Page 289 - Sports

Trailblazers pull-off thrilling win in Women's T20 Challenge opener

Trailblazers withstood the onslaught of hard-hitting Harmanpreet Kaur to pull-off a thrilling two-run win over Supernovas in the opening game of the Women's T20 Challenge here on Monday. Needing 19 off the final over, Supernovas skipper Harmanpreet (46 not out off 34) almost got her team over the line with some sensational hitting but veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami held her nerve after being smashed for four consecutive boundaries. In response to Trailblazers' 140 for five, Supernovas ended agonisingly short at 138 for six. Harmanpreet and New Zealander Sophie Devine (32 off 22) took the game deep with a 48-run stand for the fifth wicket. The game was an ideal advert for women's cricket and before Harmanpreet's cameo, it was explosive opener and Trailblazers skipper Smriti Mandhana who enthralled the Jaipur crowd with a match-winning 90 off 67 balls. Mandhana took the team to a fighting total after Supernovas opted to field on a slow surface at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. Stroke making .

Former billiards player Derek Sippy dies in Mumbai

Former billiards player, coach and administrator Derek Sippy died here Monday. The news of Sippy's death was confirmed to PTI by Manav Panchal, Honorary Secretary of the Billiards and Snooker Association of Maharashtra (BSAM). It was understood that Sippy, who was in his 60s, died following a massive heart attack. A senior office-bearer of the BSAM said Sippy, after his active days as a billiards player, served the cue sport in capacity as an administrator and also as a coach. He is survived by wife. Sippy served the BSAM in various capacities and was its secretary for several years, the office-bearer added. He was the Indian team's coach at recently concluded Asian Under-21 Boys Snooker and Asian Women Snooker tournament in Chandigarh. Condoling Sippy's demise, BSAM president and ace cueist Yasim Merchant said the cue sports fraternity has lost a person who served the game with utmost dedication.

Europe's clubs, leagues set for Champions League revamp debate

With radical changes proposed to the Champions League, creating the possibility of a competition largely reserved for Europe's elite, domestic leagues and at least 150 clubs will gather for talks Tuesday in Madrid, ahead of a crucial meeting with UEFA 24 hours later. European Leagues, the association of the continent's professional leagues, has invited some 900 clubs to the Spanish capital to discuss the future of European competitions and the threats posed by mooted reforms. On Wednesday, UEFA's executive committee, chaired by president Aleksander Ceferin, will meet with Europe's football leagues to hold talks over the controversial revamp plans that could take effect from 2024. Tuesday's assembly should provide an opportunity for representatives from lesser leagues and smaller clubs to find common ground in their fight to stop UEFA instituting sweeping changes. One of the topics of discussion in Madrid is titled "A de facto closed league for elite clubs", a feared outcome, according

Casillas leaves hospital, admits future uncertain

Spanish goalkeeping great Iker Casillas left hospital in Portugal on Monday and said that his football future is uncertain, five days after suffering a heart attack during training with his club. The 37-year-old, who has played for Porto since 2015, was admitted to hospital last Wednesday after suffering what the Portuguese club called an "acute myocardial infarction" in training. "I feel much better," he told reporters outside the hospital in Porto. "It will be rest for a couple of weeks, or even a couple of months. The truth is that I don't care. "The important thing is to be here... I don't know what the future may bring." Casillas has 167 Spain caps, winning the 2010 World Cup and two European Championships, and also played over 700 games for Real Madrid. "The truth is, it's something that can happen to anyone and at any moment," he added. "It's hard to talk about, but you also have to be very grateful because I've been very lucky." He had assured fans that he was recovering well .

Smriti helps Trailblazers post 140/5 vs Supernovas

Skipper Smriti Mandhana's brilliant knock of 90, backed by Harleen Deol's 36, helped Trailblazers post 140/5 against the Supernovas in the first match of the Womens T20 Challenge at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, here on Monday.

Mandhana lights up Women's T20 Challenge opener

Explosive opener Smriti Mandhana lit up the opening game of the Women's T20 Challenge with an entertaining 90 off 67 balls, taking Trailblazers to 140 for five against Supernovas here on Monday. After the early fall of New Zealand veteran Suzie Bates, captain Mandhana anchored a 119-run stand with Harleen Deol (36 off 44), who struggled to change gears on a slow surface at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. In fact, both Mandhana and Deol struggled to get going as Trailblazers crawled to 25 for one in six overs after Harmanpreet Kaur-led Supernovas opted to field. The BCCI is organising a bigger tournament for the women in comparison to the inaugural edition last year when only a one-off game was played. Four out of the three games will be broadcast live on prime time unlike last year with an aim to attract a bigger TV audience. At the venue, the stadium was far from full but that did not affect Mandhana's batting. After getting used to the slowness of the wicket, the southpaw went for her ..

