Page 392 - Sports
Spurs hoping for stadium boost in Man City Champions League clash
Tottenham Hotspur are hoping for a lift from their new stadium as they prepare for the daunting task of playing quadruple-chasing Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday. Spurs won last week in their first match at their new home, beating Crystal Palace 2-0 to move back into third in the Premier League after a disappointing run of results. City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne claims Tottenham's new ground will not be a significant factor in the first leg of the tie but South Korean forward Son Heung-min said the atmosphere could help his team, who had been based at Wembley since the start of the 2017/18 season. "Of course," he told reporters at the pre-match press conference. "We take these plus points for us because maybe the City players don't realise, they always play at home. We've been nearly two years away from our home stadium. "What we've done in the last two years was very positive and I think we missed home a lot and maybe we can show them tomorrow night
Dembele in Barca squad for United Champions League match
French striker Ousmane Dembele is close to shaking off a thigh strain and was named in Ernesto Valverde's Barcelona squad on Monday for the Champions League quarter-finals first-leg at Manchester United. The 21-year-old World Cup winner has excelled on both flanks this season after a slow bedding in process at Barcelona, but has been on the sidelines since March 16 with a thigh muscle problem. Valverde said he had chosen the still-struggling winger in his squad for Wednesday's game because he needed all hands on deck. "Dembele is on the list despite not yet being fully fit," said Valverde, who added that Dembele had taken part in full training on Monday. Dembele, who scored in Barcelona's 5-1 victory over Lyon in his last Champions League outing, had originally been expected to miss four weeks. The former Dortmund and Rennes forward missed Barca's 2-0 win at Atletico Madrid on Saturday as the club target a La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League treble they achieved in both 2009 ...
Klopp says Liverpool 'on fire' as they chase double
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says his players are revelling in the pressure to win every game as they chase a Premier League and Champions League double. Klopp's men host Porto in the first leg of their European quarter-final tie on Tuesday after scoring late winners to beat Fulham, Tottenham and Southampton to edge two points ahead of Manchester City in a titanic title race. City still have a game in hand on Liverpool, meaning the title remains in the English champions' hands, and there is precious little room for error for the Reds in their remaining five league games. But Klopp believes being in the running to win both competitions is inspiring his squad not to give up late in games. "It's such a good time. We get up every morning and the weather is good as well which is pretty rare. It's warm outside, spring is coming and we are in the two big competitions, but we have to use the situation," he said on Monday. "We have not finished the season, we have not finished our ...
Singla bows out early in national ranking tennis meet
Fifth seeded Renne Singla of Haryana made an early exit in the opening round of the Women's Singles event at the ongoing Central Excise Open AITA Men's and Women's National Ranking Tennis Tournament at the synthetic courts of the Bengal Tennis Association Complex here on Monday.
Avika ousts fifth seed Renne
Fifth seed Renne Singla of Haryana made an opening round exit going down to Delhi's Avika Sagwal in the women's singles of the Central Excise Open AITA National Ranking Tennis Tournament here Monday. After dropping the opening set by a close tie breaker, Singla made a comeback as she leveled the match by winning the second in yet another tie breaker. In the decider, both Singla and Sagwal held serves till 5-5 where the Delhi girl claimed the crucial break and eventually closed the match by long 6-7(5) 7-6(5) 7-5. Local girls Shruti Gupta and Shreya Chakraborty made a cakewalk into the pre-quarter finals of the women's singles event, drubbing their opponents Sakshi Chug of Chattisgarh and Akshala Kumar of Maharashtra respectively by straight sets.
Tendulkar Middlesex Global Academy announces summer camps
The Tendulkar Middlesex Global Academy (TMGA) on Monday announced the schedule for summer cricket coaching camps to be held here in May.
There are shades of Sehwag in Prithvi's batting: Brian Lara
Prithvi Shaw's phenomenal talent has been much talked-about and the latest to join the bandwagon is none other than Brian Lara, who has found shades of "Virender Sehwag" in Mumbai youngster's batting style. Just like Sehwag, Prithvi is also a fierce cutter of the ball and his short-arm pull at times is a carbon copy of the 'Nawab of Najafgarh'. One of the greatest batsman to have ever graced the game, Lara was all praise for young Shaw's approach. "I see more of Virender Sehwag in Prithvi Shaw's style of batting and think his maturity is amazing," Lara told Star Sports Select Dugout. Lara was impressed watching Prithvi score a hundred on his Test debut in Rajkot last year. "I saw him play against the West Indies last October and he scored a lot of runs. It's wonderful to see a young player on Indian soil doing so well. He travelled to Australia but unfortunately could not play, because of an injury," he said. He is only 19 years but with two seasons of IPL, he is already a "senior ...
