Page 304 - Sports
Two-time champs ATK re-appoint Habas as head coach
Antonio Habas was on Thursday re-appointed as the head coach of two-time Indian Super League champions ATK for the upcoming season of Indian Super League season, the club announced in a statement.
Sharapova withdraws from Italian Open with shoulder injury
Former world no.1 Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the Italian Open as she continues to recover from a right shoulder injury she has been complaining of through 2018. The three-time champion will be replaced by the 45th-ranked Viktoria Kuzmova, Rome organisers announced on Wednesday.
Aaradhya runs to hug father Abhishek Bachchan on pitch
A cute video of Aaradhya Bachchan and her father Abhishek Bachchan sharing a beautiful father-daughter moment during a football match has taken over social media.
Gurung signs contract extension with Jamshedpur FC
Indian Super League outfit Jamshedpur FC on Thursday announced the contract extension of Indian defender Robin Gurung in a one-year deal.
Prannoy stuns Sugiarto, Sai Praneeth crashes out of NZ Open
India's HS Prannoy stunned Tommy Sugiarto in straight games to sail into the men's singles quarterfinals even as his compatriot B Sai Praneeth crashed out in the second round of the New Zealand Open badminton tournament here Thursday. Unseeded Prannoy shocked second seed Sugiarto 21-14 21-12 in just 37 minutes to book his place in the last-eight round, where he will be up against fifth seed Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan. This was world no. 26 Prannoy's maiden meeting against world no. 13 Sugiarto. Earlier in the day, Praneeth suffered a straight-game 12-21 12-21 loss to the legendary Lin Dan of China. Seventh seed Lin Dan, thus, progressed to the quarterfinals where he will be up against top seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia. Indian men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and Sumeeth B Reddy too lost in the second round, going down against seventh seeds Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong of Malaysia 17-21 19-21. London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal on Wednesday made a first round exit
Key Protea pacer Rabada deals with stiff back ahead of World Cup
Premier South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada's stiff back is a concern for Delhi Captials towards the business end of the IPL but his national team would be more concerned with the World Cup just few days away. Delhi Capitals badly missed Rabada's services in the game against CSK in Chennai on Wednesday, when they were handed a massive 80-run loss. It was the first time this season Rabada missed a game. Though captain Shreyas Iyer insisted that the management took a precautionary measure by resting Rabada, South Africa would be worried since their veteran pacer Dale Steyn is also injured, playing just two IPL games this season. Delhi and CSK are two teams which have qualified for the play-offs. "Yes we know what abilities he has. He's an amazing bowler especially in the slog overs. For sure we missed him but he had a stiff back, it's good he got to take rest," said Iyer after the defeat against CSK. Being a World Cup year, physios of all national teams are monitoring their respective ...
Dhoni's contribution will be massive for India in World Cup: Gavaskar
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar foresees Mahendra Singh Dhoni making a "massive" contribution in India's World Cup campaign and he feels it will not be limited to the talismanic player's much-admired instinctive reading of the game. Dhoni has been in superb form in the ongoing Indian Premier League and has so far amassed 358 runs from 11 matches for the Chennai Super Kings. Gavaskar feels the stumper-batsman will be crucial to India posting defendable totals in the mega-event starting May 30 in the United Kingdom. "I think it will be very important because we have a fabulous top-three. But in case the top-three don't make their usual contribution, then Dhoni's contribution down the order, whether it's at number four or five, will make a big difference in India posting a defendable total," Gavaskar told PTI here on Thursday. Gavaskar was speaking after opening the 'Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani International Centre for Child Care' in Kharghar, around 40km from Mumbai. The veteran of ...
Messi instills fear into opponents, says Valverde
Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde expressed that Lionel Messi instils fear amongst their opponents after they trounced Liverpool in the first leg of Champions League's semi-final."Through the way he plays and the way he gets close to their goal, he helped us play and win by a bigger margin - and he instills fear into our opponents," Goal quoted Valverde, as saying."I'd rather not think how he does it, to be honest, but he always shows up when we need him the most, this time just when we were in situations in which we had to shake Liverpool's domination off," he added.Barcelona were already at a one-goal lead after the conclusion of the first half. However, in the second half, Messi's magic came into being and the Barcelona star struck two more goals which handed Liverpool a 3-0 defeat. Moreover, with these two goals, Messi touched the 600 goals milestone in club competition.Valverde praised the 31-year old immensely saying that Messi surprises him with his performance."I just saw it ...
