Page 428 - Sports
Manu, Saurabh triumph as India continue domination in Asian Airgun C'ship
Young pistol shooters Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary Friday clinched a gold medal each, their second in the competition, as India continued their domination at the 12th Asian Airgun Championships in Taoyuan, Chinese Taipei. Manu won the women's 10m Air Pistol on day three of competitions while Saurabh bagged a team gold in the men's event. Abhishek Verma also won individual silver in the men's 10m Air Pistol, rounding off a profitable day for himself after the disappointments in the mixed events. The women's pistol team also won a bronze to further bolster India's tally to five gold, three silver and one bronze medals with half the competition still to go. Manu shot 575 out of 600 to qualify in second place and then was involved in a pitched battle with Shing Ho Ching of Hong Kong for most parts of the 24-shot final, before finishing stronger in the end stages. She shot a score of 239 against Shing's 237.9 while UAE's Wafa Alali bagged the bronze. Shri Nivetha of India, who had ...
If Andre Russell misses, I will hit: Chris Morris
Delhi Capitals (DC) all-rounder Chris Morris is expected to take on his Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) counterpart Andre Russell in their Indian Premier League (IPL) game at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Saturday and the South African said that he is up for the challenge.
India maul hapless Poland 10-0 in Azlan Shah Cup, to face Korea in final
Striker Mandeep Singh continued his rich form and scored a brace to help India thrash minnows Poland 10-0 in their last league match of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament here Friday. Already assured of a place in Saturday's summit clash against Korea, the Indians scored goals almost at will, leaving the Polish players in daze. Besides Mandeep (50th, 51st minutes), dragflciker Varun Kumar (18th, 25th) also struck twice while Vivek Sagar Prasad (1st), Sumit Kumar (7th), Surender Kumar (19th), Simranjeet Singh (29th), Nilankanta Sharma (36th) and Amit Rohitdas (55th) were the other goal-scorers for India. Five-time champions India, thus, maintained their unbeaten streak in the tournament, collecting 13 points from five league matches with the help of four wins and a draw. With two strikes on Friday, Mandeep became the highest goal-scorer in the tournament with a total of seven goals while Varun took his personal tally to five goals so far. It was expected to be a one-sided ...
Kohli blasts match referee over no ball gaffe: Report
A livid Virat Kohli on Thursday stormed into the match referee's room and hurled abuses at him following Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) home defeat against Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), which was marred by a glaring umpiring blooper that cost RCB dear, reports said.
IOC disqualifies a 2012 Olympic bronze medalist for doping
The IOC says it has disqualified three athletes, including a bronze medalist weightlifter from Azerbaijan, for doping at the 2012 London Olympics. Valentin Hristov has been stripped of his third-place finish in the 56-kilogram class. His positive test, for oral turinabol, had been announced in December. The International Olympic Committee says two athletes from Belarus men's 800-meter runner Anis Ananenka and women's hammer thrower Alena Matoshka also tested positive for anabolic steroids in reanalysis of London samples. Neither reached the final of their event. More than 100 athletes, including dozens of medalists, have been caught in reanalysis of samples from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics using a more sensitive test for steroids.
Japan swimmer Fujimori suspended after failed drug test
Japanese Olympic swimmer Hiromasa Fujimori has been temporarily suspended after failing a drugs test, the national swim federation said Friday. The 27-year-old, who placed fourth behind Michael Phelps and countryman Kosuke Hagino in the 200 metres individual medley at the 2016 Rio Olympics, tested positive for the banned stimulant ephedrine at last December's short course world championships in China, according to Japan officials. Fujimori, a former Asian Games silver medallist, will now miss next month's national championships, which serve as qualifiers for the world championships in South Korea this summer. A formal hearing by swimming's governing body FINA will determine the length of ban Fujimori will receive, after both his 'A' and 'B' samples tested positive. He becomes the second high-profile Japanese swimmer to fail a doping test in the past year after former backstroke world champion Junya Koga. Koga, who won a world title in 2009, appealed to the Court of Arbitration for ...
T20I rankings: Mandhana, Poonam, Radha Yadav retain their spots
Indian opener Smriti Mandhana and spin bowlers Poonam Yadav and Radha Yadav on Friday consolidated their spots for the batters and bowlers respectively in the updated ICC Women's T20I player rankings.Smriti Mandhana retained her third sport in the rankings of batters with 698 points. Her fellow team-mates Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur also held on to their ranking of number six and number nine respectively. Rodrigues has 672 points whereas Harmanpreet has 647 points.Susie Bates of New Zealand holds the pole position in the rankings for batters with a total of 765 points. England's Natalie Sciver has moved up one place to the 13th position after unbeaten scores of 49, 10 and 11 in the recently concluded series against Sri Lanka.Tammy Beaumont has also gained eight places to reach the 18th position after scoring 76 runs in the series. Amy Jones is another one to gain in the latest rankings as she advanced 25 places to the 45th position.In terms of bowler rankings, Poonam Yadav .
