Page 670 - Sports
Khelo: Quality of shooting reflects growing stature of sport
The growing stature of shooting as a sport in India was amply reflected in the quality of competition and intense battles for the 19 gold medals at stake at the Khelo India Youth Games here. That as many as 11 states won at least one gold medal is also an indication of the widespread popularity of the sport, a media release said. Punjab led the charts with three gold, three silver and four bronze medals, while Madhya Pradesh bagged three gold, one silver and four bronze medals. Haryana, with two gold, four silver and a bronze medal pipped, Rajasthan (2-3-1) to the third spot. Dhanush Srikanth, who became the only hearing-impaired athlete to win gold, walked into many a heart with his skills and endearing smile. The likes of Arjun Singh Cheema, Adarsh Singh, Harshada Nithave and Devanshi Rana delivered the goods so tellingly that the threat of some of the sheen being taken away by the absence of pistol wizards like Saurabh Chauhdary, Anish Bhanwala, Manu Bhaker and ...
Ranji QF: Jaffer's double ton helps Vidarbha take big lead
Veteran batsman Wasim Jaffer slammed a double hundred as holders Vidarbha grabbed a massive 204-run first innings lead against Uttarakhand on the third day of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final match here Thursday. With Vidarbha's first innings yet to be completed and only two days left in the match, the hosts are all set to enter the semi-final of the coveted domestic tournament after ending the day 3 at an imposing 559 for 6. At 260 for 1, opener Sanjay Ramaswamy (141) and Wasim Jaffer (206) resumed the innings this morning after coming together Wednesday. The two stitched a massive 304-run second wicket stand at the Vidarbha Cricket Association's Stadium at Jamtha near here to completely demoralise the visiting team, playing in the Ranji Trophy for the first time. Ramaswamy, overnight unbeaten on 112, could add only 29 runs to his tally and was dismissed on 141. He hit 20 fours in his 278-ball stat at the crease. But Ramaswamy's departure did not deter 40-year-old ...
Khelo: J'khand set up girls U-17 hockey title clash vs Haryana
A fighting Jharkhand Thursday came back from a huge 0-3 deficit to turn the tables on Odisha and emerge victorious 4-3 and set up title clash with Haryana in the girls U-17 hockey competition at the Khelo India Youth Games here. In contrast, Haryana turned the second semi-final into a one-sided affair, hammering neighbours Punjab 4-0, a media release said. The Jharkhand-Odisha semi-final clash was a thrilling encounter, where fortunes changed quickly. Odisha went up 3-0 in space of 23 minutes and looked all set to make the final before Jharkhand launched a counter-attack and pumped in four goals in just 28 minutes to change the script of the match and emerge triumphant. The second semi-final turned out to be an anti-climax as Haryana rode on Neelam's brace to swamp Punjab 4-0, the release added.
Rajasthan Royals owner set to sell stakes, big business houses expected to bid
Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals' owners are all set to sell half of their stakes in order to give it a much needed financial boost ahead of the 12th edition of Indian Premier League. It has been learnt that the current franchise owners has approached key BCCI officials and intimated their decision to sell around fifty percent of their stakes. Manoj Badale is the principal owner of Rajasthan Royals. "Yes, Rajasthan Royals are selling a major part of their stakes and the highest bidder will be getting it. What we have heard is that it is around fifty percent and some of the biggest business houses in the country are apparently interested in buying stakes," a senior BCCI official privy to the development told PTI on conditions of anonymity. While there are no confirmations as of now but a former IPL franchise Rising Pune Supergiants' owner Sanjeev Goenka is keen on buying stakes. Goenka was however not available for any comments. Another big industrialist based out of ...
Sandhu shoots 70, Kapur 71 in first round at Singapore Open
Ajeetesh Sandhu (70) and Shiv Kapur (71) had the best scores among the Indian golfers on a truncated opening day before tropical storms halted play at the SMBC Singapore Open here Thursday. Arjun Atwal, who won in Singapore way back in 2002, was three-under through 11 holes and will be among the 78 players who will come back in the morning to complete the first round. Rahil Gangjee, Om Prakash Chouhan and Khalin Joshi had a rough day and ended five-over 76 in the first round of the season-opening event of the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO). Jeev Milkha Singh, a winner in the event in 2008, was five-over through 11 holes. Chikkarangappa had played six holes and was even par, while Viraj Madappa was one-over through eight. Chinese Taipei's Hung Chien-yao carded a five-under-par 66 to snatch the first round clubhouse lead on Thursday. Japanese pair of Yuta Ikeda and Yoshinori and Philippines' Miguel Tabuena also had a round to remember when he returned with a 67 to ...
Indian women's team to play 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is against England at home
The Indian women's cricket team will play England in a three-match ODI series in Mumbai as part of the ICC Women's Championship starting with the first match at the Wankhede stadium on February 22, BCCI said Thursday. The two teams will also face-off in a three-match T20 International series in Guwahati starting March 4. "The Board of Control for Cricket in India and England & Wales Cricket Board announce the schedule for the upcoming Paytm home series of the India women's team against England," BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary said in a release. "The series will comprise three ODIs that will start from 9:00AM IST and three T20Is which will start at 10:00AM IST." All the three ODIs will be held at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai with the second and third matches slated for February 25 and 28 respectively. The T20Is will be played at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on March 4, March 7 and March 9 respectively. Ahead of the series, England will play a warm-up game ...
