Page 319 - Sports
Hima included in World Relays team despite pulling out of Asian Championships
Top quartermiler Hima Das has been named in India's women 4x400m relay team for the World Relays which begin in Yokohama, Japan on May 11, despite pulling out of the recent Asian Athletics Championships in Doha due to lower back pain. Hima dropped out midway through her 400m heats on April 21 at the Asian Championships due to lower back spasm and she was later ruled out of the women's 4x400m relay and mixed 4x400m relay races. It is learnt that the coaches and officials of Athletics Federation of India feel that Hima can recover by the time of the World Relays which is an important event as far as qualification for World Championships (September-October in Doha) and next year's Olympics is concerned. The AFI has named the same men's and women's 4x400m relay teams which featured in the Asian Championships for the World Relays also. Two members from each of the men's and women's 4x400m relay teams will be picked for the mixed 4x400m relay. India's women 4x400m relay and mixed 4x400m ...
Best-ever show by Indians at Asian Wrestling meet
India's Greco-Roman wrestlers finished their campaign on a high with two more medals -- a silver through Harpreet Singh (82kg) and a bronze through Gyanender (60kg) -- as the Asian Wrestling Championships came to an end here on Sunday.
Dagar finishes T-17 in Morocco
Diksha Dagar rounded off her week with an even par 73 for a total of even par 292 to end in Tied-17th place on Sunday here at the Lalla Meryem Cup. The 19-year-old Dagar, who won the Women's South African Open last month for her maiden win, was in the Top-3 for the first two rounds. However, she slipped to T-17, which is still a creditable finish, considering this was only her sixth start as a professional and she has made the cut in five of them. She has won once and finished fifth on another occasion. Dagar shot 69, 75, 75, 73 and was the best of the three Indians who made the cut. Starting on the 10th, she had two birdies and two bogeys in her card. Tvesa Malik, starting from the back nine, was four-under at one stage, but ultimately finished three-under 70, her best for the week. She finished T-41 with a total of seven-over 299. Astha Madan dropped a bunch of shots with two bogeys and a double between 15th and 18th for a finishing 77 and a total of nine-over 301 for ...
DC played better than us in crunch moments: Kohli
His side all but out of the reckoning for a play-off berth in this IPL after losing to Delhi Capitals on Sunday, Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli Sunday admitted that the home side played better in crunch moments. "We started off really well with the bat. Powerplay was outstanding and then I got going, but me and AB (de Villiers) getting out to balls that you don't get out to. That's how the game goes some times. Delhi played better than us in the crunch moments," Kohli said after his side lost by 16 runs. Delhi Capitals qualified for the IPL play-offs for the first time since 2012 while it is all but over for the Kohli-led RCB, following their eighth loss in 12 games. Kohli said RCB allowed Delhi to score 20-odd runs more than an ideal total after the home side elected to bat. "It was a very important toss specially with how the wicket played. We showed a lot of character even after losing the toss, but it got away a little bit in the end. We were thinking 160-165 but .
Saurav Kothari outplays Advani 4-0 in Asian Billiards & Snooker c'ships
Multiple-time world champion cueist Pankaj Advani was on Sunday outplayed by compatriot Saurav Kothari at the Asian Billiards Championship here. The match between former Asian Champion Advani and Kothari, who won the Asian Billiards title a few year ago here, turned out to be one sided contest. Kothari played like he was on a mission to prove that he is no pushover when it comes to Billiards against any opponent, even if it is someone like Advani, who has 21 World titles to his credit. Today was certainly Kothari's day as he went on to register an easy 100-18, 101-98, 100-0, 100-57 victory over his more fancied opponent.
Clinical Delhi register 16-run win over Bangalore
Delhi Capitals (DC) moved atop the IPL points tally and all but sealed their place in the playoffs after a clinical effort saw them register a comprehensive 16-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCCB) at the Feroz Shah Kotla here on Sunday.
Harpreet bags silver, bronze for Gyanender as India finish with 16 medals at Asian Wrestling
India wrapped up their campaign at the Asian Wrestling Championships on a resounding note with 16 medals after Greco-Roman grapplers added a silver and a bronze on the concluding day here on Sunday. Harpreet Singh settled for a silver in 82kg while Gyanender won a bronze in 60kg on the final day of competition. India's overall tally of 16 medals included eight -- one gold, three silver and four bronze -- won by men's freestyle wrestlers, four bronze by women and three silver and a bronze by Greco-Roman wrestlers. With this performance, India's Greco-Roman wrestlers have bettered their tally of two bronze from the last edition and is the country's best ever showing in this discipline so far at the Asian Championships. After a strong show enroute to the final, Harpreet Singh had to settle for the second-best position to get his first silver medal after three consecutive bronze from this prestigious tournament. In the final, Iran's Saeid Morad Abdvali, a former world champion and Olympic
Mumbai opt to bowl first against KKR
Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to field first against Kolkata Knight Riders in their Indian Premier League game here on Sunday.
