Page 650 - Sports
FIFA, UEFA blast piracy network with alleged Saudi ties
FIFA, UEFA and several of the world's top football leagues on Tuesday condemned alleged piracy of television rights by the "beoutQ" network, which Qatar claims is backed by Saudi Arabia. Qatar, host of the 2022 World Cup, and the Doha-based beIN Media Group have described beoutQ as a vast and sophisticated Saudi bootlegging network that has been transmitting stolen programmes via Riyadh-based satellite provider Arabsat. FIFA, UEFA, the English Premier League, La Liga, the German Bundesliga and the Asian Football Confederation weighed in on Tuesday by blasting beoutQ's actions as "a clear and flagrant breach of our intellectual property rights". "Collectively, we, as rights-holders in various football competitions, condemn the pirate entity beoutQ, which continues to abuse the operations of rights holders and legitimate broadcasters through its persistent and illegal screening of events for which it has made no effort to secure the rights," the powerful football bodies said in a joint .
India lack system to generate quality tennis players: Bopanna (IANS Interview)
Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna has blamed the system for not producing quality players and demanded more tournaments in the country itself.
Andres Iniesta stars in new Japanese tourism campaign
Spanish football player Andres Iniesta on Tuesday took up a new role as the face of Japan's tourist organisation (JNTO) in a deal to promote the country's attractions in a series of videos that officials hoped would bring more European visitors to the Asian nation.
Pat Cummins, Travis Head appointed as vice-captains for Sri Lanka Tests
Cricket Australia (CA) on Tuesday appointed Pat Cummins and Travis Head as vice-captains of the national side for their upcoming two-match Test series against Sri Lanka.The duo have replaced Mitchell Marsh, who has been dropped from the team, and injured Josh Hazelwood.Australian selector Trevor Hohns said that Cummins and Head are rewarded for their "professionalism and dedication"."The Board of Cricket Australia has endorsed the National Selection Panel's recommendation for Travis Head and Patrick Cummins to be appointed co-vice captains for the two Test matches against Sri Lanka," Cricket.com.au quoted Hohns, as saying."I'd like to congratulate Travis and Patrick on being named co-vice captains for the series, it is a fitting reward for their professionalism and dedication to drive the elite standards of the Australian men's Test team," he added.Justifying the selection of both the players for the role, Hohns said that Travis had captained Australia A one-day team on their tour of .
Benckenbauer, Mark Spitz, Steve Waugh among legends to attend Laureus Sports Awards
Germany's World Cup winning captain and manager Franz Beckenbauer, nine-time Olympic champion swimmer Mark Spitz and cricket legend Steve Waugh will be amongst a host of sporting legends gracing the Laureus World Sports Awards here on February 18. Laureus World Sports Academy Chairman Sean Fitzpatrick will lead a glittering collection of his fellow members at the awards ceremony, including no fewer than 20 Olympic and Paralympic gold medal winners, five FIFA World Cup winners and world champions from a variety of sports. Former Australian captain Waugh will be the sole cricketer present on the occasion as an Academy member. Laureus Academy members who will be in Monaco are: Football: Franz Beckenbauer, Cafu, Marcel Desailly, Luis Figo, Carles Puyol, Alessandro Del Piero; Athletics: Sergey Bubka, Cathy Freeman, Tegla Loroupe, Edwin Moses, Nawal El Moutawakel, Daley Thompson; Rugby: Sean Fitzpatrick, Morn du Plessis, Hugo Porta; Golf: Lorena Ochoa; Tennis: Boris Becker, Li Na, Monica ..
