Page 724 - Sports

Australia 122/1 at lunch on Day 3 against India

Responding to India's mammoth first-innings total of 622 for seven declared, Australia were 122 for one at lunch on the third day of the fourth and final Test here Saturday. Marcus Harris and Marnus Labuschagne were batting on 77 and 18, respectively, as Australia trailed by 500 runs at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Brief scores: India first innings: 622/7 declared in 167.2 overs Australia 1st innings: 122/1 in 40 overs (Marcus Harris batting 77).

Karlovic ends Darcis' run, sets up Tata Open final clash with Anderson

Ivo Karlovic cut short the remarkable comeback run of Steve Darcis to set up the Tata Open Maharashtra clash with Kevin Anderson, who avenged his last year's defeat against Gilles Simon, here Friday. Belgium's Darcis, playing his first tournament after missing the entire 2018 season due an injury, was impressive even in his 6-7(3) 6-4 3-6 defeat against Karlovic. It will be first final for the tall 39-year-old Croat, one of the oldest on the Tour, in more than two years. Winning the Los Cabos in August 2016 was the last time he was in the final of an event on the ATP World Tour. In the other semifinal between the last year's finalists, Anderson won 6-3 76 (3) against the Frenchman in a tight clash, which lasted one hour and 48 minutes. Anderson saved nine of the 10 break points and converted both the chances that came his way. Darcis's remarkable ability to find winners was put to test by the big-serving Croat, who achieved a rare feat of hitting more than 30,000 aces. Darcis still ...

WV Raman should go for NZ tour as interim coach: Edulji to Rai

The Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) member Diana Edulji has said, apparently targeting its Chairman Vinod Rai, that it is prudent to let BCCI-appointed senior women team head coach WV Raman go for New Zealand tour as the interim coach on his old contract which is valid till June 2019.Edulji, a decorated former Indian cricket captain, in her letter addressed to Rai on Thursday added: "Let Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) do a fresh process to select a coach. There should be no new contract and if the CEO, CFO and GM Cricket Operations in charge of women's cricket do issue a new contract then they will have to be liable for financial damages to the BCCI.""Taking unilateral decisions are more detrimental to the image of BCCI and also to the appointment of COA who was appointed to ensure the implementation of the reforms," she added.An email chain between Edulji, Rai, BCCI officials Saba Karim, Rahul Johri, Amitabh Choudhary, Anirudh Chaudhary, CK Khanna, Gopal ..

Punjab picks Bajrang, Mumbai takes Vinesh

Punjab Royals picked up Asian Games gold medallist Bajrang Punia for Rs 30 lakhs during the players draft of the Pro Wrestling League here on Friday. The fourth edition of the PWL will be held from January 14-31, offers a purse of Rs 1.9 crores for the winning team and Rs 1.1 crore for the runners-up team. Another Asiad champion Vinesh Phogat went to Mumbai Maharathi for Rs 25 lakhs. Both Bajrang, who will take part in the 65kg category, and Vinesh, who will wrestle in the 53kg category, featured for UP Dangal in the last edition. Rio Olympic bronze medalist Sakshi Malik (62kg), who was with Mumbai Maharathi in the last edition, was picked by Delhi Sultans for Rs 20 lakhs. The highest-paid foreign wrestlers were Venesa Kaladzinskaya (53kg) from Belarus, who went to UP Dangal, and Khetik Tsabalov (74kg) from Russia for Delhi Sultans, for Rs 25 lakhs each. The Delhi Sultans also got Gold Coast CWG gold medalist Rahul Aware (57kg) and 2018 World Military Championship gold medalist Khetik

Laxman Rawat wins Inter-Unit snooker title

Laxman Rawat Friday lifted the 15th Inter-Unit PSPB Snooker Tournament title defeating Ishpreet Chaddha in the final. Chaddha, who came into the match with great confidence after trouncing ace cueist Pankaj Advani, put up yet another fight against the title winner. Chaddha went down fighting against Rawat 2-3 with scores of 96-0, 15-84, 63-59, 45-56 and 23-67. Rawat, on the other hand, had a crucial break of 51 in the fifth frame, resulting in his win. In the second frame too, he garnered 52-point break to pocket it. Before entering the final, Rawat had overwhelmed Brijesh Damani 3-1 and, Rupesh Shah 3-1 and Devendra Joshi 3-1, in league stages. After defeating Advani, Chaddha trounced Manan Chandra 3-1, Brijesh Damani 3-1, Sparsh Pherwani 3-2 in an engrossing encounter.

