Page 630 - Sports

Iran coach Quieroz refuses to be drowned out by background noise

A series of blaring loudspeaker announcements repeatedly silenced Iran coach Carlos Queiroz on Sunday -- just as he was urging his team to express themselves in their Asian Cup semi-final against Japan. "Shut up!" The 65-year-old Portuguese said to giggles after the fifth interruption, before he was finally able to conclude his remarks on Monday's game at Al Ain's Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium. "What's important is, we have a great team, great players, but we cannot lose our identity," he said. "We need to be ourselves and play with confidence and trust." The technical hitch is far from the only problem faced by Iran, who are dealing with nuclear sanctions and internal discord. Iran, who won the last of their three titles in 1976, have also dealt with injuries and AFC warnings over government interference as they bid to end their 43-year drought. Although Queiroz has dismissed talk that Iran are favourites, and went out of his way to praise Japan's "brilliant football", the ex-Manchester ..

PWL: Delhi beat Mumbai to raise hope of semis berth

Skipper Khetik Shabalov led from the front as Delhi Sultans all but dashed Mumbai Maharathi's chances of making it to the semi-final beating them 5-2 in their final group encounter at the Pro Wrestling League (PWL) Season 4 on Sunday. Delhi clinched the tie winning the first four bouts of the evening raising an outside chance of making it to the semi-final whereas Mumbai's fate now heavily waits on the outcome of the Punjab Royals and UP Dangal tie on Monday. The Russian champion Delhi Sultans icon Khetik Shabalov overcame some early aggression from Mumbai Maharathi's Sachin Rathi to beat him 9-2 and give Delhi Sultans an early 1-0 lead. In the biggest turaround of this season, Delhi's European U-23 champion Anastasia Shustova of Ukraine came back from a 0-5 deficit to upset Mumbai's European Championships silver medalist Zseneth Nemeth of Hungary 10-5 in the last 30 seconds of the bout and give Delhi a 2-0 lead. In the next major upset of the evening, Delhi Sultans' Pankaj Mishra ...

Mumbai City FC beat Bengaluru FC 1-0

Skipper Paulo Machado led from the front as Mumbai City FC defeated Bengaluru FC 1-0 in an entralling Indian Super League game here on Sunday. Machado's stunning goal in the 29th minute was the difference between the two sides as Mumbai grabbed three points in their first game post the winter break. After Sunday's win, Mumbai and Bengaluru are on top of the league table with 27 points each, though the home side have played 13 matches, one more than the visitors. This was the first time tailsmanic Sunil Chhetri was playing after being conferred with coveted Padma Shri award, but it was Machado, who, instead stole the limelight at the Mumbai Football Arena. Both the sides began on an aggressive note and Bengaluru created two chances inside the first seven minutes but both the shots sailed above the bar. In the fifth minute, Mumbai's Arnold Issoko lofted the ball from a distance but experienced Bengaluru custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu collected it safely. The best chance for Bengaluru ..

Italians check in ahead of Davis Cup qualifiers

World number 18 Marco Cecchinato along with other Italian Davis Cup team members arrived here this morning ahead of their qualifiers against hosts India at the South Club, scheduled to be held from February 1-2.

I-League: East Bengal beat Mohun Bagan 2-0, back in title race

East Bengal put themselves back in title contention after defeating arch-rivals Mohun Bagan 2-0 in the second I-League derby at the packed Yuba Bharati Krirangan here on Sunday.

Queiroz to mark 100th match as Iran head coach

Carlos Queiroz will mark his 100th match as head coach of Iran's national football team in the game against Japan on Monday.

Atletico Madrid confirm Martins loan to Monaco

Atletico Madrid on Sunday confirmed they have loaned Portuguese forward Gelson Martins to Ligue 1 strugglers AS Monaco for the rest of the season.

Pakistan bowlers force series decider after Sarfraz ban

Pakistan shrugged off a four-match suspension imposed on captain Sarfraz Ahmed with a crushing eight-wicket win over South Africa in the fourth one-day international at the Wanderers Stadium on Sunday. The result levelled the five-match series at 2-2. The deciding match will be in Cape Town on Wednesday. Pakistan's bowlers set up the win, bowling out South Africa for 164. Imam-ul-Haq made 71 before playing a loose shot when the scores were level as Pakistan cruised to victory with 18.3 overs to spare. Stand-in captain Shoaib Malik said at the after-match presentation that Pakistan only found out after they arrived at the ground that Sarfraz had been banned under the International Cricket Council's anti-racism code for remarks aimed at South African all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo during the second match in Durban on Tuesday. The ban had still not been announced by the ICC when Malik walked out for the toss. Malik handled his bowlers and fielders astutely and South Africa were kept ...

