Page 719 - Sports
Ex-Brazil forward Sobis returns to Internacional
Former Brazil international forward Rafael Sobis has returned to his original Internacional club for the 2019 season, the Porto Alegre club said.
Vengsarkar, Amre hail India for dominant show Down Under
Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar and middle order batsman Praveen Amre on Sunday hailed the Indian cricket team which is on the cusp of making history in Australia. India are leading the four-Test rubber 2-1 and are well-poised to make it 3-1 going into the final day of the series, in the last Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Monday. It will be the country's first-ever Test series win in Australia since the bilateral contest began in 1948 when Lala Amarnath's team clashed with Don Bradman's mighty team Down Under. "This team has played superb and fantastic cricket and beating Australia in Australia is a great achievement, because Australia is a tough team in those conditions," Vengsarkar told PTI here. The former chairman of selectors was speaking on the sidelines of the inaugural function of the 25th Inter-Hospital Cricket Tournament, which is recognised by the Mumbai Cricket Association. "This is a fantastic achievement by Virat Kohli's team. Australia has ..
Alaves rallies to sink Valencia
Deportivo Alaves came from behind to beat visiting Valencia 2-1 in a La Liga tie held at the Mendizorroza Stadium here.
Agut wins Qatar Open title
Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut earned his first 2019 title and the ninth of his career, defeating Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the Qatar Open final.
Fit again James joins Bayern practice in Doha
FC Bayern Munich's Colombian star James Rodriguez has received medical clearance and joined the team's training session here, head coach Nico Kovac said at a press conference.
Khelo India Youth Games commences from Wednesday
An aspiring, sporting and young India will find complete representation in the Khelo India Youth Games, scheduled to take place here from January 9.The prestigious event brings many arms of Indian sport like Indian Olympic Association (IOC), Sports Authority of India (SAI), National Sports Federations, Association of Indian Universities and School Games Federation of India together under one platform.The 6000-plus athletes will reflect the diversity of the nation's youth and showcase their dreams, hopes and desire to make India shine on global platforms. They will not only come from urban and rural areas but also span a wide range of 10-21 years.Athletes like Jisna Mathew, who was part of the Indian campaign in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, backstroke swimming specialist Srihari Nataraj, who has already been to the Commonwealth and Asian Games, will come with experience.On the contrary, three 10-year-old athletes including footballer Pratima Kumar from Jharkhand, hockey player ...
We will battle for a draw tomorrow: Peter Handscomb
The series is virtually in India's pocket after Australia were enforced a follow-on for the first time in 31 years at home but batsman Peter Handscomb Sunday said they will try to salvage some pride by saving the fourth Test on the final day on Monday. Handscomb said the nearly-washed out day four of the fourth Test at the SCG has given his side a great chance to draw the match and restrict India's margin of series win to 2-1. The home side finished at 6 for no loss in their second innings, when bad light intervened with only 25.2 overs possible through the day. "We will be coming out tomorrow and drawing this game, and then we will assess where we need to improve and get together as a team. We know that as a batting group we can take some confidence out of tomorrow if we can last the day, showing the country and the world that we are not far off from clicking as a really good team," said Handscomb after the fourth day's play. Kuldeep Yadav had picked his second five-wicket haul in ...
You can expect a lot more from Kuldeep, says India bowling coach
India bowling coach Bharat Arun on Sunday heaped praise on wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, saying the chinaman is a much improved bowler than what he was during the tour of England. Yadav picked 5-99 in his maiden Test Down Under as Australia were bowled out for 300 runs in their first innings and finished at 6-0 after the follow on was enforced, b "Kuldeep is a very skill full bowler as he has proved it. He has had a very successful stint in ODIs, and probably he is the number one bowler in the one-day format. He is unique in the sense that very few chinaman bowlers around the world at the moment. Also, he brings googly to the fore," said Arun after a rain-hit day four. "And what makes him even more special is his ability to use the crease. He can bowl from over and round the wicket, and he can bowl closer to the wicket and also from wide of the crease. That gives him a lot variety. And I think there is a lot to come from that young kid." Arun said Kuldeep's performance in the ongoing ..
