Page 431 - Sports
Aussie bowlers mulled Test snub if Warner wasn't banned
After it emerged that Australia's bowlers threatened not to play alongside David Warner in the final Test in South Africa after the ball tampering row last year, Cricket Australia (CA) chief Kevin Roberts on Thursday dismissed concerns over the return of the team's former leaders unsettling the resurgent side.
Sindhu, Srikanth enter quarterfinals of India Open
Former champions P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth advanced to the quarterfinals after easy wins but the highlight of the day was H S Prannoy's thrilling victory over Denmark's Jan Jorgensen on the third day of the Yonex-Sunrise India Open here Thursday. B Sai Praneeth and Parupalli Kashyap also advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Tour Super 500 event after contrasting wins in the men's singles competition. Sindhu, who clinched the title in 2017, thrashed Hong Kong's Deng Joy Xuan 21-11 21-13 in the women's singles, while Srikanth recorded a 21-11 21-16 win over China's Lu Guangzu in the men's event. Olympic silver medallist Sindhu will next face Denmark's eighth seed Mia Blichfeldt, who had won the Barcelona Spain Masters, while Srikanth set up a meeting with compatriot B Sai Praneeth in a rematch of their 2017 Singapore Open final. Still recovering from a stomach problem which led to a nagging gastro-esophageal reflux and breathing issue that spoilt his last season, Prannoy ...
Praneeth edges past Sameer to India Open quarters
In an enthralling all-Indian second round face-off, Sai Praneeth edged fifth seed Sameer Verma to enter the quarter-finals of the India Open 2019, a BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament, here on Thursday.
ISL sides Chennaiyin FC and Mumbai City FC clash in Super Cup match
The main round of the Super Cup, the country's premier knock-out football tournament, begins here on Friday with Chennaiyin FC taking on Mumbai City FC in a round of 16 match. There were doubts about the tournament being held this time after eight I-League clubs decided to boycott it if the All India Football Federation does not address their grievances in the impending domestic restructuring. Former champions Minerva Punjab and Aizawl FC as well as Gokulam Kerala did not turn up in the qualifying round matches on March 15 and 16 while I-League runners-up East Bengal Thursday took the decision to give the competition a miss. However, the All India Football Federation, which has accepted the demand of the clubs to have a meeting with its president Praful Patel, decided to go ahead with the tournament. And, for Indian Super League sides Chennaiyin FC and Mumbai City FC, it's business as usual as they prepared for Friday's match at the Kalinga Stadium. Chennaiyin finished at the bottom .
Patliputra SC wins Red Bull Tashan's Patna edition
Patliputra Sports Club (SC) on Thursday won the Patna edition of Red Bull Tashan, a competitive kabaddi tournament for players at college and club level, by beating Sarvodaya Kabaddi Club (KC) Atmalgola in the final.
IPL: Bangalore opt to bowl vs Mumbai (Toss)
Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bowl against Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League (IPL) contest at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Thursday.
Don't see need for using 'mankad': Trent Boult on Ashwin
Kings XI Punjab captain Ravichandran Ashwin's recent 'Mankad' dismissal of Rajasthan Royals batsman Jos Buttler in the Indian Premier League was not "within the spirit of the game", Delhi Capitals pacer Trent Boult said on Thursday."It is pretty interesting to see it happen. I think the IPL tournament itself is very exciting, amazing cricket is being played. I think we should just let the cricket play in the right spirit, I do not really see too much need for anyone to be doing that," Boult told reporters here.Ashwin on Monday left everybody stunned after he dismissed Butler using 'mankad' tactic with the Kings XI Punjab captain drawing a lot of flak. Ashwin clarified that he had atttmpted to tackle the situation in "very instinctive" manner and it was "not planned".Asked about his workload management ahead of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, Boult who was accompanied by Kagiso Rabada, said, "We are here for the tournament to do a job for Delhi, both of us are excited to be here, it .
England Women head coach expresses preference for age-group World Cup
England head coach Mark Robinson labelled as "fantastic" the ICC's proposal to introduce an age-group World Cup for women's cricket and expressed his preference which age group would be catered for by the tournament."It's brilliant. Fantastic from the ICC. I selfishly and privately hope they do the 21s and not the 19s. That'll allow for more growth. Some of the girls are at the same stage as the boys are, but those extra two years will just allow more people to stay in the system, more people to develop," ESPNcricinfo quoted Robinson, as saying."That's my personal view. But if it ends up being the Under-19s, it's still going to be a great initiative and great progression for the game," he added.After losing the first two ODIs against India, England bounced back to win the third match. Since then, the Heather Knight-led side has won 10 consecutive international matches, including three T20Is against India, three-match ODIs and as many T20Is against Sri Lanka.England will host West ...
