Page 2096 - Sports
Cool Federer joins stuttering Kerber in quarters
Ice-cool Roger Federer roared into an Australian Open quarter-final with Tomas Berdych today as former champion Angelique Kerber stuttered into an enticing clash with Madison Keys. The defending champion swatted aside one-time training partner Marton Fucsovics 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 to make the last eight for an incredible 14th time. The Swiss maestro, 36, has made at least the last eight every year since 2004, bar a hiccup in 2015. "He played very well," the 19-time Grand Slam champion said of the Hungarian. "You needed to have quick ideas and execute well today." Second seed Federer will now play fellow veteran Berdych, a semi-finalist in 2014 and 2015 at his most successful major, who demolished Italy's Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. The 32-year-old, who is on his way back from back problems, lost to the five-time Australian champion in the third round last year and the odds are heavily stacked again him. Of the 13 quarter-finals Federer has contested in Melbourne, he has .
Federer charges into 14th Aussie Open quarter
Defending champion Roger Federer charged into his 14th Australian Open quarter-final with a straight-forward win over Hungary's Marton Fucsovics today. The Swiss second seed was too strong for the 80th-ranked Fucsovics, winning 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 in just over two hours on Rod Laver Arena. Federer will now face long-time rival Tomas Berdych in the last eight, holding a 19-6 lead over the Czech dating back to 2004. It will also be Federer's 52nd Grand Slam quarter-final, the most in the post-1968 Open Era. It was the Swiss legend's first meeting with Fucsovics, who spent a week in the off-season training with him in Switzerland. "I thought he played very well. It was fast conditions, you have to have quick ideas and execute well and I thought he did that very well," Federer said of his unheralded opponent. "Being two sets down is never easy, but I thought he was playing very clean, solid and I had a hard time breaking through until two sets and a break up." Federer will ...
All according to Munro plan as New Zealand sinks Pakistan
Colin Munro ensured New Zealand continued a stellar home summer today when they thrashed Pakistan by seven wickets with 25 balls to spare in the opening Twenty20 match here. Munro was left unbeaten on 49 when a wide by Hasan Ali in the 16th over gave New Zealand victory as they chased down Pakistan's 105 in the clash of the world's top two ranked Twenty20 sides. It extended New Zealand's winning streak to 13 across all three formats in the past two months including five one-dayers against Pakistan and a series of Tests, ODIs and Twenty20s against the West Indies. For Tim Southee, the stand-in captain after a late decision to rest Kane Williamson who has a minor injury, everything went according to plan. "Obviously winning the toss on that wicket and then coming out and taking early wickets was the plan and we were able to do that. We bowled exceptionally well," said Southee who also paid tribute to Munro's role with the bat. "It was a great knock from Colin. He likes to .
Australian Open: Federer eases into quarters
World number three Roger Federer booked his place in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open after brushing aside Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in straight sets here on Monday.The defending champion looked dominant throughout the game as he eased past Fucsovics 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-2 in a one-sided pre-quarterfinal clash of the men's singles event that lasted over two hours at the Melbourne Park.With the win, Federer has made it to his 14th Australian Open quarter-final besides also extending his Open Era record by reaching his 52nd Grand Slam last-eight.Meanwhile, Federer also became the oldest man to reach the quarter-finals at the Melbourne Park since Ken Rosewall (43 years) in 1977.The Swiss maestro will now lock horns with 19th seed Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic for a place in last four.
Barcelona, Real Madrid record emphatic wins
FC Barcelona opened up an 11 point lead at the top of La Liga as the football season moves into its second half.
Ajax win Dutch Classic against Feyenoord
Ajax opened the Eredivisie year with a 2-0 win over Feyenoord in the most classic match of Dutch football, throwing their Rotterdam rivals out of the title race.
Australian Open: Kerber defeats Hsieh to enter quarters
Former world No. 1 Angelique Kerber on Monday defeated Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the Australian Open round of 16 to qualify for the quarterfinals.
