Page 292 - Sports
Football pioneer Anderson calls for harsh penalties for racist abuse
Clubs or countries whose fans racially abuse players should be fined millions, docked points or even expelled from competitions, Viv Anderson, the first black footballer to play for England, told AFP. The 62-year-old former full-back lambasted UEFA's decision to fine Montenegro's football authorities 20,000 euros ($22,400) for their fans' racial abuse of England players, including Raheem Sterling and Danny Rose, in a Euro 2020 qualifier in March. Anderson, an integral part of Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest side that won two European Cups and went on to play for Manchester United and Arsenal, said unless there was a real deterrent racism would not be quelled at football matches. "If a fine is a million pounds, you dock points and chuck the team out of the competition the associations will soon wake up and go we need to do something about this," said Anderson, speaking at the Sport Resolutions Annual Conference 2019 in London last week. "By fining Montenegro 20,000 euros that's ...
Insigne's 98th-minute penalty seals second spot for Napoli in Serie A
Lorenzo Insigne stepped up to slot in a 98th-minute penalty as Napoli came from behind to beat Cagliari 2-1 on Sunday to guarantee they finish second in the Italian league this season behind Juventus. Carlo Ancelotti's side have a 10-point lead on third-placed Inter Milan with three games left. But they are a massive 16 points behind Juventus who had already won an eighth consecutive Serie A title with five games to spare. "Keeping up with Juventus was honestly difficult," said Ancelotti. "Of course we lost the strong motivation because the gap was great, but second place satisfies us and the team will certainly be reinforced for next season." After a drab first half in Naples the hosts fell behind after Leonardo Pavoletti fired the Sardinians ahead after 63 minutes. But Dries Mertens headed Napoli back into the game with just five minutes to go and in a dramatic finale the hosts were awarded a late penalty after consultation with VAR when Artur Ionita handled a Faouzi Ghoulam cross, .
Katich hints at lack of unity on field after KKR's exit
Kolkata Knight Riders' assistant coach Simon Katich admitted that there was tension on the field within their ranks, and said the string of six losses had contributed to the change in dynamics within the group in their disappointing IPL campaign this year. Two-time champions KKR needed to win against Mumbai Indians on Sunday to qualify for the play-offs, but they slumped to a nine-wicket thrashing to crash out of the T20 tournament. "There is no doubt and we can't hide from the fact that there was some tension on the field. That was pretty evident in the last, I guess, few games after we got into a bit of a roll with losses. We have to address that as a group," Katich said at the post-match press conference. "What is so important in IPL is the dynamic of the group and, I guess the unity, and that is something KKR is very proud of, added the former Australian Test batsman. MI first restricted KKR to a meagre 133 for 7 and then knocked off the runs by the 17th over itself with Quntion ..
Guardiola says City title bid ranks alongside greatest achievements
Pep Guardiola has suggested remaining in control of this season's relentless Premier League title race is his most satisfying achievement as a manager. The Manchester City boss says the English top division is the toughest domestic competition he has faced during a 10-season coaching career that has brought him 25 trophies. City have won 12 Premier League matches in a row, and are on course to finish just two short of matching last season's competition record of 100 points, yet they are being pushed all the way by Liverpool, who have set extraordinary standards of their own. Jurgen Klopp's side have lost just once in the league all season, against City in January, and recorded their eighth successive top-flight victory on Saturday, beating Newcastle 3-2 to return to the top of the table. City have a game in hand, at home to Leicester on Monday, but are likely to have to win both that and their final league match at Brighton next Sunday to retain their title. "Yeah, it's the toughest ..
Osaka 'comfortable on clay' in Madrid opener, Kyrgios exits
Naomi Osaka eased concerns about her form and fitness by coming through a tricky first round against Dominika Cibulkova on Sunday at the Madrid Open, declaring she's "more comfortable" on clay courts than in the past. Osaka has struggled since splitting with her coach Sascha Bajin in February while an abdominal injury forced her to withdraw in Stuttgart eight days ago, creating doubts about her challenge at the French Open later this month. But there was little sign of physical problems during a testing 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) victory over Cibulkova and afterwards, Osaka said: "I feel good. I don't have much pain in my abs so that's always a good sign." The Japanese world number one will now face Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo in round two. Osaka looked set for a more comfortable passage after a dominant opening set but she was stretched by the battling Cibulkova in the second. By the end, Osaka had hit 43 winners and eight aces while world 33 Cibulkova conjured up 23 winners. "I was also kind of
Cummins rocks New Zealand as Smith, Warner make comeback
Pat Cummins grabbed two wickets in his first over before a New Zealand XI recovered to make 215 in a one-day practice match Monday that marked a return to Australian duty for Steve Smith and David Warner after their ball-tampering bans. A weakened New Zealand, missing Kane Williamson, Martin Guptill and Trent Boult, who remain on Indian Premier League duties, were on the ropes after their horror start. But Tom Blundell led a fightback and top scored with 77 before they were all out after 46.1 overs. Cummins ended with 3-36 off eight overs as Australia warm up for the defence of their World Cup title in England. Nathan Coulter-Nile and Jason Behrendorff also took three apiece. Skipper Aaron Finch won the toss and elected to bowl, with Smith and Warner picked for the first time since serving year-long bans for their part in the "Sandpaper-gate" ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town that rocked Australian cricket. After they were warmly welcomed by a small crowd, Smith celebrated his ...
