Page 331 - Sports
Kohli brings back 'Mankad' memories for Ashwin
Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli's aggression on the field found its match in Kings XI Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin during their Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. In fact, their explosive send-offs for each other was the talking point in the high-voltage encounter.
Eqbal topples top seed Dahiya to enter quarters at tennis meet
Unheralded Ishaque Eqbal caused a major upset by toppling top seed Jatin Dahiya to enter the quarter-finals of the USD 3,000 RBL BankATT Asian Ranking men's tennis championships Thursday. In the pre-quarter final round match, unseeded Eqbal downed Dahiya 6-2, 6-1 in a one-sided contest to advance to the last eight at the MSLTA courts here. Two other upsets were recorded on the day. Qualifier Theertha Marcherla came back from the loss of the opening set to shock fifth seeded Tejas Chaukulkar 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 in one of the toughest matches of the day. Lucky loser Raghav Jaisinghani also caused a flutter as he scored a creditable 6-4, 6-1 win over eighth seeded Patlolla Reddy to book a last eight spot. Fourth seeded Chandril Sood, sixth seeded Prithvi Sekhar, seventh seeded Paramveer Bajwa, lucky loser Gokul Suresh and Lakshya Gupta were the other players to make it to the quarter-finals. The results: Men's singles (Pre-quarter finals): Ishaque Eqbal bt 1-Jatin Dahiya(IND) 6-2,
East Bengal exploring Barcelona tie-up possibility
I-League heavyweights East Bengal are exploring the possibility of a tie-up with Spanish giants FC Barcelona, the club said in a social media statement.
60 hockey players named for women's national camp
Hockey India on Thursday named 60 players for the women's national camp at Sports Authority of India (SAI) in Bengaluru, beginning April 26.The players were selected on the basis of their recent performance at the 9th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2019 (A and B Divisions).Eight goalkeepers including Savita, Rajani Etimarpu, Swati, Sonal Minz, Bichu Devi Kharibam, Chanchal, Sandya MG and Mahima have made to the camp while among defenders, Deep Grace Ekka, Gurjit Kaur, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Nisha, Reena Khokhar, Sunita Lakra, Rashmita Minz, Suman Devi Thoudam, Mahima Choudhary, Salima Tete, Manpreet Kaur, Vandana, Kiran, Ritu, Kirandeep Kaur, Gurleen Grewal and Cheluvamba R have been included.Meanwhile, 17 midfielders have been named including Nikki Pradhan, Neha Goyal, Lilima Minz, Monika, Karishma Yadav, Sonika, Renuka Yadav, Shyama Tidgam, Anuja Singh, Namita Toppo, Lily Chanu, Preeti Dubey, Reet, Chetna, Elin Lakra, Rajni Bala and Upasana Singh.Among forwards, .
Pogba odd man out in PFA team of the year
Manchester United's Paul Pogba is the only non-Manchester City or Liverpool player to be named in the Professional Footballers' Association's Premier League team of the year on Thursday. The 26-year-old French World Cup-winning midfielder's inclusion is a surprise after an indifferent season, although he hit a purple patch after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer arrived at Old Trafford as interim manger. City and Liverpool have been locked in an enthralling duel for the title, with Guardiola's City going top again on Wednesday after beating United 2-0 at Old Trafford, with Pogba unable to inspire his side to a much-needed win. City provide six of the 11 players -- goalkeeper Ederson, centre-half Aymeric Laporte, midfielders Bernardo Silva and Fernandinho and forwards Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling. The remaining four places are filled by Liverpool players -- full-backs Andrew Robertson and Trent-Alexander Arnold, central defender Virgil van Dijk and forward Sadio Mane. Van Dijk and Sterling are
Sane says derby win gives Man City confidence boost
Leroy Sane says Manchester City's derby victory against Manchester United will give them a huge confidence boost as they seek to fend off Liverpool and wrap up the Premier League title. City are now clear favourites to win the top flight after moving back to the summit with their 2-0 victory at Old Trafford on Wednesday. The champions, who have won their past 11 league games, are a point ahead of Liverpool with three matches remaining for both clubs. The derby was seen as the toughest hurdle left for City as they bid to become the first side to retain the title in a decade. "If you have this late a derby and you win this big game, it gives you a lot of confidence, especially when you have just three games left to play, " said Sane, who came off the bench to score City's second goal. "Every one of us wants to do the back to back. We're really happy about this win because it is the derby, a special game, and also really important for the Premier League." Sane recognises the job is far ..
Rani named in 60-member women's national camp
Star skipper Rani Rampal headlined a 60 player probables list for the women's hockey national camp, beginning in Bengaluru from Friday. Rani, who missed out the five match bilateral series with Malaysia due to injury, joins the two-week camp alongside goalkeeper Savita and defender Deep Grace Ekka. A selection trial will be held on May 4 to prune down the list to 33 core probables, a Hockey India media release said. "While I am looking forward to seeing and testing the new talent coming into the National Camp, the athletes will need to perform and show their capabilities," India's chief coach, Sjoerd Marijne said. "We are constantly looking to improve and good players posing a challenge to seniors will only increase the competition within the core group and also help create depth in the team." National Campers List: Goalkeepers: Savita, Rajani Etimarpu, Swati, Sonal Minz, Bichu Devi Kharibam, Chanchal, Sandya MG and Mahima. Defenders:Deep Grace Ekka, Gurjit Kaur, Sushila Chanu ...
