Page 742 - Sports
Coach Scolari on Dalian Yifang radar
Luiz Felipe Scolari could return to China as coach of Dalian Yifang, according reports.
Smriti Mandhana wins ICC 'Women's Cricketer' and 'ODI Player of the year' awards
Talented India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana was Monday adjudged 'Women's Cricketer of the Year' as well as the 'Women's ODI Player of the Year' by the ICC. Left-handed opener Mandhana won the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award for the 'Women's Cricketer of the Year' for scoring 669 runs in 12 ODIs along with 622 runs in 25 T20 Internationals in 2018. Her ODI runs were scored at an average of 66.90 while strike-rate for T20I was an impressive 130.67. Mandhana played a crucial role in India's semi-final appearance at the Women's World T20 in the West Indies, where she scored 178 runs in five matches at a strike-rate of 125.35. She is currently ranked fourth in the ODI rankings and 10th in the rankings for T20Is, the ICC said in a statement. Mandhana became only the second India woman player to win an ICC award after fast bowler Jhulan Goswami, who was named the ICC Player of the Year in 2007. Reacting to the news, a delighted Mandhana said: "...when you get acknowledged for your performances ...
Iran ready to end 43-year Asian Cup title drought: Jahanbakhsh
Iran winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh said that they will "fight for their dreams" to end a 43-year trophy drought in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
Bates, Harmanpreet named ODI and T20I captains of 2018
The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday announced the womens ODI and Twenty20 International teams of the year with New Zealands Suzie Bates named as captain of the 50-over side and Harmanpreet Kaur of India appointed captain of the shortest format.
Sharan returns, Balaji dropped from Indian Davis Cup team for Italy tie
Asian Games gold medallist Divij Sharan is set to play only his second-ever Davis Cup tie and first since 2012 after being included in the Indian team for the World Group Qualifier rubber against Italy, scheduled for February 1-2 in Kolkata. An AITA source told PTI that the new selection committee, led by Rohit Rajpal, has largely gone by the rankings. "It picked the best four available singles players and the top-two doubles player," said the source. Sharan had missed out on playing the Serbia tie due to a shoulder injury. The left-hander from Delhi, ranked 39, will play the doubles alongside Rohan Bopanna, ranked 37th with whom he has paired for 2019 on the Pro Tour. Sharan had made his Davis Cup debut against New Zealand, playing the doubles rubber with Vishnu Vardhan, in India's 5-0 whitewash of the visitors. As Yuki Bhambri continues to miss action due to his knee injury, the singles duty will done by Prajnesh Gunneswaran (110) and Ramkumar Ramanathan (132). Saketh Myneni (259), .
Serena Williams pulls US level at Hopman Cup
Serena Williams overcame a sluggish start to power past Maria Sakkari in straight-sets at the Hopman Cup on Monday in her first competitive match since melting down in the US Open final. The 37-year-old was rusty and down an early break but did enough to record a comfortable 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory in one hour and 44 minutes in the women's singles match. The result leveled the tie between the United States and Greece ahead of the decisive mixed doubles match. Even though both her ankles were strapped and required medical attention during the change of sets, Williams moved freely and looked sharper as the match wore on. "It was my first match back.I was making a lot of errors," Williams said. "It was great to be back out on match day." The 23-time Grand Slam champion lost an exhibition match against sister Venus in Abu Dhabi last week, but the Hopman Cup is her first competitive event since her controversial defeat to Japan's Naomi Osaka at Flushing Meadows in September. It was an ...
Dimitrov, Raonic win 1st round matches at Brisbane
Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov and Canada's Milos Raonic ensured no slip ups in their final outing of 2018 by having straight set victories in their respective first round matches at the Brisbane International on Monday. A semifinalist here last year, Dimitrov fired down nine aces and saved six of seven break points to beat Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 6-4 and advance into a second round match against John Millman or Tennys Sandgren, who played later Monday. Milos Raonic made lighter work of his encounter against Aljaz Bedene, cruising to a 6-0, 6-3 win over the Slovenian. In the women's draw, Australian wildcard Kimberly Birrell toppled world No.10 Daria Kasatkina 5-7 6-4 7-6 (7-3) in their first round match. After trading a set each in the opening two sets, 20-year-old Birrell then fought back from 3-5 down in the deciding set to force a tiebreak, before clinching victory in just over three hours. Birrell will play Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko, who beat Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-0, 6-2, in ...