Kvitova pulls out of Fed Cup tie against Romania

Australian Open finalist Petra Kvitova will not play in the first-round Fed Cup tie as the Czech Republic face Romania on February 9-10, Czech media said Sunday, quoting her manager. "She defends her titles in St Petersburg the week before that and in Doha the week after," manager Miroslav Cernosek told the website of the DNES broadsheet daily. "Neither I nor captain Petr Pala expect her to take part," he said, adding however that he expected Kvitova to join the Fed Cup team later. "She has always played... when she could. She is not one of those looking for excuses," he added. Fed Cup team spokesman Karel Tejkal declined to confirm the information for AFP. With Kvitova on the team, the Czechs have won six of the last eight Fed Cups. In last year's final, they swept the US team 3-0 in Prague. The 28-year-old Kvitova, the Wimbledon champion from 2011 and 2014, lost to Japan's Naomi Osaka 6-7 (2/7), 7-5, 4-6 in the Australian Open final on Saturday. It was Kvitova's first Grand Slam ...

Italians arrive for World Group Qualifiers against India

The Italian Davis Cup squad, led by world number 18 Marco Cecchinato, arrived here on Sunday for the World Group Qualifiers against hosts India at the South Club from February 1-2. In absence of Italy's top-ranked Fabio Fognini who has ruled himself out to treat an injury, Cecchinato will spearhead the team on the grass courts. Cecchinato who made a first round exit at the Australian Open against Serbia's Filip Krajinovic is expected to be a threat on the opening day of the tie. Cecchinato had caused a major upset by ousting Novak Djokovic in the French Open quarters last year. World number 35 Andreas Seppi is the next best Italians in terms of ranking. The other members of the contingent includes number 54 Matteo Berrettini, Thomas Fabbiano (102) and doubles world number 88 Simone Bolelli. A total of 24 teams will play in the knockout qualifiers on February 1 and 2 to decide which 12 teams will play the year-end Final in Madrid in November 2019. According to the new format, only four

Sharma 29th as DeChambeau wins with record total and margin in Dubai

Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma brought his best card of the week to finish Tied-29th at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday. Sharma shot a 68 on the final day with the help of a fourth straight birdie at the 18th. Gaganjeet Bhullar, the other Indian to make the cut this week, shot 69 and finished T-38th. Both Sharma and Bhullar will next tee off at the new European Tour event, the USD 3.5 million Saudi International in Jeddah. While there were a bunch of low scores, the day belonged to Bryson DeChambeau (64), who not only won his first title outside of the United States, but also set a new tournament record of 24-under. He bettered by one shot the mark set by China's Li Haotong last year. He won by seven shots over Matt Wallace (68 and 17-under) and that too was a tournament record for highest winning margin, beating Ernie Els' mark of six shots, while winning in 1994, when DeChambeau was barely five months old. DeChambeau, a novelty in the sport with his same length irons and ..

PCB expresses disappointment over ICC's decision to suspend Sarfaraz for his racial remarks against South African pacer

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Sunday expressed disappointment over the decision of International Cricket Council (ICC) to suspend skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed for four matches.Sarfaraz had made racial remarks against South African pacer Andile Phehlukwayo during the second ODI against South Africa in Durban on Tuesday following which the ICC had charged the batsman for breaching their anti-racism code.The wicket-keeper batsman was picked up by the stump mic saying, "Hey black [man], where is your mother sitting? What prayer did you get her to say for you today?" (Abay kaalay, teri ammi aaj kahan baitheen hain? Kya parhwa ke aya hai aaj tu?).As the issue raked up, the wicket-keeper batsman apologised personally to Phehlukwayo and had also issued a public apology.In a statement, PCB said that since Sarfaraz's apology was accepted by the South African pacer, they assumed that the matter is resolved amicably between the two parties. They further stated that the board would pursue the matter ..

Holder becomes first top-ranked Windies Test all-rounder after Sobers

West Indies captain Jason Holder has become the first player from the country in 45 years to top the list of all-rounders in the International Cricket Council Test Player Rankings after slamming an unbeaten double-century that helped script a memorable 381-run win over England in the first Test in Bridgetown.West Indies legend Gary Sobers was at the top last in March 1974 and Holder has now emulated him following his 202 not out off 229 balls in the second innings in Bridgetown, which is the third highest score by a number eight batsman in Test history after the Pakistan pair of Wasim Akram (257 not out) and Imtiaz Ahmed (209).The right-arm pacer, who was associated in an unbeaten seventh-wicket partnership of 295 with Shane Dowrich (116 not out), leapfrogged Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan and India's Ravindra Jadeja to grab the number one spot for the first time in his career.Holder has also moved up the batting rankings to take a career-best 33rd position, after gaining 25 places.In ..

Real Kashmir face real test of character against Chennai City in crucial I-League match

Real Kashmir FC face the biggest test of their debut season so far when they take on leaders Chennai City FC in a 14th round I-League clash here Monday in a match which will have a huge impact on both sides in their title hunt. Chennai are leading the I-League table on 30 points from 13 matches while Real Kashmir are in third with 25 from 13 games. Churchill Brothers are in second spot on 28 points from 14 matches. Monday's match at the TRC ground is more crucial for Real Kashmir than the Chennai team as any slip-up on the part of the home side will lead to an eight-point gap from the visiting side with just six matches to come after this. But, the David Robertson-coached team will start in an advantageous position in their home turf with the temperature expected to dip below 5 degree Celsius even at 2pm start. There is biting cold in Srinagar and the field of play has snow over it for the past couple of days. Real Kashmir will also start confidently as they have beaten Chennai in ...