Mohamed Salah to miss Barcelona clash, confirms Klopp

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that Mohamed Salah will not feature in their much-anticipated match with Barcelona in the Champions League's second leg of semi-finals.Salah sustained a concussion during Liverpool's Premier League clash with Newcastle on Sunday."Salah cannot play (on May 8). He is better in his recovery, but he cannot play," Goal quoted Klopp, as saying."Precaution? No, it's a concussion, which means he is not allowed to play. He feels OK, but it is not good enough from a medical point of view," he said.Liverpool faced a humiliating 3-0 defeat from Barcelona in the first leg of semi-finals. Luis Suarez scored the opening goal of the match but aggrandizing Barcelona, Messi netted second-half double which took the match from Liverpool's hands.Klopp said that they will not only have to score against Barcelona but will have to restrict Barcelona from scoring."I'd imagine this place will be rocking. We not only have to score, but we also have to deny Barcelona .

Kohli is exceptionally open to ideas: Vettori

Virat Kohli's exceptional openness to ideas and desperation to get better made him "such a good captain", his former IPL teammate and coach Daniel Vettori has said. Former New Zealand captain Vettori has worked with Kohli for six seasons as player and coach at the IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore. "When I used to speak to him or any other coaches (used to) speak to him, there's always a conversation around what you think is best, where can this work," Vettori said on the latest episode of ESPNcricinfo's Talking T20 podcast. "It wouldn't always be a numbers-driven conversation, it would be around some intuition and understanding of the game. I think, ultimately, when you sold a compelling story to Virat, he was always on board, open to listen and that made him such a good captain." Vettori was part of RCB sides which finished runners-up in 2011 (as captain) and 2016 (as coach), apart from a run to the play-offs in 2015. Talking about Kohli's on-field personality, Vettori said

Sabitra Bhandari shines as Sethu FC beat Manipur Police

Sethu FC, a Madurai team, outclassed 6-4 Manipur Police in a thrilling encounter that saw two hat-tricks and 10 goals at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana on Monday.Sabitra Bhandari was the star of the show as she netted four first-half goals to power Sethu to the win. Her counterpart Bala Devi was also on song, scoring two goals, but her efforts went in vain.Sabitra, who has been a menace for Nepal on the international front, continued her exploits for Sethu right from the kick-off, as she finished off a move on the 29th second. This was the fastest goal of the Indian Women's League this season.The Nepal striker struck again a quarter of an hour later before an own goal by Sethu keeper Sowmiya pulled one back for Manipur Police. However, Sabitra earned her hat-trick on the 34th minute itself, Grace fed her a ball from the right and she slipped it past the Manipur keeper Panthoi Chanu.Bala shipped one over Sethu keeper Sowmiya's head to make it 2-3, but Sabitra scored her fourth with

Champions League dream becoming reality for Atalanta

The likes of Lionel Messi and Neymar could soon be descending on the small Italian city of Bergamo. Atalanta needs seven points from its final three Serie A matches to guarantee qualification for the Champions League for the first time in its history. "We believed we could get into the Champions League, now we believe even more," Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini said after Sunday's 3-1 win at Lazio. "We started out aiming to qualify for the Europa League, but after the victory at Napoli we began to really believe in the Champions League." Atalanta has qualified for the second-tier Europa League the past two seasons, although this campaign ended in the playoff round with a penalty shootout loss to Copenhagen. The club's only other appearances in European competitions came in the UEFA Cup (1989-90 and 1990-91) and the Cup Winner's Cup (1963-64 and 1987-88). The victory over Lazio solidified Atlanta's hold on fourth place the last Champions League spot and moved it within one point .

