Page 588 - Sports
Guwahati set to host senior badminton Nationals (Preview)
Top Indian shuttlers will descend upon Guwahati as the Assamese city is set to welcome the 83rd Senior National Badminton Championships 2018-19, starting on Tuesday.
Jamie Chadwick leads MRF Challenge with a fine win
Jamie Chadwick, one of only two female drivers on the grid, scored a fine win to move into the championship lead, just one point ahead of Max Defourny, in the third and final round of the MRF Challenge, at the Madras Motor Racing Track here on Saturday.
No hard feelings against Courtois: Atletico Madrid
Shortly before La Liga game that pits the bitter cross-town rivals, Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo on Saturday said his team's fans had nothing against Real Madrid and Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
Will look into PSL performances before picking World Cup squad: Pak coach
Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur said the selectors and team management will consider performances in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the ODI series against Australia before finalising the 15-member squad for the ICC World Cup in England and Wales, later this year.
Advani enters finals of Senior Snooker National
Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani stormed into the finals of the Senior Snooker National with a 5-2 win over Kamal Chawla of Railways here Saturday. Advani, who is a 21-time world billiards and snooker champion, sent Kamal packing 46-38, 08-95(73), 07-69(67), 114(98)-17, 54-19, 56-15, 71-38, while Laxman Rawat ousted Aditya Mehta with a similar 5-2 scoreline. After clinching the first frame, Advani went 2-1 down and was facing a serious threat from Kamal's attacking snooker. But the highly-experienced Advani had other plans as he went on a rampage to win the next four frames on the trot with the help of breaks including 67 and 98. Advani will be vying for his 31st National title while this will be Laxman's maiden win should he overcome the favourite. Scores: Semi Finals: Pankaj Advani beat Kamal Chawla :: 5-2 (46-38, 08-95(73), 07-69(67), 114(98)-17, 54-19, 56-15, 71-38) Laxman Rawat beat Aditya Mehta :: 5-2 (14-68, 62-10, 81-24, 74-20, 100(84)-00, 48-77, 68-26).
India retain same women's squad for England ODI series
The Indian women's selection committee on Saturday retained the Mithali Raj-led ODI squad that won the series against New Zealand, for the forthcoming three-match rubber against England, starting here on February 22.
I don't copy anyone, but won't mind copying Kohli: Pope
Ollie Pope is normally averse to copying any other cricketer's style, but the young England batsman Saturday admitted that India captain Virat Kohli is someone who he doesn't mind imitating. The 20-year-old Surrey batsman was in awe of Kohli's batting technique and said watching him, especially in the Nottingham Test where India beat England by a whopping 203 runs, was a treat to his eyes. "I usually don't try and copy other players, but one player I wouldn't mind is Kohli, to be honest," said Pope, who is currently on a tour to India with the England Lions. "I think the way he (Kohli) played there (in Nottingham), it was awesome to play against him and see him first-hand. The way he stood outside his crease when he batted and tried to negotiate the swing. He was who I enjoyed watching and I learnt a lot from him," he added. Kohli played superb knocks of 97 and 103 to help India register its lone Test win over England in the five-match series last year. Pope made his Test debut ...
