Page 567 - Sports
Solomons thrown out of U-17 World Cup for over-age player
The Solomon Islands have been thrown out of this year's Fifa under-17 World Cup for fielding an over-age player during qualifying. The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) said in a statement Sunday that the Solomons breached regulations by fielding a player in the regional under-16 tournament last year who was born before the qualifying date of January 1, 2002. The Solomons finished second to New Zealand in the tournament which qualified them for the under-17 World Cup to be hosted by Peru in October. However, the OFC disciplinary committee found the Solomon Islands had committed a "deliberate and serious breach" of the regulations which has "resulted in the forfeiting of the team's place at the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2019." A decision will be made soon on who will replace the Solomons at the World Cup with the leading contender expected to be Tahiti who beat Fiji in the play-off for third in the regional qualifier.
Monaco out of drop zone as Balotelli leads Marseille
Monaco climbed out of the Ligue 1 relegation places on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Nantes, while Mario Balotelli scored for the third time in four games for a resurgent Marseille. After failing to win at home all season until the start of February, Monaco made it back-to-back victories at the Stade Louis II as Gelson Martins fired in a Rony Lopes cross on 13 minutes. Portugal international Martins, also on target in last week's 2-2 draw at Montpellier, has scored twice in three league appearances for Monaco following his arrival on loan from Atletico Madrid. Leonardo Jardim's side moved up to 16th and two points clear of Dijon in the relegation play-off place. Marseille defeated Amiens 2-0 to record three straight wins for the first time this season and jump to fourth, six points behind Lyon in the final Champions League spot. Balotelli failed to find the net in 10 matches for Nice this season but has found his goalscoring touch since his switch to Marseille last month. Florian ...
Piatek wonder strike as Milan stay on Champions League course
Krzysztof Piatek hit a wonder goal and grabbed a second as AC Milan came back to defeat Atalanta 3-1 on Saturday and stay on course for the Champions League. Piatek took his season's Serie A total to 17, just two behind Cristiano Ronaldo. The Polish star now has scored six times in four starts for Milan since moving from Genoa in the January transfer window to replace Gonzalo Higuain. After Remo Freuler had given Atalanta a 33rd-minute lead, Piatek struck with a memorable left-footed volley in first-half stoppage time. Ricardo Rodriguez swung in a cross from the left, Piatek nipped in front of his marker before volleying into the top corner from 12 yards out despite not even looking at the target. Turkish winger Hakan Calhanoglu put Milan ahead with a sharp drive 10 minutes into the second period before Piatek headed in from a corner just after the hour mark to seal victory. Milan fans have taken Piatek to their hearts, even devising a new chant "Piatek! Pum pum pum pum!" to mirror ..
City end Newport's giant-killing run to reach FA Cup quarter-finals
Manchester City powered into the FA Cup quarter-finals as the Premier League leaders survived a battling display from Newport County to beat the fourth-tier minnows 4-1 on Saturday. Pep Guardiola's side didn't have an easy ride in a full-blooded fifth round tie against a team 82 places below them in League Two. Troubled by the rutted Rodney Parade pitch, City were indebted to Ederson for a superb save to keep them level during a lacklustre first-half display. City eventually hit their stride in the second half and Leroy Sane's powerful finish put them ahead before Phil Foden doubled the lead. Newport refused to surrender and Padraig Amond's late goal could have set up a tense finale, only for Foden to net again 79 seconds later before Riyad Mahrez wrapped up the win. "It was a really tough game. We opened the scoring in the game and believed it was done. They showed us how incredible they are and a big compliment for them," Guardiola said. "The home crowd was amazing, winning here, I .
At 40 years and 136 days old, Pizarro becomes Bundesliga's oldest scorer
Claudio Pizarro, the Bundesliga's record foreign goal-scorer, claimed another milestone on Saturday when he became the league's oldest scorer in Werder Bremen's 1-1 draw at Hertha Berlin. Aged 40 years and 136 days, the Peru striker claimed his 195th Bundesliga goal in dramatic fashion to equalise with the last kick of the game having come off the bench for mid-table Bremen in the 61st minute. "I am very happy, this point helps us and I am very proud to have scored," said Pizarro, who has also played for Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Cologne. Luck shone on Pizarro when he smashed a speculative free-kick under Hertha's wall and it took two deflections before hitting the net in the 96th minute at Berlin's Olympic Stadium. "I just tried to shoot under the wall, because I knew they were going to jump," explained Pizarro. Pizarro's goal, which delighted Bremen coach Florian Klofeldt, who is four years younger than the Peruvian, bettered the previous Bundesliga record of Mirko Votava, who also
Ten-man Schalke draw blank ahead of Man City clash
Schalke 04 warmed-up for the Champions League visit of Manchester City with a goalless draw at home to fellow Bundesliga strugglers Freiburg on Saturday. Schalke are winless in their last three Bundesliga games and sit just above the relegation places in 14th spot. Next up is a huge challenge at home to Pep Guardiola's Premier League giants Man City in their Champions League last 16, first-leg tie on Wednesday. Schalke qualified for the Champions League by finishing runners-up to Bayern Munich last season, but despite dreadful recent results, Schalke head coach Domenico Tedesco says they are ready to host City. "We deserve to have got this far," Tedesco insisted after Schalke won half their games to finish second behind Porto in their Champions League group. "We have to prepare well and everyone needs to be at 100 percent. We believe we have a chance -- otherwise there would be no point playing." Both Schalke and Freiburg finished with ten men as the Royal Blues played for nearly 50 ..
