Page 2196 - Sports
Qatar Open to kick start 2018 season sans big stars
Serbian tennis maestro and defending champion Novak Djokovic made a late withdrawal from the Qatar Open as one of the season's traditional curtain-raisers is all set to begin here, on Monday.The former world number one, who successfully defended his title last year by thrashing British tennis maestro Andy Murray in three sets, pulled out of the tournament in the wake of his continuous problems with a niggling elbow injury.The injury has also cast doubts over Djokovic's participation in the first major of the season - Australian Open.The 12-time Grand Slam winner has not played a competitive match since his withdrawal from the Wimbledon quarterfinal against Tomas Berdych due to injury.In the absence of Djokovic, the top seed has been given to world number five Dominic Thiem of Austria.Thiem, who recently broke into the top five in the rankings for the first time in his career, will be hoping to make a winning start to his campaign when he takes on Evgeny Donskoy of Russia.While ...
Sydney wicket is unpredictable, says Ashton Agar
Australian left-arm spinner Ashton Agar who was recently roped in for the fifth Ashes Test against England, beginning January 4 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), feels that the wicket at the ground is unpredictable."You don't know what you're going to get in Sydney. One day it could be green, one day it could spin a bit. We've got all options there. We'll wait and see how we go," the 24-year-old said.Agar, who shot to Test fame when he made a record score of 98 while batting at number 11 against England at Trent Bridge in July 2013, has only played four Test matches so far. He insisted he was a far more consistent bowler now than he had been during his Ashes debut in 2013."I feel better coming into a Test match now. It doesn't feel too fresh or too out of the blue," he said."I don't look back on that (Trent Bridge) too much. They are great memories but I've definitely moved forward since then and I feel like I've improved as a player," he concluded.Agar has been roped at the expense
Pogba urges misfiring Man Utd to 'wake up'
Paul Pogba has called on Manchester United to "wake up" after a third straight draw over the Christmas period saw them slip behind Chelsea in the Premier League table. Draws against Leicester and Burnley either side of Christmas severely undermined United's status as challengers to Manchester City and Saturday's 0-0 stalemate at home to Southampton means they are now third in the standings, 15 points adrift of City. The problems are mounting for manager Jose Mourinho, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic's knee problem keeping him out for a month and Romelu Lukaku taken off on a stretcher after a nasty clash of heads with Wesley Hoedt. Wing-back Ashley Young will miss United's next three matches following his acceptance of a violent conduct charge after he appeared to elbow Dusan Tadic during Saturday's stalemate. Everton are United's next opponents at Goodison Park on New Year's Day and Pogba has demanded better from his side, despite the short turnaround. "We didn't lose but we ...
Shahzar Rizvi Wins Men's 10m Air Pistol Gold
Shooter Shahzar Rizvi ended a brilliant 2017 by winning the Men's 10m Air Pistol Gold at the 61st National Shooting Championship (NSCC), at the Karni Singh Shooting Range here on Sunday.Representing the Air Force, Shahzar won with a new finals national record score of 241.7, leaving Army's Yashwant Singh in silver medal position with a score of 237.7. Yashwant's teammate Omprakash Mitherwal won bronze, securing 218.0 in the finals.Earlier this year, the 23-year-old Meerut shooter won gold medals at the Commonwealth Shooting Championships and at the 10th Asian Airgun Championship in Japan as well.In NSCC, he beat a 568-strong field contingent, including the likes of Jitu Rai, who finished sixth in the final. Jitu, however, won the team event for his third gold of the tournament. His teammates were Mitherwal and Dharmendra Singh.In the Junior Men's 10m pistol final, Anmol Jain of Haryana won gold in a new finals national record score of 244.1. Saurabh Choudhary of Uttar Pradesh and ...
Delhi rout Hyderabad in PBL
Delhi Dashers blanked Hyderabad Hunters 5-0 in a Premier Badminton League (PBL) contest at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here on Sunday.
Marin breezes past Hyun to keep Hunters alive against Dashers
In a clash of Titans, Olympic Champion Carolina Marin pulled off a stunning victory over World No.6 Sung Ji Hyun of Korea to help Hyderabad Hunters stay alive in the last tie of the Vodafone Premier Badminton League here today. Hyun, who had beaten Marin on both the occasions in the last season, could not continue her winning streak against the Spaniard as she went down 10-15,12-15. A win for Delhi in this match would have given them a great opportunity to tighten their noose on Hyderabad but Hyun failed to build on the momentum keeping the tie open for an exciting finish. With three matches over, Delhi Dashers are leading 2-0 on points with a chance of sealing the deal in the next match when Delhi's trump player Tian Houwei takes on Sai Praneeth of Hyderabad. Earlier in the day, Vincent Wong Wing Ki of Hong Kong pulled off a major coup over Hunters' trump player Lee Hyun Il of Korea in a pulsating contest. World No.15 Vincent, who came into the tie with two losses in ..
