Page 2239 - Sports

Thampi has ammunition for T20 success: Karthik

India's Dinesh Karthik today had some encouraging words for Basil Thampi, saying the young Kerala pacer has the "ammunition" to achieve success in T20 Internationals. The 24-year-old had earlier impressed West Indian allrounder Dwayne Bravo with his exploits in the IPL for Gujarat Lions. "He's a very, very good talent. He's sharp, he bowls quick and is somebody who can execute yorkers very consistently, and that's probably one of his biggest strengths," Karthik said on the eve of the first T20 between India and Sri Lanka here. "He has a good slower ball as well. He has all the ammunition required to play the T20 format and I'm sure he will do really well," he added. The latest pacer to come from Kerala, Thampi had a perfect IPL debut for Gujarat Lions, taking 11 wickets in 12 games with a best of 3/29 to be adjudged 'Emerging Player of 2017'. He bowled yorkers at will and Bravo was quick to notice the youngster's talent. "I would say he will get the opportunity to play .

PBL: Hyderabad Hunters' hopes rest on Marin, Le Hyun, Seong

Hyderabad Hunters will count on their star power, led by former World No. 1 Lee Hyun Il, Olympic gold medallist Carolina Marin and feared doubles player Yoo Yeon Seong, to win this edition of the Vodafone Premier Badminton League (PBL), Indian B. Sai Praneeth said on Tuesday.

Satish keeps Vidarbha afloat in Ranji Trophy semis

Middle-order batsman Ganesh Satish cracked a defiant unbeaten 71 to keep Vidarbha afloat in the Ranji Trophy semi-final against heavyweights Karnataka by taking a 79-run lead and posting 195/4 at stumps on the third day here on Tuesday.

I owe my life to Gautam Gambhir: Saini

Soon after his decimation of Bengal in the Ranji Trophy semi-final, Delhi pacer Navdeep Saini today said he owes his "life and success" to former India opener Gautam Gambhir. The young speedster bowled one of the most devastating spells of recent times in Indian domestic cricket as Delhi humiliated Bengal by an innings and 26 runs to enter the Ranji Trophy final. "I owe this life and my success to Gautam Gambhir. I was a nobody and Gautam bhaiyaa did everything for me," Saini said today. Saini was full of gratitude for the veteran opener who gave him chance in first-class cricket. The pacer was supposed to go to South Africa as a net bowler, but Ankit Rajpoot of UP is being sent instead. "I was happy that I would go to South Africa but I called up Gautam bhaiyya. He said Delhi needs you now for the semi- final and if you do well, you will be automatically in that Indian dressing room. I didn't think twice," said Saini. After taking Delhi to the Ranji Trophy final with a .

Ramkumar, Yuki have potential to be top-100 players: Amritraj

Indian tennis great Vijay Amritraj today said youngsters Ramanathan Ramkumar and Yuki Bhambri had improved a lot this year and have the potential to be top-100 players. "They (Ram and Yuki) have done well this year. Ram has definitely improved, no question. They have it in them to be in the top 100. The next two years will be crucial for them," he told PTI here. Amritraj said he got to watch Ramkumar play in Kolkata a few days ago. "He has got better and is maturing. There are many areas in which he can improve," he said. A lot of his progress will depend on how committed and determined he is, the former Davis Cupper, who launched the Vijay Amritraj Reserve collection of wine here, said. Indian players tend to mature late and are at their best probably between 27 and 32, he said. "Indian players tend to mature physically in their late 20s. If you have an attacking game by then, like Ram and Yuki do, it makes a difference when you are physically stronger. Their best years

ISL: Win-hungry NorthEast United face Mumbai City (Preview)

Having picked up just four points from their opening five games in the fourth season of the Indian Super League (ISL), NorthEast United FC will be hungry to log a win against Mumbai City FC here on Wednesday.

