Page 674 - Sports
Saina 'coaches' Kashyap to next round of Malaysia Masters
After sailing into the season-opening Malaysia Masters women's singles pre-quarters, London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal on Wednesday turned coach for her shuttler husband Parupalli Kashyap, who also advanced to the next round along with Kidambi Srikanth in the men's singles categories.
Nadal books a spot in Australian Open Round 3 against De Minaur
World No.2 Rafael Nadal breezed past Australian Matthew Ebden, the World No.48, in straight sets in the second round of the Australian Open on Wednesday.
Verdasco says he is not anxious about upcoming clash with Cilic
Spain's Fernando Verdasco, the World No.28, said on Wednesday he was focusing on playing well in his upcoming third round clash with Croatia's Marin Cilic, the World No.7.
Khelo: Dominant Punjab cagers enter semis of U-17 basketball
Defending champions Punjab boys registered their second successive win to seal a berth in the semi-finals of the Under-17 basketball event at the Khelo India Youth Games 2019 here Wednesday. Led by a 20-point effort by skipper Rajan, Punjab ended the challenge of hosts Maharashtra 72-48 in a Pool B encounter. The hosts thus bowed out of the event, a media release said. In another encounter, Haryana brushed aside Tamil Nadu 81-58 to maintain their clean slate. Both Punjab and Haryana face-off in the last league encounter to decide the group winner. From Group A, Rajasthan downed Madhya Pradesh 88-77. The race for the second spot in the group will be between Kerala and Karnataka, who had mixed results on day 2. The Under-21 boys section had Kerala (Group-A), Punjab and Tamil Nadu (Group-B) booking their spots in the last-four, the release stated. Results: Under-17, Boys Pool-A:Rajasthan bt Madhya Pradesh 88-77; Kerala bt Karnataka 82-73 Pool-B:Punjab b Maharashtra ...
Maharashtra's Aryaan, Mihika in race for tennis gold at Khelo
Top seed Mahak Jain of Madhya Pradesh had to dig deep to get the better of Gujarats third seed Zeel Desai 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in the Under-21 singles semi- final of tennis at the Khelo India Youth Games here Wednesday. Jain will meet the unseeded Mihika Yadav of Maharashtra in the gold medal match in this category, a media release said. In Wednesdays second U-21 girls semi-final, Mihika dumped the unseeded Kaavya Sawhney of Uttar Pradesh 6-3, 6-3. Meanwhile, Maharashtra's Aryaan Bhatia produced a dominant performance to beat top seed Sushant Dabas of Haryana 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 to reach the boys U-17 singles final. Dhruv Sunish and Girgi Pawar of Maharashtra also reached the semi-finals of the U-21 boys and U-17 girls' events, respectively. Results: U-17 boys singles semi-finals:Aryaan Bhatia (Mah) bt Sushant Dabas (Har) 7-5, 3-6, 6-2; Dev Javia (Guj) bt Krish Patel (Guj) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-1) U-21 boys singles quarter-finals:Paramveer Bajwa (Chd) bt Abhinav Sanjeev (TN) 6-7 (6-8), ..
Steyn, de Kock rested from first two ODIs against Pakistan
South African cricketers Dale Steyn and Quinton de Kock have been rested for the first two one-day internationals (ODI) against Pakistan.The Proteas have called-up Aiden Markram and Duanne Olivier in their place, ICC reported on Wednesday.Olivier, who is yet to make his white-ball debut, picked up 23 wickets against Pakistan from the recent three Tests, which included three five-wicket haul and one 10-wicket match haul.However, in de Kock's absence, Heinrich Klaasen could be the gloveman and Kagiso Rabada is likely to step in Steyn's shoes to lead the bowling attack.Following is the updated squad for the first two ODIs against Pakistan:Faf du Plessis (c), Hashim Amla, Duanne Olivier, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Dane Paterson, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der DussenSouth Africa and Pakistan are slated to play the first ODI in Port Elizabeth on January 19, followed by the second match in .