East Bengal in talks with Barcelona for tie-up possibility
Quess East Bengal may enter into a tie-up with Spanish giants Barcelona, chairman of the I-League runners-up Ajit Isaac has said in a statement on their official Facebook page. "Senior officials of the Spanish giants, FC Barcelona and Quess East Bengal Football Club team, met to explore the possibility of an association between the two clubs," Isaac was quoted saying on their Facebook page Wednesday. "The meeting facilitated by Rakuten, the global innovation partner and sponsor of FC Barcelona, was held at Quess House in Bengaluru. Rakuten is incidentally advising FCB on expanding its footprint worldwide," it added with a photo of the officials. The deal if finalised would give a big boost to the growth of Indian football at grassroots level. East Bengal previously had a partnership with Leicester City of the Premier League. However, that was concerned solely with building the English club's profile among the huge South Asian diaspora of the city.
Saina, Sindhu sail into Asia Badminton C'ship quarters
Ace Indian women shuttlers Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu registered straight-game wins to sail into the quarterfinals of the Asia Badminton Championship here Thursday. London Olympic bronze medallist Saina, who was the last Indian to take the court on Thursday, needed just 38 minutes to get the better of Kim Ga Eun of Korea to enter the last eight round of the women's singles event. Saina, seeded seventh, has a tough next encounter as she will be up against third seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan. The other Indian in fray, Sindhu, seeded fourth, took just 33 minutes to beat Indonesia's Choirunnisa 21-15 21-19 in another second round women's singles match. The world number six will next play the unseeded Cai Yanyan of China in the quarterfinals. Besides the female duo, Sameer Verma too continued his impressive run by progressing to the men's singles quarterfinals. Sameer brushed aside Hong Kong's Ng Ka Long Angus 21-12 21-19 in his second round encounter. But a Herculean task awaits Sameer ..
India to play Russia in FIH Series Finals opener on June 6th
Favourites India will open their campaign against lowly Russia in the International Hockey Federation (FIH) Series Finals, an Olympic qualifier event, to be held in Bhubaneswar from June 6 to 15. World ranked fifth India will take on world no.22 Russia in the final match of the opening day, which also feature games between South Africa and United States and Poland and Uzbekistan. India are placed in Pool A alongside Poland (ranked 21), Russia and Uzbekistan (43rd), while Pool B consists of South Africa (16th), Asia Games gold medallist Japan (18th), USA (25th) and Mexico (39th). After Russia, India will be up against Poland (June 7) and Uzbekistan (June 10) in their remaining pool matches. The final of tournament will be played on June 15 at the Kalinga Stadium. The tournament will also be Indian men team's new chief coach Graham Reid first big assignment. Meanwhile in their bid to take a step forward towards qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the Indian women's hockey team will .
Shabana FC fined for fans' misconduct
National Super League (NSL) side Shabana FC, on Thursday, have been fined KES 20,000 following their abandoned clash against Wazito on April 7."Shabana has been fined KES 20,000 for fans' unsporting behavior that caused abandonment of their FKF National Super League match against Wazito played on April 7, 2019, at Camp Toyoyo," Football Kenya said in a statement.Shabana's Daniel Murage scored an early goal giving his side a lead but Derrick Onyango scored an equalizer in the added time, however, the goal did not go down well with the Shabana fans as they thought the scorer was in an offside position.Moreover, the above amount should be paid to the Football Kenya Federation within Fourteen (14) days from the date of this ruling.Wazito has been awarded three points for the abandoned match and is now the top-positioned team in the NSL with 57 points.
Steyn ruled out of IPL 2019 due to shoulder injury
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) received a major setback on Thursday as their pace spearhead Dale Steyn was ruled out of the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season due to a shoulder injury.
Chennai eye revenge against Mumbai (Preview)
In what could be another riveting clash, defending champions Chennai Super Kings will take on Mumbai Indians in their return fixture of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Friday.
Kavinder Bisht, 3 others enter Asian Boxing Championship finals
Kavinder Singh Bisht (56kg) produced another lion-hearted performance to enter the finals along with three other Indians in the Asian Boxing Championships here on Thursday. Deepak Singh (49kg) and Ashish Kumar (75kg) joined Bisht in the men's finals, while Pooja Rani (75kg) advanced in the women's draw in the early session of the marquee event's last-four stage. Settling for bronze medals were veteran L Sarita Devi (60kg) and last edition's silver-medallist Manisha (54kg). It was a positive start to the day for India with national champion Deepak advancing to the final without exchanging a single blow after getting a walkover from Kazakhstan's Temirtas Zhussupov due to injury. It was a second successive walkover to the Indian. Next up was Bisht, who had upstaged reigning world champion Kairat Yeraliyev of Kazakhstan in his quarterfinal contest. He was up against Mongolian Enkh-Amar Khakhuu and was aggression personified. Willing to risk a few blows, the quick-moving Bisht stunned his .
