Page 504 - Sports
Working on variations to keep up with wrist spinners: Lyon
Australia's premier off-spinner Nathan Lyon is looking to add a few more variations up his sleeve in order to remain relevant in limited overs cricket at a time when wrist spinners are ruling the roost. Whether its Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav for India, Yasir Shah for Pakistan, Adil Rashid for England or Adam Zampa for Australia, they have all posed challenges for the finger spinners but Lyon is up for it. "Wrist spinners are a valuable part to any side but I am working on a couple of variations to make sure I am keeping up with the game. The game is moving so fast. This is a great opportunity for everyone to learn," Lyon said on the eve of the third ODI. However, Lyon believes that there should be a proper balance of finger and wrist spinners in any set up. "I think it is a pretty important balance to have, a couple of really good spinners to have in your side. Look at India, they have a couple of really good ones. Kuldeep, his skills are unbelievable but their reliance on ...
Gaurika takes pole position in 5th Hero WPG Tour
Gaurika Bishnoi took a stranglehold on proceedings at the picturesque Classic Golf & Country Club, as she moved four shots clear at the top after the second round of the fifth leg of the Hero Womens Pro Golf Tour on Thursday.
Guntash, Tripti claim final two qualification spots from Chandigarh leg of MercedesTrophy
City golfers Guntash Singh Saran and Tripti Kaur qualified for the National Finals of MercedesTrophy on day 2 of the Chandigarh leg qualifier held at the Panchkula Golf Course here Thursday. Guntash with Handicap Category A (0-15) and Tripti with Handicap Category B (16-24) clinched the final two qualification spots available from the leg by carding a nett. score of 73 and 71.2 respectively. The MercedesTrophy has so far seen 38 qualifiers who will be competing in the National Finals to be played at the Oxford Golf Resort in Pune from March 27th-29th. Prominent winners included Gauhar Pruthi who won the Ballantine's Long Drive Challenge with a mammoth drive of 338 yards. P B S Parmar won the Standard Chartered Closest to Pin contest on hole no. 17 by landing the ball at 15 ft 2 inches from the pin. In the Mercedes Benz Closest to Pin in Two Shots, Amrik Singh landed the ball at 4 ft. from the pin to win the contest on hole no. 3. Sahil Sehgal won the Mercedes-Benz Straightest Drive ..
Gaurika extends lead to 4 shots to take pole position in fifth leg of Hero WPG Tour
Gaurika Bishnoi shot two-under 70 to move four shots clear at the top after the second round of the fifth leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour here Thursday. Gaurika, who is looking for her first win this season after coming close at the fourth leg in Ahmedabad where she finished runner-up, combined five birdies with three bogeys during the second round for a total of 142. Neha Tripathi, winner of the inaugural leg this season in Pune, carded the only other sub-par round of the day (71) and is lying second at a score of 146 at the picturesque Classic Golf & Country Club. Three other golfers -- Gursimar Badwal, winner of Leg 2, along with Siddhi Kapoor and Smriti Mehra, are a shot behind Neha at 147. Winner of the third leg in Ahmedabad, Ridhima Dilawari was a further shot behind in sixth place with a score of 148. The only amateur in the fray, Natalii Gupta (73) is at seventh position with a score of 151, while Afshan Fatima (73) and Ananya Datar (77) are at tied-eighth with 152.
Mumbai cueist Vaya shines with break of 70 to enter round 3
City cueist Vishal Vaya continued with his impressive run of formon his way into the third round of the Rs 12.9 lakhs prize money CCI All India Open Snooker Championship here Thursday. Vaya compiled a notable break of 76 during his 3-1 second round win over Aashit Pandya from Thane at the Cricket Club of India (CCI). The former junior Indian player, who had fired a break of 60 in his first round win, maintained the winning momentum. Vaya finished the match in style by stitching a neat run of 76, which bettered young Shahyan Razmi's highest break of 70 Wednesday, to wrap up the tie 93-31, 56-59, 61-29, 95-16. Results (all from Mumbai unless stated otherwise) (1st round): Jaison Malhotra (Delhi) beat Mohit Khanchandani (Jaipur) 3-0 (81-37, 55-17, 79-35); Pratyush Somayajula beat Aditya Shandiliya 3-0 (62-12, 61-6, 53-36); Shubhojit Ro beat Ajay Chugani 3-0 (77-20, 53-42, 59-34); Sourabh Ayyagari (Pune) beat Pradyumna Mehendale (Pune) 3-1 (17-51, 34-25, 55-44, 63-33); ...