Former India footballer Kannan no more
Former India footballer Poongam Kannan, who was facing acute financial crisis, died at a city hospital Sunday evening following prolonged illness, family sources said. He was 80. Kannan is survived by his wife Antoinette and two daughters. "He breathed his last around 6pm," a family source said. A forward, Kannan played 14 matches for India and suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this month. There was a campaign on various social media platforms to raise funds for the family. According to his former teammates, Kannan in his hey days dribbled past defenders like a magician. For about a decade, the former Mohun Bagan and East Bengal forward was diagnosed with "severe osteoarthritis" that compounded his misery as he was a heart patient and had stent-implantation. Kannan lived with his two daughters and wife in a one-bedroom apartment in a narrow bylane of Jawpur road in Dumdum and the family had made several appeals to his clubs and the state government to foot medical bills of the star of
Mumbai Indians win toss, opt to bowl against KKR
Mumbai Indians won the toss and put Kolkata Knight Riders in to bat in an Indian Premier League match here Sunday. Teams: Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de kock (wk), Evin Lewis, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah, Barinder Sran. Kolkata Knight Riders: Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (c/wk), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Sandeep Warrier, Harry Gurney.
Rawat finishes 27th in prestigious London Marathon
India's Nitendra Singh Rawat finished 27th in the elite field of the prestigious London Marathon which was won by world record holder Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya on Sunday. Rawat, who has qualified for the World Championships to be held in Doha in September-October, clocked 2 hours 15 minutes and 59 seconds to take the 27th spot. This was his second fastest time this season and fourth fastest in his career. The 32-year-old Rawat had won the Mumbai Marathon early this year with a time of 2:15:52, which booked him a berth in the World Championships (qualifying time 2:16:00). His best in this event was 2:15:18 that he registered in Guwahati three years ago while winning the South Asian Games title. He had expressed his desire to break Shivnath Singh's longest standing national marathon record of 2:12:00 but could not do so in a top class field in London. Rawat took part in the 2016 Rio Olympics but finished at a dismal 84th place. Meanwhile, Kipchoge recorded the second fastest time in ...
Harpreet bags silver, Gyanender wins bronze as India finish with 16 medals at Asian Wrestling
India wrapped up their campaign at the Asian Wrestling Championships on a resounding note with 16 medals after Greco-Roman grapplers added a silver and a bronze on the concluding day here on Sunday. Harpreet Singh settled for a silver in 82kg while Gyanender won a bronze in 60kg on the final day of competitions. India's overall tally of 16 medals included eight -- one gold, three silver and four bronze -- won by men's freestyle wrestlers, four bronze by women and three silver and one bronze by Greco-Roman wrestlers. Harpreet put up an impressive performance to storm into the gold medal round, having thrashed Haitao Qian of China 10-1 in the semifinals after handing a 5-1 defeat to Burgo Beishaliev of Kyrgyzstan in his last-eight stage bout. Harpreet though failed to clinch the top spot as he went down in the title clash to Iran's Saeid Morad Abdvali 0-8. Earlier, Gyanender did well to defeat Jui Chi Huang of Taipei and bag the third position. For Gyanender, a quarterfinal round win ...
Lahiri-Sharma shoot 65, jump 2 places to tied 27th at Zurich Classic
Indian golfing duo of Anirban Lahiri and Shubhankar Sharma combined superbly for a seven-under 65 that saw them jump two places to tied 27th after the third round of Zurich Classic of New Orleans here. The Indian pair is now 15-under for tied 27th spot on a day, which produced, low scores in the better-ball format. After a 67 in the better-ball first round, Lahiri and Sharma had a 69 in the alternate-ball in the second to make the cut at eight-under. In the third round, Lahiri, who had five birdies, and Sharma, who had three, had a total of eight birdies. But they both bogeyed the sixth as Lahiri went into water and Sharma into the right rough off the tee. Among the holes they missed out were two par-5s. On the par-5 11th after starting from 10th, Sharma missed a 12-footer for a birdie and also bogeyed it. Also Lahiri missed a nine-footer for a birdie, but ended with a par. Again they missed out on a birdie on par-5 second, where both parred after Sharma went into the dirt and had to .
Fine on cards as clubs justify skipping Super Cup
Faced with heavy fines and sanctions for not playing the Super Cup in March, the I-League clubs have denied being at fault during the two-day AIFF disciplinary committee hearing that concluded here on Sunday.
Dhawan, Iyer help DC post 187/5 against RCB
Delhi Capitals rode on half-centuries by opener Shikhar Dhawan and skipper Shreyas Iyer to post a challenging 187/5 in their 20 overs against Royal Challengers Bangalore in their Indian Premier League (IPL) clash at the Feroz Shah Kotla here on Sunday.
