Page 2047 - Sports
Eriksen stuns United as Chelsea crash to Bournemouth
Tottenham's Christian Eriksen scored within 11 seconds on Wednesday to overshadow Alexis Sanchez's Premier League debut for Manchester United, while Chelsea crashed to a 3-0 defeat by Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge. Manchester City ignored the carnage around them to march serenely on, widening their lead to an enormous 15 points with a 3-0 victory at home to West Brom with just 13 games still to play. The build-up to Wednesday's matches was dominated by late moves in the transfer window but Spurs ensured the focus switched back to the pitch immediately, stunning Jose Mourinho's men with a performance full of attacking verve in a 2-0 win. Chelsea, who earlier announced the signing of Olivier Giroud from Arsenal, conceded three second-half goals while Theo Walcott scored twice for his new club Everton in a 2-1 win against Leicester. "We always try to be aggressive from the beginning," said delighted Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino. "Our aim is to be focused from the ...
Arsenal sign Aubameyang, Giroud makes Chelsea switch
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang joined Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund for a club-record fee of around 56 million pounds yesterday, with Olivier Giroud moving to Chelsea as part of a complicated transfer jigsaw. As the clock ticked down to the closure of the transfer window in England, Tottenham announced the signing of Lucas Moura from Paris Saint-Germain but Manchester City pulled out of a move to sign Leicester's Riyad Mahrez. Top Premier League clubs have splashed the cash in the January transfer window, desperate to qualify for the top four, which guarantees entry into the lucrative Champions League. Aubameyang, 28, signed a contract with the Gunners until 2021, becoming Arsenal's second big-name signing of the January transfer window after Henrikh Mkhitaryan joined from Manchester United. The signing, which translates as USD 79 million, or 64 million euros, will boost Arsene Wenger's forward options after the departure of Alexis Sanchez to United in a swap deal with ...
WADA confirms flaw in sample bottles
The World Anti-Doping Agency said Wednesday it had confirmed that new generation drug-testing kits could be susceptible to tampering and recommended use of an older model at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. "It has been confirmed that a proportion of the new generation BEREG-KIT Geneva security bottles are susceptible to manual opening without evidence of tampering, whether they have been frozen or not," WADA said in a statement. With the Winter Games due to open on February 9, the International Olympic Committee had asked the agency to look into the matter after a laboratory in Cologne reported the newer bottles could be opened after being frozen. The glass containers had been touted as the next generation of sample bottles since being released last year, part of the ongoing effort to avoid a repeat of the Russian doping scandal that dogged the 2014 Winter Olympics and still reverberates today. But WADA said the older BEREG-KIT 2016 -- released for the Summer Olympics ..
Wozniacki focused on winning more titles
Newly-crowned Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki said on Wednesday that her first Grand Slam triumph has motivated her to win more titles. The world number one plays her first match since beating Simona Halep in the Melbourne final against Russian teenager Anastasia Potapova at the WTA event in Saint Petersburg on Thursday. "I have already been the world number one in the past," the 27-year-old Dane, who reclaimed the top ranking from Halep in Australia, said after arriving in Russia. "But now I've finally won a Grand Slam title and returned to the world's top position -- it's something really special. It was a combination of many factors, I've come a long way. But the main thing is that I really enjoyed that journey." Wozniacki is the top seed at the Saint Petersburg Ladies Trophy and faces 16-year-old former junior Wimbledon champion Potapova in the last 16 after receiving a first-round bye. "I really want to perform well at the St Petersburg event," she added.
No Federer, Nadal, Djokovic but plenty at stake in Davis Cup
Just five days after the conclusion of the Australian Open, tennis shifts its attention to the Davis Cup this weekend. France are the defending champions and start their campaign at home to the Netherlands while the United States, the record 32-time champions, travel to Serbia. AFP Sports looks at five key aspects of the first round ties which take place from Friday to Sunday: - Stars miss out - ================== The sport's 'big five' are all missing from this week's first round. Australian Open champion Roger Federer and injured compatriot Stan Wawrinka, key men in Switzerland's 2014 title success, miss the trip to Kazakhstan. Also nursing injuries are Novak Djokovic, who sits out Serbia's home tie with the US while Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray miss the clash between Spain and Britain. However, world number three Marin Cilic, the runner-up to Federer in Melbourne, leads Croatia's challenge at home to Canada. Cilic can equal Ivan Ljubicic's record for most Davis Cup ...