India mauls Canada 10-0 in Azlan Shah Cup
Striker Mandeep Singh continued his prolific form by scoring a brace as India mauled a hapless Poland 10-0 in their final league match of Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament here Friday. Already assured of a summit clash against Korea -- to be played on Saturday -- before this match, the Indians scored goals almost at will which left the Polish players in daze. The second quarter was the most productive with the Indians finding the target four times. They were 6-0 up at the half time, before adding four more in the remaining 30 minutes to wallop the Polish team in the inconsequential match. Five-time India thus maintained their unbeaten streak in the tournament, collecting 13 points from five league matches with the help of four wins and a draw. Mandeep struck back-to-back goals in the 50th and 51st minutes to take his goal tally to seven in the tournament. The 24-year-old striker had scored a hat-trick in India's 7-3 win over Canada on Wednesday. Varun Kumar (18th and 25th) also .
Umpiring howlers due to lack of system: BCCI official
The umpiring howler in Thursday's match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI) had the cricketing world sit up. Umpire S. Ravi missed a clear no-ball from Lasith Malinga off the game's last ball. But this isn't the first case of umpiring howlers in recent times. BCCI officials blame it on lack of professionalism on the part of the board.
Two-day sports literature festival to start in Chandigarh on Mar 30
A two-day sports literature festival aimed at encouraging youth to play games will commence here on March 30. 'Play Write 2019' will witness participation of different sports persons from the field of tennis to Kabaddi, event co-founder and former bureaucrat Vivek Atray said here on Friday. "The event is aimed at creating awareness on all kinds of sports in the country and will encourage youth to follow their passion in sports," he said. The participants include Zeeshan Ali (tennis), Vishal Uppal (tennis), Deeya Bajaj (mountaineering), former cricketer Bishan Singh Bedi and pro-kabaddi league founder Charu Sharma, he said. Sessions on sports law and sports photography will be held, he said. US Olympic Gold Medallist in road cycling Alexi Singh Grewal will be one of the speakers at the festival, he said. The first edition of the festival held last year in Chandigarh hadbrought together sports personalities who have either written books or have been the subject of one or more books, he .
Kolkata hold edge against Delhi (Preview)
The first week of the Indian Premier League has seen some nail-biting encounters and one team that has ensured edge-of-the-seat entertainment is Kolkata Knight Riders. Having won both their games so far, they have come here to take on the Delhi Capitals in their third game of the 12th edition of the cash-rich league at the Feroze Shah Kotla.
Umpire Ravi wasn't checking bowling crease: Official
The IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI) might have been a humdinger but it will be remembered for umpire S. Ravi's failure to spot a no-ball off the last delivery from MI pacer Lasith Malinga. With RCB needing 7 runs off the last ball, Malinga bowled a no-ball.
Aeronutrix's Fast&Up Ropes in Cricketer Mayank Agarwal as Brand Ambassador
/ -- Fast&Up has announced the signing of Indian Test Cricketer, Mayank Agarwal, as Brand Ambassador. The association comes at a time when Fast&Up is on the cusp of its next phase of growth, focusing on a larger share of the fast-moving healthcare goods business in India. After a record-breaking domestic season in 2017-18, which included over 1,000 runs within a single month and other consistent performances for both Karnataka and India A across formats, Mayank Agarwal received his maiden call to the Indian Test Team, midway through the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Series in Australia. Mayank's gritty knock of 76 on Test Match debut in Melbourne, was the second-highest score by an Indian opener making his Test debut, overseas. After a promising start to Test Cricket, Mayank is looking to improve in all aspects of his game and represent India in white ball cricket as well. Since its inception, Fast&Up has supported sportspersons, athletes and fitness enthusiasts, to promote ...