All-round batting performance takes Delhi Capitals to 187/5
Half centuries by Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer's coupled with late cameos from Sherfane Rutherford and Axar Patel powered Delhi Capitals to 187/5 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in an IPL match here Sunday. Keeping in mind the extremely dry nature of the wicket, Delhi Capitals skipper Iyer opted to bat first. The openers began the Delhi innings on a steady note. Shikhar Dhawan sliced Umesh Yadav over cover point to hit the first boundary for his team. Shaw also hit four boundaries and looked in dangerous form but couldn't capitalise on his good start and perished for 18 in the fourth over with Yadav providing the first breakthrough for the visitors. Skipper Iyer edged the first ball he faced to the boundary. His innings of 52 was laced with two fours and three sixes. On the other end, Dhawan (50 off 37-balls) continued hitting boundaries at regular intervals to the packed crowd's delight. The home team reached to 88/1 at the halfway mark. The duo shared a 68-run stand and ...
Neymar says he was wrong to hit fan after cup-final defeat
Brazilian superstar Neymar accepted on Sunday that he had made a mistake striking a fans who insulted Paris Saint-Germain players as they filed up to collect their French Cup losers' medals. Neymar scored to put PSG 2-0 up after 21 minutes at the Stade de France on Saturday, but Rennes fought back to tie the game at 2-2 and win the penalty shootout 6-5 after extra time. As the players climbed the steps to receive their medals, shaking the hands of those nearby, Neymar, one of the last in line, struck one of the fans in the face. The blow was caught on numerous mobile phones, including that of the victim, Edouard, a 28-year-old delivery driver from Nantes. "Did I act badly?" Neymar asked in an Instagram comment. "Yes. But no one can stay indifferent." A Brazilian friend of Neymar's, Alex Bernardo, posted on Instagram a transcript of the comments audible on Edouard's video starting with unused reserves goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and defender Layvin Kurzawa. "Oh, Buffon, dirty Bouffon! .
Japan double golden delight at badminton Asia Championships
Japan's world number one Kento Momota roared back from a game down to defeat Shi Yuqi of China and retain his Badminton Asia Championships title on Sunday. On a red-letter day for Japan in the Chinese city of Wuhan, Akane Yamaguchi became the first Japanese to win the women's crown with an emphatic victory over home player He Bingjiao. In a repeat match of last year's World Championships final, second-ranked Shi powered into a 6-0 lead in the first game. Momota -- who beat Shi to win the world title -- briefly drew level, before the 23-year-old Chinese took the opening game 21-12. The 24-year-old Momota appeared to lack his explosive best and was behind early in the second game too, before forcing level at 11-11. The Japanese top seed then belatedly found his rhythm and sealed the second game 21-18 with a delicious smash. The momentum was all with Momota now and he clinched the title in 69 minutes by easily winning the third game 21-8 against a badly deflated Shi. There was more joy ..
Bangladesh call Farhad, Taskin for pre-WC tri-series
Injury-hit Bangladesh on Sunday added all-rounder Farhad Reza and pace bowler Taskin Ahmed to their squad for a three-nation tournament in Ireland in May to prepare for the World Cup. Taskin in particular will be cover for key bowler Rubel Hossain, who has been suffering from a side injury, and fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman, who is yet to recover from an ankle injury. "We are concerned because the Bangladesh team is facing some injury problems, especially with their fast bowlers," Bangladesh Cricket Board chief Akram Khan said. "The World Cup will be a long one, so we decided to take two more players for the Ireland series." Bangladesh will take on hosts Ireland and the West Indies in the warmup series from May 5-17, before heading to England for the World Cup which starts May 30. Farhad, who last played a one-day international in 2014, did well in the recent Dhaka Premier League where he claimed 38 in 16 matches. Taskin was a standout in the Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 in ...
Taskin, Farhad recalled to Bangladesh ODI squad for Ireland, Windies tri-series
Pacer Taskin Ahmed and all-rounder Farhad Reza have been recalled to Bangladesh's one-day international squad for the tri-series against host Ireland and West Indies, beginning May 5.Taskin has been recovering from an ankle injury he sustained during a Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) game. The 25-year-old was adviced a three-week rest and later made a comeback in the recent Dhaka Premier League (DPL). Farhad, who has not played an ODI since December 2011, was the highest wicket-taker in DPL, returning with 38 wickets from 16 games.Earlier, Bangladesh had announced its 15-man squad for the World Cup, which saw the inclusion of uncapped right-arm pacer Abu Jayed at the expense of Taskin, who was sidelined due to injury concerns.Taskin, who last featured in October 2017, was not named in the squad for the tri-series initially. The squad for the series was announced with the World Cup team and featured 17 players including Nayeem Hasan and Yasir Ali Rabbi as stand-bys.However, the ...