Page 282 - Sports
Qatar opens first metro line
Qatar on Wednesday opened its first metro line as the gas-rich Gulf state bolsters its infrastructure ahead of hosting the football World Cup in 2022. The new 40-kilometre (25 mile) "Red Line" links the Al-Wakrah and Lusail arenas being built for the event and will eventually run from the international airport to central Doha. It is the first of three lines set to open by 2020 ahead of the kick-off of the showcase football tournament. "I never thought we would get to see a metro in Doha in my lifetime," Qatari retiree Khaled al-Badr said proudly as he took his first ride. Qatar is splashing vast sums on its preparations for the World Cup and has said it is spending USD 500 million a week on projects. The Lusail stadium, part of a new USD 45-billion city, can seat up to 80,000 people and is to host the final games of the World Cup. Qatar Rail, the state-owned company responsible for the metro, has said it hopes to wean people off cars and encourage them to use public transport. "I will
Nishikori battles past Dellien to set up Madrid showdown with Wawrinka
Kei Nishikori will face Stan Wawrinka in the third round of the Madrid Open after battling past Bolivian qualifier Hugo Dellien on Wednesday. Nishikori needed just over two hours to win 7-5 7-5 after Dellien saved seven set points during an impressive fightback from 5-1 down in the opening set. The Japanese will go up against Wawrinka on Thursday for a place in the quarter-finals. The winner could play Rafael Nadal. Wawrinka beat Argentina's Guido Pella 6-3 6-4, with a break in each set proving enough for the three-time Grand Slam champion. Nishikori has lost his last two meetings with Wawrinka, including a three-set defeat in Rotterdam in February, when his Swiss opponent went on to reach his first final since undergoing knee surgery in 2017. The pair have reached 12 grand slam semi-finals between them. Nishikori's compatriot and world number one Naomi Osaka is through to the quarter-finals of the women's tournament for the first time after she eased past Belarusian Aliaksandra ...
Shubhankar, Chawrasia, Bhullar to lead India's challenge at British Masters
Shubhankar Sharma, SSP Chawrasia and Gaganjeet Bhullar will lead India's charge at the Betfred British Masters golf tournament which kicks off here Thursday. Shubhankar, who has two European Tour titles under his belt, is one of the three Indians in the field this week -- the other two being Chawrasia, four-time winner on European Tour, and Bhullar, whose sole win on the Tour came in Fiji last year. Chawrasia will be the first of the three to tee off early at 7.30 am Thursday alongside Darren Fichardt and Oliver Fisher, while Bhullar goes out with Hugo Leon and Niklas Lemke and then Shubhankar plays with Sam Horsfield and Jason Scrivener in the afternoon. Shubhankar got a taste of the tough windy and wet conditions here Wednesday and said he was relieved that the weather was going to be relatively better for the rest of the week. "This course can be very tough in windy conditions like today during the Pro-Am. I am told the weather will be better next few days," he said. "I had a ...
Nishikori, Chardy in Madrid Open 3rd round
Japan's Kei Nishikori and France's Jeremy Chardy on Wednesday secured their spots in the third round of the Madrid Open tennis tournament after beating Hugo Dellien of Bolivia and Diego Schwartzman of Argentina, respectively.
England insist Ashes ball choice no stitch up
England will continue to use balls thought to favour their pace bowlers when they face Australia in a home Ashes series later this year. Australia have not won an Ashes series in England since 2001, with their batsmen repeatedly struggling against the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad armed with the Dukes balls. A new Dukes ball with a less pronounced seam that deviates less off the pitch and so, in theory, ought to make life easier for batsmen, has been in use in English county cricket this season. But England and Wales Cricket Board managing director Ashley Giles said they had asked Dukes to make a batch of some 500-600 balls to the same specification as those used for Test cricket in England during the past two seasons. Giles said the aim was to ensure a "fair contest" between bat and ball rather than have bowler-friendly "two-day Tests". Responding to suggestions that England were simply trying to maximise home advantage, Giles told reporters at The Oval on Wednesday: ...
Chelsea to challenge FIFA transfer ban at CAS
Chelsea will challenge a transfer ban from FIFA at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the London club said Wednesday after football's world governing body rejected a first appeal. The ban on Chelsea signing players over the next two transfer windows remained largely in place after FIFA issued their ruling earlier on Wednesday. In February, the Blues were banned from signing players for their men's teams for the next two transfer windows after being found guilty by FIFA's disciplinary committee of breaching regulations relating to the recruitment of minors. Chelsea denied any wrongdoing and appealed. On Wednesday, the governing body of world soccer announced that its appeal committee had "decided to partially uphold the appeal". The committee lifted part of the ban, but only for players under 16 who are not "international transfers and first registrations of foreign minor players". That means Chelsea will still not be able to sign male players over the age of 16 when the summer .