Cahill takes tough route to World Cup
Veteran Tim Cahill says he left Australia to rejoin Millwall to ensure he gets to a fourth World Cup, and is excited by the appointment of Bert van Marwijk to lead the national team. The 38-year-old quit Melbourne City in December after rarely featuring in the starting line-up since joining the A- League side in 2016, despite playing a key role in helping Australia qualify for Russia 2018. According to Sydney's Daily Telegraph he was so desperate to again challenge himself at the top level that he paid more than Aus $500,000 (USD 400,000) to get out of his Melbourne contract. "The easy option was to stay at Melbourne City and just be a passenger, but that's not my style," Cahill, Australia's most prolific international scorer with 50 goals, told the newspaper Thursday. "People questioned my decision -- there aren't many 38- year-olds who have gone back to the top leagues, especially after going home to the A-League. "But I can't teach kids to follow their dreams and ...
Vidarbha claim U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy
Vidarbha Under-19 cricket team once again proved their excellence as they clinched their maiden Cooch Behar trophy after claiming the maiden Ranji Trophy title earlier this season.Emulating the impressive performance of the senior side, the U-19 team defeated Madhya Pradesh on the basis of first innings lead in the final held at Nagpur.Captain and opener Atharva Taide led from the front as he struck 320 runs with help of 34 runs to power Vidarbha to a massive 614 for the loss of ten wickets.Earlier Madhya Pradesh scored 289 in their first innings.With a mammoth 325-run lead, Vidarbha ensured they did not bat again and reduced the opposite side to 176 for seven in their second innings.Darshan Nalkande took four wickets in the first innings while PR Rekhade took three in the second innings for Vidarbha.
Saina Nehwal again slams BWF's 'killing calendar'
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal said on Wednesday that the crammed calendar was not leaving much time to rest and prepare for tournaments, which are lined up one after the other.Defending champion Nehwal, who has entered the second round of the India Open Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour 500, minced no words in expressing her displeasure with the schedule."It is not about training, it is about giving time to my body. It is tough; it is a 'killing sport'. It looks easy from outside that we are playing strokes. I don't want to just play. I want time to be fresh for tournaments," said Nehwal after reaching the second round at the India Open."It is not easy for people to understand what we go through. I am not 20 anymore, I have to keep myself fit to be able to play for long and you see the calendar, it is a killing calendar and we don't know when and how many tournaments we will play and what happens next," she added.Last year, Nehwal slammed the Badminton body for making mandatory .
Italy should not envy France and Germany: PM
Rome, Jan 31 (IANS/AKI) Italy must not be France and Germany's "jealous cousin" but should aim to play a leading role in Europe too by coming up with its own "proposals and ideas", Premier Paolo Gentiloni said on Wednesday.
Big guns, barring Prannoy, advance at India Open
Defending champion P.V. Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth, Parupalli Kashayp and the women's doubles seeded pairs of Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy and Jakkampudi Meghana and Poorvisha S. Ram entered the second round of the India Open BWF World Tour 500 here on Wednesday.
Khelo India: Tamil Nadu athletes shine on opening day
Anu Kumar of Uttarakhand grabbed the first gold medal of the inaugural Khelo India School Games, even as Tamil Nadu won two of the six gold medals on offer on the opening day of the athletics programme.
India Open: Mary Kom, Sarita among 18 local boxers in finals
Five-time world champion M.C. Mary Kom spearheaded the Indian contingent with 18 of them -- including 10 men and eight women -- entering the finals of their respective categories at the India Open International boxing tournament at the Thyagraj Indoor stadium here on Wednesday.
Russia to create sports competition for banned Oly athletes
President Vladimir Putin has ordered the government to organise a sports competition for Russian athletes banned from the upcoming Winter Games in Pyeongchang over a doping scandal, his spokesman said today. Putin "reminded the cabinet of the decision to organise a competition for those of our athletes who had not been allowed to take part in the Olympic Games," Russian news agencies quoted Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying. He added that winning athletes would receive compensation equal to what Moscow normally awards Olympic medallists. The International Olympic Committee banned Russia from next month's event in South Korea after a report on a vast Moscow-backed doping scheme in previous Games. Olympic officials have cleared 169 Russian athletes for competition in Pyeongchang. They will compete under a neutral flag as "Olympic Athletes from Russia." Peskov spoke to reporters after Putin earlier Wednesday met with Russian athletes set to join Pyeongchang Games and
We can still win I-League title: Nikhil Kadam
In the quite demanding season of the I-League, Mohun Bagan's Nikhil Kadam revealed that he believes they "can still win the title"."We can still win the title, we just have to get our basics right and get all 3 points from our remaining games", the winger stated.Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan have been plagued with draws in the matches, where they should have ideally won but the spirit of the team is not down. Kadam put the match against Aizawl as an example, "Even after conceding against Aizawl we came back strongly and scored immediately. It shows our fighting spirit"."We missed a few chances in the first half but played better in the second. We will be working on converting those chances into goals in the upcoming matches", he said, stressing the importance of converting their opportunities.With Shillong Lajong up next, the Mariners have a tough task ahead but Nikhil dispelled all fears, "It's always difficult up here in the hills, also playing here is very tiring. Dicka too got ...
