Page 228 - Sports
Bloodied Malaysia exit Sudirman Cup after freak injury
Malaysian badminton player Teo Ee Yi was bloodied and shaken after his doubles partner accidentally smashed him in the face with his shin during their Sudirman Cup quarter-final defeat to Japan on Friday. The 26-year-old lay prone on the court floor for nearly 10 minutes with a gashed chin, blood pouring down his neck, with the men's doubles clash against top seeds Japan locked at 19-19 in the deciding game. Teo suffered the injury after he and playing partner Ong Yew Sin both dived in an attempt to retrieve the same shot, and Ong's trailing left leg caught Teo in the face. Although Teo eventually climbed off the floor to continue with a large bandage on his chin, the Malaysian duo appeared to have lost their edge. They saved a second match point against Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda, but could not ultimately prevent going down to a dramatic defeat spread over 95 thrilling minutes. Teo afterwards refused to blame the attritional three-game loss on the injury, but said: "It's quite a
Latham to miss Saturday's warm up game against India
New Zealand wicket keeper Tom Latham will miss the team's warm-up matches, owing to a finger injury, and will be replaced by uncapped Tom Blundell, captain Kane Williamson said. With the World Cup just around the corner, New Zealand have been forced to deal with injury concerns. "Tom won't be available for the first two warm-up games," Williamson confirmed at the Captains' Day conference. New Zealand are slated to clash with India on Saturday before taking on West Indies on May 28 in run up to tournament-proper. The 27-year-old Latham had picked up a finger injury during the final warm-up match against Australia before flying to the UK for the World Cup. "We are hoping he progresses nice and quickly and we will have to address it as the days go by," the skipper added. However, if the left-hand batsman will be available for the New Zealand's opening match against Sri Lanka on June 1, is still unclear.
Kohli, Buttler, Warner: Waugh's top 3 batsmen for WC
Former Australia skipper Steve Waugh has picked the top three batsmen he would be looking forward to in the upcoming World Cup beginning on May 30 in England and Wales.
Confident Bangladesh set to test top sides at World Cup
From minnows to giant-killers to a serious force from sub-continent, the ascendancy of passion-driven Bangladesh has indeed created a buzz in the cricketing circle, making them a side to watch out for in the upcoming World Cup. The evolution of Bangladesh is uncontested and the heavyweights are aware that the 'passionate Tigers' pose a serious threat to them. A testimony of that is their five ODI series victories in a row -- against Pakistan, India, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan -- between April 2015 and October 2016. Ahead of the quadrennial event too, they received a huge shot in the arms when they defeated West Indies in a rain-hit final to clinch the tri-nation ODI series at Dublin last week. It was their first triumph in a multi-nation tournament after reaching six ODI finals in the last 10 years, a feat that will give Mashrafe Mortaza's men the right impetus going into the showpiece event. It will be fifth and last ICC World Cup for the 35-year-old Mortaza, who had led .
Sudirman Cup: Japan beat Malaysia to advance to last 4
Top-seed Japan, who defeated Russia 3-2 and edged Thailand 4-1 during group stage, swept Malaysia 3-0 to qualify for the semi-finals of the ongoing Sudirman Cup, here on Friday.
Pjanic feels Allegri 'make everything work in the best way'
Juventus midfielder Miralem Pjanic has hailed the club's departing manager Massimiliano Allegri for making everything work in the 'best way.'"We are a fantastic group and I have to congratulate our coach, who has always managed to make everything work in the best way," Goal.com quoted Pjanic, as saying."With him, we managed to win. In football you always have to work to improve, I have always had this mentality," he added.Despite having Cristiano Ronaldo on their side, Juventus failed to claim the Champions League title this season as they faced a 1-2 defeat in the second leg of the quarter-final after the first leg concluded on a 1-1 draw.Talking about Ronaldo, Pjanic said: "His concentration levels have always been out of the ordinary, both when things are going well and also when that is not the case."The Bosnia-Herzegovina international also talked about playing for Bosnia instead of France."I left my country, Bosnia, very young because of the coming war. I lived in Luxembourg, a .