Sarah, Yadav score upset wins

Maharashtra's Sarah Vethekar and Avinash Yadav scored upset wins over higher ranked Diksha Aurobindo and Navaneeth Prabhu, both of Tamil Nadu, respectively in the 74th CCI-Western India Open Squash Tournament here today. Sarah, seeded 5/8, rallied to a hard-earned 3-11, 12-10, 12-10, 11-9 win over Diksha, seeded 3/4, to enter the girls under-15 semi-finals. Yadav, also seeded 5/8, won a gripping contest when he stunned Prabhu, ranked 3/4, 8-11, 11-13, 13-11, 11-9, 11-9 in a well-contested match to advance to the boys under-17 semi-finals. In women's quarter finals, Urwashi Joshi, Aparajita Balamurukan and Sachika Balvani scored straight-game victories while Amruta Swami got a walk-over. Results (All Quarter finals): Women: Urwashi Joshi bt Sanika Choudhari 11-4, 11-6, 11-4; Amruta Swami w/o Shaheen Madraswala; Aparajitha Balamurukan bt Riya Sisodia 11-3, 11-4, 11-4; Sachika Balvani bt Shailly Padiya 11-6, 11-3, 11-0. Boys U-11: Ekambir Singh bt Kavya Anand 11-2, 11-4, ..

Pakistan hockey coach resigns

The Pakistan hockey team's head coach Farhat Khan today stepped down after less than six months in the position following the team's debacles in the Asia Cup and the four-nation invitational event in Australia. However, the former Olympian said he had resigned due to personal reasons. "I can't spare time from my duties in Pakistan Customs where I have got a promotion recently. I just didn't feel I could do justice to the important job of coaching the national team," Farhat said. His resignation comes just hours after it was revealed that the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) was looking at hiring a foreign coach with former German captain and Olympic gold medallist, Christian Blunck, the prime candidate under consideration for the job. Blunck a versatile midfielder spearheaded Germany to a gold medal in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. However, he has never coached any team from any country. Farhat was brought in as head coach in July after Pakistan fared badly in the

BPCL to clash with Indian Oil in Gold Cup final

Internationals Affan Yousuf and Mohammed Amir Khan struck timely hat-tricks to guide respective outfits Indian Oil, Delhi, and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Mumbai, into the final of the 52nd Bombay Gold Cup Hockey Tournament here today. Yousuf's three-in-row strike followed by drag-flick expert and captain V Raghunath's late essay helped IOL pip defending champions South Central Railway 4-3 in a well-contested second semi-final at the MHAL-Mahindra Stadium. For SCR, who trailed 0-2 before equalising and then were again 2-3 down before getting the second equaliser, the goal-getters were Raju Pal (2) and M G Poonacha. Earlier, Amir Khan scored thrice in the first half as BPCL outplayed Punjab National Bank, Delhi, 5-2 with the other second half goals for the winners, who led 3-1 at the breather, being notched by Tushar Khandkar and Varun Kumar. For the Delhi bankmen, Gagandeep Jr and Navin got into the scoresheet. The final between three-time champions BPCL and ...

Tendulkar's son claims five-for as Mumbai beat Railways

Batting great Sachin Tendulkar's son, Arjun, clicked with the ball for the third time in age- group cricket this season, his five-wicket haul paving the way for Mumbai's win over Railways in the U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy. Arjun had picked up a fifer against Madhya Pradesh three weeks ago and later picked up a four-for against Assam. He had remained wicket-less in the first innings, returning figures of 0-23, but came back strongly in the second to take five wickets at the Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana in suburban Kandivili. Arjun, a promising left-arm pacer, grabbed 5 for 44 in 11 overs as Mumbai bundled out Railways for 136 in their second innings to win the match by an innings and 103 runs. Electing to bat, Mumbai had posted 389 courtesy a double century by Yashavi Bhupender Jaiswal in their first innings. They bowled out Railways for 150 with A Vashishtha taking eight wickets for 30 runs. He picked the first four batsmen of Railways and then the ninth wicket to complete his .

