Page 410 - Sports
2 cricket betting rackets busted, 7 arrested in Rajasthan
The Kota police have busted two cricket betting rackets and arrested seven people, an officer said Wednesday. Acting on a tip-off, police teams raided two locations in Borkheda and Kaithunipole police station areas and arrested seven people while they were betting on matches of the T-20 Indian Premier League (IPL) on Tuesday night, Assistant Superintendent of Police (Kota City) Harsh Ratnu said. At least 40 mobile phones, 2 laptops, records showing cricket betting in crores of rupees and Rs 40,000 in cash were recovered from the two locations, he said. Rajendra alias Lucky, Praveen Mewada alias Jony and Harshit Hora were arrested from a rented house in Borekheda, Ratnu said. Anwar Khan, Abeed Khan, Arif Mohammad and Manhore Chawla were arrested from Anwar's home in the Kaithunipole area, the officer added.
Saina Nehwal bows out of Malaysia Open; PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth advance to next round
Indian badminton star Saina Nehwal lost her opening match of the Malaysia Open as she was defeated by Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong 22-20, 15-21, 10-21.Meanwhile, PV Sindhu and Kidami Srikanth were able to win their opening matches to enter round two of the tournament.Nehwal was able to register a win in a hard-fought opening game and she was able to take the first set by winning 20 points as against Chochuwong. But the Thailand shuttler bounced back in the second and third game, catching Nehwal off guard.Nehwal was making a comeback to the badminton court after recovering from acute gastroenteritis that she suffered during the All England Open last month.Olympic silver medalist Sindhu was able to knock off World no 20 Aya Ohori's challenge as she defeated her 22-20, 21-12 to register her sixth win over the Japanese.Sindhu was trailing against Ohori 2-5 in the opening seat and the latter jumped to a 12-7 advantage. But the Indian shuttler bounced back, grabbing a 13-12 lead. The ...
Rashid best-placed Indian at tied-seventh in Bangabandhu Cup Open golf
Rashid Khan turned in a hat-trick of birdies on his closing three holes to card five-under 66 and lie three shots off the pace at the end of the first round of Bangabandhu Cup Golf Open on Wednesday. Australia's Maverick Antcliff got his campaign off to a flying start with an eight-under-par 63 to lead by two shots in his debut appearance at the event. Rashid, who finished in Top-10 at the Hero Indian Open last week, started from the 10th and turned in one-under 35 and was then four-under 31 for the second nine, which was the first nine at the Kurmitola Golf Club. Among players tied with Rashid are local hero Siddikur Rahman and Singapore's Gregory Foo. Rashid was the top Indian, while three other Indian youngsters -- Khalin Joshi, Veer Ahlawat and Aman Raj -- carded four-under 67 to be tied-12th. Viraj Madappa (68) at T-22nd, Karandeep Kochhar (69) at T32nd, while Ajeetesh Sandhu and Udayan Mane (70 each) were T-43. Honey Baisoya (71) was T-54, while Chiragh Kumar, Aadil Bedi, M ...
Karunaratne fined by SLC for drunken-driving incident
Dimuth Karunaratne, Sri Lanka's Test captain was fined USD 7500 by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Tuesday, after his drunken-driving incident on Sunday, which was a violation of his player contract.This fine is equivalent of the match fee the player would have received for playing one Test match."When you are preparing for an important competition like the World Cup, and we're spending so much money on this upcoming [Super Provincial] domestic tournament, we just cannot tolerate this kind of nonsense," ESPN Cricinfo quoted SLC secretary Mohan de Silva as saying.The player was involved in an accident on Sunday morning with a three-wheeler in Colombo, which put the driver of the vehicle in the hospital with minor injuries.Following this incident, the player was arrested and released on bail and his driving license was suspended. The driver of the three-wheeler has been since discharged from the hospital.Karunaratne after the incident issued an apology on Twitter.SLC said in order to send a .
Metge second at Afriquia Merzouga Rally stage 2
Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team's Michael Metge continue to perform well as he finished at the first place in the stage 2 of the 10th edition of the Afriquia Merzouga Rally, here on Wednesday.
Bengaluru begin Super Cup defence with Chennai clash
Defending champions Bengaluru FC will have their task cut out when they take on neighbours Chennai City FC in a much-anticipated quarterfinal clash of the Super Cup at the Kalinga Stadium here on Thursday.
