Page 2086 - Sports
ATK under interim coach Westwood face Chennaiyin in ISL
In the midst of their worst season ever, former champions ATK will look to quickly recover from the ouster of coach Teddy Sheringham as they take on second- placed Chennaiyin FC in an Indian Super League football fixture here tomorrow. Under-fire Sheringham was today sacked by ATK after the club's string of poor results and his deputy Ashley Westwood was announced as interim coach for the rest of the ISL season. Under Sheringham, the defending champions suffered four losses and drew thrice in 10 outings to slip to eighth place in the 10-team standings. The most successful ISL franchise were blanked 0-3 by Pune City in their last outing on January 20 and soon reports emerged that the team think-tank may sack Sheringham, the former Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur striker. Now with Westwood taking up the reins, it would be a tough task for the 41-year-old from England to bring a change in their fortunes, given that ATK have eight matches left and they are yet to hit
Halep powers into Australian Open semis
World No.1 Simona Halep of Romania on Wednesday defeated the Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-2 to reach her first Australian Open semifinals.
Man City dispatch Bristol to reach EFL Cup final
Manchester City defeated second-division side Bristol City 3-2 in the second leg of the EFL Cup semifinal to prevail 5-3 on aggregate and claim a spot in the final, where they will face either Arsenal or Chelsea.
ATK sacks coach Teddy Sheringham
Englishman Teddy Sheringham has been sacked as ATK chief coach and his deputy Ashley Westwood was named interim coach ahead of the team's clash against Chennaiyin FC in an Indian Super League match. Under Sheringham, the defending champions suffered four losses and drew thrice in 10 outings to slip to eighth place in the 10-team standings. "Sheringham is no more the coach. Westwood has taken over as interim coach and will interact with the media today. I will speak to (CEO) Raghu (Iyer) and we will shortly make an announcement," ATK co-owner Utsav Parekh told PTI. Sheringham, a former Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur striker, was named the coach of ATK in July last year. With time running out fast, it will be a tough task for Westwood as ATK have eight matches left and they are yet to hit top gear. Westwood had guided Bengaluru FC to two I-League titles (2013-14 and 2015-16) in three seasons after taking over the coaching stint in 2013.
Man City into first final of Guardiola era
Pep Guardiola saw his Manchester City side pushed hard before defeating second- tier Bristol City in an entertaining League Cup semi-final yesterday to leave him one game away from winning his first major trophy in English football. Guardiola's runaway Premier League leaders, eyeing an unprecedented season quadruple given they also remain involved in both the FA Cup and Champions League, won 3-2 on the night for a 5-3 aggregate win over the Championship side. They kicked off with a narrow advantage at Ashton Gate after a 2-1 first-leg win at the Etihad Stadium. But goals either side of half-time from Leroy Sane and Sergio Aguero effectively saw Manchester City to a win on Tuesday and success over over the two legs as they reached their first final under former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager Guardiola. Bristol City were undaunted, however, with Marlon Pack pulling a goal back in the 64th minute before Aden Flint scored deep into stoppage time. However, there was ...
Jo'burg Test: India win toss, elect to bat first
India have won the toss and opted to bat first against South Africa in the third and final Test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Wednesday.After winning the toss, Indian Skipper Virat Kohli announced two changes in the playing XI after the Centurion test, with right-handed batsman Ajinkya Rahane coming into the team for Rohit Sharma while medium-fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar coming at the cost of spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.Meanwhile, the hosts have gone for a single change with Andile Phehlukwayo coming in for spinner Keshav Maharaj.The Proteas have already sealed the series by winning the first two test matches and are aiming for a whitewash.Though, form is with the home team but history sides with India. India have played four Tests at Wanderers and never lost in any.India playing XI: Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Parthiv Patel (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma.South Africa playing .
Sindhu, Saina to begin Indonesia Masters campaign
Indian star badminton players and Olympians PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal will kick start their Indonesia Masters campaign on Wednesday.World No. 3 Sindhu will take on Indonesia's player Hanna Ramadini, while Nehwal will face seventh-placed Chinese Yufei Chen.Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap will face Malaysia's Wei Feng Chong in men's singles.The duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, and Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy will also play their respective matches in the men's doubles.Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy have already pulled out of the tournament.
Federer to take on Berdych in Australian Open quarters
Defending champion Roger Federer will face world No. 19 Tomas Berdych in the last eight match of the Australian Open here on Wednesday.Federer, a nineteen-time Grand Slam champion has a 19-6 edge over the Czech player, including all four times they have played at the Melbourne Park.Earlier in the day, South Korea's Chung Hyeon reached his first grand slam semi-final with a 6-4, 7-6, (7-5), 6-3 win over American Tennys Sandgren.In women's singles, world number one Simona Halep defeated Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-2 to reach the last four.Halep will next face Angelique Kerber in the semi-final on Thursday after the German thrashed Madison Keys 6-1, 6-2.
PSG sign Diarra to strengthen midfielder position
Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain reinforced their midfield with the signing of Frenchman Lassana Diarra until June 30, 2019.