Stomach bug hits Nadal's hunt for sixth Madrid title

Record five-time Madrid Open winner Rafael Nadal pulled out of a media conference on Monday on the eve of his opening match at the tournament due to a stomach bug. Eleven-time Roland Garros champion Nadal had also been suffering from the bug on Sunday, a week on from losing in the semi-final of the Barcelona Open. The 17-time Grand Slam winner is racing to make up for lost time after failing to win a clay title so far this spring. The second seed is due to open play in the second round against Canadian teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Cork praises speedster Saini, sees him as India material

Speedster Navdeep Saini was impressive in the ongoing edition of the IPL and has rightly caught the attention of former England medium pacer Dominic Cork, who says India will have a "massive" future with him. Saini picked up 11 wickets for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) from 13 matches and was their second best bowler after spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. Though the Viral Kohli-led team failed to qualify for the playoffs, the 26-year-old pacer was impressive. "For me when you look at Navdeep Saini, I think India will have a massive future with. If we actually clip on him here and we play. "We need to see the deliveries with his pegs," Cork, a Star Sports Select Dugout expert, was quoted as saying in a media release here Monday. "The one thing I want to tell these young bowlers is that its about the head position. He (Saini) can be a little taller. "It looks like he is just going to fall away so he might put his weight forward. So that is Saini, someone who is already ...

Kohli exceptionally open to ideas: Vettori

Virat Kohli is exceptionally open to ideas and relies on his intuition as captain, feels Daniel Vettori.

Shivaji Park Lions eye good run at T20 Mumbai League

Shivaji Park Lions, finalist of the inaugural season of the T20 Mumbai League, battled it out at the league auction after retaining their star players, like Shivam Dube and fresh out of IPL Siddesh Lad.

Supernovas opt to bowl against Trailblazers (Toss)

Supernovas captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opted to bowl against Trailblazers in the first match of the Women's T20 challenge at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Monday.

Jack Wilshere prepares for 'summer of hard work'

West Ham United's Jack Wilshere provided insight into his future objective saying he does not want to lose his fitness and will work hard throughout the summer to get back his full fitness."It will be a summer of work for me. I've worked so hard to get to this level and I want to maintain that, getting back to pre-season where I have left off. I don't want to lose my fitness so I have to work through the summer," club's official website quoted Wilshere as saying."I've worked so hard to get to this point, it's a big off-season for me because I'm now quite fit and I don't want to go away and come back and start again. So I have to do some work in the summer," he added.Wilshere, who joined West Ham from Arsenal last summer, has played just seven times for the club due to his ankle injuries. He has suffered two separate ankle injuries this season. However, the 27-year old asserted that he will play far more game in the next season."I'm confident in my body. This injury just took its time .

India have fantastic chance to win WC: Vengsarkar

Former India cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar on Monday put his weight behind India, saying Virat Kohli and Co have a great chance of winning the tournament.

Randhawa, Rashid, Chiragh to take part in PGTI Players Championship

Ace Indian golfers like Jyoti Randhawa, Rashid Khan, Chiragh Kumar will feature in the TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship beginning here on Tuesday. The tournament, which will be staged at the Panchkula Golf Club, is the eighth event of the TATA Steel PGTI's 2019 season and carries a prize purse of Rs 30 lakh. Other golfers taking part in the tournament, which marks the return of the TATA Steel PGTI to the Panchkula Golf Club after a gap of four years, include Honey Baisoya, Udayan Mane and Kshitij Naveed Kaul. Randhawa will be playing his first ever event at the Panchkula Golf Club. Prominent foreign names in the field include defending champion N Thangaraja of Sri Lanka, who won the last PGTI event at the venue staged in February 2015, as well as three other compatriots Anura Rohana, Mithun Perera and K Prabagaran along with Bangladesh's Md Zamal Hossain Mollah and Australia's Kunal Bhasin. The Tricity will be represented by professionals Karandeep Kochhar, Akshay Sharma, Harendra

Naomi Osaka leads WTA rankings

Naomi Osaka of Japan maintained the No. 1 spot in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings released on Monday with 6,151 Points, ahead of Czech Petra Kvitova.

Fallen Man Utd face huge rebuild after Champions League failure

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Manchester United legend was built on scoring the goal that won the Champions League, but, 20 years on, the Norwegian now concedes the United side he has inherited as manager are not even fit to grace that competition. The scale of the task now facing Solskjaer was laid bare by Sunday's 1-1 draw at already relegated Huddersfield, statistically one of the worst sides ever to play in the Premier League, that ensured United cannot finish in the top four and must accept the consolation prize of a place in the Europa League. "We are not in the Champions League but I think that is a true reflection. The table seldom lies at the end," admitted Solskjaer as he came to terms with a run of two wins from 11 games that have sucked the enthusiasm from his first few months as a caretaker manager. "When United needed their players to stand up and be counted, playing with intensity, taking responsibility individually, concentrating fully, fighting for the right to play in the ..