I'd love to play Test cricket even in my next life: Cheteshwar Pujara

Considering the Test format as the ultimate challenge for any cricketer, Cheteshwar Pujara on Friday said if he had to get an opportunity, he would still like to play the longest format."If test cricket still goes on and if I had to get an opportunity, I would still like to play Test cricket... because that is the ultimate challenge I would say. In T20 format you can get away with so many things. But when it comes to your character, temperament or other things as a cricketer you can describe, it can be challenged only in Test cricket," the top-order batsman said in an exclusive BCCI video.Pujara, who blazed 123 off 246 balls, helped his side to a 31-run victory over Australia in the first Test at the Adelaide Oval. Talking about his special Test century, the 30-year-old feels that the ton he smashed at Adelaide is the most important one for him."Adelaide I would say... because the first match of the series was the most important. When you start off on a winning note, when you are 1-0 .

Awadhe Warriors jump to second spot with win over Smash Masters

World no. 5 Son Wan Ho beat former world champion Viktor Axelsen as Awadhe Warriors thumped Ahmedabad Smash Masters at the Vodafone Premier Badminton League Season 4 here on Friday. World no. 10 Beiwen Zhang too won her Trump match to pave the way for Awadhe's third win in four ties this season. This was the Smash Masters' second defeat on the trot after having topped the leaderboard in the initial stages of Season 4. Birthday boy Axelsen had an uphill task against the in-form Son Wan Ho of the Warriors, considering the fact that he has still not recovered fully from the ankle injury that hampered his season last year. He looked subdued as the Korean dictated the terms, involving the Dane in long rallies. From 10-3, the steady Son Wan Ho piled on the pressure on his rival, who conceded the opener 7-15. Axelsen looked much more settled in the second game and built a 6-1 lead. Son did come back to within three points of the Dane but his unforced errors allowed Axelsen to grab the game ..

Individual ego shouldn't come in way of women's cricket development: Kapil Dev

A "disturbed" former captain Kapil Dev on Friday expressed his displeasure in the manner Committee of Administrators member Diana Edulji tried to stall WV Raman's appointment as the coach of the Indian women's team. A committee headed by Kapil Dev along with Shantha Rangaswamy and Anshuman Gaekwad interviewed a host of candidates including World Cup winning India coach Gary Kirsten and Venkatesh Prasad before zeroing in on former opener Raman. Edulji has repeatedly questioned the the process of appointment, calling it illegal as it did not have her approval, and also tried to stall Raman's appointment letter before it got approval from COA chief Vinod Rai. "I am very disturbed about what all is happening. I don't want to take names but ego of one particular individual shouldn't be an impediment towards developing the women's game in the country. Someone might have his or her personal likes or dislikes but that is not above the interest of the national women's team," the 1983 World Cup

Kerala, Karnataka register wins in national volleyball

: Kerala continued its winning run in group 'A' of the men's section in the 67th Senior National Volleyball Championship at the Nehru Stadium here Friday, beating Punjab 3-0. Kerala followed up its win over Karnataka yesterday, by easing past Punjab 25-14, 28-26, 25-23. In another men's match, Karnataka held off the challenge from Tamil Nadu, recording a 3-1 win in Group 'A'. The Karnataka spikers won the opening set 25-20 only to see the home team bounce back and take the second 25-17. However, Karnataka recovered after dropping the second set to take the next two 25-21, 27-25. In the women's section, Kerala beats its southern rival Karnataka 3-1 (25-12, 24-26, 25-10, 25-16) in Group 'A'. Maharashtra edged out Telangana 3-1 in a game in the same group. It was a close contest as the two teams were neck to neck before Maharashtra nosed ahead.

Manzi hat-trick helps Chennai City maintain their lead

Chennai City FC consolidated their lead on top of the Hero I-League standings with a 3-2 win over Gokulam Kerala FC here on Friday. Riding on Pedro Manzi's third hattrick of the campaign, Chennai managed to repeat first leg's 3-2 scoreline against Gokulam. Manzi scored in the eighth, 59th and 80th minute of the game, cancelling out Mudde Musa and Joel Sunday's strikes from Gokulam in the 17th and 38th minutes, respectively, to help his side register a comeback victory after both sides were reduced to 10 men at the end of the first half. Chennai dominated possession throughout the game and took advantage of the extra space which had opened up in the second half, to take home full three points in a crucial game for the home side. With this win, Chennai move to 24 points from eleven games and are three clear of Neroca, who have played the same number of matches. Gokulam remain eighth, their title hopes well and truly buried, with 10 points from 11 games. The Kerala side adopted physical .

PSPB dominate in national TT championships

The Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSBP) men's team made a bold statement and almost ensured their berth in the pre-quarterfinals of the 80th edition of the 11Even Sports Senior National Table Tennis Championships which began at the Nehru Indoor Stadium here on Friday.

