Page 327 - Sports

Delhi Dynamos defender Gharami tests positive for Prednisone

In a first in the Indian Super League, a footballer has tested positive for use of banned substance. The league has a zero-tolerance policy for doping and Delhi Dynamos player Rana Gharami has been charged with a violation of the NADA Anti-Doping Rules and he can be barred from playing for four years.

Abia Warriors coach resigns amid club's poor NPFL run

Abia Warriors head coach Henry Makinwa has decided to step down from his position amid the club's poor run in the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL).Makinwa said he tried his best as a coach, but there are many reasons which made him opt to quit."I have sent my resignation letter to the management of the club and I have stated the reason why I had to go at this point in time," Goal.com quoted Makinwa, as saying."I tried my best as a coach but there are so many reasons which made me consider the option of leaving that I do not want to disclose this just yet. I will say I enjoyed most of the part of my stay in Umuahia because it is my desire to train players and watch them grow to stardom," he added.Makinwa replaced Mose Adenrele as Warriors' head coach about two days before the start of the season, but Warriors have been struggling since the beginning of the season.Warriors are presently on the 11th position in the NPFL with just 18 points from 16 games.Makinwa disclosed that

Not time to rest, Indian boxers gear up for gruelling schedule post Asian C'ship laurels

Indian boxers no longer start underdogs against the mighty Kazakhs and Uzebks, High Performance Director Santiago Nieva said Friday, describing the 13-medal haul at the Asian Championships a "truly amazing" show that would be followed not by a break but a busy training schedule. India fetched two gold, four silver and seven bronze medals in the tournament, held simultaneously for men and women. The men picked up seven medals, including one gold, while the women managed six. "It is a very, very strong statement that has been made by our boxers. Asia is a strong region in boxing and I am proud of the way we have performed here," Nieva told PTI from Bangkok after a gruelling day in which six Indians -- four men and two women -- competed. "We cannot be called underdogs anymore and I am asserting that we are going to be very strong at the world championships (in September). The Asian championship is a very good bench-mark," he added. The gold-medallists for India were Amit Panghal (52kg) ..

FIM ARCC: Rajiv qualifies in top 12, Senthil at 18th

After delivering the best ever performance in round 1 of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship 2019 (ARRC) in Sepang, IDEMITSU Honda Racing India teams riders Rajiv Sethu and Senthil Kumar pushed hard in the Asia Production 250 qualifier at the Bend Motorsport Park here on Friday.

Vinesh settles for bronze in new weight category in Asian C'ships

Asian Games gold medallist Vinesh Phogat clinched a bronze in her new 53kg weight category at the Asian Wrestling Championships here on Friday. Vinesh has moved up to a higher category from 50kg in which she had won a gold in the Jakarta Asian Games, after rejig of weight classes by the world governing body for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She had competed in 53kg at the UWW Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov tourney in Bulgaria last month and won a silver medal. Vinesh had a disappointing start as she lost to Mayu Mukaida of Japan, who came through the qualification round. The Japanese was declared a 10-0 winner in a victory by technical superiority verdict. But since her opponent reached the final, Vinesh featured in the repechage round where she beat Jo Cih Chiu of Taipei in a 6-0 victory by fall verdict. In the bronze medal play-off, Vinesh beat Qianyu Pang of China 8-1. In the women's 72kg category, Kiran crashed out in the quarterfinals as she lost 4-7 on points at the hands of Zhamila ...

CCI Kekoo Nicholson-BSAM Billiards League from Monday

Top guns, including Siddharth Parikh, Devendra Joshi and Rohan Jambusaria will be seen in action representing their respective teams in the CCI Kekoo Nicholson BSAM Billiards League, which will start from April 29. A total of 29 teams will be fighting it out for the top honours in this competition which will be played on a league-cum-knockout basis. India's fifth ranked Parikh is the captain of P.J. Hindu Gymkhana 'Probables', sixth ranked Joshi will captain Matunga Gymkhana's MG 'Night Kings' and India number seven Jambusaria is named as skipper of Mandpeshwar Civic Foundation's MCF 'Tough Men', a media release said Friday. The teams have been divided into eight sections and will play on a home and away basis during the initial phase of the league, which will conclude with the third week ending May 18. Two teams from each section will qualify for the knockout phase starting from the pre-quarter-finals. The semi-finals will be played on Saturday, May 25 and the league .