Bismah Maroof set to return as Pakistan captain
All-rounder Bismah Maroof has been named as Pakistan captain ahead of West Indies series, which will be part of the ICC Women's Championship.The 27-year-old had undergone a serious surgery last year. In her absence, Javeria Khan led the team as a stand-in at the 2018 ICC Women's World T20 in the Caribbean. Javeria continued to head the team even after Bismah returned."Star batter Bismah Maroof returns to lead the side after undergoing successful surgery," ICC quoted Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), as saying on Wednesday.A camp in Karachi is scheduled from January 17 to 29 ahead of the three-match ODIs in February in the UAE, which will be followed by T20Is. The venue for the shortest format, however, is not yet official."The series will be a perfect opportunity for the players to test their skills against a top side. The players during the two-week camp will undergo different skill sessions with the coaching staff and will also play practice games that will help them improve their ...
Bhullar best Indian at 38th in Abu Dhabi
Gaganjeet Bhullar was the best placed Indian at Tied 38th after returning a two-under 70 in the opening round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, here Wednesday. Bhullar, who made his way into the European Tour with a breakthrough win last year at Fiji International, started from the back-nine and had five birdies against three bogeys. Bhullar was eight shots behind the leader, Shane Lowry, who carded a course-record equalling 62 to take a three-shot lead. Shubhankar Sharma, also starting from back-nine, shot an even par 72, with two birdies on 13th and 18th and two bogeys on 18th and the fifth and he is Tied-79th. SSP Chawrasia after shooting three-over 75, will need a low second round to stay on for the weekend. Lowry will take a three-shot lead into the second round after his sparkling 62 on Wednesday. The Irishman became the first man to match Henrik Stenson's 13-year-old record after firing 10 birdies and no bogeys. Louis Oosthuizen, Richard Sterne and Mike Lorenzo-Vera were in a
Golfer Priyanshu extends lead in Round 3 of PGTI's Final Qualifying Stage
Gurugram's Priyanshu Singh extended his lead to four shots in Round 3 of the PGTI's Final Qualifying Stage for the 2019 season at the Kensville Golf and Country Club here on Wednesday.
Pujara falls cheaply, Saurashtra in trouble at 170/7
Young Uttar Pradesh pacer Shivam Mavi did what Australia bowlers could not do for majority of the Test series Down Under -- dismiss Cheteshwar Pujara cheaply as the hosts reduced Saurashtra to 170 for seven on day two of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal here on Wednesday. Uttar Pradesh, resuming day two at 340 for seven, went on to make 385 all out in 103.3 overs with Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Unadkat taking a five-wicket haul. The home team's pacers -- Mavi (3/39), Ankit Rajpoot (2/58), and Yash Dayal (2/35) -- then ripped through the visitors' batting. Saurashtra trail Uttar Pradesh by 215 runs going into day three. While Rajpoot struck off successive balls to reduce the opposition to 35 for two, Mavi took two off two towards the end of the day including the wicket of opener Harvik Desai, the innings -top scorer so far with 84. However, his most prized wicket was of Pujara (11), who came into the game fresh from his stellar showing in Australia where he scored three hundreds to help ...
Khelo: Jyoti leads Haryana into semis of U-21 women's hockey
Riding on striker Jyoti's hat- trick, Haryana Wednesday defeated Chandigarh 8-0 for their third straight win to storm into the semi-finals of the Under- 21 women's hockey competition at the Khelo India Youth Games here. Besides Jyoti, other goal-scorers for Haryana were Amandeep Kaur (2), Amrinder Kaur, Navneet Kaur and Manisha, a media release said. In the other Pool B match, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh played out a 2-2 draw, but the former progressed to the semi- finals on better goal difference. Late Tuesday, Jharkhand and Odisha had secured the top two places in Pool A respectively to progress to the last four. Jharkhand finished with a tally of five points from three matches, while Odisha had three points. In the semis, Jharkhand take on Odisha, while Haryana face Punjab. In the Under-17 category, it will be Jharkhand against Odisha in the first semi-final and Punjab versus Haryana in the second Thursday.
