Page 2151 - Sports
IAF chief welcomes team that scaled Antarctica's highest peak
An Indian Air Force (IAF) team that scaled Antarctica's highest peak Mt Vinson was flagged in by IAF chief Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa here on Thursday.
ISL: Keane has not travelled with us: ATK assistant coach
ATK's marquee signing Irishman Robbie Keane has not travelled with the team to play against NorthEast United FC due to a knock he picked up during their previous game against Bengaluru FC, the football team's assistant coach Bastob Roy said.
India, Oz tours are biggest challenges for England: Buttler
Ahead of the five-match ODI rubber against Australia, starting on Sunday, English top-order batsman Jos Buttler on Thursday rated the tours of India and Australia as the toughest challenges for his side.
Sarita, Sonia enter finals of national boxing
Former world and Asian champion L Sarita Devi (60kg) and world silver-medallist Sonia Lather (57kg) advanced to the finals of the National Women's Boxing Championships here today. Sarita defeated Haryana's Monika 5-0 to set up a clash with Railways Sports Promotion Board's Pavitra. Pavitra got the better of Uttarakhand's Priyanka Choudhary 5-0. Sonia, on the other hand, defeated All India Police's Sandhya Rani 5-0. She will be up against reigning youth world champion Shashi Chopra, who edged past Andhra Pradesh's Sonia. Former world silver-medallist Sarjubala Devi (48kg) also entered the finals, beating RSPB's Meenakshi. However, it was curtains for former junior world champion Nikhat Zareen (48kg), who lost to Haryana-girl Ritu in a split verdict. Results (Semi Finals): Light Fly (45 - 48 KG) : Monika (Har) bt K. Bina Devi (Man) 5:0; Rajesh Narwal (RSPB) bt Varsha Choudhery (UP) 5:0; Fly (48 -51 KG) : Sh Sarju Bala (Man) bt Meenakshi (RSPB) 4:1; Ritu (Har) bt Nikhat ...
If one failure dents confidence, don't deserve to play: Bumrah
India couldn't have hoped for a worst start to a long South African sojourn but pacer Jasprit Bumrah today asserted that if one debacle dents the team's confidence then it "does not deserve" to be play Test cricket. South Africa outplayed India by 72 runs inside four days in the opening Test in Cape Town to claim a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The second Test is scheduled to start here on Saturday. "Confidence is not dented after one match. If it happens, then you don't deserve to play. Learn from the mistake you made and go forward. There is not a single cricketer who has not made a mistake," asserted Bumrah, who took four wickets in the match. "It was a first good Test and a good learning experience for me because I have never played over here in South Africa. So I had a lot of things to learn from it. Now it is time to move forward and focus on the second Test," Bumrah said on Thursday. Bumrah said he would rather pick the positives, including getting A B de ..
Rajesh Natarajan claims 2nd Mumbai qualifying spot
Golfer Rajesh Natarajan claimed the second National finals spot from Mumbai, winning the Day 2 city qualifiers of the Mercedes Trophy 2018, a corporate Golf tournament being held at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club (BPGC) here. Rajesh returned a nett score of 71.8 to emerge victorious. He will now join actor R Madhavan, who won on Day 1 at the National finals of the tournament to be played at the Oxford Golf Resort in Pune from 4-6 April 2018, a media release issued here said. One more qualifier will be identified tomorrow, before the Mercedes-Trophy moves South to Bengaluru for the fourth leg of qualifiers. The best Gross Winner of the day was Akshay Kilachand, who carded an excellent round of 76, it said. Prominent winners included Devang Sharma, who won the Ballantine's Long Drive Challenge with a long drive of 260 yards. Aryanman Rajpurohit won the Mercedes-Benz Closest to Pincontest, while the Mercedes-Benz Closest to Pin in Two Shotswas won by R Ramakrishnan, who ..
Will focus on mental and physical fitness, says Shubhankar
Realising that a 'taxing' calendar can drain you completely, rising Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma is now focussing on becoming tough "mentally" ahead of a new season, during which he is set to make his Major debut. The 21-year-old ended the 2017 season with a bang by winning his maiden title on the Asian Tour at the JoBurg Open, an event co-sanctioned by the European Tour. The three-stroke win over Erik van Rooyen earned him an entry into the 2018 Open Championship. "My number one focus is to be mentally and physically fit. Travelling so much, meeting different people, being in different time zones takes a toll on the body," Shubhankar told PTI at the sidelines of a felicitation ceremony. "Although I am young, taking long flights can be exhausting. Golf gets mentally taxing, you can be playing five days in a row for weeks with intense pressure of everyone watching," he said. The youngster, based in Chandigarh, said consistency was key to succeed on the demanding ...
