Page 637 - Sports

PWL: Must win match for Punjab Royals (Preview)

Last year's runners-up Haryana Hammers will look to put their record straight when they take on defending champions Punjab Royals in a Pro Wrestling League (PWL) bout at the Gautam Buddha University Indoor Stadium here on Saturday.

Indonesia Masters: PV Sindhu knocked out by Carolina Marin

Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu crashed out of the ongoing Indonesian Masters after going down against Carolina Marin of Spain in the quarter-final clash of the women's singles event here on Friday.The 23-year-old was handed over a crushing 11-21, 12-21 defeat by her Spanish counterpart in the last-eight match that lasted just 37 minutes.Marin won a total of 42 rallies in the match along with six consecutive points to race ahead of Sindhu who won just 23 rallies and collected four consecutive points.Appearing in her first quarter-final of 2019, Sindhu looked a bit out of touch and failed to put a strong competition against the world number four player.Earlier, world number eight Indian Kidambi Srikanth also bowed out of the tournament following his 18-21, 19-21 defeat against local player Jonatan Christie.In women's singles, former world number one Saina Nehwal sailed into the semi-final round as she registered a thumping 21-7, 21-18 victory over Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand. Saina .

Pouille powerless to 'find any solution' to dominant Djokovic

Lucas Pouille admitted that world number one Novak Djokovic played so well in their Australian Open semi-final Friday that he was powerless to resist. Top seed Djokovic destroyed the Frenchman, seeded 28, in just 83 minutes 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 to sprint into a final against Rafael Nadal. "I was trying to find a solution, but couldn't find any," said a shattered Pouille after witnessing a near-perfect display from the Serbian 14-time Grand Slam winner "I think (his) first mistake came after maybe one set, I don't know," he said of Djokovic who made only five unforced errors in the entire match and hit 24 winners. "I think he just played amazing. He was too good today." Pouille is coached by 2006 women's Australian Open champion Amelie Mauresmo. The Frenchman conceded that Djokovic was out of the blocks so fast that he never had a chance to put any of their carefully hatched plans into action. "I didn't have time to put a strategy in the match," the world number 31 lamented. "The strategy was

'Operation Olympics' commences in Kerala

: 'Operation Olympics', an expert programme to train atheletes in 11 disciplines has commenced in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said. The Kerala sports department and the state sports council are preparing the 123 athletes, who are participating in the programme, for the Olympics, Vijayan said in a Facebook post. The objective of 'Operation Olympics is to provide international standard training with the help of eminent trainers from both India and abroad, he said. The programme includes expert training in athletics, boxing, cycling, swimming, shooting, wrestling, badminton, fencing, rowing and archery. At present training in wrestling, cycling, swimming and boxing are being conducted at various stadiums in Thiruvananthapuram district, while training sessions in other streams are going in Kollam, Ernakulam, Alapuzha and Kannur districts, he said.

T20 Cup: Mandeep Singh stars in D Y Patil A's win over CR

Mandeep Singh starred in DY Patil A's easy win over Central Railways (CR) in the 15th DY Patil T20 Cup at the hosts' ground in Talegaon near Pune Friday. Mandeep helped his side chase down Central Railways' total of 135 for 8 with a stroke-filled, unbeaten 62 off 41 balls with five boundaries and three sixes. D Y Patil finished on 138-2 in 15.3 overs to win by eight wickets. Earlier, Pravin Deshetti played a lone hand for Central Railways with a 57-ball 83 with 12 boundaries and three sixes. Canara Bank registered an impressive 15-run win over DY Patil B. Batting first, Canara Bank posted 202 for 5 in their 20 overs, powered by useful knocks from captain Bharat Chipli (46), MG Naveen (40) and MD Saif (31 not out). Left-arm medium-pacer Arjun Tendulkar snapped up two for 37 for D Y Patil B, while Siddhart Chitnis with 2 for 11 was the other impressive bowler. In their reply, D Y Patil B were never in the chase despite a hard-fought knock by Aman Khan (50 in 37 balls) and .

Ranji Trophy: Vidarbha make light of Kerala to reach final

India pacer Umesh Yadav stole the show with a match haul of 12/79 as defending champions Vidarbha routed Kerala by an innings and 11 runs on the second day of the Ranji Trophy semi-final here on Friday.

Sharma, Bhullar make cut at Dubai Desert Classic

Grinding it out on the second day, Indian golfers Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar managed under-par cards to make the cut at the Dubai Desert Classic, here Friday. Playing in successive groups from the first tee, Sharma (71-69) and Bhullar (71-70), moved to four-under and three-under respectively to ensure weekend action for themselves. Sharma was Tied-47th while Bhullar was Tied-56th. Things however did not pan out too well for the other two Indians, SSP Chawrasia (72-75) and the Dubai-based amateur, Rayhan Thomas (74-69) as they exited early. Thomas, 19, who joins college in US this August, was two-over 74 on first day and his total was one-under 143 as the cut fell at three-under 141. The 23-year-old Australian Lucas Herbert (69-63), who had five Top-5s as a rookie last year to rise to No. 78 in the world, took a share of the lead with American Bryson DeChambeau (66-66), the World No. 5, who three years ago came to Dubai as an amateur ranked World No. 530. Herbert blazed ...