Really pleased to get MoM for my bowling: Pandya
All-rounder Hardik Pandya once again won a match for his team, this time though it was his bowling which helped Mumbai knock out Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) of the tournament.
'We're not throwing flowers into the air, we did the job' - Zidane
Real Madrid delivered a winning response to Zinedine Zidane's stinging criticism as Mariano Diaz scored twice in a 3-2 victory over Villarreal on Sunday. An angry Zidane questioned the attitude of his players after last week's 1-0 loss to Rayo Vallecano and reacted by making more changes, with Luka Modric and Gareth Bale not even included in the squad. "I am the coach," Zidane said. "I pick the squad and that's it." Instead, youngsters like Jesus Vallejo, Brahim Diaz and Federico Valverde were given chances to impress, along with Mariano, who has barely been used since joining from Lyon last summer. His two goals, either side of Vallejo scoring his first for the club, were enough, despite Jaume Costa pulling a late goal back for Villarreal to set up an unexpectedly nervy finish. "We played better than against Rayo," Zidane said. "We needed that and the players needed it. We played well, no more, we're not throwing flowers into the air. We did the job and we won." The result leaves ...
Can't hide there was tension within KKR: Simon Katich
Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) assistant coach Simon Katich has admitted that tension prevailed and the dynamic within the team's camp changed after the side suffered a string of losses in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League.He said that the team needs to work as a group on the issue."Can't hide from the fact that there was tension. That was pretty evident from the last few games after we got on a bit of a roll with losses. We've got to address that as a group. What is so important in the IPL is the dynamic within the group and I guess the unity," Katich told reporters on Monday."That's something that KKR is very very proud of. It's a very successful franchise and it's something that everyone involved has worked very very hard to contribute to over a long period of time. That's something we have to certainly work at to get better at it because there's no doubt that throughout this campaign, the dynamic within our group has certainly changed," he added.KKR was not able to ...
Barcelona and Liverpool are the best two sides I've faced: Pep Guardiola
Manchester City's manager Pep Guardiola has said that Barcelona and Liverpool are the two best teams he has ever faced in his career as a manager and battling with Liverpool for the Premier League title will be one of his biggest achievements."It's not easy, honestly. In my career as a manager, I played against incredible sides. There are two that were 'wow'. One is Barcelona with Luis Enrique, with Neymar, (Lionel) Messi and (Luis) Suarez in front. The other is this Liverpool," goal.com quoted Guardiola as saying on Sunday."I think they're the best two sides I've faced as a manager. That's why being here, with it in our hands, fighting against Liverpool until the end. One of the biggest achievements," he added.Manchester City and Liverpool are battling it out for the Premier League title and both the teams are neck to neck at the points tally.If City is able to win the Premier League this year, they will become the first team to defend their domestic title since their cross-city ...
Unfair to expect Russell to deliver each time: DK
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bowed out of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) after suffering a crushing nine-wicket defeat against Mumbai Indians (MI) in their last group stage encounter.
Campbell, Hope register world record opening stand
West Indies might have thrashed Ireland by 196 runs in an ODI on Sunday, but it was the opening duo of John Campbell and Shai Hope who stole the show with a 365-run partnership for the opening wicket.
Windies' ODI record 365-run opening stand sets up Ireland win
West Indies openers John Campbell and Shai Hope shattered the record for the highest first-wicket partnership in a one-day international with a stand of 365 as their side thrashed Ireland by 196 runs in Dublin on Sunday. Campbell made 179 and Hope 170 in an eventual total of 381 for three after the visitors were sent in to bat by Ireland captain William Porterfield at Clontarf. The Caribbean duo were only seven runs shy of the record partnership for any wicket in a men's ODI, with their fellow West Indians Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels smashing 372 for the second wicket against Zimbabwe in Canberra during the 2015 World Cup. Campbell and Hope did, however, comfortably exceeded the previous opening best at this level of 304 set by Pakistan's Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in July last year. Hope was first to his century while Campbell quickly followed to him to a hundred -- his first in international cricket. They were both dismissed in the 48th over, ...
Morgan plays a captain's innings as England beat Pakistan
England captain Eoin Morgan led his side to a seven-wicket win over Pakistan in a lone Twenty20 international in Cardiff on Sunday with an unbeaten innings of 57. Test skipper Joe Root made 47 and James Vince 36 as England overhauled Pakistan's total of 173 for six with four balls to spare at Sophia Gardens. This was England's second victory in three days after their one-day international success away to Morgan's native Ireland in Dublin on Friday as they continued an encouraging start to a season that sees them staging both the 50-over World Cup and the Ashes. England fast bowler Jofra Archer also continued his push for a World Cup call-up by taking two for 29 in Pakistan's innings. The recalled Ben Duckett fell early in England's chase, driving Shaheen Afridi to mid-off, but Vince and Root kept England up with the run-rate thanks to a series of sparkling shots. Vince was caught down the legside by Pakistan captain and wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed off Imad Wasim but Morgan kept the ...
