Page 2244 - Sports
PNB, Indian Oil march into semi-finals
Delhi outfits, Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Indian Oil, both recorded big victories to advance into the semi-finals of the Union Bank of India-52nd Bombay Gold Cup All India Hockey Tournament here today. Former champions Indian Oil, after leading 4-0 at half-time, went on to drub Union Bank of India, Mumbai, 5-1, while last year's runners-up PNB produced a strong second half performance to crush a listless Western Railway, also from Mumbai, 5-0 after leading 1-0 at lemon time. In the semi finals, scheduled on Tuesday after a day's break tomorrow, PNB will clash with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Bengaluru, while Indian Oil will face off against defending champions South Central Railway, Secunderabad. Today, Indian Oil dished out a pleasing, attacking brand of hockey and had the Union Bank defense running around in circles. They opened the scoring in the third minute with Talwinder Singh scoring from a field effort and five minutes later Bharat Chikara doubled .
Simarjeet picks 6 as Delhi-23 bundle out Mumbai for 230
Delhi pacer Simarjeet Singh today picked a six-wicket haul to bundle out Mumbai for a paltry 230 in their first innings on the opening day of the final match of the U-23 Col C K Nayadu Trophy. Singh ran through the Mumbai batting line up to return with impressive figures of 6-73 as the opposition was skittled out in just 58 overs at the Mumbai Cricket Association's Bandra Kurla Complex ground here. In reply, Delhi made a flying start and ended the day at 140/1, just 90 runs adrift of the hosts' first innings total. Delhi openers Hiten Dalal (67) and Anuj Rawat (68 not out) notched up fifties. At stumps, Rawat had the company of Yash Sehrawat (1 not out). For Mumbai, only skipper Jay Bista (66) and H Tamore (53) shone with the bat as others made a beeline to the pavilion. Bista and Tamore stitched 119 for the first wicket but once the skipper departed, it was Delhi all along the way. One down Vaidik Murkar (26) showed some resistance but failed to convert his start into a
Young Arrows to face leaders Minerva Punjab tomorrow
A stern test awaits young Indian Arrows as they face table toppers Minerva Punjab in an away fixture of the Hero I-League at the Guru Nanak Stadium, here tomorrow. It will be a tough outing for the young Indian Arrows side comprising of Indian U-17 World Cup squad and Indian U-19 team members as they were on the receiving end when these two sides collided in Goa, thanks to William Opoku Asiedu's brilliant brace. Indian Arrows coach Luis Norton de Matos has clearly stretched that it's not the result that he is looking for but the development of the young side. His side had a reasonable 10 days break in order to prepare themselves for the upcoming challenge. When the Portuguese was asked about his team's preparation for the upcoming game he told media that he studied Minerva Punjab really well. "I again want to point out that we are not here to win or lose. We are here for the experience of the competitive matches. My team is very young. They are 18-year-old players and ..
Manoj, Sudeep dismissals peg Bengal back
Atrocious shot selection from skipper Manoj Tiwary and his deputy Sudeep Chatterjee saw Delhi take control of the proceedings, restricting Bengal to 273 for 7 on day one of the Ranji Trophy semifinal here. On a pitch where there was good carry but no demons, Bengal batsmen batted comfortably till they committed harakiri in the final session. Bengal were comfortably placed at 200 for 3 when a couple of innocuous deliveries from left-arm spinner Manan Sharma (2/37 in 13 overs) changed the complexion of the match. Having added 68 for the fourth wicket, Tiwary looking set on 30, decided to give Manan the charge. It was bowled with a flatter trajectory and Tiwary charged out. His intention was to loft the spinner over mid on but what he played was a chip shot. Himmat Singh took the easiest of catches at mid on. If that wasn't enough, Chatterjee, who was on 83 played an even more irresponsible shot in Manan's very next over which was the 65th of the innings. A rank half-tracker
Rohana cruise to four-shot win at 16th TATA Open