Vidarbha fight against Karnataka

Ganesh Satish's unbeaten half- century and a brisk 49 from Apoorv Wankhade helped Vidarbha wipe out the first-innings deficit and go ahead by 79 runs in their Ranji Trophy semifinal against Karnataka here today. The third day's play ended with Vidarbha reaching 195 for four. At stumps, Satish was going strong on 71 while Akshay Wadkar was batting on 19. Sreenath Aravind was the pick of the Karnataka bowlers, claiming two wickets. The 83-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Satish and Wankhade ensured Vidarbha get some runs to defend. After losing in-form opener Faiz Fazal -- the second highest run getter in Ranji trophy this season -- for a duck, their innings was somewhat steadied by the experienced Wasim Jaffer (33). Aravind was hitting the deck hard with his in-dippers, and they were troubling the batsmen a lot. The pressure finally paid off with the wicket of Jaffer. Aravind got the most important wicket of Jaffer, who was looking set for a big one, and the .

All India Women's Railway Hockey Championship from Dec 28

All India Womens Railway Hockey Championship will be held in Ranchi from December 28 to January 2. The Ranchi Railway division will host the championship in which nine teams will participate, senior railway officials said here today at a media meet. The matches will be held at the state-of-the-art SERSA Astro-turf Hockey Stadium at Hatia. Fourteen Olympians ---Poonam Rani, Nikki Pradhan, Navjot Kaur, Sushila Channu, Deepika Thakur, Lilima Minz, Monika, Rajni Etimarpu, Namita Toppo, Anuradha Devi, Vandana Kataria, Sunita Lakra, Renuka Yadav and Deepgrace Ekka will be seen in action in the tournament. Divisional Railway Manager Vijay Kumar Gupta, ADRM (Infrastructure) A S Yadav, ADRM (Operation) Vijay Kumar, Divisional Material Manager Sumit Sinha and Senior Divisional Operational Manager Niraj Kumar addressed the media meet.

India thrash Nepal 10-0 in SAFF U-15 Women's Championship

India produced a superlative performance as they scored five goals in each half to thump Nepal 10-0 in a totally one-sided group encounter of the ongoing SAFF U-15 Women's Championship at Dhaka, Bangladesh on Tuesday.Hattricks by Priyanka Devi and Sunita Munda was complimented by a brace from Lynda Kom, with goals from Santhiya and Anay Bayi completing the rout.Lynda Kom had opened the scoring in the fourth minute as India went on to pile the pressure on their northern neighbours. But the scoreline didn't reflect the dominance until Lynda opened the floodgate with her second strike in the 32nd minute.The final third half of the first half saw three more goals being pumped into the Nepal net as Sunita Munda, Santhiya and Priyanka Devi etched their names on the scoresheet with goals in the 33rd, 40th and 43rd minute respectively. Nepal had a chance of their own but they missed their penalty opportunity as the teams went 5-0 into half time.Contrary to expectations, India didn't let the ..

India thrash Nepal 10-0 in SAFF Championships

Priyanka Devi and Sunita Munda struck hat-tricks as India's under-15 women's football team scored five goals in each half to thump Nepal 10-0 in the SAFF Championship here today. Hat-tricks by Priyanka Devi and Sunita Munda was complimented by a brace from Lynda Kom, with goals from Santhiya and Anay Bayi completing the rout. Lynda Kom had opened the scoring in the fourth minute as India went on to pile the pressure on their northern neighbours. But the scoreline didn't reflect the dominance until Lynda opened the floodgate with her second strike in the 32nd minute. The first half also saw three more goals being pumped into the Nepal net as Sunita Munda, Santhiya and Priyanka Devi etched their names on the scoresheet with goals in the 33rd, 40th and 43rd minute respectively. Nepal had a chance of their own but they missed their penalty opportunity as the teams went 5-0 into half time. India didn't let the foot off the pedal in the second half as Priyanka got her second ..