AIFF to interview candidates Thursday, Stimac front-runner to be new coach
Croatia's Igor Stimac is the frontrunner to be the next coach of the Indian men's football team when the national federation (AIFF) officials meet here Thursday. The technical committee of AIFF, headed by former India international Shyam Thapa, will interview the short-listed candidates next at 2 PM Thursday at the Football House here. The AIFF's technical committee has short-listed four candidates, including two-time South Korean World Cupper Lee Min-sung and the familiar Albert Roca, for the job of the chief coach of the men's national team. Besides Lee Min-sung and Roca, who tasted immense success at Bengaluru FC, the other two aspirants in the fray are ex-Croatia national team manager Igor Stimac and former Sweden coach Hakan Ericson. Thapa said after interviewing the probable candidates, the technical committee will forward the name of the selected candidate to the AIFF's executive committee. "It will again be in the form of interviews on skype and then the most suitable name ...
Sethu FC beat Bangalore United FC 3-0
Sethu FC handed a thumping 3-0 defeat to Bangalore United FC at the Guru Nanak Stadium on Wednesday.Sethu's strikers Sabitra Bhandari and Anita Basnet were the scorers, netting the first and the third goals of the match. However, it was India international Sandhiya, whose brilliant display on the wings and a first-half goal that earned her the Player of the Match award.Sethu were dominant from the very start as Sabitra Bhandari continued her brilliant form to score the first goal of the match in the 11th minute. The goal took Bhandari to the top of the scorer's charts with five goals from two games.She looked sharp and displayed great awareness in linking-up with Dangmei Grace, Sandhiya, and Ratanbala Devi. The Nepal international netted a second goal in the first half but it was given offside. With a few minutes of the first half left, Sandhiya also joined in on the act as she finished off a smooth move.The second half continued much in the same vein, as Sethu hogged possession of ...
Brexit PM May ridiculed for summoning Liverpool football spirit
British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday compared her Brexit battle with Brussels to Liverpool footballers' stirring Champions League comeback against Barcelona -- risking ridicule from the left-leaning city. The English club lost the first leg of the semi-final clash 3-0 in Spain and seemed headed for certain defeat after their injured stars Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino were ruled for Tuesday's return fixture at Anfield. But Liverpool staged one of the greatest comebacks in their storied history by winning 4-0 at home and getting through to their second successive Champions League final. May appeared for her weekly question-and-answer session in parliament on Wednesday with both Brexit and football on her mind. Liverpool's win "shows us that when everyone says it's all over, that your European opposition have got you beat, the clock's ticking down, it's time to concede defeat, actually we can still secure success if everyone comes together," May said to rousing cheers ...
Winners of Britannia's World Cup campaign announced
Cricket legend Kapil Dev on Wednesday announced the first set of winners of the 'Britannia Khao World Cup Jao' contest, which was launched in early April. The winners were handed travel tickets for England and Wales to watch the 2019 World Cup.
Delhi opt to bowl vs Hyderabad in Eliminator (Toss)
Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bowl against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator of the Indian Premier League (IPL) here on Wednesday.
Alyssa Healy making 'technical changes' to hit ball harder
Keeping Ashes in her mind, Australia player Alyssa Healy has been working to make technical changes during her holidays to enhance her batting skills which will allow her to hit the ball 'harder' than before."I'm making a few technical changes with my batting at the moment to hopefully allow me to hit the ball harder and further than what I did over the last 12 months. That seems to be working and seems to be coming off pretty well," Cricket.com.au quoted Healy, as saying.Ahead of Ashes, Healy feels fortunate as this six-week break has helped her try making 'technical change' which in her opinion takes weeks and weeks of practice."It's a small technical change and that takes weeks and weeks of practice before it becomes the norm in your set-up, so without that time it's really difficult to do," Healy said."Fortunately this year we've had a six-week break where I could go out and try it. And now we've got a bit of a build-up going into the Ashes so I can keep working on it and ...
Velocity record easy win over Trailblazers
England top-order batswoman Danielle Wyatt starred with the bat as Velocity opened their account with a three-wicket victory over Trailblazers even as Deepti Sharma gave them a last-minute scare, in the second game of the Women's T20 Challenge here on Wednesday.