Book on Virat Kohli's success slated to release soon
An upcoming book will spell the life story of India's cricket team captain Virat Kohli as he went from being the chubby-cheeked 'Cheeku' to the Under-19 India captain and finally to become one of the best batsmen in the world.
TN govt announces total cash incentive of Rs 15 lakh to two
The Tamil Nadu government Thursday announced a total cash incentive of Rs 15 lakh to state-based athletes Gomathi Marimuthu and Arokia Rajiv for winning gold and silver in the Asian Athletics Championship held at Qatar recently. While Gomathi had won gold in the Women's 800 m race, Rajiv clinched silver in the 4x400 m mixed relay. Chief Minister K Palaniswami lauded the two athletes and wished they brought more laurels by participating in international events. The government would be supportive in their endeavour to win more medals, he said in a statement. Palaniswami said the state government often provides incentives to sportspersons winning international laurels. "On that basis, I have directed that sum of Rs 10 lakh shall be provided to Gomathi Marimuthu, who won gold, and Rs five lakh to Arokia Rajiv,for clinching silver" in the Asian Athletics Championship, he added. The 30-year-old unheralded Gomathi had clocked a personal best time of 2 minute 02.70 seconds in the
Sain Praneeth loses to Lin Dan in 2nd round of NZ Open
India's B Sai Praneeth crashed out in the second round of the New Zealand Open badminton tournament with a straight-game loss against legendary Lin Dan of China here Thursday. Praneeth's 12-21 12-21 loss meant another disappointment for India following Saina Nehwal's shock defeat in the first round on Wednesday. Seventh seed Lin Dan, thus, progressed to the quarterfinals where he will be up against top seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia. Indian men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and Sumeeth B Reddy too lost in the second round, going down against seventh seeds Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong of Malaysia 17-21 19-21. In another second round men's sinlges match, H S Prannoy will take on second seed Tommy Sugiarto later on Thursday.
CSA calls for Rabada's scans after DC pacer complains of back pain
With the World Cup less than a month away, Cricket South Africa (CSA) are in a spot of bother with their pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada complaining of discomfort in their back as he plies his trade for Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League. While DC rested Rabada for the game against Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday, his scan reports have been sent to CSA to decide on the future course of action.
Alex Hales to return for Nottinghamshire
England player Alex Hales is set to return for Nottinghamshire, when the team will compete against Durham on May 3.After the reports which stated that Hales failed a recreational drug test for the second time, he was withdrawn from England's World Cup squad, the one-off one-day international (ODI) against Ireland and the limited-overs series against Pakistan. Moreover, the 30-year-old was banned for 21 days.Hales will now be seen in action as the Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club confirmed the that he will be available for selection for all white-ball cricket for the remainder of the 2019 season."The meeting was open, honest and constructive and a way forward was agreed between both parties. Alex has expressed a great deal of regret and contrition for his actions and he has ultimately paid a heavy price," Nottinghamshire said in a statement."He accepts that the position he finds himself in is of his own making. He knows he has a long road back to redeem himself in the eyes of many ..
Tendulkar recalls when he faced elder brother Ajit and did not want to win
Ajit Tendulkar has played a pivotal role in the much-admired career of Sachin Tendulkar and the cricket icon Thursday recalled an instance when the two brothers faced each other for the only time and neither of the two wanted to win. Tendulkar was speaking after inaugurating the pavilion at the MIG Cricket Club in suburban Bandra, which was named after him. Asked for a special memory of the MIG Club, Tendulkar said, "I have never spoken about it, this would be the first time I am talking about it. (It was) many years ago, I don't even remember whether I played international cricket or not, or even the Ranji Trophy, but I was doing well." "I knew that my graph was slowly going up. At that time, a single wicket tournament used to take place at the MIG. And in that tournament, I was playing and also with me Ajit was playing. The two of us were in different pool and both of were progressing in the respective pools," said the highest run-getter in ODIs. Tendulkar said that was perhaps the .