Coutinho can vie for Ballon d'Or, says Kaka
Brazil great Kaka said Philippe Coutinho's move to Barcelona will allow the playmaker to vie for football's top individual awards.
Kerber enters Australian Open semis
German tennis player Angelique Kerber on Wednesday had no problems beating American Madison Keys in the Australian Open quarter-finals and became the first to reach the semi-finals.
India to bat in 3rd Test against S.Africa
India won the toss and elected to bat in the third and final Test match against South Africa at the New Wanderers Stadium here on Wednesday.
India win toss, elect to bat in 3rd Test against South Africa
India skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat against South Africa in the third and final cricket Test at the Wanderers here today. India decided to go with a four-pace attack, bringing in seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar in place of spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in the playing XI. Also Ajinkya Rahane, who didn't play in the first two matches, replaced Rohit Sharma in the side for the crucial Test. South Africa made one change, adding another seamer with Andile Phehlukwayo coming in for spinner Keshav Maharaj. Teams: India: Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Parthiv Patel (WK), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah. South Africa: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis (C), Quinton de Kock (WK), Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Lungisani Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo.
ISL: ATK coach Sheringham staring down the barrel ahead of Chennaiyin FC clash (Preview)
Defending champions ATK head coach Teddy Sheringham would under immense pressure to deliver the goods when his under-fire side take on high-flying Chennaiyin FC in an Indian Super League (ISL) clash at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan here on Thursday.
Colombia midfielder Quintero joins River Plate
Colombia international midfielder Juan Quintero has joined Argentine giants River Plate on a year-long loan from Porto.
Russia drugs scandal ruins homecoming for Olympic star An
He won multiple speed skating golds for South Korea and Russia, and was hailed as a corruption whistleblower along the way, but Victor An's Olympic career has ended ignominiously in the aftermath of a doping scandal. An, a former South Korean who switched his allegiance to Russia in 2011 after bitter disputes with Seoul's skating authorities, has six short-track Olympic golds under his belt -- three as a Korean and three as a Russian. He hoped to compete in his birth country at next month's Pyeongchang Winter Games under a neutral Olympic flag -- which would have been his third emblem at the Games -- after the Russian team was banned over a state-sponsored doping scandal. It would have been an emotionally charged climax to the seven-times world champion's stellar but tumultuous Olympic career. Instead the International Olympic Committee -- which required individual Russians who wanted to compete to pass a unique set of anti-doping tests -- did not include him among those
Injured Nadal set to return in three weeks
World number one Rafael Nadal faces three weeks out after being diagnosed with a torn inner hip muscle during his Australian Open quarter-final defeat, his management said today. The 16-time Grand Slam champion had a scan in a Melbourne hospital after he retired early in the fifth set of his match with Croatia's Marin Cilic on Tuesday. "The MRI (scan) showed a grade one injury of his illiopsoas on his right leg," his management said in a statement. "He will be resting over the next days once back in Spain and will start with anti-inflammatory physiotherapy. "He will start his rehabilitation and pre-adaptation process to the tennis court in two weeks, starting progressively his training and practice." The Nadal team said the Spanish star was expected to be fully recovered in three weeks and could resume playing in Acapulco late next month. "Three weeks is the normal time to totally recover and he will resume his tennis schedule as planned, playing Acapulco, Indian Wells ..
Kerber and Halep dominant as Chung dreams on
Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep were in dominant moods today to race into an Australian Open semi-final showdown, as the dream Grand Slam run of giantkiller Chung Hyeon continued. Germany's Kerber, champion two years ago, swept aside Madison Keys 6-1, 6-2, easily taming the American's big serve and will go into her clash with the world number one on a 14- match win streak. Top seed Halep was equally impressive on Rod Laver Arena in thumping sixth seed Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-2, reeling off nine games in a row after going 0-3 behind in the first set. South Korea's Chung battled past unheralded American Tennys Sandgren 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 to become the lowest- ranked semi-finalist since Marat Safin in 2004. Ranked 58, the bespectacled 21-year-old, nicknamed "The Professor", proved too hot for his fellow quarter-final rookie, although he needed six match points before claiming victory. "I'm just trying to stay focused, it's my first time in one of these matches," said ...
Looking to get into contention more often in 2018: Lahiri
Enduring a two year title drought, India ace golfer Anirban Lahiri says he will look to get into contention more often this year to achieve his target of wining his first PGA Tour title. "One of the targets which I've not achieved yet is to get my first win on the PGA TOUR. This is overdue and it is definitely something which is on top of the list," Lahiri, who will play his first PGA TOUR tournament of 2018 at the Farmers Insurance Open this week, wrote in his blog. "I've come close, but I have not been in contention often enough. It's been few and far in between. I haven't performed the way I usually do or know I can under those circumstances, which I would say comes down to not putting myself in contention enough. "Vijay (coach) and I have spent some time discussing that and the goal in 2018 is to get into the last three or four groups on at least four, five or six Sundays in every 10 events. Then you can convert one," added the 2015 Hero India Open champion. Lahiri,
Morocco launches 2026 World Cup bid campaign
Morocco launched its campaign for hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the bid committee unveiled the official logo of its campaign.