Messi penalty lifts Barca as Griezmann eclipses Torres
Lionel Messi scored a penalty and missed another as La Liga leaders Barcelona ground out an unconvincing 1-0 win over Real Valladolid, while Antoine Griezmann surpassed Fernando Torres with his 130th goal for Atletico Madrid. Messi's fitness was again in the spotlight on Saturday after a niggling thigh strain in recent weeks, but he completed the full 90 minutes at the Camp Nou and hit the 30-goal mark at Barcelona for the 11th straight season. The Argentine coolly dispatched a spot-kick just before half-time, drilling beyond the reach of Jordi Masip after Gerard Pique was bundled to the ground by Valladolid midfielder Michel. Masip brilliantly tipped over a Messi volley soon after the interval and Luis Suarez wasted a huge opportunity to double the lead shortly after replacing Kevin-Prince Boateng with an hour gone. Messi found himself booked for dissent after an apparent foul on him went unpunished, and he then blew the chance to kill off Valladolid when Masip kept out his second ...
Focus on Mandhana as BPXI take on England eves in warm-up game
Focus would be trained on in-form openerSmriti Mandhana when she leads the Board President's XI in a warm-up match against the visiting England women's team here on Monday. The match is being played at the Wankhede Stadium and Mandhana, who is being helped by team coach W V Raman to build up her patience, would be keen to put the lessons learnt into practice before plunging into the series opener here next Friday. Mandhana recently scored 196 runs in the three- match ODI series against hosts New Zealand, including a 100 and 90. She would be keen to carry that form into the upcoming home series and a good knock in the warm-up match will only boost her confidence. Apart from Mandhana, BPXI wicket-keeper R Kalpana is also in the ODI squad and she could also benefit from playing in the practice game. On the other hand, England women are a force to reckon with in the 50-over format and they utilise this game to get acclimatised to the pitch, weather and local conditions. The
Griezmann leads Atletico to La Liga win over Rayo
Superstar forward Antoine Griezmann led Atletico Madrid to a 1-0 victory over Rayo Vallecano, a result that gets the club back on track in the La Liga.
Boxing: Solanki, Tanwar enter quarters of Strandja Memorial
Commonwealth Games medal-winning duo of Gaurav Solanki (52kg) and Naman Tanwar (91kg) entered the quarterfinals of the 70th Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament with contrasting wins in Sofia, Bulgaria. Gold Coast CWG gold-winner Solanki, taking to the ring within 24 hours of his first-round win, defeated Kazakhstan's Anvar Muzaparov 3-2 in a hard-fought contest on Saturday night. The 19-year-old Tanwar, who claimed a bronze in Gold Coast last year, got the better of Poland's Michal Soczynski 5-0 in a dominating performance. Solanki faces Uzbekistan's Fayzov Khudonyazar in the last-eight stage. Khudonyazar defeated local hope Tinko Banabakov in his pre-quarterfinal bout, which was also ended in a split verdict. Tanwar, on the other hand, will be up against Ukraine's Serhii Horskov. Horskov out-punched Serbia's Darko Stankovic in his pre-quarterfinal contest to fetch a 5-0 decision from the judges However, it was curtains for Ulaan Baatar Cup gold-medallist Ankush Dahiya. Dahiya lost to
I-League: Gokulam share spoils with Arrows
Gokulam Kerala FC extended their winless run to three months, sharing spoils in a 1-1 draw against the Indian Arrows in an I-League return leg fixture at the EMS Corporation Stadium, here on Saturday.
Badminton nationals: Railways want champions AAI disqualified
The Senior National Badminton Championship here on Saturday got embroiled in a controversy as runners-up Railways alleged that newly crowned champions Airport Authority of India (AAI) have fielded "ineligible" players and appealed for their disqualification.
