Page 454 - Sports

Hockey India Coaching Education Pathway launched

In an effort to develop coaches from the grassroot level and enable them to meet the requirements and the ever-growing demands of international hockey, the sport's governing body in India on Friday launched the Hockey India Coaching Education Pathway.

FIFA chief congratulates Chennai on winning I-League

In a letter to the All India Football Federation (AIFF), FIFA president Gianni Infantino congratulated I-League club Chennai City FC for winning the title for the 2018-19 season.

Virendra Sehwag and Irfan Pathan to be UC Cricket Captains during IPL 2019

UC Browser, World's no.1 third-party mobile browser and a content platform, has announced multiple in-app activities in a bid to meet rising demand for cricket content during the latest edition of Indian Premier League.UC Browser, part of Alibaba Digital Media and Entertainment Group, is partnering with legendary cricketers Virendra Sehwag and Irfan Pathan for the course of IPL, starting March 23. The two cricketers will be cheering and supporting their respective teams on the UC platform.Exclusive cricket-related short videos, GIFs and memes will also be available on UC Browser. Leading smartphone maker OPPO is lending its support to the campaign as a sponsor.UC Browser is also offering cricket fans and users a chance to win a total of 1 crore rupees by participating in an exciting Play & Win Game on the browser. Virendra Sehwag and Irfan Pathan are challenging UC users to participate in the game and take the Captain versus Users challenge.For the first match, Virendra Sehwag ..

David Ferrer wins his first ATP match in 12 months

David Ferrer won his first ATP Masters match in 12 months on Thursday defeating American Sam Querrey 6-3,6-2 at the Miami Open."I enjoyed it a lot. It is Miami, a lot of people have supported me all these years. For me, it is a great experience to play in this new stadium. I am really happy because I played really good... I am doing my goal, and my goal is to be competitive," Association of Tennis Professionals quoted Ferrer as saying.Ferrer was able to take advantage of Querrey's second serve, winning almost 87 per cent of those points and he was able to mount pressure on the former world number eleven.The 27-time ATP Tour titlist is playing in Miami for the 17th and final time. The tennis star has said he will retire at the Madrid Open in the month of May.Ferrer will next meet second seed Alexander Zverev, who was able to defeat him in the Miami Open's second round last year.

Sowparnika, first real estate firm to support arm wrestlers

Sowparnika Projects, a Bengaluru-based real estate firm, has taken up an initiative to stand by a sport which is less-recognised, but holds immense potential and becomes a popular one in the near future.Along with the Sakra World Hospital, Sowparnika Projects sponsored the first-ever "International Ranking Series" on March 16th, 2019 at the Chancery Pavilion, Bengaluru, in presence of a team from the Professional Arm Wrestling League (PAL). For the very first time, the team will be participating in the Asia ranking tournament for the Asia Cup which is scheduled to be held in Japan.The objective was to promote and develop the sport of arm wrestling to further nurture the sport and introduce the talents at the highest level. The event has witnessed around 150 participants with over 50 national and international champions. Dignitaries like Kirill Yakovlev, Director of communications at PAL, Igor Mazurenko, President at PAL, Zil Fadli, Head Referee at PAL, Ronnie Sehgal, CEO at Bulldog ..

ODI rankings: Smriti Mandhana, Jhulan Goswami retain top spots

India opener Smriti Mandhana and fast bowler Jhulan Goswami on Friday consolidated their top spots for the batters and bowlers, respectively, in the updated ICC Women's ODI player rankings.Mandhana leads the batters list, thanks to her brilliant performance against England in Mumbai last month. The top five saw no change as Ellyse Perry of Australia, Kiwi captain Amy Satterthwaite, India captain Mithali Raj, and West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor, all retained their places.In the bowlers' rankings, Australia's Jess Jonnasen, Pakistan's Sana Mir, Megan Schutt of Australia and Shikha Pandey of India form the list led by Goswami.There are no changes in the top five all-rounders comprising Ellyse Perry of Australia, West Indies' Stafanie Taylor, South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk, Deepti Sharma of India and Natalie Sciver of England.Meanwhile, Australia are on the verge of qualification after only 12 matches, as they lead the ICC Women's Championship table with 22 points. England have