Bouchard gives herself pass mark after comeback win
Former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard launched her comeback year in winning form as she cruised through her first round match in the WTA Auckland Classic on Monday. Olympic champion Monica Puig also sailed through to the second round on a day in which none of the seeded players appeared. Former world number five Bouchard has earmarked 2019 as her comeback year after sliding down rankings following a standout 2014 when she made the Wimbledon final and was a semi-finalist in Melbourne and Paris. Now ranked 87th, the Canadian proved too strong for the 88th ranked Madison Brengle, taking just over an hour to beat the American 6-3, 6-3. The 24-year-old mixed glimpses of her previous best with some unforced errors but overall gave herself a pass mark. "I think it was OK," Bouchard said. "It was the first match of the year, so you never know what to expect from your level, so I'm happy I managed to handle my nerves. "I liked that when things didn't go so well I managed to turn it around
Harmanpreet named ICC World T20 team captain, Smriti and Poonam in T20 and ODI teams
India's Harmanpreet Kaur was Monday named captain of the ICC Women's T20I Team of the Year, which also includes two of her compatriots Smriti Mandhana and Poonam Yadav. Opening batswoman Mandhana and leg-spinner Yadav were also included in the ICC Women's ODI Team of the Year, which has New Zealander Suzie Bates as captain. The ODI and T20 sides were selected by a voting academy, which has former players like Lisa Sthalekar, Charlotte Edwards, Anjum Chopra and members of the media, and took into consideration performances in the 2018 calendar year. Harmanpreet has been rewarded for spearheading India to the semifinals of the ICC Women's World T20 2018 in the West Indies in November. "In that tournament, (Harmanpreet) Kaur scored 183 runs at a strike-rate of 160.5, while in the 25 matches in the calendar year, she accumulated 663 runs at a strike-rate of 126.2. Kaur is ranked third in the MRF Tyres ICC Women's Player Rankings for T20I Batters," the ICC said in a statement. The ...
Rohit Sharma blessed with baby girl, to skip Sydney Test
Indian batsman Rohit Sharma became a proud father of a baby girl on Monday.Soon after the news arrived, the cricketer flew back to Mumbai to attend his wife Ritika.Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that the right-hand batsman will give a miss to the final Test of the ongoing four-match series against Australia beginning January 3 in Sydney.The cricket body also congratulated Sharma on the "beginning of a new chapter in his life"."Rohit will miss the fourth and the final Test against Australia at Sydney. There will be no replacement player in the Test squad," an official statement from BCCI reads.Sharma will join the national ODI side on January 8 when the team begins their preparation for the three-match ODI series starting January 12.The middle-order batsman, who had missed the second Test of the series due to injury, played a knock of 63* in the first innings of the recently-concluded third Test. In the first match, Sharma had scored 37 and 1 in ..
Kante scores winner to secure Chelsea's 1-0 win over Crystal Palace
French midfielder N'Golo Kante got Chelsea a 1-0 away victory over Crystal Palace in a London derby corresponding to the Premier League's matchday 20 at Selhurst Park stadium.
Tigres working to fix mistakes, striker Damm says
Mexican forward Jurgen Damm said this weekend that his club, the Tigres UANL, was working to fix the mistakes that led to the loss in the Liga MX Apertura tournament quarterfinals to the Pumas UNAM.
Martino fully qualified as Mexican national team coach, says Herrera
Liga MX club America's coach, Miguel Herrera, said after his team's friendly here against Santos Laguna that he has "nothing" to recommend to the new coach of the Mexican national football team, Argentine Gerardo "Tata" Martino, and gives him his full support.
Barcelona Sergi Roberto rejoins team training
Barcelona Spanish full-back Sergi Roberto rejoined team training for the first session after a one-week Christmas vacation.
I-League: Willis Plaza's first-half strike help Churchill Brothers beat Indian Arrows 1-0
After two losses on the trot, Churchill Brothers picked up a 1-0 win in their clash against the Indian Arrows in the ongoing 12th edition of I-League at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar on Sunday. A goal from striker Willis Plaza was enough to hand the Goan side the three points while the Arrows suffered their first loss in three games.It was the away side that started off the first half on a stronger note, with the league's top scorer Plaza testing the gloves of Prabhsukhan Gill in the 4th minute. Receiving the ball at the edge of the box, the Trinidadian shimmied to his left and fired in a powerful effort that produced a fantastic diving save from the Arrows goalie.Floyd Pinto's side, that came into the match off the back of four points in two games and two clean sheets, then created the next chance of the match. Boris Singh, playing as a winger, drove past his marker and fizzed in a cross, which was thwarted by Rowlinson Rodrigues.The match turned into a tactical tussle in the ..