Nadal holds off Tiafoe challenge to seal semi-final berth at Australian Open
Spain's Rafael Nadal defeated Frances Tiafoe of the United States 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 on Tuesday to advance to the semi-finals of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Lugovskoy maintains lead, Saurabh Anand shocks Slovakian GM
: Russian GM Maxim Lugovskoy was in the lead with 6.5 points after the seventh round in the 11th Chennai Open International Grand Master chess tournament here Tuesday. The top board game between GMs Lugovskoy and Luka Paichadze ended in a hard fought 56-move draw. The Caro Kann game saw periodical exchange of pieces leaving them out with a king and bishop ending. The draw was agreed when they reached a position, where neither had chances. Bihar's Saurabh Anand put it across GM Mikulas Manik of Slovakia, to keep his International Master norm chances alive, winning in 33 moves. Anand, who came up with an IM norm performance in the recent IIFL Mumbai Open, has remained undefeated against the four titled players he has faced. Sharing the second spot with six points are Luka Paichadze, Levan Pantsulaia (both Georgia), Alexandr Predke (Russia), Kirill Stupak (Belarus) and Karthik Venkataraman (India). Results: Round 7 (Indians unless specified): Maxim Lugovskoy (Rus) 6.5 drew
Nadal relentlessly marches on as emotional Kvitova makes Open semis
Rafael Nadal continued his relentless march towards an 18th major title Tuesday as an emotional Petra Kvitova swept into her first Grand Slam semi-final since a terrifying knife attack almost ended her career. On day nine of the Australian Open, the fairytale runs of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Danielle Collins were also extended as they too swept into the last four. Second seed Nadal inched closer to winning an event he has only claimed once before when he trounced unseeded American Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in another ruthless display from a man who has not dropped a set so far. Tiafoe had announced himself by beating fifth seed Kevin Anderson, but was no match for a player at the peak of his powers as he attempts to become only the third man to win all four Slams twice and the first to do so in the Open era. "I had some trouble at this event all my career, so I'm very happy with the way I played tonight," said the Spaniard, who faces another young gun Tsitsipas in the semi-finals. "I
Asian Cup helped in decision-making on field, says Ashique Kuruniyan
Playing against quality opponents in the AFC Asian Cup helped enhance the Indian football team's decision-making skills, young striker Ashique Kuruniyan said Tuesday. India suffered a heart-breaking 0-1 defeat at the hands of Bahrain, which led to the Blue Tigers' exit in the group stage of the tournament after a terrific start. "We got to play against some of the best players in the continent. It was a huge lesson for all of us as far as decision making in the match was concerned," Ashique was quoted as saying by the All India Football Federation's official website. "The difficulty level was naturally high and all three matches were against difficult opposition. The experience of playing in such a high-quality tournament was amazing. I feel my game has improved after this challenge and now, we have to take it forward from here." India started their campaign on a winning note, thrashing Thailand 4-1 but were unable to continue the winning momentum, losing to hosts United Arab Emirates
Ronaldo handed 23-month prison sentence, fined for tax evasion
A regional Spanish court on Tuesday sentenced former Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo to 23 months in prison and ordered him to pay a 18.8 million euro ($21.44 million) fine for tax evasion, although the world-renowned football player will not spend time behind bars as prison sentences of less than two years are normally not served in Spain.
Mumbai leg of Mercedes Trophy 2019 set to tee off on Wed
Former cricketers Ajit Agarkar and S Badrinath would be seen in action in the Mumbai leg of the 19th Mercedes Trophy golf tournament beginning Wednesday. The Mumbai qualifiers will culminate on January 25. Three hundred city golfers are expected to compete for the six available national finals qualification spots in the three-day event being played at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club in suburban Chembur, a media release said Tuesday. The six winners from the Mumbai leg will make it to the national finals in Pune scheduled between March 27-29. The first two legs of qualification in Pune and Bengaluru saw eight spots booked for the National Finals and post the third Mumbai leg, 27 more spots will be up for grabs in the remaining qualification legs. The format of play will be Double Peoria, the release stated.
Can't be daunted by 300-plus scores in New Zealand: Kohli
India captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday said the key for his team will be not to get flustered by 300-plus scores as they begin their limited overs series against New Zealand here on Wednesday.
