Page 2087 - Sports
India look to avoid whitewash in Jo'burg Test
India will play South Africa in the inconsequential third Test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Wednesday and will look to avoid a 3-0 whitewash in the series.India has a good record at the Wanderers. They have played four Tests at this venue, and never lost in any.Wanderers offers a green pitch which will be helpful to the Indian seam bowlers and the two sides might opt to not play a spinner here.India have been successful in taking 20 wickets in the previous Tests but had a poor show with the bat.Indications are that after facing a lot of flak for not playing right-handed batsman Ajinkya Rahane, despite a good overseas record, he might make his way back into the playing XI.Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was dropped in the last Test at the Centurion, may also be back into the side at the cost of spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.The Virat-Kohli led side has already been under fire for the series loss and thus would attempt to win the concluding Test match to avoid being remembered as the .
Sheringham under pressure as embattled ATK face Chennaiyin
Two-time champions ATK are in the midst of their worst season ever and under-fire coach Teddy Sheringham would hope for a change in fortune when his team lock horns with second-placed Chennaiyin FC in an Indian Super League football fixture here tomorrow. 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. With time running out fast, Sheringham will feel the pressure mounting on him, given that they have eight matches left and they are yet to hit top gear. But the silver-lining is that they play six of the remaining matches at home and they would look to bounce back against Chennaiyin who suffered a 1-3 upset against NorthEast United FC in Guwahati on January 19. Sheringham
Metro railway services normal today
Normal Metro railway services resumed this morning after disruption throughout last evening owing to a suicide and derailment of a coach of an empty rake. A Metro spokesperson said services started from 6.45 a m as per schedule and normal services have been maintained since then. "The derailed coach of an empty rake at Maidan station was lifted back to the tracks in overnight operations and trains are running since morning normally," Metro spokesperson Indrani Banerjee said. The coach had got derailed at 7.20 pm yesterday while it was being turned towards the opposite direction at a 'Y-siding' of Maidan station here. No one was hurt owing to the accident as the train was empty. The turning of trains towards opposite direction at that station was necessitated owing to the death of a man on the tracks at Shyambazar station after he allegedly jumped before an incoming train. The death disrupted services from 6.01 pm for 35 minutes and as such truncated services were being .
Hewitt not in favour of closing roof due to heat at Aus Open
It would be unfair on the players competing on the outside courts if top players are handed the comfort of playing under closed roof in extreme hot conditions at the Australian Open, says former world number one Lleyton Hewitt. Novak Djokovic described the conditions as "brutal" in the first week at the Melbourne Park when the court temperature read 69C during his match against Gael Monfils. The Frenchman said it was "risky" to play in such conditions even as Roger Federer, who mostly played in the cooler night sessions, played down the heat factor. Hewitt said the onus was on players to counter the conditions. "You got to do the hard work in the pre-season to be able to play in conditions like that. This is an outdoor tournament. You have to be acclimatised. To play best of five sets in these conditions is not easy at all," Hewitt, a Mastercard brand ambassador, told a select gathering at the newly-launched Beach Club at Melbourne Park. "The other thing is, if you close
New England women's coach Neville in 'sexist' tweet row
No sooner had Phil Neville been appointed the new head coach of the England women's team than he found himself facing flak for "sexist" Tweets. A message from Neville's long-standing Twitter handle @fizzer18 on December 3 July 2012, said: "U women of (sic) always wanted equality until it comes to paying the bills #hypocrites". Another that same year had the former Manchester United, Everton and England defender appearing to say: "Morning men couple of hours cricket be4 (before) work sets me up nicely for the day." Asked why he'd only referred to men in his message, a reply on the account of Neville, -- an ex-England schoolboy cricketer -- said: "When I said morning men I thought the women would of been busy preparing breakfast/getting kids ready/making the beds-sorry morning women!" Neville, who has yet to confirm or deny if he sent the contentious messages, appeared to have deleted his Twitter account on Tuesday. The old posts came to light again barely hours after ...
Anand draws with Carlsen in TATA Steel Masters
World rapid champion Viswanathan Anand played out an easy draw with world number one Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the ninth round of Tata Steel Masters here. Settling for his sixth draw in nine games, Anand took his tally up to five points and remained joint sixth in the 14- players, 13-rounds tournament. Carlsen employed the Breyer variation as black in the Ruy Lopez and Anand could not get much with his white pieces. The world's top rated player equalised without much ado when Anand parted with his Bishop for a knight and the position was just level when the two decided to split the point in 32 moves. Local star Anish Giri nosed ahead of the field after his fourth victory in the tournament. On the receiving end was Maxim Matlakov of Russia who fell prey to some deft manoeuvres in what looked like a level endgame. Giri moved to a very impressive 6.5 points to emerge as the sole leader as his was the lone decisive game of the day. The draws on remaining board meant that ..