Shahzar Rizvi wins mens 10m air pistol gold at Nationals
Meerut's Shahzar Rizvi capped off a brilliant year by winning the mens 10m air pistol gold at the 61st National Shooting Championship, which concluded here today. Representing the Air Force, Shahzar won with a new finals national record score of 241.7, leaving the Armys Yashwant Singh in silver medal position with 237.7. Yashwants teammate Omprakash Mitherwal won bronze, shooting 218.0 in the finals. Earlier this year, Shahzar won gold at the Commonwealth Shooting Championships and team gold at the 10th Asian Airgun Championship in Japan as well. In the Nationals, he beat a 568 strong field, including the likes of Jitu Rai, who finished sixth in the final. Jitu however won the team event for his third gold of the tournament. His teammates were Mitherwal and Dharmendra Singh. In the junior mens 10m pistol, Anmol Jain of Haryana won gold in a new finals national record score of 244.1. Saurabh Choudhary of Uttar Pradesh and Pankaj Yadav of BSF won silver and bronze ...
Adapting to Kookaburra, bounce crucial for SA series: Bhuvneshwar
Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar said on Sunday that adapting to the Kookaburra ball and the bouncy wickets here will be crucial during the upcoming Test series against South Africa.
Man City's winning streak halted by Crystal Palace in 0-0 draw
Manchester City's extraordinary winning streak ended at 18 matches here on Sunday with a 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace in the 21st round of the English Premier League (EPL) football championship.
Rana vows to defeat Sushil in PWL
Upcoming star Parveen Rana has vowed to defeat Olympic double medallist Sushil Kumar and Uzbekistan star Bekzod Abdurakhmonov in the upcoming Pro Wrestling League (PWL) for his cancer-stricken mother.
Miku, Sunil on target as Bengaluru FC beat Blasters 3-1
Skipper Sunil Chettri was on target from the spot while the prolific Miku struck twice as Bengaluru FC thrashed Kerala Blasters 3-1 in an Indian Super League match, here today. Courage Pekuson pulled one back for the Blasters. The win took Bengaluru to third position on the table and in touching distance of league leaders Chennaiyin FC. The Blues could have easily scored more goals if not for some heroic goalkeeping by Subhasish Roy. He was called into action a number of times on either side of the break, and he kept his team in the contest. Albert Roca's side were in complete control of the game from the start. In the 35th minute of the game, Roy was put to test by Chhetri but he did enough to palm the strikers fierce shot away. At the other end, Kerala didn't have much going forward. The second half began much like the first. Roy was again called into action to save another Chhetri effort in the 50th minute. But 10 minutes later, a hand-ball by Sandesh Jhingan gave ...
Vidarbha take 233-run lead over Delhi in Ranji final
Akshay Wadkar spearheaded Vidarbha's rearguard action as they reached 528 for seven in their first innings, taking a commanding 233-run lead over Delhi on the third day of their Ranji Trophy cricket final at the Holkar Stadium here on Sunday.
Former Windies all-rounder Simmons is Afghan coach
Former West Indies all-rounder Phil Simmons has been appointed coach of Afghanistan as the country prepares for its first Test match, it was announced today. The war-torn nation was awarded Test status in June, along with Ireland. The appointment was announced on Twitter by the Afghanistan Cricket Board. The former opening batsman and medium-fast bowler, who retired in 2002, had previous coaching spells with Zimbabwe, Ireland and the West Indies. Simmons will now join the Afghanistan squad in Dubai as it prepares for a limited-overs series against Zimbabwe in Sharjah in February. Afghanistan will play their first Test match against India, where they play the majority of their home games, although a date has yet to be announced. They are seen as having a promising future with a talented bowling attack led by 19-year-old Rashid Khan. Khan has produced eye-catching performances in the world's top T20 leagues, most recently with a man-of-the-match display on his Big Bash ...
FIFA claims attempt to contact doping whistleblower Rodchenkov
FIFA tried to contact Russian whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov over accusations of doping in Russian football and will do so again after samples have been re-tested by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), world football's governing body told AFP. In an interview to the Associated Press, Rodchenkov's lawyer said his client had information that could be of interest but claimed FIFA had not made any attempt to contact the man who was the source of revelations about state- sponsored doping in the host nation of the 2018 World Cup. Contacted by AFP, FIFA said they had tried to get hold of Rodchenkov via WADA before November 22 this year, only to be told he was not available. Now FIFA are waiting for WADA's reanalysis of doping tests, which they expect to begin in mid-January. "The process is ongoing and FIFA will contact Dr Rodchenkov via the agreed channel when the time is right," world football's governing body said. Rodchenkov is the former director of the Moscow anti- ...
