Page 2119 - Sports
Otamendi extends contract with Manchester City until 2022
Argentine defender Nicolas Otamendi has reached an agreement with English football club Manchester City to extend his contract till June 30, 2022.
Dakar motorbikes leader Walkner takes nothing for granted
Austrian motorcyclist Matthias Walkner (KTM) has said that he is concentrating on avoiding mistakes as he edges closer to becoming the first competitor from his country to win the Dakar Rally.
India go down 0-2 against Belgium in hockey
After suffering a 4-5 defeat against hosts New Zealand, Belgium came up with a clinical performance to beat India 2-0 in the second match of the Four Nations Invitational hockey Tournament at the Blake Park here on Thursday.
Valencia bounce back to beat Alaves in Copa del Rey
Valencia battled back from a deficit to prevail 2-1 over Alaves in the first leg of their Copa del Rey football quarter-final tie here.
Anand draws with Wei Yi to stay in joint lead
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand was held to a draw by Wei Yi of China in the fifth round of Tata Steel Masters Chess tournament here. With his third draw in five games, the reigning world rapid champion remained in joint lead on 3.5 points and now shares the lead with Anish Giri of Holland and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan. While Giri was held to a draw by Gawain Jones of England, Mamedyarov's tactics worked pretty well as he outplayed Fabiano Caruana of United States. The other Indian in the fray, B Adhiban succumbed to his third defeat in the event going down to Wesley So of United States while in the other decisive game, Peter Svidler defeated top woman player Yifan Hou of China. With eight rounds still to come, world number one Magnus Carlsen is on the toes of the three leaders a half point behind and giving him company is Wesley So and Vladimir Kramnik of Russia. Even though he looked in a spot of bother, Carlsen found just about the right moves to .
Djokovic survives Monfils scare to reach Australian Open third round
Former world number one and Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic survived an early scare from France's Gael Monfils to storm into the third round of the Australian Open for the 11th time here on Thursday.The 14th seed, who is bidding to clinch his sixth Australian Open title, went down in the first set, but he rebounded strongly to eventually prevail Monfils 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 in a thrilling second-round clash at the Melbourne Park.With the win, Djokovic has clinched 14 wins over the Frenchman in their Head-to-Head series, including the Serbian's victory during the 2016 US Open semi-finals.On Tuesday, Djokovic since he was forced to retire during his Wimbledon quarter-final clash against Czech Republic's Tomas Berdych.The Serbian tennis maestro showed no signs of the elbow injury that cut short his 2017 season as he eased past Young 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in a one-sided opening round clash of the men's singles event that lasted one hour and 51 minutes at the Margaret Court Arena.Djokovic will ...
Djokovic staggers past Monfils in draining win
Six-time champion Novak Djokovic survived a brutal fitness examination to overcome Gael Monfils in intense heat and stagger into the third round at the Australian Open on Thursday. Djokovic stretched his unbeaten record over Monfils to 15-0, one of the longest at Tour level, after dropping the opening set but just managed to get to the finish line. He just did enough at the end to carve out a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 win in 2hr 45min on baking Rod Laver Arena. The 12-time Grand Slam champion has a day to recover for his third round encounter with Spanish 21st seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas. The extreme elements made it a survival of the fittest with Monfils looking the worse for wear early before Djokovic had enough in the tank to win on his fourth match point in a gruelling eight-minute final game. "It was brutal conditions and we both suffered, it was a big challenge for both of us," Djokovic said on-court. "Gael is one of the best athletes in our sport but he was not at his best .
AIFF to probe I-League match-fixing case
All India Football Federation (AIFF) General Secretary Kushal Das on Thursday said he would initiate an investigation into the alleged match-fixing attempt by two players of the I-League club Minerva Punjab once the federation receives details of it in writing.Das' comments came after Minerva Punjab owner Ranjeet Bajaj had taken to his official Twitter account to reveal that two of his team players were offered Rs 30 lakh each for match-fixing."Two of my players came to me with screenshots of match-fixing offers of 30 lakhs/I reported it to AIFF integrity officer & also AFC through their integrity app/really hope these unscrupulous elements are not successful in getting through to other players and match officials @ILeagueOfficial," Ranjeet wrote.The AIFF general secretary confirmed that Ranjeet had approached their integrity officer to report the issue, but they could not initiate the probe based only on tweets."Ranjeet Bajaj has approached integrity officer to report the issue. .
Atletico Madrid lose to visiting Sevilla
Spanish football giants Atletico Madrid conceded two goals in the last 10 minutes to lose 1-2 to Sevilla in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarter-final battle here.
Espanyol stuns Barça 1-0 in Copa quarters
Espanyol handed FC Barcelona a rare loss in the first leg of their Copa del Rey football quarter-final, getting a goal from Oscar Melendo in the 89th minute to pull off the 1-0 upset here.
Sharapova sets up 3rd round match against Kerber at Australian Open
Former world No.1s and ex-Australian Open champions Maria Sharapova of Russia and Angelique Kerber of Germany on Thursday eased past Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova and Croatia's Donna Vekic respectively to set up an intriguing match in the third round of the Australian Open.
