Page 2181 - Sports
Kerala Blasters secure 1-1 draw against FC Pune City
Kerala Blasters held a spirited FC Pune City to a 1-1 draw in an exciting Indian Super League (ISL) match here today. Skipper Marcelinho (33rd minute) handed FC Pune City a first-half lead but 21-year-old Mark Sifneos (73rd) struck in the second half to score the much-needed equaliser for Kerala Blasters here. After the match, Pune FC topped the table with 16 points from nine matches, while Kerala were at the 8th position with eight points after as many matches. Pune City, who blanked NorthEast United 5-0 in their previous match, had an early chance to go ahead when a Marcelinho free-kick was flicked by Adil Khan across goal and into the path of Rafael Lopez who failed to connect. The visitors earned five corners within the first 20 minutes of the game but success eluded them. It was only in the 33rd minute that Pune's efforts finally paid off. It was the combination of Marcelinho and Keralite Ashique, who executed a neat one-two at the edge of the box and the Brazilian .
BCCI has become a punching bag for all: Ajay Jadeja
Former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja had had his issues with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in the past, but this time he has come in defense of the board, saying that the cricket governing body has become a punching bag for everyone in the last few years.Speaking on the sidelines of an event to bid adieu to India's blind cricket team for the fifth ODI World Cup, Jadeja said, "I feel sad, I have my own battles with them (BCCI)....Mostly good things have been done by them otherwise you won't have cricket where it is today. It is unfortunate that they have become the punching bags in the last few years."Harbouring support for the board, Jadeja said that the BCCI is the best sporting body in the country and other federations should learn from it.He admitted that though there are areas of improvement for the body, it does not mean that the BCCI be targeted every time."It is nobody's personal fiefdom than the players who play. If they were so wrong the game should have ...
Wolves eyeing Robbie Keane return from ISL side ATK
Seeking a return to the Premier League, Wolverhampton Wanderers are trying to bring back their former striker Robbie Keane, who is currently playing for ATK in the Indian Super League. 'Mirror.co.uk' reported that Dublin man, Keane, is interested in returning to the team where he first made a name for himself. The 37-year-old Keane former former Liverpool striker is under contract with ATK until March but there is a chance that he can secure an early release with ATK not in a favourable position on the standings. At ATK, he is currently the top goal scorer in the team, scoring twice in the past eight games. He was initially tied to Wolverhampton after leaving LA Galaxy but he had already committed to ATK at the time. But manager Nuno Espirito Santo has been keeping a close eye on him throughout his time there.
Saina beats Zhang, keeps Awadhe Warriors stay afloat
Saina Nehwal rallied to pull off a 8-15, 15-10, 15-13 victory over world number 11 Beiwen Zhang of USA and kept Awadhe Warriors afloat in the tie against Mumbai Rockets in the Premier Badminton League here today. Mumbai have three matches out of five in the tie and are currently leading the duel 2-0 on points. The world number 10, who is coming into the match at the back of a defeat against world number 1 Tai Tzu Ying, proved to be no match against Beiwen in the opening game. The US Shuttler was using the length of the court perfectly, tormenting the Indian with her superb cross-court drops and smashes and raced to victory in the opening game in no time. But Saina, known for her resilience, got back into the match and even though Beiwen was leading in the initial phases of second game, the Indian slowly turned the tide and went into break leading 8-7. She did not allow Beiwen any leeway post the interval and wrapped up the game to restore parity. In the final game, Saina .
Central Railway PR team wins cricket tie against media team
Chief PRO team of Central Railway defeated Railway Reporters team in a cricket match by seven wickets. The CPRO CR team comprising officers and staff of the PR department won the toss and elected to field. Railway Reporters team put up a score of 113 runs in 15 overs losing 8 wickets. The match, played at railway sports ground in presence of senior railway officers, had a nail biting finish with the captain (CPRO) Sunil Udasi hitting the winning shot in the penultimate over. Chief PRO team of CR lifted the trophy winning the match by seven wickets. Ulhas Babre of the CPRO team was awarded Man of the Match for hitting 40 runs off 30 balls, including 4 sixes. D K Sharma, General Manager of Central Railway, who was the chief guest at the award presentation function, lauded the railway team's efforts and appreciated the initiative of the PR dept in organising such event. He announced that such cricket matches would now be held annually. "Such events will not only help in ...
Sri Lanka sacks Perera; to name new captain next week
Hours after sacking Thisara Perera as the One-day International (ODI) captain, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Thursday announced that they will name a new limited overs skipper next Tuesday.