Sindhu, Saina will be in action when Senior National Badminton begins in Guwahati
Top Indian shuttlers, including the celebrated duo of P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, will be in action when the sprawling Assamese city hosts the 83rd Senior National Badminton Championships from February 12. This is the first time the prestigious Nationals is returning to the North-East since Guwahati last hosted it in 2010. The Rs 50 lakh badminton extravaganza will kickstart with the 74th Inter State-Zonals scheduled to be held from February 10 to 11. It will be followed by the individual competition from February 12, the draw of which will be conducted on Monday. The top 8 players, ranked below 50 in the BWF World Rankings in both men's and women's singles, will start directly from the pre-quarter-finals on completion of the Super Draw on February 14. In doubles, the top 4 teams within the top 50 will be placed in the quarter-finals. The singles draw will have 16 seeds while the maximum number of seeds in the doubles section will be eight. Defending champion Saina and last edition's
Willingdon rule day one of Grover Golf
Four-time champions Willingdon Sports Club Saturday came up with a strong performance, scoring 17.5 points to open a 6 points lead over Poona Golf Club, US Club and BPGC, who are all tied at 11. 5 each at the end of the first day of the 23rd Grover Zampa Vineyard Inter-Club Golf Championship here. The two-day tournament is being played at United Services Golf Course in south Mumbai. Willingdon players looked formidable right from the start as the pair of Akshay Kilachand and Ashish Goel defeated Rajiv Kusalkar and Amitabh Mujumdar of US Club for 2 points in the Foursome, a media release said. In another match, the pairs of Rahul Sood/ Rahul Devan and Anand Zaveri/Jay Seth beat BPGC and PGC respectively to add 4 more points scoring a total of 8 points in the foursome. Willingdon dominated the Fourball as Pradeep Shah / Sharik Kajiji and Shiddharth Takkar/Chirag Doshi scored a clear victory over their opponents Poona Golf Club scoring 5 points between them. Willingdon lost
Chikkarangappa fires 65 to claim two-shot win in Golconda Masters
Bengaluru's Chikkarangappa S pulled out a flawless final round of six-under-65 to emerge triumphant by two shots at PGTI's season-opening Golconda Masters Golf Championship here Saturday. Chikka's career-graph has been on the upswing since he ended a two-year long title-drought on the PGTI in November last year. He followed that up with a runner-up finish at an Asian Tour event in Mauritius that helped him seal his card in Asia. The 25-year-old then posted another second-place finish at the PGTI's season-ending event in December. On Saturday, Chikka sealed his 12th career win with a score of 20-under-264 at the Hyderabad Golf Club (HGC). Patna's Aman Raj produced the last day's best round of seven-under-64 to finish joint runner-up at 18-under-266 along with Bengaluru's M Dharma (69). Chikkarangappa (65-64-70-65), lying tied second, two off the lead, had a roaring start as he landed his second shots within four feet on the first and second to score birdies on both holes and take the ..
ISL: Pune, ATK desperate for win to stay in hunt (Preview)
FC Pune City and ATK lock horns in an intriguing Indian Super League (ISL) clash here on Sunday, knowing anything less than a win will peg them back a long way in the battle for a semi-final spot.
India look for consolation win against White Ferns in final T20 (Preview)
The Indian women's team will look to get their act together and score at least a consolation win when they take on New Zealand in the third and final T20 International here Sunday.
Panchal, Bharat give India 'A' upper hand over England Lions
A brilliant double century by Priyank Panchal (206) and a quickfire ton by wicketkeeper KS Bharat (142 in 139 balls) helped India 'A' take control against England Lions on the third day of the first unofficial Test here Saturday. India 'A' declared their innings at 540 for 6 in reply to England Lions' 340 to gain a massive 200-run lead, thanks to Panchal's marathon knock, which came off 313 balls and Bharat's blistering innings that was studded with 11 fours and eight sixes. Out-of-favour KL Rahul, who had a dismal tour of Australia, finally found his touch and was unbeaten on 88 on Friday. But he could add only one run to his overnight score before spooning a catch to substitute Jamie Overton to give left-arm spinner Danny Briggs his first wicket. Panchal, 89 not out overnight, continued his imperious form and played some eye-catching shots. He reached his 20th first class century and continued to torment the visiting bowlers with his defence and stroke-making. Though skipper Ankit ..
India name women's squad for ODI series against England
India on Saturday retained the 15-member women's squad, led by skipper Mithali Raj, that played in the New Zealand series for the upcoming three-match ODI rubber against England starting on February 22 in Mumbai. "The All-India Women's Selection Committee has picked the Indian Women's Cricket team for the three-match Paytm ODI series against England Women," the BCCI said in a statement. "The three ODIs are a part of the ongoing ICC Women's Championship and will be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai." India had recently won the three-ODI series against New Zealand 2-1. The Indian board also announced the President's XI squad that will play a warm-up game ahead of the series on February 18. "The selectors have also picked the Board President's XI squad that will play a one-day warm-up game prior to the ODI series in Mumbai on 18th February," the BCCI said. India Women's squad for ODI series: Mithali Raj (Captain), Jhulan Goswami, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet ...
