Page 402 - Sports
Paddler Sathiyan enters Asian Cup preliminary round
G. Sathiyan was the lone Indian to progress to the preliminary round while it was curtains for both A. Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra in the ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup table tennis meet here on Friday.
Kohli second Indian to complete 8,000 T20 runs
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli on Friday became only the second Indian player after Suresh Raina to score 8,000 runs in T20 cricket during the Indian Premier League match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here.
Kohli, AB run riot as RCB post 205/3 against KKR
Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers roared back to form as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) found their mojo to post a mammoth 205/3 in 20 overs against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) clash here on Friday.
Pele says feeling 'much better' after medical treatment
Football legend Pele said Friday he was feeling "much better" after receiving hospital treatment in Paris for a urinary infection. "The anti-biotics are working... I feel so much better," the 78-year-old Brazilian said on his official Twitter account. The three-time World Cup winner was admitted to a Paris hospital on Wednesday after appearing at a promotional event with France striker Kylian Mbappe. Pele's declining health has been a cause for concern in recent times, and the meeting with Mbappe -- the only other teenager apart from Pele to score in a World Cup final -- had already been postponed last November. Previously, Pele had admitted to not feeling robust enough to light the flame at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympics.
'We want Messi to always be at Barca' - Bartomeu
Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu has said he plans to offer Lionel Messi a new contract in the hope the Argentinian will stay at the club his whole career. Messi's current deal runs until 2021, the same year he turns 34, but the Argentinian has been in brilliant form again this season. He has 42 goals for club and country while his 32 scored in La Liga have propelled Barca to within touching distance of their fourth league title in five years. "We would like to renew his contract, that's the idea," Bartomeu told ESPN in an interview published on Friday. "I believe he still has many years in front of him and in the coming months we will sit down with him so that he has many more years at Barcelona." Messi joined Barcelona's academy aged 13 and is one of the few players left from Pep Guardiola's iconic team that won the treble in 2009. In total, he has won nine La Liga titles with the club, as well as four in the Champions League and six in the Copa del Rey. "Messi is a one-club man,"
Italy gives financial guarantees for 2026 Winter Olympics bid
The Italian government on Friday officially provided the financial guarantees for the bid to host the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, the IOC said. Sports minister Giancarlo Giorgetti submitted a letter to the International Olympic Committee providing "all the guarantees, signed by Giuseppe Conte's government", the Olympic body said. The head of the IOC evaluation commission, Octavian Morariu, on Thursday described the joint bid by Italy's financial capital and Dolomites ski resort Cortina D'Ampezzo as "very, very positive". The financial guarantee reportedly amount to 415 million euros ($465 million). Under the bid figure skating, hockey and short-track speedskating would be held in Milan, with sliding sports and curling in Cortina; and speedskating, biathlon and Nordic sports would take place at Val di Fiemme, in Trentino. The alpine skiing events would be in Bormio for the men and Cortina for women while the opening ceremony would be at the San Siro football ..
Kohli, de Villiers fire RCB to 205/3
Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers shared a delightful 108-run stand to propel Royal Challengers Bangalore to 205 for three against Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League here on Friday. Kohli (84 off 49) and AB de Villiers (63 off 32) smashed sensational half centuries after KKR opted to field on a good batting surface. Kohli and de Villiers hammered the bowlers at will, recreating the magic they have woven many times in the past. During his sublime knock, Kohli also overtook Suresh Raina to becoming leading run-getter in IPL history besides completing 8000 runs in T20 cricket. The RCB skipper hit some beautiful cover drives early on and his innings comprised nine fours and two sixes. De Villiers too was in his element, smashing five fours and four maximums. Kohli was finally out in the 18th over off Kuldeep Yadav as he hit the ball straight into the bowler's hands. He was particularly severe on Prasidh Krishna, Lockie Fergusson and Nitesh Rana. De Villiers played second ...