WrestleMania women's event now 'Winners Take All contest'
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has announced that the first-ever women's main event of WrestleMania will now be a "Winners Take All" match for both the Raw and SmackDown Championship titles. The event will feature Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair (SmackDown Womens Champion) vs. Becky Lynch, a media release issued said here Wednesday. WrestleMania will be held on April 7 at the MetLife Stadium in the United States, it said. Flair is now an eight-time champion after winning the SmackDown Womens Championship, while Rousey is the current Raw Womens Champion, the release said.
Diksha Dagar looking forward to making history at Jordan Masters
Diksha Dagar, who became the youngest Indian woman to win on the Ladies European Tour in the Investec South African Women's Open in Cape Town last month, will be looking to "make history" at this week's inaugural Jordan Mixed Open. The 18-year-old from Haryana, who is only the second player from India to win on the LET after Aditi Ashok in 2016, says it would be 'big' to win the first tournament to bring male, female and senior golfers together in one field to compete for the same prize, worth USD 60,465. The 123-player field comprises 40 players from each of the European Challenge Tour, the over 50s Staysure Tour and the Ladies European Tour, as well as three high-level amateur golfers. The 54-hole stroke play event features a cut to the top 60 players and ties after 36 holes, ahead of the final round on Saturday. The player with the lowest score will be crowned the champion. "The aim is to play good golf and it would be big to win the first tournament of its kind, it would be ...
Karunaratne fined $7,500 for drink driving by SLC
Sri Lanka's Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne was on Wednesday fined $7,500 by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), for involvement in a drink driving incident.
Warner's show a testimony of his resilience: Moody
David Warner has made a brilliant comeback in the Indian Premier League (IPL) after missing the 2018 season due to his involvement in the Sandpaper Gate, and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) coach Tom Moody feels the southpaw's current form is a testimony of his resilience and determination.
Lack of power-hitting is one area of concern for Pakistan team: Mickey Arthur
Pakistan coach, Mickey Arthur, has cited lack of power-hitting as one area of concern for Pakistan team ahead of International Cricket Council (ICC) Men's Cricket World Cup, scheduled to begin from May 30."Power-hitting is the one on which we need to work constantly. I've asked the skill coaches to give me plans and we will start implementing in the next couple of days," ICC quoted Arthur as saying."That's one of our areas of concern. We have to make sure that we get our guys to bat in those positions as best as they can. That's the reason we used Faheem Ashraf in two games. He has done hell of a work in that regard and we wanted to give him more batting time. We have worked really hard with Imad Wasim in that role," he added.Australia whitewashed Pakistan by 5-0 in a five-match ODI series, which concluded on 31 March. Despite the defeat, the series proved to be a test for assessing Pakistan's bench strength ahead of the World Cup.Arthur has until April 23 to name his World Cup squad.
Teams substituting poor fielders with good ones: Kaif
Delhi Capitals (DC) assistant coach Mohammad Kaif raised an interesting point going into Thursday's Indian Premier League (IPL) game against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Feroz Shah Kotla.
Indian women post 2-0 win over Indonesia in Olympic Qualifiers Rd 2 opener
The Indian women's national team Wednesday registered a 2-0 win over Indonesia in its opening match of the Olympic Qualifiers Round 2, going a step closer to making it to the 2020 Tokyo Games. Dangmei Grace's brace (27 & 67 minutes) proved to be the difference between the two teams. Maymol Rocky's wards largely dominated the match in terms of both possession and chances created. "We wanted to start our qualifying campaign on a winning note and we have done so. Indonesia proved to be tough opponents that committed bodies in defence but we found a way to gather three points," Maymol said after the match. "It is important to keep the winning momentum alive and we were able to do so. We are taking one match at a time and our focus shifts on our next opponents Nepal (on April 06)," she added. Maintaining the winning momentum after the success of their fifth consecutive SAFF title triumph, the Indian women applied pressure on the opponents from the opening minute. Some crafty work down .
Lengthy bans after 'record' Chinese red-card count
Chinese football dished out two lengthy bans on Wednesday after what has been called the dirtiest start to a Chinese Super League season. There have been 10 red cards in 24 matches so far this campaign, a record for the CSL, according to Chinese media. There were two dismissals in Chongqing Lifan's bad-tempered 1-0 home win over newly promoted Shenzhen FC on Sunday. One of those who got his marching orders, Shenzhen captain Ge Zhen, "caused adverse social impact" after planting a boot into the groin of an opponent 10 minutes from time, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) said. The CFA handed Ge a five-game ban and fined him 50,000 yuan ($7,500). Also hit with a five-game ban and 50,000 fine was the Brazilian Rafael Silva after his dismissal in Wuhan Zall's 2-1 loss at Jiangsu Suning, also on Sunday. The forward had an eventful afternoon, scoring a consolation goal but being sent off three minutes later for kicking the ball into the face of a prone Jiangsu player. His behaviour ...