Enrique Cerezo uncertain regarding Antoine Griezmann's stay in Atletico Madrid
President of Atletico Madrid, Enrique Cerezo, said that it is Antoine Griezmann's decision on whether he wants to say 'goodbye or not' to the club."Griezmann, I do not know if he wants to say goodbye or not, the truth is that I do not know. The farewell depends on Griezmann, who is the one who leaves. If he wants to say goodbye, he will say goodbye," Goal.com quoted Cerezo, as saying.The French footballer joined the club in 2014 and won the Europa League, UEFA Super Cup and Supercopa de Espana with Atletico Madrid. However, the 28-year-old announced on May 15 that he will leave the club after the end of the season.Despite saying that it is Griezmann's discretion about the future with the club, Cerezo feels that there is no chance of Griezmann staying back, calling his announcement 'irreversible'."It is irreversible. The only thing I tell him is that he has a lot of luck where he goes. And, that at least they treat him as we have treated him here," he said.Atletico Madrid finished ...
Number 4 the focus as India face NZ in warm-up at Kennigton Oval
Armed with pedigree, personnel and form, favourites India will look to hit the ground running when they face New Zealand in their opening warm-up game of the World Cup here Saturday. However, with India yet to clear the haze of confusion over the number four position, it will be much more than a ritual of allowing one top-order batsman after another -- behemoths in their own right -- a hit in the middle. The outing at the Kennigton Oval will go beyond experimenting with their highly skilled bowling attack, and quite a bit of focus will be on K L Rahul and Vijay Shankar, contenders for the number four slot. Dubbed the most challenging World Cup ever owing to a format that is a throwback to the 1992 edition, Virat Kohli's team still arrived at the United Kingdom confident of adding to its two titles in the International Cricket Council's (ICC) showpiece event. India won the tournament in 1983 and 2011. Kohli's men, second behind England in the one-day international rankings, will start .
Was ready to walk away after WT20 controversy: Harmanpreet
Harmanpreet Kaur, captain of the women's T20 India team, has revealed that she was "ready to walk away from the game" after the controversy that erupted in the 2018 Women's World T20 tournament.
Doping cheat Armstrong says he 'wouldn't change a thing
Disgraced former American cyclist Lance Armstrong says he wouldn't change a thing about the reign of doping that led to him being stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles. All of Armstrong's titles between 1999 and 2005 were vacated by the International Cycling Union six years ago. "I wouldn't change a thing. I wouldn't change the way I acted," Armstrong said in excerpts of an interview with American broadcaster NBC Sports that will air on May 29. "I mean I would, but this is a longer answer. "Primarily, I wouldn't change the lessons that I've learned. I don't learn all the lessons if I don't act that way. I don't get investigated and sanctioned if I don't act the way I acted. "If I just doped and didn't say a thing, none of that would have happened. None of it. I was begging for, I was asking for them to come after me. It was an easy target." Armstrong has largely been shunned by the international cycling world since being exposed as a doping cheat. He was issued with a ...
Nadal, Federer set up potential semifinal at French Open
Eleven-time winner Rafael Nadal and Swiss great Roger Federer are slotted in the bottom half of men's singles and could meet in the semifinals of the upcoming French Open starting Sunday.
After World T20 controversy, Harmanpreet wanted to take a break from international cricket
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur has revealed that she wanted to take an indefinite break from the game because of the controversy that followed the World T20 in the West Indies. The team management and Harmanpreet took a collective call to drop senior player Mithali Raj for the semifinal against eventual runners-up England, triggering a massive controversy that led to divisions in the team and ouster of coach Ramesh Powar. Harmanpreet played the Women's Big Bash League right after the World T20 in November but back home the talk of unrest in the team and her strained relationship with ODI captain Mithali gathered more steam. She was fed up with it before the New Zealand tour began under new coach W V Raman. And then came the ankle injury that gave her a "much needed" break from the Indian dressing room. "It (the injury) gave me a much needed break from international cricket and the Indian dressing room. I had almost made up my mind to let my parents know that I wanted to take a break. .
Onus on Williamson to lead NZ to first WC title (SWOT)
If there's one team which has remained consistent in the last four-five editions of the World Cup, it is New Zealand. Under Brendon McCullum, the Black Caps made it to the finals in the last edition of the showpiece event where they faced a heart-wrenching defeat against Australia.