MI won't miss Malinga for entire season: Suryakumar
Suryakumar Yadav on Saturday hinted that Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga will soon be back to play for Mumbai Indians after he flew back home to feature in a domestic one-day tournament. Malinga, who has played three matches for Mumbai Indians this season, took 3 for 34 in their last game against Chennai Super Kings and then flew to Colombo early next morning. He then travelled to Kandy to play Sri Lanka's domestic Super Four tournament, where he recorded career-best List A figures of 7 for 49, representing Galle. After his departure, there were speculations that Malinga might not participate in the rest of the Indian Premier League (IPL). "I do not think we are missing him for the whole season, not to our notice. He has done well and whenever we get him back, he will again start his service," Suryakumar told reporters here. The 28-year-old had played the role of a finisher for Kolkata from 2014 to 2017, but since last year Mumbai Indians have asked him to bat at the top-order, and he
Rashid slams decision to change World Cup captain
Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi - the two vital cogs in Afghanistan's cricket team - on Friday slammed their cricket board's decision to replace Asghar Afghan with Gulabdin Naib as Afghanistan captain for the World Cup.
Chris Gayle is fit, says Agarwal
Flamboyant West Indies opener Chris Gayle has achieved his fitness after recovering from a back injury which kept him away from the last game against Delhi Capitals, said Kings XI Punjab batsman Mayank Agarwal Saturday. Gayle, who has been in good form, had missed Kings XI's last match against Delhi Capitals but it didn't affect their game as his replacement Sam Curran claimed four wickets, which included a hat-trick, to help the team register a 14-run win. "I can't tell you whether he (Chris Gayle) is playing or not (laughs), but he is fit," Agarwal told reporters on the eve of Saturday's match against Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram stadium here. Three-time champions CSK are coming into the match after suffering a 37-run loss against Mumbai Indians but Agarwal said the hosts are an experienced side and simply ruthless at home. "It (CSK) is a quality outfit and it knows the ground well. It is an experienced side and it is quite ruthless when it comes to Chepauk or ...
Dwayne Bravo to miss two weeks of IPL action, confirms Michael Hussey
Michael Hussey, Chennai Super Kings' batting coach on Friday confirmed that Dwayne Bravo will miss two weeks of IPL action due to a hamstring strain."I can confirm it's a grade one hamstring strain so he is going to be out for two weeks. It is a big loss as he offers so much balance to the team and he brings quality to the team as a player. I am sure we still will be able to put a stronger team on the field. It's a big loss for us, we have had these challenges in the past and we have been able to overcome them," Michael Hussey told reporters.Chennai Super Kings lost their previous match against Mumbai Indians by 37 runs. The team was hampered with poor death bowling as the team conceded 45 runs in the final two overs. But Hussey believes that the team will correct their death bowling in the upcoming matches."I am sure MS Dhoni and Fleming will be assessing death bowling skills of Scott. Shardul Thakur and Mohit Sharma can bowl in the death, it's about assessing the conditions. Death ..
Sathiyan enters Asian Cup preliminary round; Sharath, Manika knocked out
G Sathiyan was the lone Indian to progress to the preliminary round while it was curtains for both Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra at the ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup here on Friday. Sathiyan, the world No. 28 who had reached the semi-finals at the Challenge Plus Oman Open in Muscat recently, accounted for the most experienced player in the tournament, Chuang Chih-Yuan of Chinese Taipei 11-5, 11-4, 11-8 to finish third in Group C. This enabled him to qualify for the playoff tomorrow for one of the two slots in the quarterfinals. The tournament's format allows the top two players in each of the first three groups directly making the quarterfinal grade while those who had finished third in those groups and the fourth group (D) topper complete for the remaining two slots. Sathiyan began badly losing first to Koki Nowa of Japan 7-11, 9-11, 12-10, 8-11 but won the match against No. 8 seed from Taipei 11-5, 11-4, 11-8 before losing the last group match to Lee Sangsu of Korea 7-11, 4-11, 11-6, ...
'Sacred Games' actor Jatin Sarna prepping for '83'
Actor Jatin Sarna, who made a powerful impact in a small role in the web series "Sacred Games", is all set to play cricketer Yashpal Sharma in the Kabir Khan directed "83", which recreates Indias triumph at the 1983 Cricket World Cup.
Premier League voices fears over proposed Champions League reforms
The Premier League voiced "significant concerns" over potential reforms to the Champions League on Friday, saying the changes would damage the thriving domestic game. Reported reforms being put forward for further discussion include changing the current group stage from eight groups of four to four groups of eight, guaranteeing clubs far more Champions League games from 2024. A tiered system involving relegation and promotion could see the top six teams of each group automatically qualify for the following year's competition rather than through their domestic leagues, while UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin denied reports games could be played at weekends. "All 20 Premier League clubs today discussed their 'significant concerns' regarding reported proposals for changing the format and qualification criteria of UEFA club competitions from season 2024/25," the Premier League said in a statement. "All clubs unanimously agreed it is inappropriate for European football bodies to create ...