Eqbal, Macherla enter semis

Unseeded Ishaque Eqbal and Theertha Macherla defied odds to enter the semi finals of the USD 3000 RBL BankATT Asian Ranking men's tennis championship here on Friday. In the quarter finals, Eqbal upset seventh seeded Paramveer Bajwa 6-3, 6-2, while youngster Theertha Marcherla saved a match point to topple fourth seeded Chandril Sood 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-2 . Eqbal will take on Macherla for a place in the final. In the second semi final, sixth seeded Prithvi Sekhar will meet lucky loser Raghav Jaisinghani. The results: Men's singles (Quarterfinals): Ishaque Eqbal bt 7- Paramveer Bajwa (IND) 6-3, 6-2; Theertha Marcherla bt 4- Chandril Sood 1 -6, 7-6(6), 6-2; 6-Prithvi Sekhar bt Gokul Suresh 6-3, 6-1; Raghav Jaisinghani bt Lakshya Gupta 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Romanian Doru Isac picked as AIFF's technical director

Romanian Doru Isac has been named as the technical director of All India Football Federation for a three-year tenure, technical committee chairman Shyam Thapa said Friday. The 56-year-old Isac was one of the three candidates interviewed by the AIFF's technical committee, headed by Thapa, on Monday. The technical committee had sent its recommendations to the executive committee of the AIFF to take a final decision. Gaioz Darsadze of Georgia and Jorge Castelo of Portugal were the other two candidates interviewed by the technical committee. The post of technical director remained vacant since Australian Scott O'Donnell decided to quit in 2017. Former India player and coach Savio Medeira was looking after the post as interim TD since then. The well-travelled Isac has worked in various managerial capacities as well as technical director in many European and Asian countries. He is widely known as assistant to Arsene Wenger at Japanese side Nagoya Grampus Eight from 1997 to 2002. He also has

Pooja, Amit bag gold at Asian Boxing C'ship (2nd Lead)

Boxers Pooja Rani and Amit Panghal gave India two gold medals at the Asian Boxing Championships here on Friday.

Umpire Ian Gould to retire after World Cup

English umpire Ian Gould will retire after the forthcoming International Cricket Council (ICC) Men's Cricket World Cup 2019, announced ICC.This year's World Cup will be Gould's fourth appearance in the premier tournament. He is one of 16 ICC umpires confirmed for the tournament."Ian has made an outstanding contribution to the game over a long period, particularly in the last decade as an international umpire for the ICC," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Geoff Allardice, the ICC general manager of cricket, as saying."He has always put the interests of the game first, and in doing so has earned enormous respect from his colleagues and players across all countries. His presence on the field will be missed, but I am sure his lifelong association with the game will continue," he added.The 61-year old joined the ECB's first-class umpires list in 2002 and made his debut as an international umpire in a T20 between England and Sri Lanka in 2006.Just a few days after that, Gould stepped out as an umpire ..

Doru Isac cleared by AIFF as new technical director

: The emergency committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has cleared the name of Romanian coach Doru Isac as the new technical director.

Amit Panghal continues golden run; Pooja on top among women at Asian C'ships

Amit Panghal (52kg) picked up his second successive gold medal of the year, while Pooja Rani (81kg) finished on top among the women to bring a fine end to India's phenomenal campaign in the Asian Boxing Championships here Friday. India ended the event with 13 medals -- two gold, four silver and seven bronze medals -- in the tournament which was held simultaneously for men and women for the first time. Panghal, who won the Asian Games gold medal last year, defeated Korea's Kim Inkyu in a unanimous decision. He came into the tournament on the back of a gold at the Strandja Memorial Tournament in February in Bulgaria. The 28-year-old Pooja, a silver-medallist at the event in 2012, struck gold among the women by defeating China's Wang Lina. The Haryana-pugilist took to boxing against the wishes of her father, who relented after a six months of pleadings by the boxer and her coaches in Bhiwani. She also has an Asian Games bronze medal, which she claimed in 2014. However, national champion

India's junior footballers to play Mexico, USA and Slovenia

Keeping an eye on the AFC U-16 Qualifiers, the Indian junior national team departed for for an exposure trip to Italy, where they will be playing against USA, Mexico, and Slovenia. Boys born on or after January 1, 2004 are a part of the group, and are being coached by Bibiano Fernandes, who had guided the U-15 colts to the quarterfinals of the AFC U-16 Championship in Malaysia 2018. In Italy, the team will be participating in the MU-15 Championship. They were a match away from a direct qualification into the FIFA U-17 World Cup, but eventually went down to Korea Republic by a solitary goal. "We had good success with the previous batch, and are looking to build a similar setup this time too," Bibiano said. "USA, Mexico, and Slovenia are big teams. It will be good for the boys to play against such developed sides. We conducted trials throughout the country and scouted boys from different parts like Kohlapur, Goa, Kerala, Mizoram, Manipur," he added. The coach believes that although his .