Atwal determined to win EurAsia Cup
Team Asia captain Arjun Atwal asserted on Thursday that he intends to win the third edition of the EurAsia Cup golf tournament by unleashing his strongest pairings in Fridays opening Fourball matches.
Perth Stadium gets ICC green light to host cricket matches
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has approved the Perth Stadium as a venue fit to host all international cricket formats, Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed on Thursday.
'Crescendo' wins 'The Kasturi Gold Trophy'
'Crescendo' ridden by Sunil Samson won 'The G Kasturi Gold Trophy', the feature event of the races here today. The winner, trained by C D Monnappa is owned by K K Beliappa. Two favourites obliged in a card of seven races.
Fit to play at int'l level, says Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh
Former Indian hockey skipper and star goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who is back in action following an eight-month injury lay-off, on Thursday said that he is now fully fit to play the game at international level.The 29-year-old was forced to miss some of the key tournaments in 2017 due to a knee injury, which he sustained in the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament last year.However, Hockey India has now recalled Sreejesh in the 20-member India squad for the Four Nations Invitational Tournament in New Zealand, starting on January 17.Talking to ANI, Sreejesh said that the upcoming tournament would be a test period for him where he would try to analyze himself as well as improve himself for future."This four-nation tournament is going to happen in New Zealand. Eight-month is a huge break and what you are before and after the injury is different. So, it is a test period where I want to improve. This is the time for me where I want to analyze myself and to plan the future programmes," Sreejesh ...
Yoon shines at Asian golf tourney
Sangpil Yoon of South Korea edged closer to regaining his Asian Tour card after posting a second round two-under-par 69 to stay one shot off the pace at the Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage here on Thursday.
Narain Karthikeyan to stay in Super Formula for a 5th season
India's first Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan today confirmed that he will race in the Japanese Super Formula for a fifth consecutive season. It will be the first time in the championship that Karthikeyan will represent the same team, the Honda-powered Nakajima Racing in this case, for a consecutive year. Toyota has dominated the championship of late but Karthikeyan said his car showed glimpses of speed in what otherwise was a forgettable last season when he failed to score a point for the first time in four years. "Last season was a forgettable one to be honest. Though towards the end of the year, I did feel the car was quick. We hope to build on that and I realise that I have to be at the top of my game. It is a super competitive championship," Karthikeyan told PTI. With the confirmation today, the speculation over his switch to Super GT 500 also ended. The 40-year-old had tested the Super GT machinery for the first time in December when he was joined by 2009 F1
Comeback wins for Hockey Himachal and Delhi Hockey
Hockey Himachal and Delhi Hockey came from two goals down to win their respective matches at the Senior Men National Championship 2018 (B Division), here today. In the opening match of the day, Hockey Himachal rallied to defeat Kerala Hockey in a nervy Pool F encounter 3-2. It was Kerala Hockey, which took a 2-0 lead after 41 minutes through D Sarang (11') and Vineeth Muraleedharan (41'). However, Hockey Himachal went on to score three quick goals in the span of seven minutes to win the match 3-2. Naurvi Ram (53', 56') scored a quick brace for Hockey Himachal while Arman (60') scored the winner in the last minute of the match. Delhi Hockey also came from two goals down to make a stunning comeback as they defeated Major Port Sports Control Board 3-2 in Pool G. MPSCB scored two goals in the first 15 minutes through Leonard Pereira (6') and Ainul Haq (15'). However, Delhi Hockey produced an inspired comeback in the second quarter to equalise the scores as Amit (22') and ...
England announce Test squad for New Zealand tour
England dropped Ashes trio of Gary Ballance, Jake Ball and Tom Curran while including paceman Mark Wood and uncapped batsman Liam Livingstone for the two-Test tour of New Zealand in March.