Tendulkar expects Dhoni to control the game from one end now
Mahendra Singh Dhoni from now on will be more like a anchor, who would "control the game till the end", reckons legendary Sachin Tendulkar. Dhoni showed his much-acclaimed finishing prowess during the second ODI against Australia and Tendulkar attributed it to a change in his thought process. "Yesterday's (Tuesday) contribution was good. In the first match, I felt he was a little rusty, he was not being able to hit the ball where he wanted to and that can happen to anyone. He walked out in the second match thinking differently and from ball one, he looked a different player," Tendulkar said on his app 100MB. Dhoni of the old was both an anchor as well as a finisher but Tendulkar is happy to see him as someone who will be able to control the game till the end. "He (Dhoni) is someone who loves to play a few dot balls, understand the wicket, how the bowlers are bowling and likes to take the game till the end. That is exactly what he did. He is someone who is going to control the game ...
Prajnesh Gunneswaran top seeded for Chennai Open ATP
: India's top singles player Prajnesh Gunneswaran headlines the field for the second edition of the Chennai Open ATP Challenger 80 tennis tournament, to be held at the SDAT Nungambakkam stadium here from February 4 to 10. The tournament, to be organised by Tamil Nadu Tennis Association, carries a prize money of USD 54,500. Prajnesh, currently ranked 109 on the ATP list, had recently qualified for the Australian Open, the year's first Grand Slam before losing in the first round. Japan's Yuichi Sugita, ranked 145, Courentin Moutet of France (151), Martinez Pedro of Spain (165) and Mohamad Safwat of Egypt (186) would be seeded behind Chennai player Prajnesh, a press release here from TNTA said. The other Indians in the fray are Saketh Myneni, who is on a comeback trail and the young Sasikumar Mukund. The cut-off for the singles draw is 341, the release said. Apart from the Indians in the main draw on the basis of their ranking, four others would also find a place as wild ...
Federer, Nadal stay on track as Sharapova sets up Wozniacki showdown
Roger Federer ground out a tough three-set win to make the Australian Open third round for an incredible 20th straight year Wednesday, with long-time rival Rafael Nadal also safely through in his drive towards an 18th Grand Slam title. Women's defending champion Caroline Wozniacki also progressed to set up a mouth-watering clash next with in-form former world number one Maria Sharapova. But it was curtains for South African Kevin Anderson, who slumped out to young American Frances Tiafoe and became the highest seed, at five, to be sent packing so far. On an overcast day at Melbourne Park, second seed Angelique Kerber, the 2016 winner, and former US Open champion Sloane Stephens joined the big guns in round three, but the women's side also saw a top 10 player crash. Ninth seed Kiki Bertens, who raced through the rankings last year after winning three titles, was whipped in three sets by Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Federer might be 37 but he's not showing his age, with British ...
Can Spurs keep the pace without Harry Kane?
Tottenham have defied the odds to remain alive in three cup competitions and on course for a top-four finish in the Premier League after spending nothing in the summer but staying afloat without injured talisman Harry Kane could be the biggest challenge yet for manager Mauricio Pochettino. Kane will not even be fit to train until early March after suffering ligament damage in his left ankle during Sunday's 1-0 home defeat to Manchester United. His absence could not have come at a worse time for Pochettino ahead of a potentially season-defining run of at least 11 games on four fronts over the next seven weeks. What will Kane miss? ==================== Kane is expected to miss both legs of Spurs' Champions League last-16 tie against Borussia Dortmund, the second leg of a League Cup semi-final at Chelsea and the final should they progress, a trip to Crystal Palace in the fourth round of the FA Cup and the fifth round if Spurs make it through, plus seven Premier League games, including ...
Khelo shooting: Garcha makes splendid comeback to fetch gold
Gurnihal Singh Garcha, ISSF World Championship junior bronze medallist, Wednesday claimed the Khelo India Youth Games Under-21 skeet gold medal by raising his game in the second half of the final that left others gasping in awe. He closed in on the crown with a display that combined precision and calm. Having missed four birds in the first 30 shots, Garcha was trailing Rajasthan's Anantjeet Singh Naruka by a point. The puffs of wind and his rivals, who were eager to make a run for gold, did not seem to matter to him. The 19-year-old, son of a Ludhiana farmer who has installed a skeet range in his farm, moved into a zone and shot the next 30 points down relentlessly to romp home as the winner, a media release said. Twenty-year-old Naruka caught the eye with a good display in the first half, which he ended with 14 shots in a row. But after stretching that to 19 successive shots, he missed two in quick succession and lost his rhythm. Abhay Singh Sekhon from Punjab grabbed ...