Super Cup: Chennai City FC ready to upset Goa applecart
I-League champions Chennai City FC will be aiming to continue their giant-killing spree when they take on a formidable FC Goa in the Super Cup semi-final here Tuesday. Having already knocked out ISL champions Bengaluru FC in the quarter-finals, the Chennai City men will be eager to get the better of ISL runners-up. With both sides believing in attacking football's philosophy, the semi-final promises to be an exciting affair. En route their road to last four, Chennai City have disposed off two ISL sides, Bengaluru and prior to that FC Pune City. Chennai's Spanish troika - Pedro Manzi, Nestor and Sandro - will be in focus yet again, but Chennai goalkeeper Mauro Boerchio's stellar performance against Bengaluru has been their biggest takeaway in the tournament. The Italian custodian effected some stunning saves to ensure the victory for his team against ISL champions. With the substantial attacking threat posed by the Goan side's famed attacking roster, expect Mauro to play a key role ...
Age fraud hits Indian football, junior players from all 3 northeast teams fail test
Indian football was Monday rocked by age fraud with players of all three Under-13 North Eastern teams failing the bone age determination test. The teams include former I-League winners Aizawl FC, Shillong Lajong and Neroca FC. Also, most of the players from former I-League champions Minerva Punjab FC's U-13 team also failed the test. All these players have been barred from playing in the sub-junior U-13 Youth League with immediate effect by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). "Minerva Punjab aside, most of the players from all the northeast teams failed the TW3 bone age determination test. They have been barred from taking further part in the competition," an AIFF official told PTI on the condition of anonymity. "A team can register as many as 35 to 40 players but it needs at least 18 players (who have passed the test) to be able to participate in the tournament," he added. Minerva Punjab FC, who have been at loggerheads with the AIFF for some time now, said the federation is ...
Indian begin with defeat against New Zealand in junior Davis Cup
Indian boys could not win a single set in their opening contest in the junior Davis Cup, going down 0-3 against New Zealand in Group D matches, here Monday. Promising Ajay Malik lost 4-6 3-6 to Jay Friend in the opening singles, which lasted an hour and 13 minutes. The onus to bring India back was on Divesh Gahlot but he was drubbed 0-6 3-6 by Corban Crowther in 66 minutes. With the three-match rubber already lost, Malik and Sushant Dabas took field for the inconsequential doubles but lost 6-7(2) 1-6 in one hour and seven minutes. India next take on Indonesia tomorrow.
Indian women's hockey team hold Malaysia to a 4-4 draw
Navneet Kaur struck twice as the Indian women's hockey team overcame a 2-4 setback in the third quarter to level the scores 4-4 in their third match against Malaysia in the five-match series here Monday. Though it was India who established a strong position after taking an early 2-0 lead, the team made too many errors inside the circle while defending which led to conceding back-to-back PCs. Malaysia, on the other hand, ensured these opportunities were converted to goals. After Navjot Kaur scored a goal in the 13th minute and Navneet found the back of the net in the 22nd minute to give India a good start, Gurdip Kirandeep of Malaysia scored the team's first goal in the 26th minute to narrow the Malaysian deficit to 1-2. This was Malaysia's first goal of the tournament after losing to India 0-3 and 0-5 in the previous two matches. This goal propelled Malaysia to test the Indian defenders. An infringement on India's part gave away a PC which Nuraini Rashid scored with ease. Two more PCs
Super Cup fiasco: Who is to blame -- AIFF or clubs
Praful Patel, All India Football Federation (AIFF) chief expressed happiness on being elected to the FIFA Council saying it meant more tournaments, international friendlies and exposure for Indian football, but regretted that the unified I-League clubs -- even after his assurance -- decided to boycott the Super Cup.
Tendulkar Middlesex Global Academy announces Summer Cricket Camps for 2019!
The Tendulkar Middlesex Global Academy (TMGA) will be conducting a couple of separate sessions for the aspiring cricketers as a part of their Summer Camp project for boys in the age-group between 7 and 18. The coaching module has been developed jointly by Sachin Tendulkar and Middlesex County Cricket Club (MCCC) with an objective of providing the very best in cricket education. From May 2-5, the first camp will be held at MIG Cricket Club, Bandra East and the second from May 9-12 at the DY Patil Sports Centre, Navi Mumbai. Sachin's close friend and former India player Vinod Kambli will be one of the coaches. There will be two age-groups -- first 7-12 and the next batch is in the age-group of 13-19. Tendulkar said:"Our whole ethos is to draw out and nurture the potential of talented young cricketers. I find it so exciting and rewarding to see them given an opportunity to further enhance their skills in all aspects of cricket. "The camps last year had an overwhelming response with ...