Neha fires 66, takes six-shot lead going into final
Neha Tripathi Thursday produced a fluent five-under 66 in the second round to secure a massive six-shot lead in the opening leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour. Neha had six birdies with just one blemish on the penultimate hole, as she overtook Diksha Dagar (70-76) after 36 holes. Neha, who shot 74 in the first round after dropping three shots in the last three holes and four in the last five, is now two-under 140 for two rounds. Diksha is second at four-over 146, amateur Pranavi Urs (73-74) is now third and Amandeep Drall (77-72) rose to fourth. Millie Saroha, who was second after the first round, had a forgettable day with nine bogeys, a double and no birdies in a card of 82 that saw her slip to Tied-eighth. Neha, who is often seen as not having done justice to her potential, had shot the Women's Tour's best-ever score of 10-under 62 at the Classic Golf Resort last year. On Thursday, she was in a similar aggressive mood in the second round. She started with five pars and then ...
AFI's draft 'No Needle Policy' proposes 2-year ban for violating athletes
The Athletics Federation of India's draft 'No Needle Policy' has proposed a maximum ban of two years on athletes caught using or possessing needles and injection vials, a top official told PTI on Thursday. If implemented, this will be first instance of a national federation handing such a sanction. Athletics has been hit hard by a recent spurt in doping cases. India had to face the ignominy of a race walker and a triple jumper being sent home from the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games for possessing undeclared needles. "We have drawn up a detailed 'No Needle Policy' which has been circulated to the athletes, coaches, other support staff and even to the public for comments and feedbacks. We will study all these comments/feedbacks and will draw up a final 'No Needle Policy'," AFI President Adille Sumariwalla told PTI. "The final 'No Needle Policy' (expected in the next couple of months) when drawn up will be signed by all the athletes, coaches, support staff in the national camps and ...
Singhvi, Rajiv qualifies for Mercedes Trophy National Finals
City golfers FR Singhvi (CAT A) and Rajiv Unnikrishnan (CAT B) qualified for the Mercedes Trophy National Finals on day 2 of the Bengaluru Leg after carding a nett. score of 69.2 and 72 respectively here. Six qualifiers have made it the National Finals to be played at the Oxford Golf Resort in Pune scheduled from March 27 to 29. "It was a very well organized tournament and I am looking forward to playing in the finals," FR Singhvi said. The second winner Rajiv said, "I am proud of my achievement and will certainly participate in the finals." The day also saw participation from Indian cricketers Ventakesh Pradash and Sunil Joshi who tested their golf skills at the Prestige Golf Shire. The best gross winner of the day was Arjun Malik with an excellent round of 75. The format of play was Double Peoria. This unique format of adjusting handicaps of players levels the playing field enabling golfers to have a greater chance of qualifying for the National Finals. A total of 110 golfers ...
Halep, Venus Williams set up Australian Open third round clash
Top-seed Romanian Simona Halep and Venus Williams of the United States set up a third round clash at the Australian Open after beating American Sofia Kenin and France's Alize Kornet respectively in their second round matches here on Thursday.
East Bengal take on Arrows as title race hots up
As the title race is getting tight by each clash, East Bengal will go full throttle against talented Indian Arrows in their I-League return-leg clash at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, here on Friday. The two teams met 10 days back with the Kolkata giants emerging winners but to the Arrows' credit, they put up a great fight and even scored in the dying stages against a team which boasts of a World-Cupper in their defence. The young Indian Arrows squad coached by Floyd Pinto will look to sustain the momentum gained over the last five games, a period in which they notched up nine of their 13 points, placing them in the eighth position. They registered their fourth win of the season four days back against Shillong Lajong, whom they swamped 3-0 at their home. "The memories of the last match is still fresh and we can do much better than what we did. If we play every game according to the game plan, we can easily manage three points," said Pinto. "I am happy with my team's performance.
Serena blitzes Bouchard to reach Aussie Open third round
Serena Williams stormed past Canada's Eugenie Bouchard and into the Australian Open third round Thursday as her quest for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title gathered pace. The American won 6-2, 6-2 in 70 minutes, setting up unseeded Ukrainian teenager Dayana Yastremska as the next hurdle in her bid for another major to equal the mark set by Australian great Margaret Court. The 37-year-old won her 23rd major Down Under two years ago while two months pregnant and is the bookies' favourite to claim an eighth Australian title, despite being seeded 16th. Williams said she was wary of Bouchard, who is on the comeback trail after a slide down the rankings to number 79 in the world. "It wasn't an easy match tonight, Eugenie's been to the final of Wimbledon (in 2014) and the semi-finals of other Grand Slams," she said. "So I knew 'Serena, you've got to come out hot, you've got to come out firing, she's a really good player and I haven't had many matches since last year'." The signs ...