Zhang battles fund crunch, lack of training to pursue badminton dream
"I can't afford my coach travelling with me," says India Open defending champion Zhang Beiwen, who had to switch her nationality twice to pursue her badminton dreams. Zhang originally hails from Liaoning, China but changed nationality to become a Singaporean at the age of 13 and went on to win a team bronze at the 2009 Southeast Asian Games. After a fallout with Singapore authorities, she adopted US nationality in 2013 and has been playing for that country in international circuit ever since. However, she said she has not got any help from the US national badminton federation and has to rely on self-funding and prize money from competitions. "I have just one sponsor from Hong Kong who pays for my coach's salary," said Zhang who is currently ranked 12 in the world. She was in top-10 last year. The 28-year-old, who had to crowd-fund her trip to World Championship last year, said she does not get enough training in US where badminton is not a big sport. "The best choice for me is ...
Socceroos legend Tim Cahill hangs up his boots
Australia's all-time top goalscorer Tim Cahill announced his retirement on Friday, bringing an end to one of the country's greatest football careers. The 39-year-old -- who scored 50 goals in 108 appearances for the Socceroos and played in four World Cups -- said he will not be looking for another contract following the end of his Indian Super League stint with Jamshedpur. The former Everton and Millwall attacker, who retired from international football in November, said he is planning a move into coaching. "No, I'm an old man now in football years," he told Optus Sport television. "I'd love to keep playing, you know 39, had a great stint for six months in India. "But I'm interested in TV, going to start my A (coaching) licence and spend quality time with my family and chill out for a bit. "I'll take my time in learning more and getting coaching hours in." Cahill spent 14 years in England with Millwall and Everton, scoring more than 100 goals, before stints in the United States, China
Arrows paving the way for other clubs: Pinto
Sometimes as we all move ahead in life, we tend to forget about the simpler things. Even when you have everything you can wish for, small things like the feel of soft grass under your feet, or the warm rays of the morning sun can bring great joy. A football season can be a hectic affair, both for coaches and for the players. During the course of a season, we all tend to complicate certain things that could actually be solved quite easily. I can say with an amount of certainty that my boys, our support staff, and myself have learnt it the hard way.
Pliskova roars past Halep into Miami WTA final
Simona Halep missed the chance to return to world number one as a devastating display from Karolina Pliskova sealed the Czech's passage into the Miami Open WTA final 7-5, 6-1. Romania's Halep would have reclaimed the top spot in women's tennis if she had reached Saturday's showpiece following current number one Naomi Osaka's early exit and Petra Kvitova falling to Ashleigh Barty in the last eight. But Pliskova, the world number seven, had other ideas, rattling off an incredible nine games in a row to blitz Halep and set up an intriguing battle with Australian Barty -- a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Estonian Anett Kontaveit. "It wasn't easy waiting for so long but I managed to stay aggressive," said Pliskova, who hit 29 winners to Halep's 18 in the match that finished after 1 am thanks to a series of rain delays. "Ashleigh is a good player, but I am excited for the final. The South Florida weather played havoc with Thursday's schedule at Hard Rock Stadium, no more so than when the rains ...
Messi adds 'Best goal ever' trophy to his collection
The wait is over and fans have decided their winner. Trophy for the best goal in Barca's history has been entitled to Lionel Messi for his spectacular goal against Getafe during the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey 2006/07.The final stage of the competition began on 20 March and four goals made it through which had three goals by Messi and one by Sergi Roberto.Out of the four entries, Messi's run against Getafe received 45 per cent of the total votes, beating his efforts against Athletic Club in the Copa final (28%) and in the Bernabeu in the Champions League (16%).Sergi Roberto's againsy Paris Saint Germain in the 2016/17 Champions League received 11% placing it fourth on the list.The competition began three months back and more than 500,000 votes were casted had 63 entries.
Won't repeat the 'Mankad' run out again due to backlash, says Keemo Paul
West Indies all-rounder Keemo Paul ran out Zimbabwe's Richard Ngarava without delivering the ball in the last over of their thrilling Under-19 World Cup in 2016 which resulted in his team's win. And now, three years after the incident, the player said that he won't do it again because of the backlash he received."At first, it was definitely tough, I just locked myself away. I saw it on BBC. I read a lot of comments on social media. I took it hard. I cried a lot. And wondered if I did the right thing but my coaching staff and everyone else supported me very well," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Mankad as saying."Definitely I believed what I did was right. I was only 17, I came down hard on myself, kept wondering if I did the right thing. That was just instinct. Now I have matured more and I don't think I will probably do it again due to the fear of criticism. I got a lot of backlash for it. I would probably not do it. The criticisms and harsh comments," he added.Paul went back to Zimbabwe to ...
Aussie football legend Tim Cahill officially retires
After four World Cups, an illustrious club career and having risen to the rank of Australian sporting icon, Tim Cahill has officially quit professional football.