ISL: Pune deliver Jamshedpur's chances a hammer blow
A clinical display by FC Pune City saw them run out 4-1 victors over Jamshedpur FC in an Indian Super League clash at the JRD Tata Sports Complex, here on Saturday.
Saina beats Sindhu to claim national title
Saina Nehwal won the women's singles category of the 83rd national badminton championship by defeating PV Sindhu in straight games at the TRP Indoor stadium here on Saturday.
'Just doing my job', says 'superman' Perera after epic Sri Lanka win
Match-winner Kusal Perera insisted "all I did was my role" after his epic 153 not out took Sri Lanka to a dramatic one-wicket victory over South Africa in the first Test at Kingsmead on Saturday. Perera scored 67 of his runs in an unbeaten 78-run last-wicket stand with Vishwa Fernando which gave his underdog team a sensational victory. "When I was batting with the tail, I knew we couldn't win this match by just scoring singles," said Perera after his career-best knock which was already being hailed as one of Test cricket's greatest innings. "I was the last proper batsman left. When the time felt right for me, I took my chances." The left-hander managed to keep most of the strike and played some audacious strokes, including two sixes off fast bowler Dale Steyn and one each off Kagiso Rabada, Duanne Olivier and Keshav Maharaj. "I tried to hit to the closest boundary," said Perera, who was described as "superman" by opposition skipper Faf du Plessis. "It was a superman effort. He ...
Real coach rejects deliberate foul charge against Ramos
Real Madrid head coach Santiago Solari on Saturday refused to accept that Spain defender Sergio Ramos had deliberately gone out to get booked with a yellow card during his team's 2-1 away win against Ajax in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16.
Farbrace leaves England set-up for Warwickshire role
England coach Trevor Bayliss will lose a key member of his staff ahead of the team's home World Cup and Ashes after it was announced Saturday that assistant coach Paul Farbrace will leave to join Warwickshire. Farbrace, credited with helping kickstart England's revival in one-day cricket, will succeed Ashley Giles as the sport director at Edgbaston after England's tour of the West Indies ends next month. Former England spinner Giles left Warwickshire in December to become England's managing director of men's cricket, succeeding Andrew Strauss. Bayliss had already announced he was standing down as England head coach when his contract ends in December, leaving Farbrace facing an uncertain future. Former Kent and Middlesex wicketkeeper Farbrace, who first worked under Bayliss when the latter was Sri Lanka coach, joined the England staff in 2014 after guiding Sri Lanka to the World Twenty20 title that year. After England's woeful early exit at the 2015 World Cup, which saw Peter Moores ...
Ethiopia's Tefera breaks Guerrouj's 1500m indoor world record
Ethiopia's Samuel Tefera set a new 1500 metres indoor world record in Birmingham on Saturday as he broke a mark that had stood for more than 20 years. Tefera upstaged compatriot Yomif Kejelcha to stop the clock in a time of 3min 31.04sec, shaving 0.14sec off the previous record set by Moroccan middle-distance great Hicham El Guerrouj in 1997. Kejelcha, who came within 0.01sec of the world indoor mile record last week, had announced his intention to break the 1500m mark ahead of Saturday's World Indoor Tour meeting in Birmingham. And with pacemakers taking the field through 800m in 1:52.70 and 2:49.28 at the 1200m mark, Kejelcha was on course for a record. But Tefera, the world indoor champion at the distance, was tucked in on his shoulder and, as the bell sounded for the final lap, he kicked past his countryman and charged towards the line. Kejelcha came second in an outright personal best of 3:31.58.
Vidarbha clinches Irani Cup title
Riding their first innings lead, Ranji champions Vidarbha clinched the Irani Cup defeating Rest of India (RoI) at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium here on Saturday.
Pune dent Jamshedpur's play-offs chances with a 4-1 win
FC Pune City produced a clinical display to beat Jamshedpur FC 4-1 in an Indian Super League clash at the JRD Tata Sports Complex here on Saturday. Robin Singh (17and 65th minute), Marcelinho (45+2) and Ashique Kuruniyan (70th) found the target for Pune while Carlos Calvo (76th) scored a consolation goal from the penalty spot for Jamshedpur who slumped to their first defeat of the season at home. The result put a huge dent in Jamshedpur's chances of qualifying for the play-offs while Pune City's slim hopes of going through remain alive. Cesar Ferrando's side are now four points behind fourth-placed Mumbai City with two games remaining. Pune, on the other hand, are nine points behind Mumbai with three matches in hand. Jamshedpur's defeat meant league leaders Bengaluru FC became the first team to qualify for the play-offs ahead of their away match against Delhi Dynamos on Sunday. The home side started the game with urgency and should have scored at least twice within the opening 15 ...