Ukrainian athletics coach calls on CM Rawat
Ukrainian athletics coach Anatoly Fatyeyev Thursday met Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat at the latter's residence here. Fatyeyev is here to train coaches and athletes of the state. A total of 17 sports instructors and 80 athletes are training under the Ukrainian at the Maharana Pratap Sports College grounds here from January 14. The coaching camp will end on January 19. "Uttarakhand has plenty of talent in the field of sports and by acquiring training from an experienced coach like Fatyeyev,performance of sports persons from the state at the national and international events is bound to improve," Rawat said. Recalling his training stint with Indian athletes during the 2002 Busan Asian Games, Fatyeyev said coaches here are well trained and he was feeling good while working with them.
Missing the team balance in Pandya's absence: Dhawan
Admitting that suspended all-rounder Hardik Pandya was "crucial" for the team's balance, India opener Shikhar Dhawan on Thursday said the team is not grappling with a fifth bowler conundrum in the ongoing ODI series against Australia.
Not your average footballer: ex-refugee with mental health message
An ex-refugee who campaigns for mental health issues is firing Australia's campaign at the Asian Cup -- and may yet lead his adopted nation to their greatest football triumph. Far from the average footballer, Awer Mabil spent his childhood in a mud hut as a refugee from conflict in Sudan, but after moving to Australia he has risen to become one of the country's most important players. Mabil, 23, scored on his Socceroos debut in October and he has already bagged two goals in three games at the Asian Cup in UAE, including a glorious, curling strike with his weaker left foot in the 3-2 win over Syria. He greeted that goal, as always, with a distinctive celebration of his own invention -- covering his mouth with one hand, with two fingers from the other hand pointing at his forehead, signifying the need to open up about mental problems. "It's for people suffering from mental problems or depression. It's trying to create awareness for them and bring peace to their mind," Mabil told ...
Khelo India: Quality of shooting reflects sport's growing stature in India
The growing stature of shooting as a sport in India was amply reflected in the quality of competition and intense battles for the 19 gold medals on offer at the Khelo India Youth Games 2019 here.
Saina, Srikanth enter quarters of Malaysia Masters
Top Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth produced yet another fine display to progress to the quarterfinal of the Malaysia Masters here on Thursday. Saina, seeded seventh, took 39 minutes to tame Hong Kong's Pui Yin Yip 21-14 21-16 in her second round women's singles encounter. The London Olympics bronze medallist will play second seed and 2017 world champion Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in the last-eight stage of the first Super 500 tournament of the year on Friday. World no. 9 Saina holds an 8-4 overall head-to-head record against Okuhara, which includes back-to-back wins over the current world no.2 in the last two tournaments -- last year's Demark Open and the French Open. In men's singles, Srikanth continued his unbeaten run with a hard-fought 23-21 8-21 21-18 win over Hong Kong's Wong Wing Ki Vincent to set up a fight with fourth seeded Korean Son Wan Ho. The seventh seeded Indian, who had a title-less run last season, has a 4-5 head-to-head count against the Korean ...
Pakistan seek change of fortune against South Africa
Pakistan will seek a change of fortune when they play South Africa in the first of five ODIs at St George's Park here on Saturday. The tourists were mauled in a recent Test series, with none of the three matches going beyond lunch on the fourth day, but have reason to be optimistic in the 50-overs game where fast short-pitched bowling will likely not be a decisive factor. For both teams, the series is an important step towards the Cricket World Cup in England and Wales later this year. "We're certainly a far better white-ball team than we are a Test unit at the minute," said Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur after the third Test on Monday. That seems a reasonable assessment as Pakistan have shown their ability in one-day cricket, notably when they won the Champions Trophy in England in 2017. Since the start of that tournament, during which they beat South Africa in a rain-shortened match, they have compiled a 17-10 winning record. Pakistan's batting will be strengthened by the inclusion of
Osaka romps as Halep and Raonic battle through Open epics
Top seed Simona Halep was forced to dig deep to stay in the Australian Open on a day of epic battles Thursday that saw Japanese pair Naomi Osaka and Kei Nishikori survive but 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka crash out. The world number one Romanian staggered through against American Sofia Kenin 6-3 6-7 (5/7) 6-4, but it was far from convincing and her second three-set test in a row. "I have no idea how I won this tonight, it's so tough to explain what happened on court," said the French Open champion, who now meets Venus Williams after the 38-year-old rolled back the years to beat France's Alize Cornet. In another titanic battle, Canadian Milos Raonic ousted Wawrinka in four tightly-contested sets that all went to tie-breaks, while Nishikori was stretched to a draining five sets against Ivo Karlovic before sinking to his knees in relief. Seventh seed Dominic Thiem limped out when he retired while losing 7-5 6-4 2-0 to young Australian wildcard Alexei Popyrin. Thiem went through a first ...
Raonic inches past Wawrinka to win 4-hour Australian Open battle
Canadas Milos Raonic ousted Switzerlands Stan Wawrinka in an epic four-hour clash at the Australian Open on Thursday to advance to the third round.