I would unsettle Bumrah by rotating the strike: Lara
Hypothetical as it may sound, picture this. The current no.1 ODI bowler in the world Jasprit Bumrah marking his run-up as the legendary Brian Charles Lara takes guard. Having seen the former West Indies skipper bat over the years against the likes of Allan Donald, Glenn McGrath and Wasim Akram among others, one would expect a high-voltage clash on the pitch as Lara was always known to take the attack to the opposition bowlers, be it pace or spin. But the maestro reveals otherwise.
Asghar Afghan is still my captain: Gulbadin Naib
Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib, who was given the leadership duty for one-day international (ODI) cricket in early April succeeding Asghar Afghan, said the latter is still his captain."Asghar Afghan is still my captain. We played our last few games against Ireland and Scotland, and he helped me a lot. He guided me. He's not just another player for me, he's still my captain right now," ICC quoted Naib as saying.Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) had removed Afghan as the national team's captain and named three different captains across three formats. Naib was given the charge for ODI while Rahmat Shah and Rashid Khan were given the charge for Test side and T20I, respectively.However, the move was criticised by many including their spinning duo Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi.Naib, who led the team in their recent maiden Test victory against Ireland, said that the captain can be anyone but the team have just one goal and that is playing for their country."I want support from him. Not just
Alexander Zverev advances to semis of Geneva Open
Top-seeded German Alexander Zverev edged past Bolivia's Hugo Dellien 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the semifinals of the Geneva Open and stay in the running for his first title of 2019.
WC: Tom Latham to miss warm-up games due to injury
Wicketkeeper-batsman Tom Latham will miss New Zealand's World Cup warm-up matches against India and West Indies due to injury, skipper Kane Williamson has confirmed.
Jos Buttler: England's destroyer in chief
Jos Buttler's ability to single-handedly change the course of matches is a key reason why tournament hosts England head into the World Cup as favourites to win it for the first time. The 28-year-old has hit five of the fastest 10 one-day international hundreds ever scored by an England batsman. In a format in which fielding restrictions apply, Buttler's uncanny ability to innovate and score runs in all areas makes him an especially dangerous opponent. England fast bowler Jofra Archer found himself up against some of the world's best batsmen during the recent Indian Premier League but he still reckoned his most difficult challenge was bowling to Rajasthan Royals teammate Buttler in training. "The best player I faced was Jos Buttler in the nets," said Archer. "He is a 360 (degree) cricketer. He can hit you straight down the ground or over the 'keeper's head. I don't think anywhere is safe with him." It was a point emphasised by Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur following Buttler's blistering
'World Cup dreams' - Lippi back as China coach, four months after leaving
Marcello Lippi was back as coach of China on Friday, four months after the World Cup winner quit and following a failed stint by fellow Italian Fabio Cannavaro. The 71-year-old Lippi's return to the top job in Chinese football had been widely tipped in domestic media and will be welcomed by fans. Lippi, who vacated the role after China were dumped out of the Asian Cup quarter-finals 3-0 by Iran in late January, is tasked with guiding the team to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. China have reached the World Cup only once, in 2002, when they exited without a point or scoring a goal. "Since Lippi coached the national team, they have shown a positive and tenacious fighting spirit," the Chinese Football Association (CFA) said. "We believe that in the days to come, under the leadership of Lippi and his coaching team, the national men's side will make a full impact on their World Cup dreams." China sit a lowly 74th in the FIFA rankings, a rung above Cape Verde -- whose population is 550,000, ...
Sangakkara laments Sri Lanka's 'chaotic' build-up to World Cup
Kumar Sangakkara hopes Sri Lanka can somehow overcome their "chaotic" build-up to the World Cup thanks to new captain Dimuth Karunaratne's "lack of baggage". The 1996 champions head into this year's edition in England, which starts next week, having lost eight of their last nine one-day internationals -- with the lone win in that run Tuesday's rain-affected victory over Scotland, a non-Test nation who have not qualified for the World Cup. "It's been quite chaotic, both in terms of continuity in selection and giving players a very good, consistent run in the team, which is essential for confidence," former Sri Lanka captain Sangakkara said at Lord's on Thursday. - 'Change and churn' - ====================== "If it's a constant change and churn, where you're always looking over your shoulder trying to safeguard your position, rather than trying to execute team strategy, I think that becomes a big problem," added Sri Lanka great Sangakkara, a member of the sides beaten in the 2007 and ...