Pacer More gives Karnataka edge in Ranji semis

Pacer Ronit More ripped apart the Saurashtra middle and lower order with a five-for to give Karnataka an upper hand in their Ranji Trophy semifinals here Friday. Resuming at 264 for nine, Karnataka's first innings folded for 275 with Srinivas Sharath remaining unbeaten on 83. In reply, the visitors were off to a decent start on the second day but More, who has been Karnataka's go-to man this season, produced devastating spells to reduce them to 227 for seven at stumps, still trailing by 48 runs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Opener Snell Patel produced a solid knock of 85 and later Australia Test series hero Cheteshwar Pujara (45) batted doggedly with Sheldon Jackson (46). More first removed Harvik Desai (16) to break an opening stand of 43 and later added the wicket of Vishvaraj Jadeja (5). A partnership was stitched between Patel and Pujara but leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal removed the opening batsman. Pujara, when on 1, survived a confident caught-behind appeal, which was turned down by

Australian Open: Sensational Djokovic sets finals date with Nadal

World number one Novak Djokovic stormed into the final round of the Australian Open after registering a straight-set victory over Lucas Pouille of France in the semi-final clash of the men's singles event here on Friday.The 31-year-old handed over a 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 defeat to his French opponent in just 83 minutes to confirm a summit showdown against world number two Rafael Nadal.Pouille gave away his chances quite easily and committed some forgettable errors which helped Djokovic take an early lead. The Fenchman came under the pressure immediately after double-faulting to give the Serbian player his opening service game. Djokovic hit 11 winners and lost just three first service points to clinch the opening set 6-0.The second set was no different from the first one as Djokovic kept Pouille on the edge. In an attempt to narrow the point gap, number 28 seed double-faulted one more time in the fourth to let the momentum slip away from his hands. Relentless Djokovic broke for the fifth time .

Sarfaraz apologises to Phehlukwayo in person for making racial remarks

Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed on Friday apologised to South African pacer Andile Phehlukwayo in person following his racial remarks against the right-hand bowler during the second ODI of the five-match series in Durban.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?).Sarfaraz took to his Twitter handle and shared a picture with Phehlukwayo where both the players could be seen shaking hands."This morning I apologised to Andile Phehlukwayo and he was gracious enough to accept my apology and I hope the people of South Africa also accept my apology," Sarfaraz captioned the post.This is the second time that the right-hand batsman has apologised for the incident. Earlier, he had extended his "sincere apologies" for his on-field comment immediately after it turned into a controversy.South African ..

Danielle Hazell retires from international cricket

England women's cricketer Danielle Hazell has announced her retirement from the international cricket after serving the game for nine years.The 30-year-old, who had made her debut in 2009 and helped her side lift back to back Ashes trophies in 2013 and 2014, said that she is happy with her decision and is looking forward for the next chapter of her life."I feel 100 per cent happy with my decision to move on from playing international cricket. I'm really excited to find out what the next chapter holds in store for me. I owe a lot to the game and I would now love to give some of my time and energy back into the sport," the ECB quoted Hazell, as saying."There have been some amazing highlights-some really special moments-but the memory that stands out the most to me is the back-to-back Ashes victories across 2013 and 2014," she said."Playing international cricket for nine years can have an effect on you both mentally and physically and my body is telling me that it's time to move on. I'll

I-League: Churchill Brothers resume title chase with match against Arrows (Preview)

Churchill Brothers resume their I-League title chase against Indian Arrows in a return-leg fixture at the Tilak Maidan here on Saturday.

Churchill Brothers resume I-League campaign against Indian Arrows

Churchill Brothers FC resume their I-League title chase against a plucky Indian Arrows in a return-leg fixture here on Saturday. Churchill notched up a solitary goal victory against the Arrows in the first leg in Cuttack, courtesy a Willis Plaza strike. Since then, the Trinidadian striker has moved on to become the joint-highest scorer of the league with 13 goals. More importantly, Churchill, under the tutelage of Romanian coach Petre Gigiu, have demonstrated some attractive football and apart from Plaza's sublime goal scoring form, Gambian winger Dawda Cessay has also been in excellent touch this season. As a result of this, they find themselves in joint second spot -- with Real Kashmir -- after 13 rounds and five points behind leaders Chennai City FC. "It will be very difficult because we don't have some players. We play every game to win. If we lose one game, we are out of the title race. This game is very important for my team now," said Gigui. "Of course, our opponents want to ...

