Pooja stole the limelight as they grabbed their second gold medals in the athletics events of the inaugural Khelo India School Games (KISG) here today. Nisar Ahmad of Delhi emerged as the fastest runner despite running an all-out 100m twice in a span of 20 minutes on Day 3 of competition. Nisar, who had to postpone his training trip to Jamaica in order to compete at the Khelo India School Games, was so focussed that he did not hear the recall whistle following a false start and he went all out in 10.77 seconds. The race was pushed to 20 minutes later to allow the athletes time to recover. When the final was re-scheduled Karan Hegiste of Karnataka, expected to provide Nisar a tough contest, was disqualified because of another false start. The race finally got underway and Nisar sprinted to glory in 10.76 seconds with another Karnataka athlete V A Shashikanth second in 10.90s and Haryana's Govind Kumar third in 10.95s. Nisar received ..
ISL 2018: ATK face table-toppers Bengaluru
ATK will desperately look for a win when they meet table-toppers Bengaluru FC in their next Indian Super League (ISL) tie at the Yuva Bharati Krirangan Stadium, on Saturday.Because they know that anything less than that would mean an early exit for the defending champions.Having failed to repeat the consistency of the past seasons, ATK are currently 10 points adrift of the top four places with just six games left.But their interim coach, Ashley Westwood believes his side still has a "mathematical chance" of making it to playoffs."It is still a mathematical possibility. If we win 6 out of 6, I'm sure we'll be close. So there is definitely motivation in the team. When you are a professional, you have to keep playing and keeping winning points for your team. You have a duty towards your clubs and your fans. So tomorrow, we will fire on all cylinder and try to get all three points," Westwood said ahead of the match.Since taking over from Teddy Sherringham last month, Westwood, who was ...