Buzz builds for Tiger's Torrey Pines return
All eyes are on Tiger Woods this week as the former world number one returns to the US PGA Tour at the Farmers Insurance Open, and that's just the way defending champion Jon Rahm likes it. "The more attention on Tiger, the better for me, quite frankly," Rahm said Tuesday. "We all know the power of media and social media. You can put all the attention on what Tiger's doing and forget about what I'm doing, it will be actually great." Expectations surrounding Rahm have ratcheted up thanks to his playoff triumph on Sunday at the CareerBuilder Challenge in La Quinta, California. The 23-year-old Spaniard jumped from third to second in the world rankings, supplanting US star Jordan Spieth. A winner of two European Tour events in 2017 as well, Rahm is even within striking distance of Dustin Johnson's world number one ranking. "Hopefully I keep playing good and give you guys something to talk about," Rahm said. "But it's not bad that the attention's on Tiger. It's good for golf, .
Kerber on fire in Keys rout to reach semis
Former champion Angelique Kerber signalled her intent to wrest back the Australian Open title as she brutally crushed US Open finalist Madison Keys today to reach the semi-finals. The 2016 winner, seeded 21, brushed aside the American 17th seed 6-1, 6-2, breaking her much-vaunted serve at will as she triumphed in 51 one-sided minutes on Rod Laver Arena. "It's always tough to play against Madison," said Kerber, who also won the US Open in 2016. "She is hitting the ball so hard and I was just trying from the beginning, like I played the whole week, just to play my game. "I love playing in Australia and on Rod Laver Arena. I have so many good memories here." The match was billed as a classic contrast of styles, the big-serving power game of Keys versus the scurrying, chase- everything-down, all-action approach of Kerber. For Keys so much depends on the serve, which is a formidable weapon. When on song it sets up the American's power game as in her last-16 match when she blew
Wozniacki says 2011 semi defeat to Li Na 'still haunts'
Second seed Caroline Wozniacki says her 2011 Australian Open semi-final defeat to Li Na still haunts her as she tries to go one better this year and end her Grand Slam drought. The Dane held match points against the Chinese great on her only previous appearance in the last four at Melbourne Park. "That's the one that really hurt," Wozniacki said after reaching a semi-final again early Wednesday with a three-set victory over Spain's gritty 39th-ranked Carla Suarez Navarro. "I had match points against Li Na. I lost it. That's still haunting me till this day. So I'm hoping for a different result this time." Wozniacki will face unseeded Belgian debutant Elise Mertens on Thursday for a place in Saturday's final, but seven years on she remembers her meltdown against Li like it was yesterday. "I remember serving for it at 5-4 in the second set. I remember being up 3-1 in the second set, serving with the sun," she recalled. "That was very difficult. Maybe if I had been on the ..
Serena Williams to make comeback at Fed Cup
Serena Williams, who has not played a competitive match since capturing last year's Australian Open, will return to the court next month at a Fed Cup tie, the US Tennis Association announced. Williams was pregnant when she won her 23rd major crown last January in Melbourne. She gave birth to a girl, Alexis Olympia, last September and married father Alexis Ohanian in November. The defending Fed Cup champion Americans will play host to the Netherlands in a first-round tie February 10-11 on an indoor hardcourt at Asheville, North Carolina. Joining 22nd-ranked Williams on the US squad will be her sister seven-time Grand Slam champion, Venus, and ninth-ranked CoCo Vandeweghe, a semi-finalist at last year's US and Australian Opens in her best major results. This will be the first time in two years that either Williams sister has been on the US Fed Cup squad. The US women have never lost in eight ties when both Williams sisters have been named to the squad, the most recent of ..
Haryana Hammer down UP Dangal, set up repeat clash in PWL semis
Haryana Hammers' Sun Yanan and Roublejit Rangi won the last two bouts against UP Dangal to win the last league encounter of the Pro Wrestling League, here at the Siri Fort Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.Their victories handed the Hammers' the second position in the points table and, ironically, a semifinal clash against the same opponents. Veer Marathas will take on Punjab Royals in the other semifinal.Down 2-3 after five bouts, the Hammers needed to win their last two matches and Sun Yanan and Roublejit Rangi did so in style. Olympic bronze medallist Sun Yanan set the ball rolling by beating Vinesh Phogat 15-7, denying the Indian the pleasure of avenging her Rio Olympic debacle.Vinesh got off to a good start, even leading Sun Yanan 3-0 in the initial minutes of the 50-kg clash. However, the Chinese was up to the task and bounced back with a gritty display and took the tie to the decider as she overcame the initial deficit with a sweeping 15-7 win.Dangal's Vicky Chahar too started off ...