Smith excited to be back at Rajasthan Royals
Australian captain Steve Smith is delighted to be back at Rajasthan Royals for the upcoming Indian Premier League. Smith had been part of the Rajasthan Royals team in 2014 and 2015, when he led the side to the playoffs. In 69 IPL matches, Smith has scored 1703 runs at an average of 37.02 with one century and five half-centuries. Smith said, "I am really excited to be standing by the Rajasthan Royals in this season of the IPL. It's a great franchise with great people around. I loved playing for them in the past and I am looking forward to once again joining the team and making a big difference in the IPL this year." He was the captain of the Rising Pune Supergiant team in the last season of IPL and powered his team to the final of the tournament. Smith is the only player to be retained by the franchise. "We welcome Steve Smith on board. His presence will mean a lot to the team as we look forward to a fresh beginning and a successful season. Steve has been with the Royals .
Anderson prevails over Kukushkin; Cilic outplays Herbert
Marin Cilic and Kevin Anderson, the two Grand Slam finalists in 2017, raised the prospects of a title clash after reaching the semifinals of the Tata Open Maharashtra, albeit, with contrasting wins, here tonight. Top seed Cilic from Croatia outplayed eighth seed Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-3 6-2 in 64 minutes but Anderson survived a mighty scare from a dogged Mikhail Kukushkin before edging past him 6-7(3) 6-4 6-2. The US Open finalist from South Africa had to strategise and re-strategise against the Kazak in an intense quarterfinal, which lasted two hours and 30 minutes. His big serve, with which he fired 24 aces, was put to test by the Kazakh but eventually he found a way to win. Up against Kukushkin, a great retriever, Anderson had to rely on serve and volley mid way into the match and the strategy did work. Kukushkin was a picture of determination and perseverance as he returned almost everything, refusing to be intimidated by six feet eight inch Anderson. The .
Ponting returns to IPL as Delhi Daredevils coach
Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has been named as the new head coach for the IPL franchise Delhi Daredevils.Hemant Dua, the chief executive of Delhi Daredevils, made the announcement on Twitter on Thursday."Welcoming @DelhiDaredevils new head coach #RickyPonting @punterheads #WorldCup and #IPL winning player and coach to the #CapitalCity #DilDilliHai," the tweet read.Ponting takes over from Paddy Upton whose contract was not renewed by the franchise.Daredevils also lost the services of former India captain Rahul Dravid, who had stepped down from the position due to BCCI's conflict-of-interest regulations.Ponting had earlier coached Mumbai Indians for two seasons in 2015 (when they won the title) and 2016, but the franchise chose to not renew his two-year contract when it expired in 2016.The 43-year-old has also played in the league for Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians.Delhi Daredevils finished the last IPL season in the sixth position and are yet to win a title in the ..
Rahane may get axe from playing XI for poor home run
The lure to play an extra bowler in Hardik Pandya along with an in-form Rohit Sharma in the opening Test against South Africa has cast doubts over Ajinkya Rahane's place in the playing XI despite having the best away record among the current crop of batsmen. While the Indian team skipped the optional session today, batting coach Sanjay Bangar dropped loose hints that the limited overs vice-captain Sharma may get a chance based on his current form. "Again, it all depends on the team composition. All of them are batting really well. Rohit, on the back of his performances across formats, is in with a chance of playing," Bangar said at the pre-match conference. Rahane's form has been wretched since the start of the home series against England in late 2016. Since the start of the series, Rahane has scored 617 runs at an average of 26.82 over a period of 14 Tests with the only hundred coming against a below par Sri Lanka at Pallekele. With Hardik Pandya providing multiple ...
IPL retention 2018: Kolkata Knight Riders releases Gambhir
Kolkata Knight Riders have sprung a surprise as they have chosen to not retain incumbent captain Gautam Gambhir, under whom they won two IPL titles.The franchise, owned by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, has rather opted to retain West Indies all-rounder Sunil Narine for Rs 8.5 crore. It has also retained Andre Russell for Rs 7 crore.Gambhir had led Kolkata to their two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014.The 36-year-old has scored a total of 3,035 runs for KKR in the previous seasons.The IPL player acquisition policy allows franchises to retain maximum five players by virtue of a combination of pre-auction retention and Right to Match (RTM) cards for the 2018 edition.
Wolves want to re-sign ATK striker Keane
Indian Super League (ISL) franchise ATK's star man Robbie Keane is likely to leave them midway with English second division side Wolverhampton Wanderers wanting the services of the ace striker in their bid to secure promotion to the top flight.