ISSF World Cup: Divyansh bags gold medal

Divyansh Singh Parmar, on Friday, clinched a silver medal in the Men's 10m Air Rifle and 2020 Olympic quota place to boot at the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/ Pistol in Beijing, China.Divyansh was just 0.4 behind in the end calculations which handed China's Hui Zicheng a gold medal with a score of 249.4.Russia's Grigorii Shamakov scored 227.5 and won Bronze.China has already secured its maximum two quotas in the event, thereby the two available quotas went to Indian and Russia.Divyansh, who was competing on day four of competitions, also won gold in the Mixed Team event on Thursday.India have now won a total of four Tokyo Olympic quota places in Shooting through Apurvi Chandela and Anjum Moudgil in the Women's 10m Air Rifle, Saurabh Chaudhary in the Men's 10m Air Pistol and now with Divyansh's effort getting them their first in the Men's 10m Air Rifle.In the other event of the day, the Men's 25m Rapid Fire competition, Adarsh Singh was the ...

Amit Panghal wins gold at Asian Boxing Championships

Asian Games champion Amit Panghal (52 kg) gave India its first gold medal at the ongoing Asian Boxing Championships here on Friday.

Backing talented players like Rishabh has worked for us: Ponting

With Delhi Capitals placed comfortably at the second spot in the ongoing IPL, head coach Ricky Ponting Friday said keeping faith in talented players like Rishabh Pant has helped the team in finding the form at this crucial juncture of the competition. "There have been questions asked about where we should have dropped certain players in some matches, but I believe when you have talented players in your squad, you just keep backing them. We have players who can turn it around quite quickly as it takes just one innings or match to get going in a tournament like this," the 44-year-old Australian legend said. "... players like Rishabh might have had certain thoughts about World Cup selection, but to be honest, that 78 not out in the first match against Mumbai got us the win. I'm glad he found form again against RR, and what you want from players like him in such a tournament is that they win you three or four matches each throughout the season, and he has won two games for us so far, and .

AIFF appoints Doru Isac as technical director

Romanian Doru Isac has replaced Savio Medeira as the new technical director of the Indian football team.The All India Football Federation (AIFF) executive committee was handed over the responsibility to take the final call on the appointment of a technical director for the Indian football team. Doru Isac was selected from the list of the candidates, Goal.com reported.Savio Medeira was serving as the technical director since Scott O'Donnell resigned from the post.Interestingly, Scott had applied for the post once again, however, he was rejected.As the AIFF has taken the call on the appointment of a technical director, they will now have to shortlist and finalise the head coach for the national team.

Royals, Sunrisers begin life without key overseas recruits

Both Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad will begin life without their key overseas players when they face-off in the Indian Premier League here on Saturday. At this stage, Royals are more affected than Sunrisers with the absence of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Joffra Archer, who have left for England to join the World Cup camp. Sunrisers will surely miss the services of their destructive opener and Englishman Jonny Bairstow, who formed the most potent opening pairing alongside David Warner. Things will get tougher for both teams after the departure of Australians -- Warner and Royals skipper Steve Smith -- next week. Sunrisers are placed better than Royals on the points table, having won five out of their 10 games. Royals have only won four of their 11 games but they too remain in the hunt for a play-off spot. All-rounder Archer propelled Royals to a thrilling victory over KKR on Thursday night and his presence too will be felt very much. The departure of three Englishmen could ..

Ashok Dinda hits back at RCB

Indian fast bowler Ashok Dinda hit back at Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday and reminded them of his career achievements."Haters, helping you get your statistics right. Stop and stare well your opinion is not my reality. So shut your hating selves and keep me out of your mouth,' Dinda wrote on his Facebook account.Dinda's reaction came out just a day after his former Indian Premier League (IPL) team posted a tweet taking a jibe at the bowler.RCB's bowler Umesh Yadav picked up three wickets against Kings XI Punjab and the team's social media handle tweeted the bowler's picture captioning it as "Dinda academy? What's that?"The tweet was later taken down by the franchise and they decided to give an explanation for deleting the post."As some of you pointed out, the previous version of this tweet was in bad taste. However, for all of you who have relentlessly trolled this lad, he said #challengeAccepted and bowled his heart out! 4-0-36-3, 15 off his last two overs & 2 wickets .

Oman will make an impact in ODI cricket: Coach Duleep Mendis

Oman head coach Duleep Mendis expressed happiness over his team attaining ODI status, saying he cannot ask for more and is certain that Oman will make an impact in the ODI cricket in coming years."I think it is something huge. I think you can't ask anything more than this. With all the hard work the boys have gone through the last 5-6 years, they have climbed up the ladder and to get ODI status in Namibia, I think it is the biggest achievement. It is the pinnacle that we have reached now," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Mendis as saying."One thing I can tell you, in the ODIs in the next three years, we will certainly make an impact," he added.Mendis also said the credit should not only be given to players, but also to the Oman Cricket board for their support."The build-up and the hard work that the boys did over the years, I think we should give the credit not only to the boys but to the cricket board as well. Oman Cricket board, which is headed by Mr Kanak Khimji and the board of directors, we