Guts and hunger will fire Asia to maiden EurAsia title: Atwal
With all 12 of their golfers in world's top-75, Europe seem the stronger side but Team Asia's "guts and hunger" would be enough to turn the tables on the defending champions when the two sides square off in the EurAsia Cup this week, Asia captain Arjun Atwal said today. Team Asia has only seven in Top-100 for the third edition of the EurAsia Cup. Yet, Europe, who are also preparing for the Ryder Cup against the United States later this year, were not willing to take Asia lightly. Atwal issued a strong statement as he revealed his strongest pairings in the first and sixth match for Friday's opening Fourball matches. With Asia having Tied 10-10 in the inaugural edition in 2014 and going down 18 - 5 in 2016, Atwal, leading the side for the first time, is keen on reversing that and register an upset win at the Glenmarie Golf and Country Club. "The matches look pretty balanced. But the players in my team are all champions and they all know how to win," said Atwal, a winner .
TN beats Goa for third straight win in Syed Musthaq Ali Trophy
Tamil Nadu defeated Goa by 25 runs today to register its third straight win in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 South Zone tournament here today. Dinesh Karthik (56) scored his third half-century on the trot to star with the bat again as Tamil Nadu posted 155 for 5 in its quota of 50 overs before restricting Goa to 130 for 7. Skipper Vijay Shankar returned to the side after missing the first two games owing to injury concerns, but couldn't do much with the bat, falling for four to Amogh Desai. Electing to bat after winning the toss, Tamil Nadu lost M S Washington Sundar (14) at 29, not before he had hit two boundaries and a six. Karthik, who has been in superb form, got into the act quickly and hit shots all round the wicket. He smashed six fours and a sixer before falling in the 15th over. Though Abhinav Mukund (12) and Shankar fell in quick succession, Karthik found an able partner in B Aparajith (26). The two added 54 runs in just about seven overs. Some lusty blows by R
Ziaur Rahman beats Tran Tuan Minh to take sole lead
Bangladeshi Grand Master Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh defeated Vietnamese GM Tran Tuan Minh to claim the sole lead after the fourth round of 16th Delhi International Chess tournament here. At the end of three rounds, 11 players were tied at 3.0/3. It was a Trompovsky Opening from Rahman who had the white pieces but Tran Minh played pretty accurately and was having a better position. Early in the middlegame, Black had stifled the position on the kingside where Rahman had swung his rook, the Delhi Chess Association said in a statement. But Tran Minh made a very strange move when he castled kingside where Rahman was able to break open the position and swiftly drum up an attack on black's king. All other co-leaders could only draw their games and hence, the Bangladeshi grandmaster leads alone with 4.0/4. In the B-Category with 783 players being held simultaneously, 8 rounds of play have been completed and with two rounds to go. Shubham of Haryana rated 1915, and Subhra Saha, of
Buoyant NorthEast United have ATK in their sights
High on confidence after winning their first match under former Chelsea manager Avram Grant, NorthEast United FC will need to be at their best to stop a desperate ATK in a ninth round Indian Super League clash here tomorrow. Grant will look for the attitude which was seen against FC Goa, when his side notched their first win after four defeats on the trot. They can leapfrog ATK with a win and that will be the most motivating factor for them. "I think we need to improve a lot. I like to implement attacking football but for us to reach the desired level is difficult. So the immediate focus is to remain organised and be together. Hopefully that gets us some results," said NorthEast assistant coach Eelco Schattorie. "Two areas which need work on is to bring the team together. Last week everyone worked hard and had the intention to help each other so that organisation is very important. Secondly, we need to improve in the area of scoring goals but that is the most difficult .
Corporate houses urged to back budding sporting talents
Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh today said corporate houses should extend support to budding sporting talents in the country. Singh said this during a felicitation ceremony of Steel Authority of India Ltd-run SAIL Football Academy cadets, who recently won the 58th International Subroto Cup Football Championship 2017. "Promotion of sports and nurturing talents should be encouraged, and more organisations should come forward to support budding players and help India gain sporting glory," a SAIL release said, quoting Singh. The 16 members of SAIL Football Academy in Bokaro represented Jharkhand State U-17 (boys) in the Subroto Cup tournament held during September 2017. The minister also announced a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh for the team and presented sportswear to each cadet. "These talented boys have proved that with proper facilities and support, our sports persons can be world beaters," Singh said here.