Page 789 - Sports

'Sarfraz Ahmed should be replaced as Test captain'

Former Pakistan skipper Asif Iqbal believes that wicket-keeper batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed should be relieved of his Test captaincy duties. While admitting that Ahmed is an "ideal captain" in the ODI and T20 format, the 75-year-old said that the team needs a more "established" person for leading their Test side.The comment came in the backdrop of Pakistan's 1-2 debacle at the hands of New Zealand in their recently-concluded three-match Test series in UAE."I understand that a few people are asking for Sarfaraz Ahmed to be removed as captain of the Pakistan side and I am one of them. Let me explain by saying that Sarfaraz is an ideal captain for Pakistan in the Twenty20 and ODI formats as he has the right sort of passion which you need for the shorter forms of the game. In Test cricket, however, the biggest challenge is to concentrate for up to five days, at all times," PakPassion quoted Iqbal, as saying."I am sure many others, including Sarfaraz Ahmed, may not agree with what I have to say .

Latham double ton puts Sri Lanka on the rack

New Zealand opener Tom Latham hit his maiden double century Monday, putting Sri Lanka to the sword on a flat track in the first Test at Wellington's Basin Reserve. Latham brought up his milestone mid-way through day three as New Zealand reached tea at 509 for six, a first-innings lead of 227 over the tourists. The 26-year-old was 215 not out at the break, surpassing his previous Test high score of 177 against Bangladesh at the same ground last year. Latham, who has seven Test centuries in 39 matches and averages 36, becomes the 15th New Zealander to score a Test double century. Sri Lanka's bowlers, who have toiled for little reward, snared four valuable wickets in the first two sessions of the day, but New Zealand remain firmly in control. Ross Taylor was dismissed for 50 in the first over of the day after failing to add to his overnight score. Lahiru Kumara made the breakthrough for the tourists thanks to a sharp catch from Dimuth Karunaratne. The ball was forcefully struck and ...

Kiran Bedi hails P V Sindhu for maiden BWF World tour title

Lt Governor Kiran Bedi Sunday hailed P V Sindhu for winning her maiden BWF World tour title. In a twitter post, the former IPS officer wrote, "I am proud of you. Thank you for taking the country this high. I am so happy for you, your coach and your family behind you." Earlier in the day, Sindhu laid her hands on a gold medal by claiming the World Tour Finals with a win over 2017 world champion Nozomi Okuhara in Guangzhou. With the straight-game victory, Sindhu became the first Indian to achieve the feat. Playing her third successive season-ending finale, Sindhu, who had lost in the summit clash to another Japanese Akane Yamaguchi to settle for a silver in the last edition, prevailed 21-19, 21-17 in a match that lasted an hour and two minutes.

It's written in the stars, World Champions Belgium say after victory

The Belgium team, which created history by emerging the champions in the hockey men's world cup after thrashing the Netherlands in a penalty shootout, on Sunday said it was written in the stars.

ISL: Mumbai demolish Kerala 6-1

Mumbai City FC will be delighted with their showing in the first phase of the Indian Super League after an impressive 6-1 demolition of Kerala Blasters FC at the Mumbai Football Arena here on Sunday.

Belgium wins Men's Hockey World Cup 2018

Belgium pipped the Netherlands via a penalty shootout to lift their maiden title of the Men's Hockey World Cup 2018 at the Kalinga Stadium here on Sunday.During the gruelling four quarters, the two teams played an aggressive brand of hockey, with both of them attempting to up the ante and take the match ahead. However, none of the teams opened their accounts and in the end, with the scoreline at 0-0, the game went into the shootout.Belgium's Arthur Van Doren and Felix Denayer missed their respective marks, while Jeroen Hertzberger of the Netherlands scored the first goal to keep the momentum going for the 'Oranje' team.Florent van Aubel and Victor Wegnez finally opened Belgium's account by striking two successive goals, while Jonas De Geus scored the second goal for the Netherlands to keep the game well poised. Belgian striker De Sloover, too, could not score the third goal for Belgium, leaving the two teams locked at 2-2.Dutch strikers Mirco Pruyser, Seve van Ass, and Thijs Van Dam ..

Hazard keeps Chelsea in title hunt at Brighton

Chelsea put a week of negative headlines for the behaviour of their fans behind them on the field thanks to an inspired Eden Hazard in a 2-1 victory at Brighton on Sunday. The Belgian provided his ninth assist of the season for Pedro Rodriguez to open the scoring and then chalked up his ninth goal of the campaign, but first in 13 games for club and country. However, Chelsea failed to build on their 2-0 lead and endured a nervous finale after Solly March pulled one back with his first goal of the campaign. Victory saw Chelsea open up a three-point lead over Arsenal in fourth and close back to within seven points of leaders Manchester City. Much of the pre-match speculation centred on the travelling Chelsea supporters and whether there would be any repeat of either the accusations of racist remarks aimed at Manchester City's Raheem Sterling last weekend or the anti-Semitic chanting heard during their Europa League tie against Vidi in Budapest in midweek. Fortunately there appeared to be

Gerrari Off-Roaders jump into lead in JK Tyre Orange 4x4 Fury

Defending champions Gerrari Off-Roaders emerged as the early provisional leaders after the first two stages in the JK Tyre Orange 4X4 Fury here on Sunday.

PKL: UP hammer Patna 47-31

A complete team performance guided UP Yoddha to a thumping 47-31 win over defending champions Patna Pirates in a Pro Kabaddi League clash here on Sunday.