Alli vows Spurs 'won't get carried away again' as Son absence looms
Dele Alli has admitted his Tottenham Hotspur team were guilty of complacency in the shock defeat by Wolves that derailed their Premier League title bid. But the England midfielder has insisted there will be no repeat of that error as Mauricio Pochettino's team chase silverware on four fronts in 2019. That task will be made harder by the impending loss of in-form South Korean international Son Heung-min, who will be absent for a month as he represents his country at the Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates. But having ended 2018 with that shock 3-1 home loss to Wolves in the league, Spurs responded with a 3-0 victory at Cardiff and Friday's 7-0 FA Cup success at fourth-tier Tranmere Rovers. That performance on Merseyside suggested Alli and his team-mates had learnt a painful lesson from the Wolves defeat. "I don't think the manager needed to say too much after that, to be honest, as players we were disappointed," he said. "We had been in great form before that and maybe we got a ...
Qatar coach to 'isolate' team from Gulf politics at Asian Cup
Qatar coach Felix Sanchez has vowed to "isolate" his players from politics at the Asian Cup, which is taking place in the United Arab Emirates during a diplomatic crisis between the countries. The tournament represents the first visit by the Qatari national side to the UAE since the beginning of a row that has transformed the Gulf and left Doha cut off from its neighbouring former allies. Since June 2017, the UAE and other regional powers have imposed a boycott on Qatar, accusing it of backing terrorism and being too close to Iran. Two of the other nations who have enforced the boycott also have teams in the tournament, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Qatar denies the charges and says its neighbours are seeking regime change in Doha. With the dispute now into its nineteenth month, the Asian Cup is the most high-profile sporting competition so far between the former allies turned bitter rivals. And nothing is likely to be more highly-charged than the meeting between Saudi and Qatar in a ...
Ellyse Perry scripts history, becomes highest run-scorer in WBBL
Australia and Sydney Sixers' all-rounder Ellyse Perry has become the highest run-scorer in the history of Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) on Sunday.With the help of her unbeaten 80 off 54 balls against Perth Scorchers in the fourth edition of the tournament, the 28-year-old achieved a record-breaking 617 in her 12 appearances, which surpassed the previous score of 560 set by Australia captain and then Melbourne Stars' player Meg Lanning in her 14 matches in the first edition of WBBL.Perry, who batted at number seven at the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, insisted that her current run of form is not a response to her international demotion, rather believes she is reaping the benefits of her last 12 months of hard work."It is 12 months down the track and the game is continually evolving and everyone is trying to go with it. It is such an exciting period of time to be involved, it has been nice to have had a few challenges to work on and sometimes it comes off which is nice," Cricket ...
Vidarbha, Karnataka in the running for Ranji quarter-finals
Current champions Vidarbha and domestic giants Karnataka are in the running to make it to the quarter-finals of the Ranji Trophy. With the last round league matches to be played from Monday, the quarter-final line-up is yet to be decided. From this year, five teams from combined A and B Groups, two teams from Group C and one team from Plate group will go to the last eight of the coveted domestic tournament. At present, Vidarbha are sitting on top of the combined A and B Groups' standings with 28 points, while Karnataka are at the second spot with 27 points. Gujarat and Saurashtra are at the third and fourth place respectively with 26 points each while Madhya Pradesh, from Group B, are at the fifth position with 24 points. Baroda, sitting at the ninth spot, would be aiming for an outright win against Karnataka at Vadodara, to keep their chances alive of making it to the quarter-finals. If Karnataka post a win against Baroda, then their passage to the quarters will be ...
4th Test: Australia trail by 316 as India hold upper hand on Day 4 (Roundup)
India dominated the proceedings on the fourth day of the fourth and final Test match against Australia, enforcing the follow-on even as rain and bad light forced umpires to call off play early.
Federer, Kerber cautious on new Aus Open tie-break rule
Star players Roger Federer and Angelique Kerber have cautiously welcomed new tie-break rules for the deciding set at the Australian Open. The year's opening Grand Slam, starting January 14, will for the first time feature an extended tie-break in the final set when the score reaches 6-6, rather than a traditional full set. To win the decisive tie-break, a player will need to be the first to 10 with an advantage of at least two points. The move means all four Slams now use different rules, with only the French Open holding off from introducing a tie-break in the decider. Speaking at the Hopman Cup in Perth this week, Federer -- who said he had been asked for his opinion on the change by tournament officials -- admitted marathon final sets would be missed by some. "We will miss the 70-68 in the fifth, so that's a pity," he said, referring to the famous final-set marathon between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010. But Federer, aiming for his third successive Australian ...