HC restrains IABF from using 'India' or 'Indian' in its name
The Delhi High Court passed an interim order on Thursday restraining Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) from using 'India' or 'Indian' in its name. Justice Prathiba M Singh also asked IABF, which was in the process of conducting a national sub-junior men and women boxing championship, to inform all the participants that they are not a recognised national sports federation of boxing. The court's interim order came on a plea by Boxing Federation of India (BFI) seeking permanent injunction against IABF from using word 'India' or its natural variations and from representing themselves as a national sports federation for boxing or that it is recognised by Indian Olympics Association, Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs and International Boxing Association (AIBA). Advocates Hrishikesh Baruah, Parth Goswami and Hemant Phalpher, representing the BFI, submitted in the court that IABF was in the process of conducting national sub-junior men and women boxing championship in Jabalpur and ...
Road to final: Le Racing are back
RC Strasbourg Alsace are back in the final of the Coupe de la Ligue, with their summit showdown against EA Guingamp coming 14 years after they won their last piece of major silverware in the same competition. A lot has changed since Jean-Christophe Devaux's thunderous dead-ball strike from 30 yards flew into the net at the Stade de France to give Strasbourg a 2-1 win over SM Caen, on April 30, 2005. French champions in 1979 and three-time winners of the Coupe de France, that was a second Coupe de la Ligue after 1997 for Le Racing, one of an elite group of clubs to have won all three major trophies. A year after that triumph, Strasbourg were relegated from the top flight. They came straight back up, only to go straight down again in 2008 after losing their last 11 matches of the season. Future stars departed, like Kvin Gameiro and Morgan Schneiderlin, and by 2011 Strasbourg, languishing in the third-tier Championnat National, were liquidated due to their financial difficulties. Their ..
Kenyan athletics pioneer Daniel Rudisha dies
Daniel Rudisha, a member of Kenya's silver medal-winning relay quartet at the 1968 Mexico Olympics and father to 800m world record holder David Rudisha, has died, his family said Thursday. David said his 73-year-old father, a former teacher who retired to become an athletics coach, succumbed to cardiac arrest in a hospital in Nakuru, northwest of Nairobi, on Wednesday night after a long illness. "Our beloved father sadly left us last night. He appeared to be recovering well after he was rushed to hospital for kidney failure last week," the two-time Olympic and world champion told AFP. Athletics Kenya (AK) said Rudisha would be remembered as a pioneer who helped lay a foundation for the current crop of athletes. "Rudisha is among the first lot of athletes who represented the country, not for monetary gains but for the love of the game," it said in a statement. Fifty years ago, the elder Rudisha ran the anchor leg to earn Kenya's first Olympic 4 x 400m relay silver medal, behind the ...
Mumbai skipper Rahane rested as Super League stage of Mushtaq Ali begins Friday
Domestic giants Mumbai will miss the services of its skipper Ajinkya Rahane in the Super League stage of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament commencing here Friday, as the star batsman is recovering from niggles. Besides, Mumbai, Kartanaka , Bengal and Ranji and Irani Cup champions Vidarbha are some of the big teams that will fight it out in the Super League stage of the domestic T20 tournament. But all focus would be on Mumbai, who had won the Vijay Hazare Trophy this season and are raring to go all guns blazing in the knock-out stage after losing just one game in the league stage. According to Mumbai's chairman of selectors, Ajit Agarkar, Rahane had "pushed through" the group stage but he needed rest to recover. In the league stage, Mumbai topped Group C, winning five out of six matches, but Rahane made just 58 runs at an average of 9.67. "He (Rahane) was carrying niggles even during the league phase, which he kind of pushed through when we were in a bit of trouble. But he would not
Indian boxing stars set for weight change as AIBA rejigs Olympic divisions
Some of Indian boxing's most accomplished names such as Amit Panghal, Shiva Thapa and Manish Kaushik will be moving to higher weight categories to sustain their Olympic dream as the sport's world body has scrapped their current divisions from the 2020 Tokyo Games. The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has finalised the eight men's and five women's divisions for the 2020 programme. The new weight categories finalised for men are 52kg, 57kg, 63kg, 69kg, 75kg, 81kg, 91kg and +91kg, while for women, the divisions would be 51kg, 57kg, 64kg, 69kg and 75kg. The AIBA has also decided to introduce a bout review system from September this year through which teams would be allowed to challenge decisions of a maximum of two bouts in a tournament. The change means that Panghal, an Asian Games gold-medallist in 49kg, will now have to move to 52kg, while Thapa and Kaushik will have to forego the 60kg division and move up to the newly-created 63kg. Thapa is a three-time Asian Championships ...