Game Theory raises 2.5 crores to bring sports facilities to the masses

Bangalore-based entrepreneur Sudeep Kulkarni raised 2.5 Cr for Game Theory, his latest sports start-up.Sudeep had previously Co-founded Tribe Fitness, the first group exercise only fitness club, which was acquired by Cult Fitness in early 2017.Game Theory raised 2.5 Cr. as angel investment from a prominent set of senior thought leaders and investors, Bangalore based Malav Kapadia - Director at Micro Focus, Singapore based Karthik Viswanathan - Director at VMWare and Singapore based Robin Thomas - Director at Blue Prism.Sudeep Kulkarni's Game Theory aims to bring sports closer to Bangalore neighbourhoods. The latest KPMG report states that only 1% of the population that's interested in sport actually get to play sport in Bangalore. Often times we leave the sport as a part of our life behind as soon as we finish school, but Sudeep Kulkarni is now bringing it closer to home for Bangaloreans with Game Theory.The sport, fitness and health industry is touted to grow to a $90 billion ...

Sehwag,Irfan to be UC cricket captains during IPL

UC Browser, part of Alibaba Digital Media and Entertainment Group, is partnering with legendary cricketers Virender Sehwag and Irfan Pathan for the course of Indian Premier League, starting March 23.

AIFF chief agrees to meet I-League clubs; general secretary says all on board

With All India Football Federation president Praful Patel agreeing to meet them, the aggrieved I-League clubs have shown "eagerness" to participate in the Super Cup, AIFF general secretary Kushal Das said Friday. Busy with work related to the upcoming general elections, Patel has agreed to meet the agitating clubs between April 10-15. "Yes, the clubs have been sent a mail with a tentative time-line for a meeting with the AIFF president. They all are on board and have shown eagerness to play the Super Cup, which shall go on as per the original schedule," Das told PTI. "Their request of rescheduling by the clubs cannot be accepted as that's against the tournament regulations but all the other matches go on as per schedule," he added. Mohun Bagan had requested to reschedule the Super Cup qualification matches after a few clubs refused to turn up for their respective games. On Wednesday, six I-League clubs, including new champions Chennai City FC, had expressed their willingness to ...

We have strongest batting line-up in IPL: Simon Katich

Carlos Brathwaite's presence in the KKR line-up will boost the franchise's batting, which is the "best" among eight teams, claimed assistant coach Simon Katich. The Barbados all-rounder in the most expensive buy for KKR at Rs 5 crore and will add firepower alongside big-hitters like Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa and Andre Russell. "The big fella here has got potentially one of the best strike rates in World T20. So in terms of our batting, it's the strongest in the competition," Katich made his ambitious claim during the unveiling of eight new recruits. A career T20 average of shade under 17 in 143 games doesn't exactly inspire confidence but Katich probably wants to measure his ability to be destructive looking at his career strike-rate of 145.04. "We are blessed with a lot of powerful players like Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, who is good during the Powerplay. There is Robin (Uthappa), Nitish (Rana), DK (Dinesh Karthik), there is Shubman (Gill)... With a maximum of four foreigners allowed ..

IPL 2019: Top 5 all-rounders to look out for

An all-rounder in a team can turn the tables in any situation. With just days left for the annual T20 festival -- the Indian Premier League (IPL) -- franchises are banking on their all-rounders to give them that extra edge as fans across the nation eagerly await the twists and turns of the three-hour extravaganzas.

SO Bharat contingent shines at World Summer Games

Abu Dhabi bid goodbye to the 15th Special Olympic World Summer Games, the first of its kind held in the Middle East, with the Special Olympics (SO) Bharat contingent winning an astounding 368 medals including 85 gold, 154 silver and 129 bronze.

Hockey India launches its ambitious Coaching Education programme

Hockey India on Friday launched its ambitious Hockey India Coaching Education Pathway in an endeavour to develop coaches from the grassroots and enable them to meet the requirements and the ever-growing demands of the game. The meticulously-designed program aims to provide certification to those candidates who are already coaches or wish to pursue coaching as a career option. This simplified education structure will provide certification to develop coaches from grassroots through to a high performance/international level. The program consists of a combination of web-based modules and face-to-face interactive courses, underpinned by a competency based assessment process, a statement from the national federation said. Those candidates who successfully complete the Hockey India Level '0', Hockey India Level '1' and Hockey India Level '2' Coaching Courses will be eligible to enrol for the FIH Academy Level 1 Course, provisionally scheduled during the FIH Men's Series Finals in Bhubaneswar

I fit the role of 4th bowler India wants for WC: Umesh

The Indian Premier League (IPL) gets underway in Chennai on Saturday with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) taking on defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the season's opener. And RCB pacer Umesh Yadav is one player who will definitely be looking to impress RCB and Team India captain Virat Kohli with a strong show from the word go.