India finishes 4th in Fed Cup after losing 1-2 to Korea
India ended its campaign at the Fed Cup with a fourth place finish after losing the classification tie 1-2 to Korea as the team badly missed injured Karman Kaur Thandi, who did not play on Saturday. Captain Vishal Uppal handed national champion Mahak Jain her Fed Cup debut after a groin strain forced Karman out of the tie. The diminutive Mahak played her heart out before losing steam towards the end for a 2-6 6-3 1-6 defeat against Na Ri Kim. Like on many occasions, Ankita came out to level the tie as she outplayed Sunam Jiong 6-3 6-3 in one hour and 18 minutes. The doubles became decisive but Ankita and Prarthana Thombare lost the close rubber 4-6 4-6 to the Korean team of Su Jeong Jang and Kim. Captain Uppal said India had a good chance to win this tie. "Big learning curve for Mahak today. She could have won this match but she dropped off at the start of the third set which you cannot afford to do against a good player," Uppal told PTI. Ankita dominated her match and we could have ..
Sania eyeing a comeback by year end
India's tennis star Sania Mirza is planning to make a return to the game by year end following the birth of her baby. The 32-year-old had last played at the China Open in October, 2017 where she suffered a knee injury and was out of competition in early part of last year. In October, last year Sania had delivered a baby boy and the Indian ace said she now wants to return to the game and would start her training soon. "Realistic possibility for comeback is by the end of the year," she said in an interaction at The Huddle held by The Hindu, here. "My conditioning trainer is coming in the next ten days. Now that I have lost weight, I do tennis specific training. "I am 32 years old, I am not so young as a tennis player. But I would die if I did not try. Tennis is my life, it has given me everything. I still have it in me." Sania said she looks up to German legend Steffi Graf, a winner of 22 Grand Slam titles, as she has achieved a lot even after marriage and having a kid. "Steffi Graf is .
RSPB beat Odisha to register second win in Senior Women's National Hockey
Defending champions Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) thrashed Odisha 8-0 to register its second consecutive win at the ninth Senior Women's National Hockey Championship (Division A) here on Saturday. While RSPB secured its second win in Pool A, Rajasthan registered its first win of the pool by beating Coorg 5-1. In Pool B, Madhya Pradesh register its second consecutive win by beating Gangpur-Odisha 3-0, while Chhattisgarh eked out a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Bhopal. In Pool D, Jharkhand mauled Tamil Nadu 7-0 to register its second win of the competition.
Tile holders Punjab to play RSPB in final of Sr Men's National Hockey
Defending champions Punjab Saturday defeated Punjab and Sind Bank 2-0 to set up a clash against Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) in the final of the ninth Senior Men's National Hockey Championship (Division A) here. While Punjab beat Punjab and Sind Bank in the first semifinal, RSPB got the better of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) 5-4 in shoot-out in the other last four game to enter the summit-clash. In the first semifinal, India international Akashdeep Singh (8th minute) and Dharamvir Singh (39th) scored for the winners. The second semifinal between RSPB and PSPB went into shoot-out after both the teams were locked at 2-2 after regulation 60 minutes. Varun Kumar (8th) and Mandeep Singh (23rd) gave PSPB a handy 2-0 lead before RSPB made a late surge and scored through Yuvraj Walmiki (45th) and Dilpreet Singh (50th) to take the match into shoot-out. While Punjab and RSPB will lock horns in the final on Sunday, PSPB will face Punjab & Sind Bank in the third-fourth ...
Pune and ATK face each other in must-win match
FC Pune City and ATK lock horns in an intriguing Indian Super League clash here on Sunday, knowing that anything less than a win will peg them back a long way in the battle for a play-off spot. Both teams are in with a fighting chance of making it into the play-offs though they are not currently in the top-four bracket. ATK, with 20 points from 14 games, are placed sixth on the table and are four points off the fourth spot. Pune City are a spot below with 14 points but have five matches left to play, giving them an outside chance of getting into the top four. However, anything less than victory at the Shree Chhatrapati Shivaji Sports Complex here on Sunday will be fatal for either team's hopes. And that could set the tone for an engaging tussle. The hosts are coming into the tie on the back of a three-match winning run, the latest being a 2-1 away win over Chennaiyin FC. While the momentum is with the Stallions, new coach Phil Brown would want them to improve their defence which ...
Shakib ruled out of New Zealand ODI series
Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has been ruled out of the three-ODI series against New Zealand due to fractured finger.