Vinay, More rescue Karnataka with dogged batting
Former captain Vinay Kumar hit an unbeaten 83 and shared a crucial 97-run stand for the last wicket Ronit More (10) to help Karnataka take a 39-run first innings lead against Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal, here Wednesday. The rearguard action steered Karnataka to 263, forcing Rajasthan to concede lead for first time this season. The hosts were struggling at 166 for nine at one stage but Vinay and More rescued the team from the troubled waters. Vinay smashed 10 fours and two sixes in his 144 balls knock while More (10) played out 59 balls ti support the former. Rajasthan had scored 224 on the opening day with the help of skpper Mahipal Lomrov (50) and Rajesh Bishnoi (79). When stumps were drawn on second day, Rajasthan were trailing by 28 runs, with Amit Kumar Gautam and Chetan Bist at the crease as the team reached 11 for no loss in three overs. Leggie Rahul Chahar was the standout bowler for Rajasthan as he finished with figures of five for 93 runs. Left-arm fast medium .
Dominant Sharapova win sets up Wozniacki clash
Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova's scintillating return to form continued Wednesday as she powered into the Australian Open third round to set up a mouth-watering clash with defending champion Caroline Wozniacki. Sharapova, who is seeded 30th at the tournament and seeking to recapture former glories after coming back from a drugs ban in 2017, brushed aside Swede Rebecca Peterson 6-2, 6-1. The 31-year-old has only conceded three games en route to round three at Melbourne Park, where she won the title in 2008 and has reached the final a further three times. "I'm really happy the way I performed today and obviously it's always great to be back on this court," she said. "Overall, I thought I played a really solid match." The pair emerged on Rod Laver Arena late in the night due to a long-running men's match, meaning only a smattering of fans were there to cheer on the former world number one. While Sharapova served a 6-0, 6-0 "double bagel" to her first-round opponent Harriet
Pantsulaia wins Delhi International Chess Tournament
Third seed Georgian Grandmaster Levan Pantsulaia won the 17th Delhi International Chess tournament after settling for a quick draw with Grandmaster S.L Narayanan in the 10th and final round, here Wednesday. It was a seven way tie at the top between Pantsulaia (Georgia), Mosadeghpour Masoud (Iran), Stupak Kirill (Belarus), Amonatov Farrukh (Tajikistan), Diptayan Ghosh, Abhijeet Gupta, and Narayanan on eight points apiece in the event but Levan was declared the winner based on his better tie-break. There were norms galore at the tournament. International Masters Gukesh D and Visakh NR secured GM norms while Aditya Mittal, Saurabh Ananad, Bharat Kumar Reddy and Neelash Saha scored IM Norms respectively. Bommini Mounika Akshaya of Andhra Pradesh scored a Women's International Master norm from her performance here. Mounika beat Kamdar Udit in her final round game. Important Results final round: Narayanan.S.L (7.5) drew with Pantsulaia Levan (7.5) Amonatov Farrukh (7) beat Visakh NR ...
Russia GM Predke heads field for Chennai Open chess tourney
:Russia Grand Master Alexandr Predke will be the top-seed and title favourite in the 11th Chennai Open International Chess Tournament 2019 for the Sakthi Group Dr N Mahalingam Trophy, to be held here from January 18. The 25-year-old Russian GM with a FIDE rating of 2620 will be challenged, among others, by fellow Russian GMs Ivan Rozum and Ivan Popov. The tournament has attracted players from 14 foreign countries, the organisers said here Wednesday. They include 21 Grand Masters and 28 International Masters, 2 Women Grandmasters and 5 Women International Masters. The Indian challenge will be led by GMs Erigaisi Arjun, Deepan Chakkravarthy, M R Venkatesh, Sundararajan Kidambi, R R Laxman, Neelotpal Das, Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury and Karthik Venkataraman among others. This annual event, organised by Tamil Nadu State Chess Association carries a total prize money of Rs 15 lakh with the winner set to take home Rs three lakh, apart from a trophy. The runner-up would receive Rs ...