East Bengal board members decide against participating in Super Cup
East Bengal board members Thursday decided not to participate in the Super Cup main round which begins in Bhubaneswar, holding firm to the alliance of eight revolting I-League clubs. Terming it 'unethical' to pull out of the alliance, East Bengal said in a statement: "The East Bengal nominees on the Board suggested that since an alliance of Clubs have already been formed, it would be unethical for us to come out of the Alliance." The first board meeting of the club since Quess Corp became the club's investors in July also agreed to bid for the Indian Super League. The board meeting was held in Bengaluru. "The Board also agreed to bid for ISL if the terms are financially acceptable. The East Bengal nominees mentioned that they would convey the decision to Executive Committee of the club and discuss further," it added. East Bengal, which had finished runners-up in the I-League, were to play against ISL side Delhi Dynamos in their Round of 16 match on March 30. A section of club ...
We haven't discussed 'Mankading' even once after the game: Royals pacer Unadkat
Rajasthan Royals as a team has moved on from the Jos Buttler 'Mankading' incident and the focus will strictly be on winning their next IPL encounter against Sunrisers Hyderabad here Friday, said seamer Jaydev Unadkat. A rampaging Buttler was 'Mankaded' by KXIP skipper Ravichandran Ashwin and the incident sparked off a wide-ranged reaction across cricket community with custodians of the game MCC doing a U-turn that the Indian did not adhere to 'Spirit of Cricket'. Asked if the team was affected by 'Mankading' controversy, Unadkat said: "We haven't even mentioned it once after that day. We have moved on from that incident. It's time that we focus on the game coming up. "Every game is going to be crucial in a tournament like this. Mankading (controversy) has not really made any kind of impact on us and we are looking for what we can do to win the game tomorrow." Buttler looked a cut above rest when it came to attacking the KXIP bowling and Unadkat said that the Englishman alone can't win
Shubhankar tops among Indians at T-7, lies two shots behind leaders
Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma emerged as the best Indian at tied 7th, lying two shots off the lead at the end of the first round of the Hero Indian Open on Thursday. Sharma was five-under through 14 holes and looked set for a share of the lead with Stephen Gallacher, who finished half an hour earlier. But, Sharma ran into back-to-back bogeys and finished with 69, which he said was "still a decent start" on this course. Gallacher, who had missed the cut in his last four starts, and Julian Suri shared the first round lead with rounds of 67 each. Gallacher, a two-time Dubai Desert Classic winner, shot five-under 67 in the morning wave and that effort was equaled by Suri, who has Indian origins, with the same number in the afternoon. "I think I played very well today did not make too many mistakes. I missed a couple of key putts on my front nine. Made a silly mistake on six and seven but apart from those holes I am pretty happy with how I finished," Sharma said. Speaking about his eagle
IPL: Players focus on game, not workload management
Coming into the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League, there has been a lot of talk about how the Indian player will look to take adequate breaks to stay fresh for the World Cup that starts in England from May 30. Though pundits have made their opinion known, most players believe that workload management is something that can be looked at if the need arises, and that the focus is to do well for their respective franchises.
East Bengal not to participate in Super Cup
Ending days of speculation, the directors of city football giants East Bengal on Thursday decided not to participate in the Super Cup, joining arch-rivals Mohun Bagan.
IPL betting racket busted, five held
An IPL cricket betting racket was busted here and five persons were arrested, police said on Thursday. Talking to reporters, Superintendent of Police (headquarters) A K Goswami said while three of the accused are local residents, two are from Ratlam district of Madhya Pradesh. "Based on a tip-off, a vehicle standing on the main road at Chikitsak Nagar was searched on Wednesday night and five persons were found accepting bets on the ongoing IPL cricket matches," he said. "Twenty mobile phones, two laptops, a calculator, two registers and seven notebooks used for betting, were recovered from them," Goswami added. According to him, the notebooks seized from the accused contained names of 100 punters and information about the financial transactions that ran into several lakhs. The betting racket was being operated from a rented house in the city and the gang has links in Mumbai and elsewhere, Goswami said, adding that a probe has been launched.