Du Plessis, Bavuma stretch South African lead

Faf du Plessis and Temba Bavuma shared a century partnership as South Africa moved into a commanding position on the second day of the second Test against Pakistan at Newlands on Friday. South Africa were 281 for four wickets at tea, a lead of 104 runs. South African captain Du Plessis, out for a "pair" during South Africa's six-wicket win in the first Test in Centurion, was on 80 not out, the highest score of the series. Bavuma had 60 not out. Their fifth wicket partnership was worth 132 runs. The batsmen had to counter some accurate, hostile bowling before lunch when Pakistan took two wickets during the first hour and thought they had a third when Bavuma, on three, edged Mohammad Abbas to Azhar Ali at first slip. The on-field umpires gave a "soft" signal of "out" but asked for television umpire Sunderam Ravi to check whether there had been a clean catch. He decided the ball had made contact with the ground while the catch was being taken. Batting was not easy with several cracks ...

Punjab pick Punia at PWL players' draft

Punjab Royals picked up Bajrang Punia, Indian wrestlings hottest property at the moment, for Rs 30 lakhs, during the players draft of the Pro Wrestling League (PWL) here on Friday.

Delhi girls corner two bronze in National TT

Delhi girls made their presence felt at the 64th National School Games Table Tennis Championship, cornering two bronze medals at the Sama Indoor Sports Complex here on Friday.

Churchill favourites against Minerva in I-League tie (Preview)

Churchill Brothers FC will take on defending champions Minerva Punjab FC in an I-League clash at the Tilak Maidan here on Saturday.

I-League: Neroca beat Lajong at home

Neroca FC remained unbeaten at home, defeating a young Shillong Lajong FC 3-2 in an I-League encounter here on Friday.

PBL: Mumbai aim to continue winning streak (Preview)

Mumbai Rockets will hope to continue their winning streak when they take on Chennai Smashers in a blockbuster Premier Badminton League (PBL) tie here on Saturday.

Haryana, Railway pugilists dominate at National Boxing Championships

As many as nine pugilists from Haryana stormed into the semifinals, ensuring themselves medals at the 3rd Elite Women's National Boxing Championships here Friday. They were closely followed by the Railways as eight of their boxers made it to the medal round while All India Police (AIP) had seven of their players advancing. Chandigarh and Punjab had two pugilists each entering the semifinals in all the 10 categories with other state boxers just filling the vacant slots. All top boxers, including World Championships participants and medallists Lovlina Borgohain, Pinki Rani Jangra, Simranjit Kaur, Manisha Moun, Seema Poonia won their bouts, mostly with RSC verdicts. In the opening bout of the day on Ring 1, S Kalaivani of Tamil Nadu surprised AIP's K Bina Devi in 48 kg, receiving a 4:1 verdict in her favour to take on Haryana's Sanju, who beat Anchu Sabu of Kerala on points (5:0). In fact, it was Sanju who paved the way for her state mates to follow suit, showing excellent temperament .

Bopanna, Sharan pull-off another thriller to enter final

Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan came back from the brink for the second match in a row to reach the final of the Tata Open Maharashtra, taming Simon Bolelli and Ivan Dodig in a thriller here on Friday. The top seeded Indians, playing first time on Tour as a team, knocked out the Italian-Croatian combine 6-3 3-6 15-13 in one hour and 33 minutes after saving two match points in the Super Tie Break. They had saved six match points on Thursday against Leander Paes and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela before winning. It was tough test for the new Indian team as it was up against players, who have a Grand Slam crown each to their credit, and the home team played better than its previous clash. Bolelli, a top-50 singles player in 2009, had won the 2015 Australian Open doubles with fellow Italian Fabio Fognini while Dodig also won his first and only men's doubles Grand Slam crown in the same year at French Open with Marcelo Melo. Bopanna as usual was solid with his returns while left-hander Sharan ...

Churchill Brothers favourites at home against defending champions Minerva Punjab

Churchill Brothers FC take on reigning champions Minerva Punjab in the I-League here Saturday, with the hosts entering the game as clear favourites on the back of their impressive attacking display in recent weeks. When the two teams met in the initial stages of the league two months ago, they played out a drab goalless draw and it was evident that a new team management was trying to find its footings. Much water has flown under the bridge since then, with the Goans establishing themselves as the most enterprising side of the league after leaders Chennai. While Churchill have scored 17 goals and conceded 10 in their 10 games so far, Minerva have scored just six and conceded as many from the same number of games (10). Willis Plaza for Churchill has been in imperious form this year, scoring nine goals so far, to lead the scorer's charts. But it is the support play of Dawda Cessay, Israel Gurung, Anthony Wolfe and the likes that have clearly helped them improve so much over last ...