Page 2192 - Sports
Sathiyan leads the way in TT world rankings
Indian paddler G. Sathiyan broke into the top-100 while six other male and three female players hit the jackpot in Table Tennis world rankings, released on Tuesday.
Indian women's hockey team's national camp starts Wednesday
After a successful 2017 season, the Indian women's hockey team will regroup under chief coach Harendra Singh for the 21-day national camp starting at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) campus here from Wednesday.
ISL: Upbeat ATK take on Corominas-inspired FC Goa (Preview)
Defending champions ATK will have to be at their best defensively when they take on attack-minded FC Goa in an Indian Super League (ISL) clash at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan here on Wednesday.
I-League: Arrows coaching staff misbehaves with East Bengal coach
A war of words broke out between Indian Arrows goalkeeping coach Yusuf Ansari and East Bengal coach Khalid Jamil during their clubs I-League fixture at the Ambedkar Stadium here on Tuesday.
Sathiyan surpasses Kamal to be highest-ranked Indian paddler
The in-form G Sathiyan has surpassed the legendary Sharath Kamal to be India's highest- ranked player in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings, which also have an unprecedented nine players in the top-100. Sathiyan, who was nowhere near the top-100 bracket until a few months ago, is the leader today at world No. 49, thus pushing Kamal to the second spot at 51. They are followed by Soumyajit Ghosh (58), Harmeet Desai (60), Sanil Shetty (68) and Anthony Amalraj (87). As for the women, Manika Batra is topping the world chart among Indians at 62, while Mouma Das (74) and Madhurika Patkar (81) trail the leader. The ITTF rankings have undergone a change after the new system was approved in September 2017. The new simplified and comprehensive system provides for a more dynamic world ranking based on paddlers' performance and results during the entire year. In addition, the system also encourages players to participate in more and more events rather than ...
'Priority in 2018 is to get good results against top sides'
Women hockey team's chief coach Harendra Singh has set his sights on achieving positive results against higher ranked sides as India embark on an "important" 2018 season. After a short two-week break, 33 women players will report for the national camp starting in Bengaluru's Sports Authority of India campus tomorrow. "It is an extremely important year for us. It was a satisfying 2017 where we ended the year with a career high world ranking of 10, but the team has self-belief of achieving bigger goals. "The girls know they are capable of doing well against higher ranked teams and getting good results against these teams will be one of our top priorities going into a new season. It is important to play these major tournaments in 2018 with the fittest team," said Harendra. With important tournaments like Commonwealth Games and Asian Games lined up, 2018 is extremely crucial for Indian hockey. The 21-day camp that concludes on January 24 will lay the foundation for a ...
'Injured' Murray pulls out of Brisbane International
British Tennis maestro Andy Murray has heightened fears that he could miss the Australian Open after pulling out of season-opening Brisbane International due to a hip injury.The former world number one sustained the right hip injury in 2017 and has not appeared in a competitive match since slumping to a tough five-setter defeat to American Sam Querrey in the quarter-finals at the Wimbledon.As a result, Murray, who had enjoyed being world number one just 12 months ago, has fallen out of the top 10 to number 16 in the rankings.Murray, however, made a tepid return to the court, losing a one-set match 6-2 to Roberto Bautista Agut in the United Arab Emirates exhibitions on Friday.The 30-year-old, who was due to face Ryan Harrison in the second round of the Brisbane International, recently also said that he believed he was in good shape and was all set to play in the tournament.But Murray now confirmed he was pulling out of the tournament with a right hip injury, adding that he would ...
'Recovering' Starc likely to return for SCG Test
Australian pace spearhead Mitchell Starc, who is recovering from a bruised right heel, is most likely to make a comeback to the national side for the fifth and final Ashes Test to be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) from Thursday.The 27-year-old returned home on crutches after bowling with a bruised heel on day four and five of the WACA Test, which Australia went on to win by an innings and 41 runs to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series.He was subsequently forced to miss the drawn fourth Ashes Test against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground because of the injury.However, the left-arm fast bowler took part in fielding drills on Tuesday before spending over half an hour bowling in the nets.And his team-mate Pat Cummins revealed that Starc was quite confident to make a return to his side for the series finale."I haven't spoken to him but he looked like he was bowling quick, running around and not limping. He's really keen to play and pretty confident he can play. ...
ICC rates MCG pitch as 'Poor'
The International Cricket Council (ICC) rated the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) pitch as "poor" on Tuesday.The MCG, where the fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England was played, drew criticism from both teams after the hosts scored 327 and 263-4 declared in their two innings while England scored 491 in their only innings.Also, only 24 wickets fell in the match that ended in a draw.In a statement issued by the ICC, Ranjan Madugalle, the match referee for the Test, said, ""The bounce of the MCG pitch was medium, but slow in pace and got slower as the match progressed. The nature of the pitch did not change over the five days and there was no natural deterioration."He added, "As such, the pitch did not allow an even contest between the bat and the ball as it neither favoured the batsmen too much nor it gave the bowlers sufficient opportunity to take wickets."The Cricket Australia now have 14 days to provide their response to Madugalle's report.The MCG Test was the last Test to ..
Melbourne Cricket Ground pitch rated as 'poor'
Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) pitch, which hosted the fourth Ashes Test match between Australia and England, has been rated as 'poor', the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Tuesday.