Rohan Bopanna-Timea Babos bow out of Australian Open
Indian tennis ace Rohan Bopanna and his French partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin suffered a major blow as they crashed out of the Australian Open after going down against Croatian-Austrian duo of Mate Pavic and Oliver Marach in the pre-quarterfinals here on Monday.After losing the first set, the Indo-French pair bounced back in the second before they failed to capitalize on the same and eventually slumped to a 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 3-6 defeat at the hands of Pavic and Marach in a thrilling men's doubles clash.Divij Sharan, another Indian in the fray, along with his American partner Rajeev Ram also bowed out of the tournament after losing their last-16 clash.Sharan and Ram failed to take advantage of their good start of the match and lost to the Polish-Brazilian team of Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 4-6 in an exhilarating match.As a result, India's challenge at the men's doubles event of the Australian Open also folded.
Javi Gracia named Watford coach
Watford Football Club has appointed Spainish Javi Gracia as the English football team's new head coach following the dismissal of Marco Silva.
Pele hails Messi,upbeat about Brazil World Cup chances
Brazil football great Pele would still prefer Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi in his team over Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo, despite the latter's recent dominance of the Ballon d'Or award.
S. Korean football club Ulsan sign Brazilian forward
South Korean pro football club Ulsan Hyundai said Monday they've signed forward Gleidionor Figueiredo Pinto Junior.
Barcelona crushes Real Betis 5-0
Barcelona, led by a phenomenal Lionel Messi, steamrolled Real Betis 5-0 on the latter's home turf, with all the goals coming in the second half.
'Injured' Bavuma ruled out of Johannesburg Test
In a major blow to South Africa, middle-order batsman Temba Bavuma has been ruled out of the third and final Test of the three-match series against India due to a fractured finger.The 27-year-old sustained a fracture in his right finger during a domestic one-day cup clash on January 17 and, now he would remain sidelined for at least three to four weeks to recover fully.However, Bavuma will continue to be a part of the Test squad, with the national selectors opting not to name his replacement, ESPNcricinfo reported.It should be noted that the middle-order batsman was part of the squad against the Virat Kohli-led side, but he did not get a chance to be a part of the Playing XI in the opening two Tests.Theunis de Bruyn, who is the extra batsman in the squad, is likely to open the innings for South Africa in the final Test, beginning here at the Wanderers Stadium on Wednesday.Meanwhile, Bavuma is expected to recover in time for the four-match Test series against Australia, starting March .
Australian Open: Keys reaches quarterfinals
American tennis player Madison Keys advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2018 Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season, after defeating French player Caroline Garcia in the fourth round on Monday.
Bopanna, Sharan lose in men's doubles at Australian Open
India's Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan lost their respective men's doubles third round matches in the Australian Open here today. Combining with Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France, Bopanna lost to Oliver Marach of Austria and Croatia's Mate Pavic 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 at the Melbourne Park. The match lasted a little over two hours and saw the Indo-French duo convert one out of two break points, while their opponents converted three out of 12 break points. Bopanna and Roger-Vasselin had two aces compared to their opponents' seven. In an earlier match, the duo of Sharan and Rajeev Ram from the USA suffered a 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 defeat at the hands of Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Brazil's world number one Marcelo Melo. While Sharan and Ram converted two out of six break points, Lukasz and his partner converted two out of four break points. The third round match lasted two hours and 12 minutes.
Australian Open: Djokovic eyes quarter-final berth
Former world number one Novak Djokovic will look to seal a quarter-final berth at the Australian Open when he takes on Chung Hyeon of South Korea in the last-16 clash of the men's singles event here on Monday.Earlier, twelve-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic romped into the pre-quarterfinals of the first major of the season despite an injury scare.Djokovic, who is playing his first Grand Slam after a six-month injury lay off, eased past Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas in straight sets 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 in a one-sided clash that lasted two hours and 23 minutes.The match also saw the Serbian winner receive a medical treatment in the second set for an injury but came back strong to win the match.Djokovic will now aim to continue his quest of clinching sixth Australian Open title when he faces Chung in the round of 16.Chung had earlier prevailed world number three Alexander Zverev of Germany over five-set thriller to become the first South Korean man to reach the fourth round at the Australian .