Declare a ball dead if it fails to dislodge bails after hitting stumps: Rahane
Rajasthan Royals captain Ajinkya Rahane believes umpires may think of declaring a ball dead if it hits the stumps but fails to dislodge the bails. In their match against Kolkata Knight Riders last night, a ball from Rajasthan seamer Dhawal Kulkarni had got an inside edge off rival opener Chris Lynn and hit the stumps but did not dislodge the zing bails. In fact, the ball travelled past the boundary ropes and was awarded a boundary in favour of the batsman. Rahane feels some credit should also be given to the bowlers in such a scenario by declaring the ball dead. "The rules are rules. Having said that, maybe the boundary could have not been counted. I told the umpire, at least don't declare it a boundary," Rahane told reporters at the post-match press conference. "The T20 game is already heavily tilted in the favour of batsmen, and in such a situation, a ball can maybe be declared a dead ball. That was my conversation with the umpire," he said. Lynn went on to make 50 off 32 balls, ...
Punjab wins toss, decides to field against Sunrisers
Kings XI Punjab skipper R. Ashwin won the toss and decided to field first against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match here on Monday.
It's one of the things I've always wanted to do: Dravid on his Camp Nou visit
Former India captain Rahul Dravid ticked one of the items on his bucket list when he watched Lionel Messi play at Camp Nou, the home ground of Spanish football giants Barcelona. Dravid, who now coaches junior Indian teams, is vacationing in Spain and took out time on Sunday to watch a La Liga match involving hosts Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. "It's one of the things I've always wanted to do. To come to Camp Nou, watch a football match and to be here, experience the atmosphere is absolutely electric," Dravid told fcbarcelona.com. "It's incredible, I mean to be able to watch people like (Lionel) Messi and (Luis) Suarez play live is fantastic for me and my family. So thanks to Barcelona FC for the hospitality, it's been excellent." Playing in front of a packed crowd is something he is well used to, having done it for the better part of his long international career in which he amassed 24,208 runs across formats. "We have great crowds and great atmosphere at the IPL and a lot of our ...
Titans bag raider Desai for Rs 1.45 crore in PKL auction
Up and coming raider Siddharth Desai was bought by Telugu Titans for the highest winning bid of Rs 1.45 crore on day one of the season 7 players' auction of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) here Monday. The attacker from Sangli in Maharashtra had earned plaudits by his stellar show in season 6 of the PKL held last year. However, the winning bid for Desai was still Rs 6 lakh below the record League price paid for Bhiwani's Monu Goyat by Haryana Steelers at season 6 auction last year. Interestingly, Goyat was not among the 27 players retained by their respective teams ahead of this season's auction and was bought by UP Yoddha for 93 lakh. In other notable buys, star raider Nitin Tomar was retained by Puneri Palton for Rs 1.20 crore, Tamil Thalaivas grabbed the impressive Rahul Chaudhari for Rs 94 lakh and all- rounder Sandeep Narwal was purchased by U Mumba for Rs 89 lakh. Season 7 is to be held from July 19 to October 9, League Commissioner Anupam Goswami told a media ...
I want a stable environment for myself as well as players: India's chief hockey coach Reid
From Ric Charlesworth to Roelant Oltmans, most of India's foreign hockey coaches had a tumultuous ride and the newly-appointed chief coach Graham Reid's biggest desire is to have a "stable environment" for himself as well as his players. "What I want is a stable environment for me as well as the players," Reid told PTI during an exclusive interview from Amsterdam. In fact, it was the legendary Charlesworth, who goaded him to apply for the India coach's job. "I had a very long discussion with Ric and he thought it was good time for me to move to India. He feels I have the experience at international level to take Indian hockey forward." Reid said he never had any apprehensions about applying for this high-pressure job as it was a "secret desire" that he had harboured for a long time. "To be honest, I didn't have any apprehensions as such. I have been to India many a times and have also worked with the Hockey India League (HIL) teams. The good thing is that I will be based in Bengaluru .
Ashwin wins toss, asks SRH to bat first
Kings XI Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin won the toss and elected to bowl against Sunrisers Hyderabad in an IPL match, here Monday. Punjab have made two changes to their playing XI, bringing in Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and Ankit Rajpoot in place of Andrew Tye and Murugan Ashwin. Teams: Sunrisers Hyderabad: Bhuvneshwar Kumar (C), David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Vijay Shankar, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Yusuf Pathan, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Siddarth Kaul and Sandeep Sharma. Kings XI Punjab: Ravichandran Ashwin (C), Lokesh Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Sarfaraz Khan, David Miller, Mandeep Singh, Sam Curran, Ankit Rajpoot, Mohammed Shami and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
Chris Lynn sweep fails to break car windscreen
The TATA Harrier car has been a constant in the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League as it is the official partner of the cash-rich league. While commentators have time and again spoken of how good and sturdy the SUV is, Kolkata Knight Riders batsman Chris Lynn decided to give fans a live demo of the same at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Sunday.