Djokovic beats Nadal for record-breaking 7th Australian Open title

After winning all his previous six Australian Open finals, Serbia's Novak Djokovic clinched a record-breaking seventh title by trouncing Spain's Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 here on Sunday.

'Job'by well done: East Bengal remain in I-League hunt with 2-0 win vs Bagan

Kerala youngster Jobby Justin once again emerged as a game-changer with an assist followed by an opportunistic strike that enabled East Bengal defeat arch rivals Mohun Bagan 2-0 to remain in I-League title contention. The 25-year-old first set it up for Jaime Colado who broke the deadlock in the 35th minute and then angled his header to perfection beating custodian Shilton Paul to seal three points for the red and gold brigade. It is after 15 long years that East bengal have won both derbies in a single edition of national league. With this win, East Bengal with 25 points from 13 games moved up to fourth position. Real Kashmir has same points from equal number of matches but are placed third on account of better goal difference. Finally in 35th minute, man of the match Jobby got past the profligate Eze Kingsley and set it up for Colado, who slotted past Shilton. East Bengal looked a compact unit while Mohun Bagan were let down by their back four while a couple of refereeing decisions .

Shinwari leads Pakistan charge despite Sarfraz absence

Pakistan shrugged off the loss of captain Sarfraz Ahmed to suspension as left-arm fast bowler Usman Shinwari took four wickets in six balls and South Africa were dismissed for 164 in the fourth one-day international on Sunday. Ahmed is returning immediately to Pakistan after being suspended for four games by the ICC for making racist remarks about the Proteas' Andile Phehlukwayo during last week's ODI in Durban. It gave the visitors an outstanding chance of squaring the five-match series with one match to play. Stand-in skipper Shoaib Malik handled his bowlers and fielders astutely and South Africa were kept under pressure almost from the time Malik won the toss and sent them in onto a Wanderers Stadium pitch which had early life. Shaheen Shah Afridi made two early strikes before Hashim Amla (59) and captain Faf du Plessis (57) made half-centuries and put on 101 for the third wicket. But Malik's use of spinners Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan kept the scoring rate in check and both batsmen

Ratanbala hat-trick helps Indian women's football team beat Indonesia 3-0

A second-half hat-trick by Ratanbala Devi helped the Indian women's team beat Indonesia 3-0 in the first of their two friendly matches here on Sunday. The Indian women's team has been preparing for the Olympic Qualifiers Round 2 and will face Indonesia again on January 30. Coming on the back of successive wins against Hong Kong, the Indian women put up a dominating performance against Indonesia, with Ratanbala Devi finding the back of the net thrice. India got several scoring chances in the first half but could not convert anyone of them. In the 20th minute, India had a golden opportunity to take the lead but Sandhiya failed to find the net from close range. In the 31st minute, India were denied by the woodwork after an attempt from outside the box left the Indonesian defence clueless. The Indian women kept their attacking momentum going in the second half. Dalima Chhibber's shot from outside the box went inches over the Indonesian goal. India's incessant efforts finally paid off in ..

Djokovic hails Nadal rout as his 'best' Slam final performance

Novak Djokovic said he played his "best final in a Grand Slam" to win a record magnificent seventh Australian Open with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 rout of Rafael Nadal Sunday. "It's one of the best, if not the best, matches I've played in a Grand Slam final," the Serbian world number one said after winning his 15th major title in just 2hr 4min. The demolition of second seed Nadal put Djokovic, 31, out on his own ahead of Roger Federer and Roy Emerson, who both won six Australian Open men's singles titles. The top seed dropped to his knees and kissed the ground after vanquishing his greatest rival. "It's quite unreal we are still playing at this level and still competing for the biggest titles in sport and it's just an amazing evening," he said, pausing frequently to hold back his emotions. "Under the circumstances, maybe this is the best quality tennis I have played against Rafa in a final." - 'This is amazing' - ===================== "I'm just trying to contemplate on the journey in the last 12

Six WIMs from India to take on six foreign players

: Six Woman International Masters (WIMs) from India will take on six foreign players, including two woman Grand Masters in the Velammal-AICF International Women Grand Master round-robin chess tournament, beginning here Monday. The tournament is a novel initiative by the All India Chess Federation to provide opportunities to the country's young Women International Masters to obtain WGM norms in home conditions, a press release said. The Indian participants at the tournament would be Aakanksha Hagawane (FIDE rating2259), Saloni Sapale (2198), P Michelle Catherina (2175), V Varshini (2171), Divya Deshmukh(2168) and Chandreyee Hajra (1925). The foreign players invited are: Munguntuul Batkhuyag (Mongolia, 2428), Osmak Iulija (Ukraine, 2394), Nakhbayeva Guliskhan (Kazakhstan, 2336), WGM Uuriintuya Uurtsaikh (Mongolia, 2314), WGM Babiy Olga (Ukraine, 2275) and Franco Valencia Angela (Colombia, 2107). The total prize money on offer would be Rs 7.5 lakh with the winner set to ...