Kerber and Keys set up quarter-final as Berdych fires up
Angelique Kerber and Madison Keys set up an enticing Australian Open quarter-final today, with one roaring through and the other having to dig deep to stay in the title hunt. Dangerous Czech Tomas Berdych, a two-time Melbourne Park semi-finalist, also powered into the last eight, demolishing Italy's Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. His reward is a clash with either Swiss maestro Roger Federer or unheralded Hungarian Marton Fucsovics for a place in the semi-finals on Wednesday. Germany's Kerber is the only Grand Slam champion left on the women's side of the draw, and she was given a big fright as she chases her second Melbourne Park crown after beating Serena Williams in 2016. After crushing Maria Sharapova in the last round, she came up against gritty Taiwanese veteran Hsieh Su-wei who stunned the 21st seed by taking the first set on Rod Laver Arena. At one point Kerber was serving to stay in the match, but she bounced back to win 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. "Credit to her, she played ...
Maturing Kyrgios in better 'head space' after loss
Nick Kyrgios says he's in a much better "head space" than this time last year when he was booed off court at the Australian Open, and looking forward to what comes next. Twelve months ago the combustible Australian was in a bad place after being jeered and accused of giving up as he crashed out in the second round in a stormy five-set defeat to Italian Andreas Seppi. Tennis great John McEnroe labelled him as "mentally (ranked) about 200 in the world" and said he was giving the sport a "black eye". But a year on and Kyrgios seems to have turned a corner. He remains an exciting and unpredicable talent, but with a calmer persona. "I gave my best efforts this week," he said after losing in four gripping sets to world number three Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round at Melbourne Park late Sunday. "I came up short but I beat three quality opponents. I lost to one of the best players in the world but I went down swinging. "Obviously I feel a lot better this time around," he ...
Sub-Jr National Hockey C'ship: Gangpur-Odisha thrash Maharashtra 18-1
Gangpur-Odisha showcased a rich vein of form as they hammered Maharashtra 18-1 in their Pool A match of the 8th Hockey India Sub Junior Men's National Championship 2018 (A Division) here on Monday.It was a high-scoring match which saw Gangpur-Odisha dominate as they took an impressive lead of 8-0 in the first half.The second half saw a similar story as the winning side scored 10 goals with Maharashtra also getting onto the score-sheet with Aditya Rasala, managing to score a goal in the 50th minute to set the scoreline as 18-1 at the end of the final whistle. Gangpur-Odisha's skipper Sudeep Chirmako led from the front as he scored five goals (3', 17', 21', 22', 69'). Deepak Ekka scored four goals in the 48th, 61st, 66th and 68th minutes while Amandeep Lakra scored a hat-trick (7', 19', 41'). Sumit Kindo also scored a brace in the 25th and 39th minutes of the match. Prashant Lakra scored two goals in the 50th and 52nd minutes and Ranjit Lakra scored a goal in the 65th minute to secure ..
I-League: Indian Arrows look to bounce back against Churchill Brothers
Having slumped to a 0-2 defeat against Neroca FC in their last I-League encounter, Indian Arrows will look to bounce back when they face in-form Churchill Brothers here at the Tilak Maidan on Monday.Two wins in two matches against Gokulam FC and Shillong Lajong has helped the Red Machines pick up momentum as the former I-League champions try to get their season back on track.As far as the points table is concerned, Indian Arrows who are on 10 points have a three-point lead over Churchill Brothers as the youngest team of the competition sit in the seventh place while Churchill Brothers are in the ninth place. A win for Arrows will open up a six-point gap while a Churchill win will mean the two teams are tied on points."We come into the game from one defeat and Churchill Brothers come from two victories. They changed a lot of the squad. I think they are in a good moment. They have some kind of confidence to winning games. And I know if they beat Indian Arrows tomorrow, they equalize us .