Neesham, Young and Blundell offered New Zealand central contracts
New Zealand players Jimmy Neesham, Will Young and Tom Blundell have been offered New Zealand central contracts for 2019-20.Neesham, who was missed out in the 2018-19, gave an amazing performance in the one-day internationals (ODI) and in the domestic cricket for Wellington. Whereas, Blundell was called up after a late injury to Tim Seifert, who missed out on the contract list.Moreover, both Neesham and Blundell feature in the 15-member World Cup squad which was announced on April 3.Young was set to make his Test debut against Bangladesh, however, the final test was called off."Jimmy had a very good season and made excellent progress with Wellington, New Zealand A and the Blackcaps. He's made every post a winning one. Will receives an offer on the basis of the sheer weight of runs he scored last season, both for New Zealand A and the Central Stags," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Gavin Larsen, as saying."Tom has acted as a back-up for BJ Watling on the tour of UAE, has recently played for New ...
India retain top-spot in ICC ODI team rankings
India have retained their top position in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test team rankings in the annual update on Thursday in which series results from 2015-16 were removed, and outcomes from 2016-17 and 2017-18 were weighted at 50 per cent.India now have 113 points while the second positioned New Zealand are just two points behind, which was earlier eight points.South Africa follow New Zealand is followed by South Africa, England, and Australia who sits on the third, four and fifth position respectively.While in the ICC One Day International (ODI) team rankings, England retained the top spot as the English side has 123 points. England is followed by India, who are just 2 points behind from England. South Africa, New Zealand and Australia secured the third, fourth and fifth position respectively.However, if England wants to go into the World Cup as the top-ranked side then they will have to beat Ireland in an upcoming one-off ODI and then beat Pakistan 3-2 or better in a ...
KKR look to continue winning run against KXIP (Preview)
Buoyed by their big victory over Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders will look to continue the winning momentum in yet another must-win Indian Premier League tie against Kings XI Punjab here on Friday.
I would not change anything in Pant, says Iyer
Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer, on Wednesday, praised 'freebie' Rishabh Pant saying that he would not like to change anything in him."You need to give him a freebie, you cannot restrict his (Pant) flow and I personally feel that you cannot blame him because he is that sort of person who can change the momentum of the game. I still like the way he plays and I would not like to change anything in him," Iyer said during the post-match conference.Pant, who has not been in a good form lately with the bat, faced just three balls and scored five runs before he gave an easy catch to Dwayne Bravo off Imran Tahir's delivery.Iyer eulogized Pant, however, feels that the wicket-keeper batsman should have played smartly."It was not a bad stroke, but definitely he could have played a bit smart and assess the pitch condition because we needed a bit of partnership at that period," Iyer said.Delhi Capitals faced an embarrassing 80-run defeat from Chennai Super Kings in the ongoing Indian Premier ..
Former I-League winner wages lone battle against cancer
Indian football fans of a certain vintage would remember the name of Sanjay Parte. The former full back was notably part of the Salgaocar side that won the 2010-11 I-League title and played for the big three clubs of Kolkata -- Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting. He is now fighting a lone battle against blood cancer.
India, England top Test and ODI rankings after annual update
India and England managed to retain top spots in the Test and ODI team rankings respectively, following the annual update of the ICC rankings on Thursday. The rankings were updated after series results from 2015-16 were removed, and outcomes from 2016-17 and 2017-18 are weighted at 50 per cent, an ICC statement read. England are the number one ranked ODI team with less than a month to go for the 2019 World Cup, but India have managed to narrow the gap to just two points. India's lead over second-placed New Zealand in the Test rankings has narrowed from eight to two points. India were on 116 points and New Zealand on 108 before the update but Virat Kohli-led side's 3-0 win over South Africa and 2-1 win in Sri Lanka being purged as part of the 2015-16 season sees them losing three points while New Zealand's two 2-0 defeats to Australia being removed sees them gain three points. In the only change of positions on the table, England have overtaken Australia to fourth position and are on ..