Sri Lankan Anura Rohana returned with a clinical two-under-69 in the final round to cruise to a four-shot victory at the 16th TATA Open here today. At the Rs. 1 crore event, Rohana totalled 19-under-265 for the week to grab his second title of the season at the pristine Golmuri Golf Course. The quintet of Kolkata-based golfers Viraj Madappa (66) and Raju Ali Mollah (70), Gurgaon's Manu Gandas (68), Delhi's Shamim Khan (69) and Noida's Vikrant Chopra (69) finished joint runners-up at 15-under-269. The 44-year-old Rohana 69-61-66-69), the overnight leader by three shots, marched to his fifth PGTI title after driving home the advantage on the final day with five birdies against two bogeys. Rohana, who won his fifth PGTI title along with a winning cheque of Rs. 15 lakh on Sunday, never looked in any sort of trouble on day four. Despite a bogey on the first hole he kept his lead with pars on the next seven and a birdie on the ninth. Rohana, who won on the PGTI in Pune earlier
Shrikrishna starts with easy win in 6-Red Snooker nationals
Tamil Nadu lad S Shrikrishna, the junior national champion, began his campaign in the qualifying rounds of the Phoenix Serene Spaces 7th National 6-Red snooker tournament here today with a 4-1 win over Shailender Dangwal. The local lad bounced back strongly after losing the first frame and registered a scintillating break of 69 in the fourth to stamp his authority. He won 25-34, 32-10, 53-0, 69 (69)-0, 50-11. The top-seed in the group, Shahbaz Khan of PSPB also made a break of 69 in the last frame of his match against Ramakanth to clinch it 4-1. Former Asian billiards champion Dhruv Sitwala of PSPB also defeated his opponent Johny Feroz 4-1 to progress to the next round. There were wins for Tamil Nadu players G Prabhu and Vadivel, who blanked their respective opponents by four frames to nil,showcasing a mix of impressive potting and safety play. In another match, Mohammed Shoaib Khan beat local favourite S A Saleem. All the top players in the qualifying rounds like senior
Australia poised to secure Ashes despite rain
Australia were confident rain would not deny them the Ashes despite play being abandoned early on the fourth day of the third Test against England in Perth on Sunday. The home side lead the five-Test series 2-0 and a win in the last-ever Ashes Test to be played at the WACA Ground would see them regain the urn, and at stumps on the fourth day they could smell victory despite the showers sweeping across Perth and predicted to continue into the final day's play. Trailing by 259 runs in the first innings after Australia declared at 662 for nine, England were 132 for four when stumps was called early after a rain-interrupted final session, with Dawid Malan on 28 and Jonny Bairstow on 14, still behind by 127 runs. Australian pacemen Josh Hazlewood, who claimed the wickets of opener Alastair Cook and Mark Stoneman said the home side didn't expect rain to stand in their way. "We've looked at it (weather forecast) a little bit," he said. "I think there is just some rain tomorrow .
Anjum bags women's 3P title, win 5th gold in Natl Shooting
Anjum Moudgil continued her impressive run and won both the individual and team gold in women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions at the 61st National Shooting Championship Competitions (61st NSCC), here today. On day five of the event at the National Games Shooting Range, Anjum representing Punjab, shot 457.6 in the eight- woman final to overcome Jammu and Kashmir's Shreya Saksena who shot 452.9 for silver. Raj Chaudhary of the Army won bronze with a score of 439.5. Having won the women's Rifle Prone and Mixed team titles on the previous days, today's two gold medals made it a total of five yellow metals for Anjum from the 61st NSCC so far. Anjum's current form can be illustrated by the fact that she topped the women's 3P qualifiers with a new national record score of 586. More experienced shooters such as Lajja Gauswami (second with 580) of Gujarat and former world champion Tejaswini Sawant (fifth with 578) of Maharashtra followed Anjum into the finals. Earlier, Anjum's qualifying
Aizawl hosts neighbours Lajong in I-League
The people of Aizawl will once again be there to cheer for their team as it prepares to face Shillong Lajong in Hero I-League here tomorrow. This will be Aizawl's last home game before Christmas and three points against Lajong will be a satisfactory Christmas present for their fans. Aizawl garnered maximum points in their last home game against Goan side Churchill Brothers, while the club from Meghalaya, Shillong Lajong managed a draw against the mighty Mohun Bagan in their last fixture. Speaking to the media at the pre-match conference, Lajong coach Bobby Nongbet, who is plying his trade in the league for the first season, expects his team to get three points against the home team. "It's my first season in I-League at the helm and I'm already feeling the heat. Aizawl has played very well in their last two matches but we will work hard and expect full three points. We will play an attacking football and I expect a good match against Aizawl," said Nongbet. Aizawl will be .