Zidane praises 'fantastic' Hazard
Zinedine Zidane expressed his admiration for Eden Hazard on Friday ahead of an expected move for the Chelsea forward from Real Madrid this summer. Hazard's contract expires in June 2020 and he is yet to sign a new deal, leaving Chelsea in a difficult position if they want to avoid losing the Belgian for free. After last year's World Cup, he admitted "it might be time for something different" while in October, he said it would be a "dream" to play for Real Madrid, "the best club in the world". Asked about Hazard at a press conference before Madrid's La Liga game against Eibar on Saturday, Zidane said: "He is a player I have always rated, as everyone knows. "He is a player that has played in France, that I have watched a lot and that I know personally. There's nothing new about what I think of him as a player. He's a fantastic player." Real Madrid have certainly struggled for goals this season. They have scored 26 fewer than Barcelona in the league and rarely threatened Valencia on ...
Indonesia to send 8 athletes to weightlifting c'ship
Indonesian bodybuilding and weightlifting associations will send eight athletes to the 2019 Asian weightlifting championships in China later this month, deputy chairman of the association Joko Purnomo said here on Friday.
'Good signs' for Ronaldo ahead of Ajax, says Juve coach Allegri
Cristiano Ronaldo could be back in the Juventus line-up in time for their Champions League quarter-final with Ajax, coach Massimiliano Allegri revealed on Friday. Ronaldo hasn't played for the runaway Serie A leaders since scoring the sensational hat-trick that saw Juve come back from a 2-0 first-leg deficit to knock out Atletico Madrid last month. He was rested in the subsequent 2-0 league defeat at Genoa and then picked up a thigh injury on international duty with Portugal last week, but Allegri is confident the 34-year-old will be ready for Wednesday's first leg in Amsterdam. "There are good signals from Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of the match with Ajax," he said to reporters ahead of Saturday's visit of fourth-placed AC Milan. Ronaldo will however not be ready for Milan, who are battling to qualify for next season's Champions League, after missing recent wins over Empoli and Cagliari, the latter of which was overshadowed by racist abuse directed at young Italy striker Moise ...
Hamstring injury rules out Bravo for two weeks, blow for CSK
Chennai Super Kings' star all-rounder Dwayne Bravo will be out of action for two weeks owing to a grade 1 hamstring strain, the team's batting coach Mike Hussey said here Friday. CSK take on Ravichandran Ashwin-led Kings XI Punjab in their fifth match of the season on Saturday. The Trinidad cricketer, who suffered the injury during the team's loss to Mumbai Indians on Wednesday, has been a key player for the defending champions, but went for runs in that game. "I can confirm it's a grade one hamstring strain and he is going to be out for two weeks. It is a big loss. Obviously (he) offers so much balance to the team and his quality as a player... So it is going to cause a little bit of rejigging of the team, but I am sure we will still be able to put together a very strong team," Hussey said. "And yes it is a big loss for us but we have had these challenges in the past and have been able to overcome them. So let us hope we can do that again," Hussey said at the pre-match press ...
Mirabai to lead 12-member squad in upcoming Asian Weightlifting Championship
2017 World Championship gold-medallist Mirabai Chanu will lead a 12-member Indian team in the upcoming Asian Weightlifting Championship starting from April 18 in Ningbo, China. The Asian Championship is one of the qualifying events for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. India had fielded its junior team at the previous qualifiers, the World Championship in November last year, as the senior weightlifters had opted to continue their rehabilitation programme. The China-bound squad has four women and eight men, including Commonwealth Games and Youth Olympics gold medallists Sathish Sivalingam and Jeremy Lalrinnunga respectively. CWG gold medallist R V Rahul has been kept in reserve and a call will be taken on his participation in the next five days. Two-time Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Sanjita Chanu, whose provisional suspension imposed on her for failing a dope test in 2017 was lifted by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) in January, will not be competing in the ...
KKR ask RCB to bat first (Toss)
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Dinesh Karthik won the toss and elected to field first against Royal Challengers Bangalore in an Indian Premier League (IPL) game here on Friday.