India on course for historic series win despite rain-hit day four
Fickle weather on day four prevented India from closing in on a big win in the fourth Test but they were well on course for their maiden series victory in Australia after forcing the hosts to follow-on at home for the first time since 1988. Bad light and intermitted rain led to substantial loss of play with only 25.2 overs bowled on day four. Australia were placed at 6-0 in 4 overs after Kuldeep Yadav's five-wicket haul in his maiden Test Down Under helped India bowl the home team out for 300 in the first innings. Umpires took players off the field with eight minutes remaining in the belated afternoon session. Marcus Harris (2) and Usman Khawaja (4) were the unbeaten batsmen with Australia still trailing by 316 runs. But play didn't resume at all once the scheduled tea break was over, as bad light hampered proceedings once again. The umpires waited for nearly an hour, coming out for inspection in between, before making a decision at 5 pm local time. The match officials were ready to ..
Sydney Test: Kuldeep takes five as Australia bundle out for 300
Kuldeep Yadav starred once again with the ball to help India restrict Australia to 300 runs on Day 4 of the fourth Test here at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Sunday.Kuldeep ended the first innings with a five-for while Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja picked up two wickets each, and Jasprit Bumrah got a piece.India enjoyed their command as the morning session was washed out due to persistent drizzle and bad light. The visitors took the new ball as soon as the second session started.Pat Cummins and Peter Handscomb, who were holding the crease for the hosts on the third day, resumed the first innings for Australia. To get an early breakthrough, Shami dismissed Cummins (25) on the third delivery with the new ball.Bumrah took his first wicket of the match in the name of Handscomb (37). Australia's last recognised batsman, Nathan Lyon was too sent back to the pavilion as ace spinner Kuldeep trapped Lyon for a duck.After a brief fightback from Mitchell Starc (29*) and Josh Hazlewood .
'Heartbreaking': tennis stars lament potential end of Hopman Cup
The likely demise of the Hopman Cup after three decades of the unique mixed teams tennis tournament has been greeted with sadness by players at this year's edition, with Serena Williams calling the prospect "heartbreaking". Swiss duo Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic beat Germans Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber in Saturday's final in front of a sell-out crowd in Perth, but it is expected to be the last instalment of the event. A dramatic finish to what was arguably the best Hopman Cup ever -- which also saw Federer and Serena face off for the first time in a historic mixed doubles clash -- came down to a single match point shared by both sides in the final. However, the event is widely tipped to be scrapped to make way for the new ATP World Team Cup, which will start next year. While Tennis Australia has a contract with the West Australian State Government to run the ITF-sanctioned tournament until 2022, the new ATP event would make it very hard for the Hopman Cup to attract top .
World No.1 Halep fit and rested after 'scary' back injury
World number one Simona Halep Sunday admitted a back injury that ended her 2018 season early was "very scary", but she has recovered and is feeling fit heading into the new season. The Romanian hasn't played since withdrawing from the WTA Finals in Singapore in October with a herniated disc, and said she did nothing for six weeks to get over it. "It was very scary because it was below the back, so it's always dangerous. But I had treatment at home, I rested for about six weeks and I did nothing, just exercises for the back," she told reporters ahead of the Sydney International this week. "I didn't have pain while I was practising this period, off-season. So now I feel confident and it's okay. But I need to see during the official match. "I feel relaxed, I feel rested, I feel healthy with the back. But as I said, I didn't play a match yet so I don't know for sure how it's going to be." The early finish to 2018 was a disappointing end to a spectacular season, which saw the 27-year-old ..
4th Test: Australia out for 300. India enforce follow-on
Australia were bowled out for 300 in their first innings and India enforcedthe follow-on just before tea on the fourth day of the fourth Test match here on Sunday as the hosts trailed by 322 runs.
Kuldeep claims a five-wicket haul before bad light forces early tea
Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav picked up a five-wicket haul in his maiden Test on Australian soil, helping India enforce the follow-on after the hosts were bowled out for 300 on day four of the fourth and final Test here on Sunday. Bad light forced an early tea as umpires took players off the field with eight minutes remaining in the belated session with Marcus Harris (2) and Usman Khawaja (4) the unbeaten batsmen in the second innings. This was after Australia were bowled out for 300 runs (104.5 overs) in their first innings and were asked to follow on, surrendering a lead of 322 runs. Kuldeep took 5-99 in his first game of the series. After the morning session was washed out, play resumed at 1.50 pm local time with 230 minutes lost to bad light and rain since day three. India took the second new ball immediately and made quick inroads. Mohammed Shami (2-58) bowled Pat Cummins (25) with a ball that kept low on the sixth ball after resumption of play. At the other end, Jasprit Bumrah (1-62) .