Page 40 - Sports

Like father, like son: Tendulkar Jr emulates father to score 100 on debut

Emulating his legendary father Sachin Tendulkar, Arjun on Wednesday slammed a century on first-class debut on the second day of Goa's Group C Ranji Trophy match against Rajasthan here. The feat came exactly 34 years after Sachin, then 15, began his journey to greatness with an unbeaten 100 against Gujarat at the Wankhede Stadium. Late Lala Amarnath and one of his three sons Surinder had made hundreds on their Test debuts, making them the only father-son duo to achieve the feat in the 145-year history of traditional international format. Batting at No. 7, Tendulkar junior, who had moved to Goa from Mumbai earlier this season in search of more playing opportunities, hit two sixes and 16 fours in his knock of 120 from 207 deliveries. Along with No. 3 Suyash Prabhudessai (212; 416 balls, 29x4), Tendulkar junior put together 221 runs for the sixth wicket to take Goa to a mammoth 493/8 at close on day two. Primarily, a left-arm fast medium, Arjun had come out to bat at the fag end of th

Fifa World Cup 2022: Defending champs France to take on Morocco tonight

Fifa World Cup 2022, France vs Morocco, semi-final preview: The game will see an interesting clash between France's attack and Morocco's rock-solid defence

Messi becomes highest goalscorer for Argentina in Fifa World Cup history

Lionel Messi broke Gabriel Batistuta's record to become the highest goalscorer for Argentina in the history of the Fifa World Cup. This was Messi's 11th goal

Cindy Hook appointed CEO of 2032 Olympic organising committee in Brisbane

American executive Cindy Hook has been appointed as the inaugural CEO of the organising committee for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Brisbane. The organising committee announced the appointment on Tuesday after engaging with 50 candidates over six months. Hook was based in Singapore as CEO of Deloitte Asia Pacific until June and had previously worked for the international professional services network in the US and in Australia, moving to Sydney in 2009 to lead the auditing practice for six years and later becoming CEO of the Australian operation in 2015. "The opportunity to lead the Olympics and Paralympics is once in a lifetime," Hook said. "The idea of setting up the organisation, building the team, creating a vision and driving to a smooth delivery of Brisbane 2032 is very exciting and I expect it will be both challenging and rewarding." Hook said she'd made regular visits to Brisbane during her prior time in Australia and would be moving to the Queensland state capi

What's Bazball and why is it the right approach to keep Test cricket alive?

Under Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes' Bazball system of attacking Test cricket, England have won eight out of the nine games and have played no draws at all

Messi will play for Argentina after Fifa World Cup, hopes coach Scaloni

Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni is pinning hopes that Lionel Messi will continue to play for Argentina much after the FIFA World Cup is over

Morocco beats Portugal to become 1st African country to reach WC semifinals

Morocco became the first African country to reach the World Cup semifinals by beating Portugal 1-0 on Saturday, likely ending Cristiano Ronaldo's chances of winning soccer's biggest prize. Youssef En-Nesyri scored the winning goal in the 42nd minute to continue Morocco's improbable run that has generated an outpouring of pride in the Arab world during the first World Cup to be staged in the Middle East. The 37-year-old Ronaldo, one of soccer's greatest players, didn't start for the second straight game but came on as a substitute in the 51st minute. The five-time world player of the year is set to finish his career without capturing the World Cup or ever getting to the final. Morocco will play either France or England in the semifinals. It is a seminal moment in World Cup history, with an African nation finally advancing to the levels typically only reached by European or South American teams. Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010) all reached the quarterfinals but got n

France beats England 2-1, advances to semifinals at Fifa World Cup

Kylian Mbappe and France made it back to the semifinals of the World Cup on Saturday by beating England 2-1. Olivier Giroud scored in the 78th minute at Al Bayt Stadium to keep France on course to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cups. Giroud raced away in delight when his header deflected off England defender Harry Maguire and sailed past goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. England striker Harry Kane had a chance to even the score late in the match but he sent a penalty attempt over the bar. It was his second spot kick of the match. He earlier scored to make it 1-1 after Aurelien Tchouameni had given France the lead in the 17th minute with a powerful drive from 20 meters (yards). France will next face Morocco in the semifinals on Wednesday. The Moroccans became the first African team to reach the semifinals at the World Cup by beating Portugal 1-0. England had been looking like the team more likely to score when the match was at 1-1. But instead it wa

Fifa World Cup fans on pace to spend record amounts at tournament venues

With 10 days to go until the end of the Fifa World Cup, fans have already spent more money than they did when Brazil hosted in 2014, and 89% of the value they spent at Russia in 2018

LTA fined $1 million by ATP over ban of Russian players from summer events

The Lawn Tennis Association was fined $1 million by the ATP men's professional tour on Wednesday for banning players from Russia and Belarus from its grass-court events this summer. The governing body of British tennis banned the players from five Wimbledon warm-up tournaments following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The ATP, which oversees men's tennis outside of the Grand Slams, also warned the LTA it could lose its membership in the organization if it repeats the ban. We stand by our original position on this matter, that unilateral decision-making by members of the ATP Tour threatens our ability to operate as a global sport," the ATP said in a statement. "We believe that the measures taken protect the long-term future of our game and its commitment to merit-based participation, without discrimination, for individual athletes. We have no further comment. The LTA said it deeply disappointed with the tour's action. The ATP, in its finding, has shown no recognition of the exceptio