Harmanpreet Kaur chosen as captain of ICC T20 team of the year
The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday announced the women's ODI and T20I teams of the year with India's Harmanpreet Kaur appointed as captain of the 20-over side.New Zealand's Suzie Bates, on the flip side, was named as captain of the 50-over side.The selection was made by members of media and broadcasters taking into consideration players' performance in the 2018 calendar year.Kaur has been rewarded for spearheading her side to the semi-final of the ICC Women's World T20 2018 in West Indies in November. In that tournament, Kaur scored 183 runs at a strike-rate of 160.5, while in the 25 matches in the calendar year, she accumulated 663 runs at a strike-rate of 126.2.Kaur is ranked third in the ICC Women's Player Rankings for T20I Batters.Bates' appointment as the ODI captain is a recognition of her contribution in inspiring her side to the second position in the ICC Women's Championship after three rounds. In the seven ODIs this calendar year, Bates has scored 438 runs ...
Pujara and Kohli difference between two sides: Langer
Australian coach Justin Langer has lamented a lack of world-class batsmen in his side's line-up and pointed out that Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara have been the difference for the visitors in the on-going four-match Test series. India won the third Test at the MCG by 131 runs to take an unassailable 2-1 lead in the series. The fourth Test begins in Sydney Thursday. "At this stage, the difference in the series is Pujara and Kohli, if we're frank. Pujara averages 53 and Kohli has averaged 46 and got a duck in the second innings. The lesson we learn from that is he just absorbed all our pressure," Langer said Monday. "It's the art of batting, isn't it? It's about absorbing pressure. You've got so much time in Test cricket, and I guess in the (T20) world we live in, everything is so instant and so quick and talk about strike rates. Our guys are learning that, or hopefully they're learning that. If they don't we'll keep having performances like we're having," he said. Langer blamed the
Drop Finch and include Labuschange for Sydney Test: Former captains
Former captains Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting want out-of-form opener Aaron Finch to be dropped from Australia's playing eleven for the fourth and final Test against India starting Thursday in Sydney. Both Waugh and Ponting have predicted the inclusion of leg-spinning all-rounder Marnus Labuschange in the playing eleven. Test legend Waugh posted his preferred Australia XI for the final Test at the SCG on Instagram. According to Waugh, Marcus Harris and veteran Shaun Marsh should open the batting, followed by incumbent Usman Khawaja. Waugh feels Travis Head, Australia's leading run-scorer in the series against India, should bat at No.4 ahead of captain Tim Paine, Labuschagne, and Mitchell Marsh. Waugh's preferred bowling unit would be Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood. Waugh's successor, Ponting too feels that Finch should be dropped and Labuschagne needs to be included in the playing eleven. Finch has had a dismal series so far, averaging just 16 while ...
Atmosphere in Pak team is not best at the moment, says coach
Pakistan batting coach Grant Flower admits that atmosphere in the national team is "not best at the moment." The coach also pointed finger at the team selection saying that there are few players who are not fit to be in the squad.The comment came in the backdrop of Pakistan's humiliating six wickets defeat at the hands of South Africa within three days of their opening Test of the ongoing three-match Test series."The atmosphere isn't the best at the moment. Not many losing teams' atmosphere will be the best. No one likes to lose. You don't want to become happy losers," ESPNcricinfo quoted Flower, as saying."I'm not involved in selection, but there are quite a few guys with their places under threat. It's not just one or two batsmen, you could point fingers at a few players," he added.The controversy surrounded the Pakistan team after the first Test with a dressing room leak which reported that team's head coach Micky Arthur had lost his temper over the players. While talking about the
Injured Angelo Mathews likely to miss Australia tour
Sri Lanka's batting all-rounder Angelo Mathews is likely to miss their upcoming two-match Test series against Australia owing to left hamstring injury.The 31-year-old, who has already been ruled out of Sri Lanka's limited-overs leg of New Zealand tour, sustained the injury during their recently-concluded second Test against New Zealand.Confirming the development, Sri Lanka skipper Dinesh Chandimal that Mathews has suffered a grade two hamstring strain and would be out of action for four weeks."Angelo had a scan last night, and it's a grade two hamstring strain. The physio said he's out for four weeks," ESPNcricinfo quoted Chandimal, as saying.Sri Lanka are trailing the three-match series 0-1 against New Zealand having lost the opening Test by 423 runs. Both the teams are slated to play their second Test from January 3 in Tauranga, New Zealand.