Australia not underdog in World tournament, says Finch

Australia captain, Aaron Finch opined that Australia should not be considered as underdogs as they have a great ability to play well in big tournaments."Australia are probably never true underdogs in a world tournament. I think our record suggests that. Regardless of form you go into the tournament [knowing] Australia have a great ability to play well in big tournaments," ICC (International Cricket Council) quoted Finch, as saying.Finch-led Australia won both T20 series as well as ODI series against India, which evidently boosted the morale of Australia team. The defending champions may not be among the favourites of many former players but their recent series win against India has made them cynosure of all eyes and are being considering as a strong World Cup contender.Moreover, the Australia team is about to witness the comeback of the banned duo, Steve Smith and David Warner, which will further succour the team with their experience.Although, the selectors have decided to name the ..

Ireland to host Windies, Bangladesh for tri-series

West Indies and Bangladesh will travel to Ireland for a one-day international tri-series, beginning May 5 ahead of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019.For West Indies and Bangladesh, the series will serve as a preparation for the 50-over tournament, scheduled to take place in England from May 30 to July 14. West Indies will start their World Cup campaign against Pakistan on May 31, while Bangladesh will play their opening game on June 2 against South Africa.The tri-series will involve a double round-robin phase followed by the final. The matches will be hosted between the three venues of Castle Avenue, Clontarf and Malahide, ICC reported.Meanwhile, West Indies players comprising Andre Russell, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Oshane Thomas, Nicholas Pooran, Evin Lewis and Carlos Brathwaite and Shakib Al Hasan from Bangladesh are set to compete in the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).The players will be considered for selection only if their respective IPL teams fail to ...

AIFF President to meet agitating I-League clubs

Holi brought good news for I-League clubs across the country as All India Football Federation (AIFF) General Secretary Kushal Das informed them that President Praful Patel has agreed to meet them between April 10-15. This comes after the agitating clubs said they will reconsider withdrawing from the Super Cup if the President met them.

Batsman Cameron Bancroft to lead Durham

Australia batsman Cameron Bancroft has been appointed to captain Durham for the upcoming county season as the team sees attributes of 'mental toughness, skill and attitude' in him.Bancroft, who replaces Paul Collingwood, returned to first-class last December after a nine-month suspension imposed on him by Cricket Australia over his role in the ball-tampering scandal in Newlands, ICC reported.The 26-year-old played in the Big Bash League (BBL) before scoring a century and a couple of fifties in the Sheffield Shield since his return."We are confident he has the attributes to lead. He has invaluable experience at the top level and has enjoyed a successful spell in England before, during his time with Gloucestershire," coach James Franklin said."He has proven since returning to first-class cricket over the last few months that he has the mental toughness, skill, and attitude to excel at the highest level and I am sure he will relish the challenge we have at Durham this season," he ...

Former Aussie wicket-keeper Julia Price appointed US women's team head coach

Former Australia wicket-keeper Julia Price has been appointed the head coach of the US women's cricket team.Price, who was one of three candidates vying for the role, is a two-time ICC Women's Cricket World Cup winner, having lifted the trophy in 1997 and 2005. She played 84 one-day internationals and 10 Tests for Australia in an international career that spanned over nine years.Most recently, she coached the Hobart Hurricanes, one of eight city-based franchises participating in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) in Australia. In addition to her Australia coaching experience, Price also served as a consultant coach during one of the USA Cricket Combines thanks to American board's partnership with Cricket Australia."I'm absolutely thrilled to have been appointed as Head Coach for the USA Cricket Women's National Team. I believe that the potential for growth of cricket in America, particularly in the women's game, is quite phenomenal. We have a huge year coming up so I can't wait to get

NZ women's cricket team coach Haidee Tiffen to step down

New Zealand women's cricket team, head coach Haidee Tiffen has decided against reapplying for the position after her contract expires at the end of July.In a statement issued from New Zealand Cricket on Friday, Tiffen said she wanted to look for "other opportunities to develop her skills and work with a wider range of people, possibly in different codes", stuff.co.nz reported."I believe in collaboration, hard work, respect, and team first and I have enjoyed developing a learning environment where players are supported and encouraged to take responsibility to be better every day," Tiffen said.Tiffen, who took over the coaching reins four years ago, pulled out of White Ferns' 0-3 ICC Women's Championship defeat against Australia in the Rose Bowl series last month as she felt she was not in the right frame of mind to coach the team.The decision came soon after a New Zealand Cricket review of the ICC Women's World T20 2018 in the Caribbean, where New Zealand failed to advance beyond the ..