Guptill eyes 'Net Gains': Facing Rashid at training to prepare for Afghanistan WC game
Martin Guptill is not among the four first-choice overseas players for Sunrisers Hyderabad but the senior New Zealand batsman wants to utilise his time facing Rashid Khan at the nets to prepare for the World Cup game against Afghanistan on June 8. With David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Rashid Khan and Shakib Al Hasan being the first choice foreigners and regular captain Kane Williamson waiting to get fit, Guptill will have to bide his time but he wants to make optimal use of it. For Guptill, Rashid is a bowler he has not faced much save a few games in an earlier Caribbean Premier League edition. "I played with him in CPL a couple of years back. He is an amazing bowler. He is very hard to face because he is quick," Guptill said during a media interaction. "I will be getting into the nets to figure out how to play him because our second game at the World Cup this year is against Afghanistan. Obviously, if I can face him at the nets, may be I can put some plans in place for the World Cup," ..
England eves whitewash Sri Lanka 3-0 in T20 series
The England women's team rode on a powerful batting effort to outclass Sri Lanka by 96 runs in the third and final Twenty20 International and complete a 3-0 whitewash at the P. Sara Oval here on Thursday.
Relief for Richardson ahead of World Cup, bone damage ruled out
Australian pacer Jhye Richardson remains hopeful of his participation in the forthcoming International Cricket Council (ICC) Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 after it was confirmed on Thursday, that there was no bone damage after he dislocated his shoulder in the ongoing series against Pakistan.Richardson suffered the injury during the second one-dayer while fielding at Sharjah. The 22-year old was immediately ruled out for the remainder of the series and returned to Perth for further assessment."Jhye Richardson has had scans on his right shoulder to assess the extent of his injury, the scans demonstrated the usual soft tissue damage we expect following a dislocation but fortunately has excluded any bone damage or fracture," ICC quoted Australia team physio, Richard Saw as saying.Saw also stated that it is yet to be decided whether Richardson will undergo any surgery or not."We are hopeful that Jhye will not require surgery but he will see a shoulder specialist early next week for a ...
Praneeth, Kashyap enter quarterfinals of India Open
India's B Sai Praneeth and Parupalli Kashyap advanced to the quarterfinals of the India Open badminton tournament after contrasting wins in the men's singles competition here Thursday. Praneeth, who had reached the finals at Swiss Open early this month, eked out a thrilling come-from-behind 18-21 21-16 21-15 win over fifth seeded compatriot Sameer Verma. Kashyap, a 2014 Commonwealth Games champion, dished out a superb game to get rid of Thailand's Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk 21-11 21-13 in the pre-quarterfinal contest. While Praneeth will face either compatriot Kidambi Srikanth, a former champion, or China's Lu Guangzu, while Kashyap takes on the winner of the match between Subhankar Dey and Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei. Riya Mookerjee too showed the stomach to fight before going down 8-21 21-17 13-21 to eighth seed Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark. The women's doubles pair of Aparna Balan and Sruthi KP edged out Hong Kong duo of Wing Yung and Yeung Nga Ting 21-19 7-21 21-17, while the men's .
India pile up medals at 12th Asian Airgun C'ship
After two gold medals on the opening day, Indian shooters picked up three more medals, including two gold, on day two to stay on top of the standings at the ongoing 12th Asian Airgun Championship in Taoyuan, Taipei.After Ravi Kumar and Elavenil Valarivan won first silver for the country in the 10m Air Rifle mixed team, India made it a 1-2 in the corresponding juniors event to end yet another profitable day.Ravi and Elavenil topped the qualification rounds with a score of 837.1 but were beaten in the five-team final by the Korean pair of Park Sunmin and Shin Minki who won gold with a score of 499.6 to the Indian's 498.4. Chinese Taipei won bronze. A second Indian team consisting of Deepak Kumar and Apurvi Chandela finished fourth.In the junior event as well, two Indian teams made it to the final round. The pair of Mehuli Ghosh and Keval Prajapati topped qualification with a score of 838.5, while Shreya Agrawal and Yash Vardhan qualified in the second position with 831.2.Shreya and Yash
Solskjaer appointed Manchester United manager
Manchester United on Thursday confirmed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as manager of the club.