'Feet on fire' as heat scorches Melbourne
Caroline Garcia said her feet were on fire and Dominic Thiem couldn't wait to get in an ice bath as Melbourne's searing summer heat took its toll at the Australian Open Thursday. The opening Grand Slam of the year routinely challenges players and fans with its fickle weather - it can be 20 Celsius one day and 40 Celsius the next. This week the heat has been gradually building and it touched 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), with even worse forecast for Friday. Some players cope better than others in the furnace-like conditions, with third seed Garbine Muguruza one of those who suffered, crashing out in straight sets. "I think the surface of the court, I don't know how much heat, it's terrible, very, very hot, and it's easy to get blisters and red," she said. "I had a more tougher match under the heat in previous years at the Australian Open, but today was -- it was hot, but I don't think was the hottest day." French eighth seed Garcia spent three gruelling sets in the sun ...
Kohli clinches top ICC awards
After a prolific run with the willow last year, India skipper Virat Kohli on Thursday swept the International Cricket Council (ICC) annual awards as the 29-year won the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for being the World Cricketer of the Year 2017.
Rohit's defensive skills letting him down in Tests: Dean Jones
Former Australia batsman Dean Jones feels Rohit Sharma's rare talent is undisputed but his defensive skills are letting him down in Test cricket. Barring captain Virat Kohli, none of the specialist Indian batsmen could negotiate the potent South Africa pace attack in the two Tests that the visitors lost to concede the series. Sharma, who was picked ahead of vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane on "current form", too failed to justify his selection mustering 78 runs in four innings at 19.50. "I look at him and he is technically sound. But the first thing that goes wrong in your game is your defense, and his (Sharma's) defensive skills are letting him down," Jones told PTI. "In Test cricket, 70 percent of batting is about your defence and in one-dayers it is 40 percent. So his defensive skills are letting him down. He has got to take pride in his defensive skills like Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and even Virat Kohli," he said further. Sharma went into the South ..
Ashes triumph important to me, says Smith
After being crowned the International Cricket Council's Test Player of the Year for a second time, Australian captain Steve Smith on Thursday said the Ashes triumph over England was the most important chapter of his tenure.
Minerva FC flag match-fixing attempt; AIFF asks for details
Acting on I-League leaders Minerva Punjab FC owner Ranjit Bajaj's tweet that bribes were offered to two of his players in an alleged match-fixing attempt, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has asked for further details from the club, a source said.
Indian men's hockey team lose to Belgium
The Indian men's hockey team failed to convert any of the four penalty corners and ended up losing 0-2 to Belgium at the Four Nations Invitational tournament at the Blake Park here today. Goals by Sbastien Dockier (8th minute) and Victor Wegnez (34th) ensured Belgium stayed on top of the game. Both teams played out an exciting first quarter, though it was Belgium who constantly tested the Indian defence, moving the ball swiftly while creating plenty of opportunities in the striking circle. Their first big attempt came in the fourth minute when Belgian forward swiftly smashed a reverse hit to the post but goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who is making a comeback from a long injury haul, made an impressive save. Four minutes later, a circle penetration by Belgium saw Dockier demonstrate a classic reverse hit to put the ball into the post, leaving little chance for Sreejesh to save. The 1-0 lead in the eighth minute put India on the backfoot. In the 12th minute, however, India found .
Churchill Brothers take on Shillong Lajong in I-League
Back to winning ways, Churchill Brothers will be looking for their first win at home when they take on Shillong Lajong in the Hero I-league match at Tilak Stadium here tomorrow. After a disastrous start in the I-League campaign where they lost five matches, Churchill Brothers started the new year with a ray of hope as they roped in new faces and the move paid off. Ivory coast striker Mechac Koffi helped them equalise against East Bengal to grab their first point and latter they beat Gokulam Kerala to secure their first win and move to ninth place with four points after lying at the bottom. Churchill Brothers assistant coach Alfred Fernandes is pleased the way his boys played against Gokulam. "Now that we have tasted our first victory our boys are confident and are looking forward to keep the winning momentum going," Fernandes said. "We have signed three more foreign players and our team is looking more stronger and is motivated to do better and keep on winning from now .
Will protect football's integrity: AIFF on fixing approach
Acting on I-League club Minerva FC's report against a match-fixing attempt, the All India Football Federation today stressed on its zero-tolerance policy on corruption, saying it would leave no stone unturned to "protect the integrity" of the sport. AIFF's integrity officer Javed Siraj, who has been heading its anti-corruption unit since August 2014 as per the FIFA guidelines, felt the need of the hour is to "jointly combat any threats which can bring disrepute to the sport". Referring to reports about Minerva Punjab Football Club footballers being approached by fixers, Siraj stated: "I need to applaud the two footballers who recognised, rejected and reported the incident. "We await an official complaint from the club and will leave no stone unturned to protect the integrity of football." An Indian and a foreign player of Minerva were offered bribes of up to Rs 30 lakh each in an alleged match-fixing attempt, the club's owner Ranjit Bajaj tweeted. Siraj said, "We have ...
Kohli honoured to bag Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy
India skipper Virat Kohli said on Thursday being awarded the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy as the ICC Cricketer of the Year 2017 felt more special after his teammate Ravichandran Ashwin bagged it last year.