Sindhu loses in summit clash of Dubai Super Series Final
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu suffered another heart-wrenching defeat against World No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan to finish as runner-up at the Dubai Super Series Final here today. In the prestigious season-ending tournament finale, Sindhu played her hearts out before going down fighting 21-15 12-21 19-21 to Yamaguchi in an energy-sapping summit clash that lasted an hour and 31 minutes. It was Sindhu's third loss in a major final, following her narrow defeats at the Rio Olympics and Glasgow World Championship. Coming into the match with a 5-2 head-to-head record, Sindhu, who had defeated Yamaguchi on Friday in the last group match, failed to outlast the diminutive Japanese, who showed better precision and athleticism to clinch the title. The 22-year-old Indian, who is playing her fourth Super Series final of the year, thus could not surpass Saina Nehwal, who had reached the final in 2011 and mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju, who also ended runners-up ..
'Symbol of Gold' wins the main race
Three-years-old, 'Symbol of Gold' ably ridden B R Kumar won the 1 Eme Centre Rolling Trophy, the chief event of Hyderabad Winter Races held here today. Winner was trained by Arjun Anne. Triners D Netto and Arjun Ane scored a double each. Two first favourites obliged in a card of eight events.
Perth, Dec 17 (AFP) Scoreboard at stumps on day four in
Scoreboard at stumps on day four in the third Ashes Test in Perth today: England first innings 403 Australia first innings C Bancroft lbw b Overton 25 D Warner c Bairstow b Overton 22 U Khawaja lbw b Woakes 50 S Smith lbw b Anderson 239 S Marsh c Root b Ali 28 M Marsh lbw b Anderson 181 T Paine not out 49 M Starc run out 1 P Cummins lbw b Anderson 41 N Lyon c Ali b Anderson 4 Extras (b4, lb16, nb1, w1) 22 Total (for nine wickets; 179.3 overs) 662 Fall of wickets: 1-44, 2-55, 3-179, 4-248, 5-549, 6-560, 7-561, 8-654, 9-662 Bowling: Anderson 37.3-9-116-4, Broad 35-3-142-0, Woakes 41-8-128-1, Overton 24-1-110-2, Ali 33-4-120-1, Root 3-0-13-0, Malan 6-1-13-0. England second innings A Cook c and b Hazlewood 14 M Stoneman c Paine b Hazlewood 3 J Vince b Starc 55 J Root c Smith b Lyon 14 D Malan batting 28 J Bairstow batting 14 Extras (lb4) 4 Total (for four wickets; 38.2 overs) 132 Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-29, 3-60, 4-100 Bowling: Starc 10-3-32-1, Hazlewood 9-3-23-2, M Marsh 3- 1-14-0, .
Tharanga completes 1,000 runs in 2017
Sri Lanka opener Upul Tharanga joined India batsmen Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in scoring 1,000 runs in One-day Internationals this year during the course of his 95 in the third and final ODI here today. He became the first Sri Lanka batsman since Tillakaratne Dilshan in 2015 to achieve the milestone. Tharanga has enjoyed a fantastic 2017 despite Sri Lanka losing 22 out of 28 ODIs in the year. He has scored 1,011 runs from 25 matches and an equal number of innings at an average of 48.14. In the series against South Africa, he smashed 119 in Cape Town and averaged 37.8 in the series. Although he suffered a dip in the home series against India, Tharanga blasted 112 against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi to end the series with an average of 49.75. The left-hander has two centuries and six fifties in the year. Indian ace Kohli leads the charts with 1,460 runs in 26 matches while Sharma has 1,286 runs in 21 matches. Both have scored six centuries.
India women blank Bhutan 3-0 in SAFF U-15 opener
India outclassed Bhutan 3-0 in the opening match of the inaugural SAFF U-15 Championship being held at the Mohammad Mostofa Kamal Stadium in Dhaka, today. In a completely one-sided encounter, Kritina, Priyanka and Pratiksha scored for India in the fourth, 11th and 19th minutes respectively to put an end to Bhutan's hopes. India scored as early as in the fourth minute with Kritina breaking the deadlock. What followed was a flurry of attacks with Priyanka doubling the lead in the 11th minute. Defender Pratiksha too etched her name on the score sheet after she piled on Bhutan's misery with another goal in the 19th minute. After grabbing all three points, India will next face Nepal on December 19.