Youngsters are very excited to play for India: Dinesh Karthik

Indian batsman Dinesh Karthik on Tuesday lauded the young players for grabbing opportunities and are excited to play for India.Addressing a press conference, Karthik said, "It's a great opportunity for the young boys to come in and play for us. This is the first time and a very long time, the youngsters are playing in the team."Karthik also thanked the Indian selectors for giving them the opportunity to play for India."These are very exciting times for them (youngsters). Lots of guys are having Indian Premier League (IPL) experience and seniors are there to guide them. The youngsters are confident to play at the international level", added Karthik.On being asked about the constant experimenting of the team squad, Karthik explained, "That is the selectors' decision. We are trying out new players and assessing them that how they would react to a situation, whether it's ODIs or T20s. This (T20 series) is also a platform for the young guys to go out and show their talent."The left-handed .

Complex scheduling issues but no alternative: Gopichand

National badminton coach Pullela Gopichand today acknowledged the "complex" scheduling issues faced by Indian shuttlers but conceded that there was no alternative in sight to deal with them. The debate on scheduling kicked off after the legendary Prakash Padukone recently observed that the Indian players were "definitely playing more tournaments than required". Gopichand said there was a need to "space the tournaments well" but also went on to list the complexities involved. "Scheduling affects the entire world, not just India. But the fact that we have the Commonwealth and Asian Games, which are important, makes it a lot more complex for India," Gopichand told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of a sports foundation here. "European countries are not playing in the CWG or the Asian Games. But there is no alternative (for us), we have to adjust. You keep training during travelling," he said. Asked if India should consider sending a second-string team for CWG to give

Sizzling Saini takes Delhi into Ranji final

Young speedster Navdeep Saini bowled one of the most devastating spells of recent times in Indian domestic cricket as Delhi humiliated Bengal by an innings and 26 runs to enter the Ranji Trophy final. In one of the most hostile spells bowled in recent times, Saini (12-3-35-4) intimated the Bengal batting as they were all out for 86 in 24.3 overs in their second innings. He was ably supported by left-arm pacer Kulwant Khejroliya (8.3-9-40 -4). This was after Mohammed Shami bowled his heart out to take 6 for 122 in 39 overs to bowl out Delhi for 398. Having kept the lead down to 112 runs, Bengal were expected to put up a fight, but ran into Saini -- a serious India prospect -- who unnerved the batsmen with raw pace. He followed the 'bible' for fast bowlers -- 'top of off stump' -- something the Australian legend Glenn McGrath had mastery over. Saini, who is certain to don India whites in 2018, followed it religiously as Bengal batsmen didn't have a clue as to what he was ..

U23 C K Nayudu Tourney: Delhi need 115 runs to win

Delhi needed another 115 runs to emerge victorious in the U23 Col C K Nayudu Tournament after they bundled out Mumbai for 267 in their second innings on the third day of the four-day final played here. Set a target of 238, Delhi were cruising at 123/2 at stumps on day three with wicket-keeper Anuj Rawat (68 not out) and Jonty Sidhu (15) at the crease. Their opener Hiten Dalal (1) could not score big. In the first innings Mumbai were bundled out for 230, while Delhi had managed to post 260/9 declared on the board. Mumbai, who were teetering at 105/4 in the second innings, managed to post 267 on the board, courtesy an impressive 63 by Siddarth Akre, who walked into bat at number seven. A A Sardesai (45), S Z Mulani (36) and Sairaj Patil (33) also chipped in to help Mumbai go-beyond the 225-run-mark. But all other batsmen had a horrible time in the middle. Delhi pacer Gourav Kumar wreaked havoc on the Mumbai batting line-up to return with 4-87. Another pacer Simarjeet ...

Delhi thrash Bengal to reach Ranji Trophy final

Delhi thrashed Bengal by an innings and 26 runs within three days to storm into the final of the Ranji Trophy 2017-18 at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Tuesday.

Aubameyang is Dortmund coach Stoeger's biggest challenge

New Borussia Dortmund chief coach Peter Stoeger is said to be a specialist when humanity is part of the problem. You rarely hear him talk about his footballers' imperfection and weaknesses in public. Being appointed as new coach of the eight-time German champions a few days ago, the Austrian is facing the maybe biggest challenge of his career as he is expected to ease the tensions around their most colourful performer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.