Saina sails into semis but Sindhu, Srikanth lose in quarters at Indonesia Masters

Saina Nehwal hardly broke a sweat on way to her second consecutive semifinal of the season but P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth lost their respective quarterfinals to bow out of the Indonesia Masters badminton tournament here Friday. Eighth seed Saina, who had reached the semifinal last week at Malaysia Masters, beat Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-7 21-18 to make it to the last four of women's singles. The two-time Commonwealth Games champion will next face sixth seeded Chinese He Bingjiao, a player Saina has never faced in her career. Sindhu couldn't adjust to the speed and precision of three-time Olympic champion Caroline Marin, going down 11-21 12-21 in a lopsided contest. Srikanth had to settle for a second quarter-final finish after losing 18-21 19-21 to local hero and Asian Games champion Jonatan Christie. Saina enjoyed a good start and galloped to a 11-4 lead at the interval. The indian continued to dominate proceeding after the interval, moving in quick bursts of points to .

NorthEast United face experimental Chennaiyin

NorthEast United would look to boost their bid for a spot in the top four when they resume their Indian Super League (ISL) campaign with a clash against Chennaiyin FC here on Saturday. Eelco Schattorie's team is fourth on the table with 20 points from 12 games. With just six games remaining and Jamshedpur FC, ATK breathing down their neck, it is imperative that the Highlanders grab a win against the bottom-placed side. There will be concerns, though, particularly their form before the break. NorthEast were winless in four games and suffered a 1-5 reverse at the hands of FC Goa in their last match. However, Schattorie will hope his side is fresh and raring to go after the long break, besides being boosted by the signing of Greek forward Panagiotis Triadis and Shouvik Ghosh. "We have reached the top four and we have done it through hard work. We have had time to get to know each other and then we had the break. In the break, we tried to make a plan for the next part," said ...

I can do well on grass against Italy: Prajnesh

In the form of his life, Prajnesh Gunneswaran is confident of a stellar show on grass when India will clash with fancied Italy in the Davis Cup World Group Qualifiers, next week. Stress fractures in his knees made him almost vanish from the circuit but the southpaw from Chennai made a remarkable turnaround, achieving a career high 104 recently. "I'm good on grass. I beat (then world number 23) Denis Shapovalov recently. I should be able to do well here," Prajnesh told PTI here. "I did well in four, five tournament at the end of last year. I consistently did well in four Challengers. Those were my best results. I think we will have a slight advantage. We just need to fight hard and close the gap." In a breakthrough 2018 season, Prajnesh won two Challenger titles and also upset now world number 27 Denis Shapovalov on grass at Stuttgart Open. "Here we will have a strong crowd support and we all will give our best to do well for the country making full use of the home conditions. The team

I-League: Lajong stun defending champions Minerva

Defending champions Minerva Punjab FC were stunned 0-1 by Shillong Lajong FC in an I-League encounter at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium here on Friday.

I am not thinking about revenge, says Mohun Bagan coach Jamil

Revenge will not be on Khalid Jamil's mind when his team Mohun Bagan locks horns with his former employers East Bengal in the hugely anticipated derby at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan here on Sunday.

Indonesia Masters: Saina enters semis, Srikanth knocked out

Former world number one Saina Nehwal on Friday eased into the semi-final of the ongoing Indonesia Masters while Kidambi Srikanth crashed out of the tournament.Saina swept aside Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-7, 21-18 Thailand to book a spot in the semis of the women's singles event. She will now face He Bingjiao of China in their semi-final match.Srikanth, on the other hand, was knocked out by local player Jonatan Christie who thrashed the Indian 21-18, 21-19 to advance further in the tournament.Saina won 42 rallies out of a total of 67 rallies played and earned three game points to emerge victorious. Getting off to a good start, the Olympics bronze medallist succeeded in maintaining the winning momentum in the match.Her dominance continued in the second game and she raced well ahead of her opponent after some initial hiccups. In the men's singles, Srikanth committed multiple errors to give Christie an edge in the first game. The Indian shuttler has had his moments but they did not prove to

Mahesh Singh's late strike scripts Lajong's win against Minerva

Super-sub Naorem Mahesh Singh struck late in the match as Shillong Lajong FC stunned defending champions Minerva Punjab FC 1-0 for only their second win of the ongoing I League season, here Friday. Mahesh Singh scored in the 84th minute even as Lajong goalkeeper Phurba Tempa Lachenpa was adjudged the Hero of the Match. Shillong Lajong, placed at the bottom of the points table. The result means that it is the eighth consecutive game for the defending champions where they haven't been able to secure a win. The hosts, who made some interesting moves through both sides of the flank, couldn't really find success partly due to lack of a good finish, and partly due to the observant and strong defense line of Lajong. Minerva, however, managed to break into the opposition box a few times, but couldn't really make the most of all the opportunities that they were presented with. On the other hand, while Shillong made a limited number of moves but their attacks were more organised. However, their