Emotional Rana vows to beat Sushil for cancer-stricken mother
An emotional Parveen Rana today vowed to beat his fierce rival Sushil Kumar in the upcoming Pro Wrestling League for his cancer-stricken mother, who he claimed was deeply hurt to learn about the out-of-the-ring attack on him by the Olympic medallist's followers. A wounded Rana is hungry for revenge against the double Olympic medallist after losing to him during trials for the Commonwealth Games. To add fuel to the fire, just after bitterly-fought bout, an ugly scuffle broke out between supporters of both the camps. Rana has alleged that Sushil's supporters beat him and his elder brother post the match for daring to take the mat against the former. "My mother is fighting against cancer right now. It's in the third stage but more than that she was really hurt to hear about the way I was attacked immediately after the bout," Rana said in a statement. "I am going to step into the PWL with her in mind, to avenge my unfair defeat," he added. The brawl took place minutes after .
Vitolo, Costa presented as new Atletico Madrid footballers
Victor Machin of Spain, better known as Vitolo, and countryman Diego Costa were presented as new footballers for Atletico Madrid at the capital club's Wanda Metropolitano stadium on Sunday.
Newlands pitch: Worst SA drought may lead to lack of bounce
The Indian team may not encounter the kind of bounce they are expecting from the Newlands track during the first Test against South Africa on January 5 as the worst drought in many years has made it difficult for the groundsmen to prepare a pitch that suits the home team. According to a report, people have been asked not to use more than 87 litres of water each per day. Newlands has borehole-water supply but groundsman Evan Flint told ESPNcricinfo that things could get tricky. "With the pitch, we've been able to carry on watering it as usual every day with borehole water. But the outfield, we've only watered it twice a week so it's a little bit drier and maybe not as lush as we would like it. "The challenge is that we need to leave live grass on the wicket, thin grass, so that there is pace, but we want to make sure the ball doesn't grip and turn. Ideally, what we need is a little bit of rain in the morning and then sun in the afternoon and I don't know how many days we ..
Bowling with Kookaburra will be a challenge: Bhuvneshwar
The extra bounce will be a welcome change but bowling with the red Kookaburra ball "will be a challenge" in the three-match Test series against South Africa, reckons India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. After a two-shift opening practice session yesterday, the Indian team practised indoors today due to wet and windy conditions at the Western Province Cricket Club (WPCC). The Indian pacers' focus as of now has been on bowling multiple long spells, which they will need to bowl in the series starting with first Test at Newlands from January 5. "The first thing that comes to the mind when you are touring South Africa is bouncy wickets. But that is no surety of what kind of pitch you would get in the game," said Bhuvneshwar in a media interaction. If it is about dealing with the bounce for batsmen, bowlers will have to make the adjustment for bowling with the Kookaburra. "When it comes to batsmen there is the bounce factor. But that is a factor for the bowlers too. The Kookaburra is
I have played some of my best tennis in last 3-4 months: Nagal
India's young gun Sumit Nagal says he is playing his "best tennis" for the last few months as he earned his debut on the ATP World Tour by qualifying for the inaugural Tata Open Maharashtra following a hard-fought win over seasoned Adrian Menendez-Maceiras, here today. In a gruelling second round qualifying match, the 20-year old Nagal prevailed 6-2 3-6 6-4 over world number 127 after battling hard for two hours and 21 minutes, saving nine of the 11 breakpoints he faced. Nagal had ended the 2017 on a high by winning the USD 100,000 Bengaluru Open and has carried the good form into fresh season. The Haryana born player, who won the junior Wimbledon doubles title in 2015, says he has worked on his game and it is showing in results. It was his fourth meeting with Adrian, having lost to the 32-year old in all three previous attempts. "Last year also when I lost to him, I lost from three match points. One point here and there and it could have been different result from last .
Injury woes for Delhi as Manan ruled out of remainder of final
If the day-long toil in the field was not enough, injury worries to key players Gautam Gambhir, Navdeep Saini and Manan Sharma further compounded Delhi's misery in the Ranji Trophy final against Vidarbha here. According to coach K P Bhaskar, left-arm spinner Manan will not be a part of the match anymore owing to a knee injury. He was seen with a bandaged knee after the end of the third day's play at the Holkar Stadium here. Manan got injured while diving on the boundary line at the start of Vidarbhas innings yesterday. Gambhir walked in the post-lunch session, holding his thumb, while the team's best bowler Saini has pulled a hamstring. While Manan was ruled out, Gambhir and Saini would turn up on the penultimate day tomorrow. Delhi were made to toil by a determined Vidarbha, gunning for their first title triumph, with the little-known Akshay Wadkar compiling his maiden century. Playing in his fifth match of first season, wicketkeeper Wadkar rose to the occasion and ...