Senior Women's Hockey C'ship: Madhya Bharat beat Puducherry 4-1
Madhya Bharat beat Puducherry 4-1 in their Pool A clash to register their second winof the 8th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2018 (B Division) here on Wednesday.With the win, Madhya Pradesh finished on the third spot in the Pool while the loss for Puducherry kept them at the bottom as they finish win-less from their four matches.The match saw Hockey Madhya Bharat score thrice in the opening 40 minutes to take a strong lead and did well to wrap up a 4-1 win over Hockey Puducherry who scored their only goal in the last quarter as R Agilandeeswari found the back of the net in the 57th minute. Goals for Hockey Madhya Bharat were scored Kratika Chandra (9'), Khushbu Sisodiya (17'), Sonam Rajak (40') and skipper Puja Kumari (59').In the last Pool A match of the competition, Steel Plant Sports Board registered their third victory from four matches to top the Pool with a tally of 10 points, edging Hockey Bihar on goal difference. Steel Plant Sports Board continued their fine
Real Betis unveil newly-signed Spain defender Bartra
Spanish top-division football club Real Betis on Wednesday presented its new central defender Marc Bartra, who transferred back to La Liga following a two-year stint at Borussia Dortmund.
Arsenal get their man Aubameyang, Mahrez in City's sights
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang joined Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund for a club record fee of 56 million (63.7 million euros, 79.2 million euros) today, in the biggest deal so far on transfer deadline day. Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger -- who last August kept the football world on tenterhooks as he held out selling Alexis Sanchez to Manchester City because he failed to secure Thomas Lemar from Monaco -- did not wait until the last minute to land the Gabon striker. Wenger persuaded the Arsenal board to pay more for the 28-year-old than the 46.5 million they shelled out for Frenchman ALexandre Lacazette last August. Dortmund have eyed up a six-month loan move for Belgian international Michy Batshuayi from champions Chelsea, who have stipulated there will be no option to buy at the end of that period. "Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has joined us from Borussia Dortmund on a long-term contract for a club-record fee," the statement from Arsenal said. The club described him as "one of the .
Ashwin, Vijay in TN squad for Vijay Hazare Trophy
India Test players Ravichandran Ashwin and Murali Vijay were today included in the Tamil Nadu team for Vijay Hazare Trophy Group C League which will be played here from February 5 to 14. The two cricketers were part of the team that went down 1-2 in the three-Test series against South Africa, which concluded recently. While Vijay was never a regular in the India limited-over set up, Ashwin has lost his place in the team and so has Ravindra Jadeja. The 16-member team led by all-rounder Vijay Shankar will be without the services of experienced keeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik, who is part of the Indian ODI and T20 teams in South Africa. Baba Aparajith is the vice captain, said a TNCA release. Abhinav Mukund, who led the state side in the Ranji Trophy, misses out due to injury. Paceman Aswin Crist, who missed the Ranji Trophy season owing to injury, makes a comeback. The Tamil Nadu selection committee chairman S Sharath said the presence of Ashwin and Vijay will be a boost to ..
Khelo India not just about winning medals: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while inaugurating the first Khelo India School Games here at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on Wednesday, said that the initiative is not only about winning medals, but also an effort to give strength to a mass movement for playing more.The Khelo India programme has been introduced to revive the sports culture in the country at the grassroots level and make India a sporting nation.Addressing the gathering at the launch of the inaugural event of Khelo India School Games, Prime Minister Modi said that sports are a significant means of personal development and that it should occupy a central place in the lives of the youth."Khelo India is not only about winning medals, he said. It is an effort to give strength to a mass movement for playing more, he explained. We want to focus on every aspect that would make sports more popular across the nation", Prime Minister Modi said."Sports should occupy a central place in the lives of our youth. Sports is an important .
Sub-Jr Women's Hockey C'ship: Puducherry hammer Manipur 3-0
Puducherry eased past Manipur 3-0 in their Pool A clash of the 8th Hockey India Sub-Junior Women's National Championship 2018 (B Division) here on Wednesday.The match saw both the teams going into the half-time break level at 0-0 as they produced a great defensive display. However, in the second half, it was Puducherry who made the most of their chances as they scored thrice to wrap up a 3-0 victory which was helped by a hat-trick from S Subasri (46', 60', 67').In Pool B clash on the third day of the tournament, Coorg emerged as the victors when they beat Citizen Hockey XI by a margin of 5-0. Coorg produced a dominant performance throughout the match as they scored two goals inside the first half and added three more to their tally to win the match comfortably. Goals for Coorg were scored by B A Shaya Kaveramma (32'), H S Jahnavi (34'), M K Sujatha (56'), P U Ramya (58') and P T Shilpa (63').In a Pool D match, Sports Authority of Gujarat - Hockey Academy defeated Kerala by a margin ..