Virat and I play with passion, says Ashwin
Fiery celebrations of Virat Kohli and R Ashwin while they were sending off each other to the dugout was the highlight of the match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab here on Wednesday; however, Ashwin tackled the situation by saying that they both reacted out of passion."I just played with passion, so does he (Virat). That's it," Ashwin said during the post-match press conference.Ashwin gave Kohli a raging send-off and when Kohli got the opportunity, he did not shy away from celebrating in a similar manner and gave Punjab's skipper a similar send-off.Bangalore, who were sent to bat first, scored 202 runs for four wickets in their 20 overs, thanks to AB de Villiers' 82-run inning off just 44 balls which helped his side set this mammoth target for the visitors.Punjab, who then came out to bat, was unable to chase down the target and lost the match by 17 runs.Ashwin, talking about the defeat, said that his side lost the execution towards the end."I think we lost our .
Indian challenge ends as Sathiyan bows out
The Indian challenge at the Budapest ITTF World Championships came to an end when G. Sathiyan failed to go past Hugo Calderano of Brazil in the men singles round of 32.
Three Indian women enter bronze-medal playoffs at Asian Wrestling
Asian Games bronze-medallist Divya Kakran, Manju Kumari and Seema Thursday made it to the bronze medal play-offs of the Asian Wrestling Championships' women's competition here. While Kakran and Manju reached the bronze medal round after losing their respective semifinal bouts, Seema made it to the third-fourth place match after winning her repechage bout. Kakran lost out on a place in the final of 68kg as she went down to Feng Zhou of China 4-14 in the semifinals. Earlier in the day, Kakran, who is returning to competitive wrestling after recovering from an ankle injury, came up with an impressive show to beat Hong Thuy Nguyen of Vietnam 10-0 in her quarterfinal bout. Silver-medallist in the 69kg category at the 2017 edition of the Asian Championships in New Delhi, Kakran will take on Battsetseg Soronzonbold of Mongolia in her bronze-medal bout later in the day. Manju Kumari suffered a defeat at the hands of Battsetseg Altantsetseg of Mongolia 6-15 in the last four stage to settle for
Resting players is crucial ahead of World Cup, believes Tamim Iqbal
Bangladesh is all set to participate in the tri-series which will be played next month, however, Bangladesh batsman Tamim Iqbal expressed that amid tight schedule for the players, resting players who need it will be indispensable."The only [negative] I see here is playing 13-14 matches in around one and a half months. We do not get to play much in those conditions. The key will be to rest the people who need it, especially in Ireland. We cannot afford to rest them in the World Cup," International Cricket Council (ICC) quoted Iqbal as saying.Although Bangladesh has been performing really well in the last few ICC tournaments, they reached the semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 in England and the quarterfinals of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2015, still Iqbal opined that they will have to work on chasing down big totals."It's true that we are not used to chasing 340-350 [totals]. We know that we have to chase 280-300-320 in every match of the World Cup. So, we have to work it
CSK look to consolidate position at top against Mumbai Indians
They might have already reached the cut-off limit of 16 points needed for the play-offs, but Chennai Super Kings would like to consolidate their position at the top when they take on an inconsistent Mumbai Indians in an IPL match here on Friday. The MS Dhoni-led side roared back to form after two losses, with a six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Tuesday night, riding on Shane Watson's big hitting. Come tomorrow, the hosts would be looking to continue the momentum. The visitors, currently in third spot with 12 points from 10 games, are coming off a defeat against Rajasthan Royals and will be keen to keep themselves in the hunt for the playoffs. While CSK's must have welcomed Watson's return to form, the team would be hoping for Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu and Kedar Jadhav to get going ahead of the knockout phase. It is important for Jadhav to get his touch back with the World Cup looming. The bowlers have played a big role in CSK's success so far, especially at home, on ...
Right attitude is the key, says Stoinis after RCB's third consecutive win
Royal Challengers Bangalore have won third successive match in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) after having a woeful beginning. RCB all-rounder Marcus Stoinis is of the opinion that it is the right attitude that gives the best chance of winning."Cricket is a type of game often there are just little things that need to be changed. For us, I think it was just the fact that once you lose a couple of games, sometimes you play to try not to lose rather than play to win. We started winning some close games as well which gave everyone confidence," Stoinis said in the post-match press conference here on Wednesday."So, there have not been big changes. We all know we are good players. Everyone in the IPL is good players, every team is good. I think if you just bring the right attitude to the ground, every single time, then it gives you the best chance of winning," he added.After witnessing a six-match losing streak in the start of the IPL, Royal Challengers Bangalore are now turning ...