International Cricket Council confirms MCG poor pitch rating
The ICC has given the Melbourne Cricket Ground pitch a poor rating for last week's drawn Ashes test, giving Cricket Australia two weeks to respond to the criticism before determining a sanction. Players and commentators criticised the lifeless drop-in pitch used for the Boxing Day test between Australia and England in Melbourne, and International Cricket Council match referee Ranjan Madugalle followed up in his official report to the sport's governing body when he gave it a poor rating. It was the first Australian test venue to be rated with such a low rating. Under existing rules, the ICC sanction can range from an official warning to a fine. But under regulations set to come into effect on Thursday, pitches officially rated as poor or unfit will be given demerit points which could ultimately lead to suspensions. The ICC also rated the Indian venue Pune as poor last year after Australia's victory there over India. The MCG is one of the sport's most iconic venues, ...
Manchester United return to second place with victory over Everton
Manchester United moved back to the second position on the English Premier League table with a 2-0 away victory over Everton after three straight draws.
What'll you do with prize money? Pandit to VCA before Ranji
Spurring a bunch of underdogs to India's biggest prize in domestic cricket is no small task but so confident was Vidarbha coach Chandrakant Pandit that he had made inquiries about rewards for the improbable feat at the very start of the Ranji season. After winning their maiden Ranji Trophy following five decades of trying, Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) vice- president Prashant Vaidya recalled the time when Pandit, after being signed up last season, asked what they would do with the prize money. Surprised, the VCA official had asked Pandit what prize money was he referring to? "The one for the Ranji Trophy winners", replied the multiple-time winning coach. "That was so confident of him, that this man was already thinking of winning the trophy, so I thought Vidarbha is definitely going to have a good season. I started believing on the first day he (Pandit) came to Nagpur," Vaidya said after the nine-wicket win over Delhi in the title clash here. Seated beside Vaidya ..
Defending champs Japan target Tokyo 2020 in AFC U-23 meet
Defending champions Japan will look to retain their title in the upcoming AFC U-23 Championship to be held in China next week, and with one eye firmly fixed on their role as host of the Olympic Games in 2020.
Rejuvenated ATK face FC Goa challenge
Upbeat after registering the season's maiden home victory, defending champions ATK would look to continue their winning run when they face FC Goa in an Indian Super League match, here tomorrow. The most successful ISL franchise had kicked off their title defence on a shaky note after being winless from four matches. But the two-time champions have brought their title campaign back on track with successive victories over Mumbai City and Delhi Dynamos, the last coming at their home ground Saltlake Stadium in their last round fixture. ATK are now at seventh place with eight points from six matches. The season's maiden home victory only turned sweeter when star Irish captain Robbie Keane fired home the winner in a sheer moment of brilliance. The hosts broke the deadlock 12 minutes from time when Keane chested the ball from substitute Bipin Singh's headed pass, brought it down, and turned his marker before placing the ball exquisitely into the bottom right corner of the ...
Sabbir Rahman loses Bangladesh contract over assault
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has revoked the national contract of middle-order batsman Sabbir Rahman for assaulting a fan during a first-class match.Rahman has also been slapped with a fine of two million taka (25,000 USD approx) over the incident and has been handed a six-month ban from the domestic game.The 26-year-old has also been fined earlier for a disciplinary breach in 2016.The punishment was spelled out by BCB president Nazmul Hassan after the disciplinary committee's hearing on Monday, reports ESPNcricinfo.The decision came after Rahman was found to have assaulted a young fan on December 21, the second day of Rajshahi Division's National Cricket League game against Dhaka Metropolis.Rahman allegedly went behind the sightscreen and beat the fan during innings break and also misbehaved with the match referee after being summoned for investigation.The disciplinary committee's vice-chairman Sheikh Sohel, said, "We felt that he didn't learn anything from his past two ...
IPL: Kirsten, Nehra join RCB coaching department
Former South African cricketer Gary Kirsten and former India pacer Ashish Nehra have been roped in by the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore as their batting and bowling coach, it was announced on Tuesday.
Fitness scare for Muguruza as Brisbane proves too hot
World number two Garbine Muguruza suffered a fitness scare ahead of this month's Australian Open when she was forced to retire from the Brisbane International today with severe cramping. Wimbledon champion Muguruza was ahead 2-1 in the deciding set against Serbia's Aleksandra Krunic in the second round of the warm-up tournament for the season's first Grand Slam event when she collapsed to the ground following a serve. The Spanish top seed was unable to continue and handed the match to Krunic 5-7, 7-6 (7/3), 2-1. "I felt in trouble in the second set when I was 2-0 up," Muguruza said. "I started to feel my calves were cramping." Muguruza had won a tight first set and appeared heading for a straight sets win over Krunic when she opened up a 5-2 lead in the second. However, she began to struggle in the 30 Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) heat and oppressive humidity as Krunic fought back to win the second set on a tiebreak. Muguruza received treatment from the physio on court before ..
England ponder taking a spin with Crane in Sydney
Leg-spinner Mason Crane's experience playing in Sydney may prove the clincher to earn him a debut as England try to salvage their Ashes series with a win over Australia in Thursday's final Test. Trailing 3-0 and the Ashes lost, England are considering a possible team change for the fifth Sydney Test with Moeen Ali's place under threat and Crane pushing for his first cap. Moeen has played 48 Tests and came to Australia as an accomplished all-rounder but he has under-performed, taking only three wickets and averaging 19 with the bat. The Sydney Cricket Ground has a reputation as a turning wicket, enhancing Crane's chances of playing. The 20-year-old Hampshire leggie also boasts a five- wicket haul playing at the famous ground for New South Wales last year. Crane, who was impressing in Sydney club cricket, was called up by NSW and took five wickets in the Sheffield Shield victory against South Australia. "With the series lost it gives us the opportunity to look at some ...
Neymar named Brazil's best player in Europe
Neymar has been named the winner of the 2017 Samba de Ouro trophy, awarded to the best Europe-based Brazilian footballer.