Not worried about who's getting chance and who's not: Bhuvneshwar
Bhuvneshwar Kumar seems to share a strange relation with World Cups and like in the 2015 edition, there exists a strong possibility that he will again be cooling his heels for the better part of the upcoming showpiece. With Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami ready to share the new ball and a seam bowling all-rounder set to be part of the playing XI, Bhuvneshwar is again likely to be confined to the benches for his second successive marquee event, starting in England from May 30. In Australia and New Zealand four years ago, Haryana's Mohit Sharma, who was bowling better at that point of time, played and the UP seamer was used in an inconsequential game against the UAE. On the face of it, Bhuvneshwar Thursday put up a brave front when asked how difficult it is to get in and out of the side. "I'm not worried about who's getting a chance and who's not getting. More importantly, it's about getting rest. Shami got rest in New Zealand, I got rest in this series. You want to be consistent and .
All eyes on Dhoni as India eye series win against Australia (Preview)
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, probably playing for the final time at his home ground, will be the cynosure of all eyes when India take on Australia in the third ODI, aiming to take an unassailable 3-0 lead here on Friday.
Shuttler Saina advances in All England Open
Star Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal defeated Kirsty Gilmour of Scotland to advance to the second round of the All England Open badminton championships here.
Man United make Champions League history at PSG's expense
Manchester United made history, beating Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on away goals in a 3-3 aggregate draw to become the first team in the annals of the Champions League to prevail in a tie after losing the first leg at home by two or more goals.
Workload management will come into effect in 2nd phase of IPL: Bhuvneshwar
India's World Cup-bound bowlers could pick and choose matches during the second phase of IPL as part of the workload management programme, senior pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar said Thursday. The Indian team management has been categorical in its demand that the troika of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar's workload be effectively managed by franchises ahead of the World Cup starting May 30. Asked about the gruelling IPL schedule, Bhuvneshwar, who is Sunrisers Hyderabad's key bowler, said: "That's there in our minds. It will come into play after the first half of IPL, six-seven matches then we can know how we can approach the second half of IPL and what we need to do to remain fit for the World Cup. "Yes, it (World Cup) is there on our minds but we'll look after (our fitness) in the second half of IPL," replied Bhuvneshwar, making it clear that it will also be a prerogative of the players and their discussions with franchises. Recently, Kolkata Knight Riders CEO Venky ...
Indian women lose second T20, series to England
The Indian women's cricket team suffered a five-wicket defeat to England in the second T20 International, surrendering the series with a sixth straight loss in the shortest format. Chasing 112 for an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, England completed the task in 19.1 overs, holding nerves after losing a few quick wickets. Opener Danielle Wyatt was Engalnd's star performer with the bat, top-scoring with an unbeaten 64 off 55 balls. During her stay in the middle, Wyatt struck six boundaries, and was ably supported by Lauren Winfield (29). While Wyatt held one end firm on the way to her fourth T20 half- century, England needed three back-to-back boundaries by Winfield to take the game away from India. Opting to bowl, England produced a brilliant performance to prevent the hosts from putting up a big score at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium, with Katherine Brunt emerging as the most successful bowler. The veteran seamer returned figures of 3/17, sending back stand-in skipper
River Plate rescues point in title defence against Alianza Lima
Argentine club River Plate began their Copa Libertadores title defence with a 1-1 draw against Alianza Lima, sealed in the last minute of extra time with a stunning free kick by Cristian Ferreira.
India women lose 2nd T20 to England; concede series
The Indian women's cricket team lost by 5 wickets to England in the second T20 International to concede a series-deciding 0-2 lead here Thursday. Chasing a target of 112, England managed to reach the target with five balls to spare. The third and final match of the series is to be played here on Saturday. Brief Score: India women: 111/8 in 20 overs (Mithali Raj 20; Katherine Brunt 3-17) England women: 114/5 in 19.
Porto advance to Champions League quarter finals
Porto advanced to the quarter finals of the Champions League with a 4-3 aggregate victory over Roma, clinching the win with a penalty conversion in extra time.
Nadal wants Kyrgios to set better example
Rafael Nadal insisted that he has immense respect for Nick Kyrgios's talent, and his public scolding of the mercurial Aussie after their stormy Acapulco clash doesn't change that. Kyrgios survived three match points to beat top-seeded Nadal in three sets to reach the quarter-finals in Acapulco on Wednesday, where he went on to win his first ATP title in more than a year. Immediately after the match, 17-time Grand Slam champion Nadal said that Kyrgios -- who complained of illness, served underarm and taunted a pro-Nadal crowd on the way to victory -- "lacks respect for the public, the opponent and for himself." Nadal told reporters at the Indian Wells Masters that he thought his comments may have suffered in translation, but his assessment of Kyrgios hadn't really changed. "I never said nothing too negative about Nick, even if he took it more personally," Nadal said, adding that his comments had nothing to do with the underarm serve, which didn't make him feel disrespected at all. "I ..