IPL is a funny tournament, any team can beat any other on a particular day: Rohit
Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma Sunday described IPL as a funny tournament in which any team can beat any other on a particular day while also asserting his team's habit of coming back stronger in the later stages of the league. "It is something we know about the IPL that the business end matters, we always come back well in the second half of this tournament. In all the three trophies that we've won, the boys have picked themselves up in the business end," Rohit said after MI thrashed Kolkata Knight Riders by nine wickets to top the IPL table. "IPL is a funny tournament, any team can beat the other on a day and we want to take few tiny steps," he added. He credited Sunday's easy win to team effort and said it showed his side did not depend on just a few players. "It was the team effort that pleased me the most. We don't depend on a few individuals to take us through, there are a lot of characters who put their hand up and took us through," the captain said. "Today, the entire ...
MI sweep aside KKR, finish atop points table
Mumbai Indians (MI) finished atop the Indian Premier League (IPL) points table at the end of the group stage of the 12th edition of the cash-rich league with a commanding nine-wicket victory over a listless Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Wankhede Stadium here on Sunday.
MI vanquish KKR to secure nine wickets victory
Mumbai Indians thrashed Kolkata Knight Riders by nine wickets in their Indian Premier League (IPL) clash here on Sunday. Mumbai dominated the visitors throughout the match and with this defeat, KKR's campaign for this season of IPL came to an end.Chasing a modest total of 134 runs, Mumbai got off to a decent start as the openers, Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma, stitched a 46-run partnership. De Kock in the fourth over came vehemently as he hammered two sixes and a boundary to Andre Russell.However, in the seventh over bowled by Prasidh Krishna De Kock tried to smack the ball but got a top edge and Dinesh Karthik caught a brilliant diving catch which ended De Kock's 30-run inning.Suryakumar Yadav then joined the skipper and both played safely and did not play risky shots. However, they kept on adding scores and both Sharma (55*) and Yadav (46*) clinched an easy nine-wicket victory over the visitors.Earlier, KKR were sent to bat first as Mumbai won the toss and opted to bowl first. ...
MI beat KKR by 9 wkts to top IPL table, help Sunrisers qualify at 4th spot
Rohit Sharma struck an unbeaten 55 to lead Mumbai Indians to an easy 9-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders, which gave them the pole position in the IPL table and also ensured a lucky fourth place finish for Sunrisers Hyderabad, here Sunday. Rohit stitched two crucial partnerships, first a 49-run stand with Quinton de Kock for the opening wicket and then another 88 runs for the unconquered second wicket with Suryakumar Yadav (46 not) as MI chased down the target of 134 with 3.5 overs to spare. The MI captain carried his bat through the innings, hitting eight fours off 48 balls while Yadav consumed 27 balls for his unbeaten 46. MI ended the league phase with 18 points from 14 matches -- the same as Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals -- but they secured the top spot by virtue of better run rate. MI ended at a net run rate of 0.421 as against 0.131 and 0.044 of CSK and DC respectively. MI's win meant that the KKR are knocked out of the tournament with Sunrisers making it to the ...
Saurav and Joshna win Asian Championship titles
In a memorable day for India, Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa won the individual titles in the Asian Squash Championship here Sunday. Joshna Chinappa, the second seed, successfully defended her title, beating the top seed Annie Au of Hong Kong 11-5, 8-11, 11-6, 11-6 in the summit clash. Ghosal, the top seed and finalist last year, ensured there was no slip this time when he downed the fourth seed Leo Au Chun Ming, also of Hong Kong, in straight games 11-9, 11-2, 11-8. It easily was one of Joshna's most memorable matches. Only last month in the Macau Open, Annie had beaten her in straight games for her 12th win in 20 meetings between the two. In fact, not since September 2017 in the Hong Kong International Open has Joshna tasted success against the Hong Kong player. All that was set aside as the Indian played with a fixity of purpose and with lot of conviction. She slipped in the second to send jitters in the Indian camp but recovered superbly to beat all of Annie's designs and carve
It's not that you buy a player today and start winning next day: Ashwin
Kings XI Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin is hopeful that the management will do its bit to ensure continuity as the formula of buying talented players with big bucks and expecting results rightaway doesn't work in a top-flight league like IPL. Kings XI Punjab for the second season in a row have failed to qualify for the knock-outs but the India international spoke about retaining core team as any expensive buys can't get results overnight. "If you look at all the successful franchises, they retained the core they got, we really need to start producing players and have that core if you are actually going to looking at it take forward," Ashwin said at the media interaction. "It is not like you are going to buy something and end up winning the next day, so it is very important for us to keep adding strength to that dressing room, in terms of attitude, in terms of what you bring to the table," India's premier Test match bowler said. He is hopeful that things will change for the better .