Indian archers advance at WC Stage II in Shanghai
India's Ankita Bhakat, Preeti, Vakilraj Dindor and Gurwinder Singh advanced to the third round in their respective events at the Archery World Cup Stage II here Wednesday. The lowest ranked Indian in the qualification, Gurwinder (44th) created an upset of sorts in the men's compound event when he eliminated his teammate Lovejot Singh (21st) by a slender two-point margin (145-143). He will take on Danie Oosthuizen of Australia in the third round. 2017 Youth World Championship bronze medalist Ankita defeated Elena Osipova of Russia 7-3 to set up a third round clash against 10th seed Xiaoqing Long of China in the women's recurve individual event. Her teammated Preeti also remained in the medal hunt, ousting teammate Sangeeta 6-2 in second round. Preeti will take on Naomi Folkard of Great Britain. In the men's recurve individual event, Vakilraj ousted higher ranked Denis Gankin of Kazakhstan 6-2 to advance to the third round where he will take on Matthew Requa of USA. In the recurve men's
Women's T20 Challenge: Velocity beat Trailblazers by 3 wickets
Mithali Raj-led Velocity defeated Smriti Mandhana's Trailblazers by three wickets at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Wednesday.Velocity faced a minor hiccup in the starting and a flurry of wickets towards the end in their 113 run-chase. Deepti Sharma bowled Hayley Matthews cheaply for five. The 15-year-old Shefali Verma and Danielle Wyatt combined 38 runs for the second wicket to well place their team. The young Indian, who was dropped by Sophie Ecclestone on return catch on zero, smashed five boundaries and one six before Harleen Deol ended the promising knock for 34.Wyatt and captain Raj added 48 for the third wicket to almost take Velocity home. With five required from 24 balls, Rajeshwari Gayakwad dismissed Wyatt (46), who gave a simple catch to Deepti at mid-off. On the next ball, Ecclestone and wicket-keeper run out Veda Krishnamurthy for a nought off Gayakwad.Deepti returned when Velocity needed just two from 18 balls and bowled Mithali (17), and Shikha Pandey and Amelia Kerr for
Mujeeb Ur Rahman elated on inclusion in WC squad, eyes semi-final berth
Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman said he is very happy to be included in the squad for the upcoming World Cup and hopes that the team will be able to reach the semi-final stage of the tournament."I am very happy that I am included in the World Cup squad. I have learnt a lot of things after playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL). I hope the team will perform well in the upcoming World Cup," Rahman told ANI on Tuesday."We have practiced on very different pitches, I hope that we play in the semi-finals of the tournament," he added.The player said the decision to pass captaincy from Asghar Afghan to Gulbadin Naib was taken by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), adding that the team has the quality to perform well in the World Cup."It was a decision taken by the board. Both the former captain and current captain are in the team, so I do not think it will affect the team's performance much in the World Cup," Rahman said. "Everyone knows that we have quality in the spin bowling ...
India beat WA Thundersticks 2-0 in Australia tour opener
The Indian men's hockey team Wednesday defeated WA Thundersticks 2-0 to start their Australia tour on a positive note at the Perth Hockey Stadium here. Goals from Birendra Lakra (23rd minute) and Harmanpreet Singh (50th) secured the win for the visitors in their opening match of the tour, where they will also play the Australian national team on May 15 and May 17. Both the teams played fluently in the first quarter and created a few scoring opportunities. Debutant Jaskaran Singh got the first real chance for India in the fifth minute but he failed to keep his shot on target. Thundersticks did try to penetrate India's defence but failed to get past Harmanpreet and Rupinder Pal Singh, who were rock solid at the back. Akashdeep Singh also had a shot at goal for India towards the end of the first quarter, but Thundersticks' goalkeeper Ben Rennie made a fine save to deny the visitors. India started dominating proceedings in the second quarter with captain Manpreet Singh and Mandeep Singh ..
Velocity beat Trailblazers by 3 wickets to keep Women's T20 Challenge alive
Mithali Raj's Velocity overcame some anxious moments late in the innings before registering a three-wicket win over Trailblazers to keep the race to final in the inaugural Women's T20 Challenge alive, here Wednesday. After their five-wicket win over Supernovas in the tournament-opener on Tuesday, a victory over Velocity would have sealed Trailblazers' place in Saturday's summit clash. But it was not to be as Velocity first restricted Trailblazers to 112 for six after opting to bowl and then chased down the target with 12 balls to spare to keep the tournament alive for all the three teams. In the final league match on Thursday, Velocity will play Supernovas and the outcome of that game will decide the finalists. Opting to field, left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht (2/13) and New Zealand's Amelia Kerr (2/21) shared four wickets between them to keep Trailblazers under check from the word go. Harleen Deol top-scored for Trailblazers with 43, while opener Suzie Bates made 26. Skipper Smriti ...
BCCI sends Indian Cricketers Association for registration
The much-awaited players' association of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is set to be called the Indian Cricketers Association and should be in place in the next two to three weeks.
We have to put our chest for the bullets: Suarez after defeat
Apologising and taking responsibility for their embarrassing 0-4 defeat at the hands of Liverpool in the second-leg of semi-finals of Champions League, Barcelona player Luis Suarez said that his team will have to do a lot of "self-criticism" and put their "chest for the bullets"."We have to do a lot of self-criticism, it's the second time the same happens to us. We cannot make these mistakes two years in a row, we have to reproach ourselves for what we are doing wrong, thinking that everything was finished," Goal quoted Suarez as saying."We are very sad, hurt. We are human beings, we feel the pain, the frustration, we have to do self-criticism, put our chest for the bullets of what is coming now," he added.Barcelona's manager Ernesto Valverde was the first person who was subjected to heavy criticism after Liverpool trounced his side.However, Suarez was quick to defend Valverde saying that players were the ones who played and it is the same coach who guided Barcelona in the first leg ..