Sri Lanka collapse to 215 all out after Tharanga's 95
Sri Lanka collapsed to 215 all out from a promising 160 for two in the third and final ODI against India, undoing the good work done by opener Upul Tharanga. Spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal shared three wickets each for India as Sri Lanka squandered a blistering start provided by Tharanga (95 off 82). The wicket offered decent turn for the spinners but the visitors failed to apply themselves, losing the last five wickets in the space of 18 runs and the last eight for 55 runs. Put in to bat by India captain Rohit Sharma, Sri Lanka were cruising with Tharanga and Sadeera Samarawickrama (42) sharing a 121-run stand for the second wicket after Danushka Gunathilaka (13) fell in the fourth over. Tharanga played some superb shots and was not afraid to hit aerial. The southpaw hit all his three sixes off Chahal, who otherwise was the best bowler on show with his drift and turn troubling the batsmen. Tharanga played fluent drives and flicks as he forged a fruitful ...
13 wickets fell on Day 1 as Kar-Vid semi hangs in balance
Abhimanyu Mithun claimed a third five-for of the season as Vidarbha collapsed for 185 before Karnataka were left reeling at 36 for three on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy semi-final, here today. Mithun returned with brilliant figures of 16-6-45-5, his 11th five-wicket haul, and was finely aided by skipper R Vinay Kumar (2/36) as Karnataka bundled out Vidarbha under 200 in 61.4 overs. But the eight-time Ranji champions were tottering at 36 for three in 14 overs when bad light stopped play. Karnataka still trail Vidarbha by 149 runs with four days play still remaining. Young Rajneesh Gurbani (2/9) put up a fine display of pace bowling under the shadow of Umesh Yadav (1/22) as 13 wickets fell on the eventful opening day on a green Eden top. Karnataka's in-form openers R Samarth and Mayank Agarwal returned to the pavilion with the scoreboard reading 21, while D Nischal was cleaned up for a duck in his comeback match after being beaten by a nice pace variation by ...
Milkha Singh advocates resumption of Indo-Pak sporting ties
Sprint legend Milkha Singh today advocated resumption of sporting ties between India and Pakistan, as sports help in developing friendship between countries. "In sports, our teams should go there (Pakistan) and their teams should come here," Singh said. He was talking to reporters here in the state capital, after flagging off a half marathon race. "I would ask both Pakistan and India that it would be better if they live with love and affection... We should play games as much as possible as sports help in developing friendship," Singh said.
Sri Lanka 215 all out in series decider
Sri Lanka collapsed to 215 all out against India in the third and final ODI here today. Brief scores: Sri Lanka 215 all out in 44.5 overs (Tharanga 95; Chahal 3/46, Yadav 3/42).
India win 10 medals in Wushu Sanda Asian Cup
India bagged as many as 10 medals in the first Wushu Sanda Asian Cup that concluded in Guangzhou, China today. Praveen (48kg), Mukesh Chaoudhary (70kg), Rajender Singh (90kg), Arunpama Devi (60kg) and Vishakhaptnam Malik (70kg) won five silver medals for India. Besides, India also bagged five bronze medals through Uchit Sharma (52kg), L Budhdhachandra Singh (56kg), Rajani Deori (75kg), Y Sanathoi Devi (52kg), and Pooja Kadian (65kg). According to information received here, Rajvir Singh was the coach of the Indian contingent.
Bekele, Degitu make it all Ethiopian win at Kolkata 25K run
World record holder in 5000m and 10,000m, Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia made an effortless transition to 25km running as he won the TSK 25K elite men's race here today. Degitu Azimeraw then made it an all-Ethiopian affair by winning the 25K elite women's category with a timing of 1 hour 26 minutes and 01 seconds. In the elite national section, 21-year-old Maharashtra runner Avinash Sable set a course record of 1:15:17, bettering the previous mark set by G Lakshmanan who came third in 1:17:13, which also was better than the last edition's timing. Kalidas Hirave came second in 1:16:18 as all the three of them bettered 2016 course record of 1:17:23. In the elite women's national section, L Suriya won the race with a timing of 1:26:53, getting past Sudha Singh's course record of 1:27:31. Manju Yadav came second in 1:32:51, while Jhuma Khatun came third in 1:32:58. A winner of eight gold medals in Olympic and World Championships, Bekele had made a perfect marathon debut winning