BCCI announces cash rewards for selectors post historic Australia win
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday announced cash rewards for the selectors following the team's successful tour to Australia where they clinched a historic Test series win along with winning their first-ever bilateral ODI series as well."It has been decided that the selection committee comprising five members will get a bonus of Rs 20 lakh each," BCCI said in a statement.Vinod Rai, chairman of the Committee of Administrators (CoA), said that they are extremely proud of the way team have conducted themselves in the series. He further acknowledged the crucial contribution made by the selectors "in picking a balanced Indian squad" and offering team management with enough options to try different combinations."We are extremely proud of the way Team India have performed in Australia. We had announced cash rewards for cricketers and support staff earlier and are now rewarding the selectors," Rai said."The five men have played a crucial role in picking a balanced ...
NZ series will serve as World Cup preparation: Kohli
Indian captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday acknowledged that the series against New Zealand would serve as a preparation for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 and will try out a few players to see how they react in different situations."There needs to be a collective effort towards refining ourselves as a team, approaching the World Cup. If we need to try out a few players here and there to see how they react in different situations or different positions in the team, we are open to doing that as well," Kohli said on the eve of the first ODI against New Zealand."We do not want to be too rigid because you have to flexible in your mind and in your preparation to be able to be competitive in a big tournament like the World Cup," he said.Kohli, while talking about his team, said that the Indian side has evolved as a batting group and is more aware of the abilities in order to counter the things that would be thrown at them."The key is not to panic too much in the field when you see 300 ...
India look to start New Zealand tour on a high (Preview)
Riding high on confidence, the Indian team led by Virat Kohli will look to maintain their winning run when they take on hosts New Zealand in the first contest of the five-match ODI rubber at the McLean Park here on Wednesday.
Ponting compares Pant with Gilchrist
Promising India Test stumper Rishabh Pant's brief but impressive career in red ball cricket has earned him a lot of accolades with former Australia captain Ricky Ponting comparing the Delhi keeper with none other than the legendary Adam Gilchrist.
Paes-Stosur crash out of Australian Open
Veteran Leander Paes and his partner Samantha Stosur suffered a second round defeat in the mixed doubles event, ending India's campaign at the Australian Open here Tuesday. The unseeded pair of Paes and Stosur won the first set 6-4 against Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Robert Farah but conceded the second set with the same scoreline. The third set went into tiebreak with the fifth seed German-Colombian duo emerging victorious 10-8. Paes and Stosur had beaten the pair Dutch-Czech pairing of Wesley Koolhof Kveta Peschke in the round of 32. The 45-year-old Paes had made a first round exit in the men's doubles event with partner Mexican Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela. Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and his partner Nicholas Monroe were also knocked out in the opening round of the event. In the men's singles, Prajnesh Gunneswaran had also made a first round exit after coming through the Qualifiers while Ramkumar Ramanathan, Ankita Raina and Karman Thandi could not make it to the singles main draw.
Peru look for 2nd win at SouthAm U-20 (Preview)
Peru will try to reinforce the impression they made with their winning debut in the 2019 South American U-20 championship here when they face Paraguay, who have only a point after two matches.
BCCI announces monetary rewards for selectors
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday announced cash rewards to the tune of Rs 20 lakh each for the five-member senior selection committee after the men-in-blue registered historic wins in Tests and ODIs Down Under.
Emotional Kvitova into Open semis with Tsitsipas and Collins
An emotional Petra Kvitova swept into her first Grand Slam semi-final Tuesday since a terrifying knife attack almost ended her career as the fairytale runs of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Danielle Collins continued at the Australian Open. The Czech had not gone past the last eight at a major since a burglar slashed her left hand in December 2016, forcing her out of the game for six months and leaving her with lasting nerve damage in the fingers of her racquet hand. But the eighth seed has bounced back and is on a sensational 10-match unbeaten streak after claiming the Sydney International warm-up title. She proved too much for Ashleigh Barty, crushing the local hope 6-1, 6-4, and was in tears afterwards as she reflected on her long journey back to the top. "Really, I didn't imagine to be back on this great stadium and play with the best," the two-time Wimbledon champion said. "It's great." Kvitova will face unseeded American Collins in the semi-final on Thursday and she desperately wants to