Kovac hits back at critics ahead of Dortmund showdown
Bayern Munich coach Niko Kovac has hit back at his critics and said that his side are the best team in Germany ahead of Saturday's Bundesliga clash with title rivals Borussia Dortmund. Kovac is under renewed pressure after Bayern slipped two points behind Dortmund in the title race when they failed to beat Freiburg last Saturday. Yet in an interview with Sport Bild on Wednesday, the Bayern coach said that the criticism levelled at him and his side was unjust. Kovac said that he had been unfairly portrayed as a tactical stick-in-the-mud in comparison with more glamourous coaches such as Manchester City's Pep Guardiola and Paris Saint-Germain's Thomas Tuchel. "When I was at Frankfurt, I was portrayed as a tactics nerd like Guardiola or Tuchel because I played with different systems," said Kovac. "Now people say that I am unable to change my system. But that's not correct. "When I arrived here, there was a system which had been in place since Louis van Gaal was here 10 years ago. "The ...
Pant can't be compared with Dhoni: Kapil Dev
Rishabh Pant is a talented cricketer but he shouldn't be compared with Mahendra Singh Dhoni, feels India's first World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev. Pant, who is now India's first-choice keeper in Test cricket, is still fighting for a spot in India's World Cup squad that will be announced later this month. "You can never compare anyone with Mahendra Singh Dhoni. No one can ever replace a player of Dhoni's stature. Pant is a talented cricketer and we shouldn't put him under pressure by comparing him with Dhoni. His time will surely come," the 1983 World Cup-winning captain told mediapersons on the sidelines of a promotional event Tuesday. In his inimitable style, Kapil played down the workload management issue of Indian pacers. "We all have workload," he laughed, adding, "We are making a big issue out of it. What is workload? "Mehnat Karna hi naa? Kya aap mehnat bhi naahi karoge? (You don't even want to work hard?) Kapil had a number of all rounders, including Mohinder Amarnath, Madan
India beat Indonesia 2-0 in Olympic qualifiers
Dangmei Grace scored a brace as the Indian women football team defeated Indonesia 2-0 in the AFC Olympic Qualifiers Round 2 match here on Wednesday.
Ex-France World Cup coach applies for India job
The vacant seat of Indian national football team coach has attracted more than 200 applications. While many of the aspirants have considerable managerial experience, the biggest name among them, according to All India Football Federation (AIFF) sources, could be that of Raymond Domenech, who coached France to the memorable 2006 World Cup final.
Being aggressive with ball will be a critical factor in World Cup: NZ coach Gary Stead
Gary Stead, the head coach of New Zealand which on Wednesday named their 15-member squad for the upcoming World Cup, believes that bowling teams out at the World Cup rather than just restricting runs will play a key role in winning the matches."You will have nine [other] teams who will all have slightly different ways of playing, the word is it will be a high-scoring World Cup as well, but the best chance with the ball is certainly if we can bowl teams out and be aggressive in that. Think that will be a critical factor," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Stead, as saying.The Kiwis opted to give leg-spinner Ish Sodhi a go in the World Cup squad ahead of Todd Astle in the squad. It is unlikely that Sodhi will play many matches in the tournament as the team is loaded with fast bowlers and they can be given a more consistent run in the tournament as England pitches are more suitable for fast bowling.Tim Seifert, the wicket-keeper batsman who had a good T20I series against India earlier this year was ..
India Women defeat Indonesia in Olympic Qualifiers round two opener
Indian Women's team moved a step forward in reaching the 2020 Olympics as they registered a 2-0 win over Indonesia on Wednesday in their first match of the Olympic qualifiers round two at the Mandalarthiri Stadium in Mandalay.Dangmei Grace was the star for India as she scored two goals for the team. Her goals proved to be the difference between the two teams. She scored in the 27th and 67th minute of the match respectively."We wanted to start our qualifying campaign on a winning note and we have done so. Indonesia proved to be tough opponents that committed bodies in defence but we found a way to gather three points, it is important to keep the winning momentum alive and we were able to do so. We are taking one match at a time and our focus shifts on our next opponents Nepal (on April 06)" All India Football Federation (AIFF) quoted Maymol Rocky, the coach of the team as saying.The Indian team have kept their winning momentum alive after the success of their fifth consecutive SAFF ...