Going early to South Africa will help us: Mithali Raj
Indian women cricket team captain Mithali Raj on Tuesday stated that it was important for the team to get acclimatised to foreign conditions and said that it was beneficial for the team ahead of their tough tour of South Africa.Mithali told ANI, "Going early to South Africa and understanding the condition will help us. We had gone early to England too ahead of our World Cup campaign there. And it helped us a lot. When you reach early, you have time to acclimatise with conditions, and also get used to the kind of bounce you normally don't encounter in Asian conditions.""We are also expecting a lot of lateral movement because this is the first time when we would be playing with two new balls. We need to assess these things before taking to the field," she added.Indian women cricket team coach Tushar Arothe agreed and supported Mithali's views."The South Africa team is a very good side and we have seen in the World Cup. They almost made it to the finals, so it's going to be competitive ..
Bengaluru FC held goalless by Transport United
Bengaluru FC played a goalless draw against Transport United in the first leg of their preliminary round play-off encounter of the AFC Cup here on Tuesday.
There were times where players changed next to rats: Ceppi
FIFA Under-17 World Cup tournament director Javier Ceppi slammed the organisation of the tournament in India, saying he saw footballers "changing next to rats" in the dressing room." "We missed out on a bunch of things which the Indian system never cares. Nobody cares about the fan, nobody cares about players, there are events where players are changing next to rats," Ceppi said at the 5th International Convention on Football Business. "People keep on saying the World Cup was a success by all means, but to be honest on my experience as a fan, I don't think it was a success for the fan, that's the reality. "The success for the fans was they got to see fantastic football which they don't get to see. The leagues here they don't have the level which these U-17 teams have." Ceppi said it was tough to host the tournament in India as problems crop up in the 11th hour. "It was tough. In the sense it was way too many things here about it, main thing is infrastructure, to have our
Services crush Indian Railways, enter final
Services outclassed Indian Railways 93-65 to enter the men's final in the 68th Senior National Basketball Championship here today. The women's summit clash will be between Indian Railways and Chhattisgarh after the former dethroned holders Kerala in one of the semi-finals. The Services side pulled ahead after a close first quarter which went 23-22 in their favour. They dominated the second, winning it 27-10 and shut out the Railways. The final quarter saw Railways rally but that wasn't enough to stop Services from booking a spot in the final tomorrow. Narendra Grewal with 18 points led the Services charge while Gagandeep Singh (18 points) fought hard for the rival side. In the women's semi-finals, Indian Railways knocked out holders Kerala 76-63 to set up a title clash with Chhattisgarh, a 79-78 winner against Karnataka. Navaneetha was the top scorer for Railways with 21 points as they accumulated points to maintain the pressure on the rivals. Grima Mercin was the top ...
Graeme Smith questions Kohli's captaincy
Former South African captain Graeme Smith on Tuesday raised questions about Virat Kohli's ability to get the best out of his team, ahead of the third and final Test match, here in Johannesburg."Sometimes as a leader you've got to consider how you impact the others in the environment, that's an area of his leadership that he needs to grow. You can see, he's often at his players. He's very aware, he's focus on the game is on, sweeping or mid-on. But often his reaction to situations... I think that can sometimes impact on your team negatively," espncricinfo.com quoted Smith as saying.Kohli's reaction to events in the Centurion Test was certainly displeasure with the rest of the team.His reactions made Smith wonder if he is indeed a long-term captaincy option for India."I don't know when I look at him, if he is a long-term captaincy option for India. At the end of this year, he'd have been away from home for a while, the pressure he'll face, the scrutiny from the press - I know he only ...
Haryana beat UP Dangal in PWL
Haryana Hammers Sun Yanan and Roublejit Rangi won the last two bouts against UP Dangal to win the last league encounter of the Pro Wrestling League (PWL) here at the Siri Fort Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.
Syed Mushtaq Ali: Rajasthan beat Karnataka; Punjab, Delhi, UP lose (Roundup)
Medium-pacer Deepak Chahar took five wickets as Rajasthan beat Karnataka on an otherwise day of reversals where Punjab, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh suffered their first defeats in the Super League stage of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 cricket tournament here on Tuesday.
'Unsuccessful U-17 World Cup saw footballers changing besides rats'
FIFA Under-17 World Cup tournament director Javier Ceppi on Tuesday said the event was unsuccessful for the fans and he revealed witnessing the footballers in a dressing room along side rats, signifying mismanagement.
Happy with preparations for South Africa, says Kohli
India skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday said he was happy with the preparations for the South Africa tour and it was their own mistakes that cost them the Test series.