Novak Djokovic to start 2023 in Adelaide ahead of Australian Open

Novak Djokovic will open his 2023 campaign in Adelaide as he prepares for a shot at a 10th Australian Open crown a year after having his visa revoked on the eve of his title defense. The 21-time major winner has been granted a visa by the Australian government and has been listed to play at the Adelaide International, which starts Jan. 1. Serbia isn't contesting the inaugural United Cup team competition, leaving Djokovic free to play regular warmup tournaments head of the Jan. 16-29 Australian Open. He'll be joined in the men's draw at Adelaide by Russians Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada and Andy Murray. Ons Jabeur, Aryna Sabalenka will headline the women's draw. Immigration Minister Andrew Giles last month confirmed Djokovic had been granted a visa to compete in Australia in January. The 35-year-old Serbian had been facing a possible three-year ban after being deported last January over his stance against COVID-19 vaccination. Djokovic has won

IOC denies to lift boxing body's suspension; writes letter listing concerns

The International Olympic Committee has decided not to lift the suspension of the International Boxing Association's recognition and involve it in conducting boxing competitions at the Paris Olympics

Blind World Cup: Pakistan gets visa clearance, set to compete in India

Decks have been cleared for the Pakistan blind cricket team to take part in the ongoing Blind Cricket World Cup in India after the Union home ministry's visa clearance to 34 players and officials of the neighbouring country. After its nod, the Ministry of External Affairs will issue the Visas to the Pakistani players and officials so that they can travel to India for the December 5-17 tournament. The home ministry has given clearance for issuance of visa to 34 Pakistani players and officials to take part in the Blind Cricket World Cup, a ministry official said. Earlier in the day, the Pakistan Blind Cricket Council (PBCC) had claimed in a statement that its team could not get clearance from the Ministry of External Affairs in India. This unfortunate incident has left the Pakistan blind cricket team in the lurch, the PBCC had said in a statement. The PBCC said "it strongly condemns this discriminating act of India as sports should be above regional politics". Pakistan finished sec

Fifa World Cup: A migration story of players shooting beyond boundaries

There are over 50 Africa-born or African-origin players in 11 teams; only 4 of 32 teams have all players born in their own country - Argentina, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea

Deepika Padukone will be unveiling the Fifa World Cup trophy during finals

Deepika Padukone is expected to unveil the World Cup trophy on December 18, at the Lusail Iconic Stadium in Qatar, according to sources close to her team

What's the future of Qatar's stadiums once the Fifa World Cup is over

The World Cup stadium was designed to leave a minimal footprint in the Qatari sand. It's now due to be dismantled. Stadium 974 played host to seven matches, the last of which was Brazil's 4-1 win over South Korea in the round of 16 on Monday. The Qataris say the stadium will disappear, but it isn't clear when that will happen. The Gulf country will soon stage an Asian Cup, the multi-sport Asian Games and maybe even an Olympics. A look at FIFA requirements for World Cup stadiums and what happens next for Qatar's venues. WHAT DID QATAR NEED? FIFA has clear specifications for a World Cup host's venues plan. A main stadium holding at least 80,000 people to stage the final, at least one more of 60,000 capacity that must host a semifinal, and several more of at least 40,000 though FIFA let Russia have two that dipped below 35,000 four years ago. Qatar had a 12-stadium plan when it bid for and won the hosting rights in 2010. About three years into its long preparations for the 2022 .

AFC Asian Cup 2027: India withdraws bid, to focus on grassroots development

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has officially withdrawn its bid to host the AFC Asian Cup 2027 in India, the AIFF and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) jointly notified on Monday

Croatia beats Japan 3-1 in penalty round to enter World Cup quarterfinals

Croatia is going deep at another World Cup, and the team is taking the long route once again. Goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic saved three penalty kicks Monday in Croatia's 3-1 win over Japan in a shootout, securing a return to the quarterfinals for the runner-up in the 2018 tournament. On its run to the final four years ago, Croatia needed extra time in each round in the knockout stage and twice came through a penalty shootout. This time, Mario Pasalic converted the clinching penalty for Croatia after the teams were tied at 1-1 after extra time. Livakovic saved penalties from Takumi Minamino, Kaoru Mitomo and Maya Yoshida, and it was the Dinamo Zagreb goalkeeper who took most of the acclaim from the jubilant Croatia team after the shootout. Japan had been looking to reach the quarterfinals for the first time but fell short again, just like in 2002, 2010 and 2018. The Asian team lost to Paraguay in a penalty shootout in the round of 16 in 2010. Croatia, which also reached the semifi

Eye on the ball & on players, tech takes centre stage at FIFA World Cup

From video assistant referees to match ball that sends signals to FIFA officials

Nick Bollettieri, man who coached Agassi, Courier, Sharapova, passes away

In 2014 Bollettieri was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and in 2015, he became the first white man to be inducted into the Black Tennis Hall of Fame