GM Deepan in sole lead at Mumbai chess tournament
Grandmaster Deepan Chakkravarthy of Tamil Nadu took the sole lead after round five of the IIFL Wealth 3rd Mumbai International Open Chess Tournament after scoring a 61-move victory over state mate and International Master S Nitin here today. Deepan has won all of his five games so far and will be facing defending champion GM Adam Tukhaev in the sixth round. In other results, the top-board encounter between Adam Horvath and David Alberto ended in a draw. Adam, David and six other players are close on Deepans heels with a score of 4.5 out of 5. In the junior section, Aaryan Varshney and Nikhil Magizhnan won crucial games against Om Manish Kadam and Mahitosh Dey respectively to take the joint lead with 5 out of 5. The 'game of the day' prize, awarded to the winner of the best played game of a particular round, was won by 11-year -old Gukesh D. Gukesh and six other players are currently placed second with 4.5 out of 5.
Hockey India puts Sreejesh on 12-month probation
Indian hockey goalkeeper P R Sreejesh's has been reprimanded with 12-month probation for breaching Hockey India's Code of Conduct.A statement released by the Hockey India's Disciplinary Committee revealed that action has been initiated against Sreejesh for taking part in the Celebrity Charity Football Match last year in October without seeking permission from the governing body for hockey.He was also handed a 15-day suspension by the body which will end tomorrow.Sreejesh, however, was not part of the national team during that period and was undergoing rehabilitation for a serious knee injury sustained during the Sultan Azlan Shah Tournament in May, 2017.
Tamil Nadu boys & girls clinch double crowns at carrom meet
Tamil Nadu boys and girls dished out impressive performances to clinch a grand double, the Sub -Junior girls and boys' Team Championship crowns - in the LIC of India sponsored 44th Sub-Junior National and Inter-State Carrom Championship, here today. The Tamil Nadu lads hardly put a foot wrong as they quashed the aspirations of Delhi 3-0 in the final. The Tamil Nadu youngsters M Kaushik and A Musaraf, both playing the singles, and the doubles pair of Guruprasath and R Sandeep played with a lot of consistency in leading the southern outfit to victory. In the girls' final, the Tamil Nadu team, comprising Janashri and A Roshini Shree and the doubles combination of A Rithika and R Rathika, maintained their fine run of form to tame Uttar Pradesh by a convincing 3-0 margin and grab the top honours. Meanwhile, PSPB pairs reached the semi-finals of the men and women's doubles events of the 24th Federation Cup All India Carrom Championship, conducted simultaneously. Results: ...
Smith elated to be back with Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2018
Australia skipper Steve Smith on Thursday expressed his delight after being retained by the Rajasthan Royals franchise for the 2018 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Oppositions, conditions don't matter to India: Bangar
Assistant coach Sanjay Bangar on Thursday said the conditions or oppositions don't matter and India are confident of their preparation ahead of the first cricket Test against South Africa beginning here on Friday.
PBCC upset with India not touring Pakistan for World Cup
The Pakistan Blind Cricket Council has expressed disappointment at the decision of the Indian government to not give clearance to its national blind team to play the World Cup in Pakistan. "It is very disappointing because we had planned a show case match of the World Cup in Lahore. Now we have been forced to relocate it to the UAE," Asif Azeem, the media manager of the PBCC, said. He said the Indian Blind cricket council had informed them that since the Indian government didn't give clearance, the Indian external affairs ministry had also not issued NOCs to the Indian team to travel to Lahore for the World Cup opening ceremony and matches. "We had planned a grand opening ceremony in Lahore on the 6th with Indian participation and opening match between the two countries but now we will have ceremonies in Ajman and Lahore on Sunday simultaneously." He said India would now play its matches of the World Cup in Ajman and Sharjah while the opening match in Lahore would be ...
Ponting to coach Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2018
Delhi Daredevils on Thursday unveiled former Australia captain Ricky Ponting as the new coach of the Indian Premier League (IPL) outfit for the 2018 season.
PHF appoints Hasan Sardar as chief head coach of Pakistan team
In a desperate move, Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) today appointed former captain Hasan Sardar as the new chief head coach of the national team ahead of three major tournaments this year. The PHF said Hasan Sardar who won both the World Cup and Olympic hockey gold in his illustrious career would be head coach for a two-match series against an International eleven this month. He will be assisted by former internationals, Rehan Butt and Muhammad Saqlain on the coaching panel while Islahuddin Siddiqui, another celebrated name in Pakistan hockey, replaces Hasan as chief selector. The decisions came at an apparent loud Congress of the federation in Islamabad where the decision to bring in a foreign coach was shelved and majority of member decided to go for a local coach. PHF President, Khalid Khokar admitted that financial constraints was also a reason to not appoint a foreign coach at this time. "We believe Hasan Sardar who has been working as chief selector for the last