Sougou stars in Mumbai City FC's 6-1 win over Kerala Blasters

Modou Sougou pumped in four goals as hosts Mumbai City FC defeated Kerala Blasters 6-1 in a lop-sided Indian Super League game here on Sunday. The night belonged to Sougou, who scored in the 12th, 15th, 30th minute and second half injury time, as he made a mockery of Kerala's defence at the Mumbai Football Arena here. Kerala pulled one back in the 27th minute with Seiminlen Doungel scoring but their joy was short-lived as Sougou, the highest goal scorer this season for Mumbai, slotted home in the 3Oth minute to complete the hat-trick and take his side 3-1 up. Rafael Bastos made it 4-1 in the 70th minute as Mumbai dominated the proceedings right from the beginning. Matias Mirabaje inflicted more agony on the visitors as he scored in the 89th minute, the fifth goal for the home side. Sougou completed Kerala's rout by scoring in the additional time, his fourth and team's sixth goal. The win also meant that Mumbai were able to keep their second spot before going into the break. Mumbai ...

I have not seen a better player than Kohli: Vaughan

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan believes India captain Virat Kohli is a better batsman across three formats than legends such as Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting. Kohli on Sunday became the second fastest player to scorer 25 Test centuries. He achieved the feat in 127 innings, behind Sir Donald Bradman's 68 innings. His 123-run innings was his sixth Test hundred on Australian soil, joining boyhood hero Sachin Tendulkar. "I have not seen a better player. I'm not disrespecting Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara or Ricky Ponting but across three formats of the game I have not seen anyone better," Vaughan wrote about Kohli in his column for Foxsports. "He has such high skill levels and an incredible mentality when it comes to dealing with the pressure of the chase. All that while dealing with a weight of expectation and adulation that only Sachin would have experienced." Vaughan also praised India's four-man pace attack. "The concern for Australia is that so far in this ...

Saxena puts Uttarakhand on top; Sikkim sniff win

Vineet Saxena missed out on a double century by 15 runs but his knock ensured Uttarakhand put up a massive 557 against Nagaland to keep them firmly in sight of a sixth win on the trot in their Ranji Trophy Plate Group fixture here Sunday. At the close of play on the penultimate day, Nagaland were 182/4 trailing by 168 runs with opener Sedezhalie Rupero (85), and middler-order batsman KB Pawan (46) putting up a valiant fight. Captain Rongsen Jonathan (23) and Abrar Kazi (7) were at the crease as the group leaders were six wickets shy of their sixth successive win. Opener Saxena was looking all set to score a double-hundred but Arbar Kazi trapped him LBW as he departed for 185 from 384 balls (19x4) earlier in the day. The hosts had added four runs to their overnight total of 371 when Saurabh Rawat (42) departed but No 9 Mayank Mishra struck a quickfire 58 in as many balls (5x4, 3x6) to prop their total. In Jorhat, Taruwar Kohli starred with both bat and ball, waging a lone battle for ...

UP Yoddha beat Patna Pirates 47-31 in PKL

UP Yoddha produced an impressive team effort to beat defending champions Patna Pirates 47-31 in a Pro Kabaddi Season 6 match here Sunday. UP Yoddha raiders led by Prashant Kumar Rai (10 points) were in fine form and tormented Patna defence throughout the match. Azad Singh, with 8 points, made a crucial contribution to UP Yoddha's win. It was a disappointing night for Pardeep Narwal who scored just two points. Manjeet top-scored for Patna Pirates with 10 points. Patna Pirates are still in contention for a place in the play-offs but will need massive improvement. UP Yoddha can also qualify for the play-offs. Patna Pirates were off to a strong start as Manjeet picked up three raid points to lead 4-0. UP Yoddha came back to level the match 4-4 in the fourth minute. The match was balanced for the first 10 minutes as both teams were tied at 9-9. The biggest surprise was how Pardeep Narwal could not get a single point in the first 15 minutes. Prashanth Kumar Rai made a successful raid as UP

Belgium crowned 2018 hockey World Cup champions (Third Lead)

Olympic silver medallists Belgium clinched their maiden World Cup title after beating three-time champions Netherlands in sudden death after the shootout in the pulsating gold medal match at the Kalinga Stadium here on Sunday.

Belgium beat Netherlands in sudden death to win maiden WC title

A gritty Belgium defeated former champions the Netherlands in sudden death in a thrilling summit clash to win their maiden men's hockey World Cup title at the Kalinga Stadium here on Sunday. Olympic silver medallist Belgium created history by eking out a 3-2 win in the penalty shoot-out after the final match of the game's showpiece event ended in a goalless draw. It was a great day for Belgium hockey as the country registered its second biggest international title after the Olympics silver in Rio in 2016. In the last edition of the World Cup at The Hague in Netherlands, Belgium had finished fifth. The Netherlands, on the other hand, failed to match Pakistan's record of a fourth world title for the second consecutive edition. The Dutch had finished runners-up to Australia four years ago in front of their home crowd. They last won a World Cup title way back in 1998 in Utrecht. Incidentally, it was the Netherlands' second consecutive match that went to shoot-out in the tournament after ..

Belgium win FIH Hockey World Cup

Olympic silver medallists Belgium edged past three-time champions Netherlands 0(3)-0(2) via sudden death to win the FIH Hockey World Cup title at the Kalinga Stadium here on Sunday.

Malaysian Olympic silver medallists quit national team

Two of Malaysia's top badminton shuttlers are quitting the national team, officials confirmed Sunday, less than a year before the Tokyo Olympics kicks off in July. World number six mixed doubles players Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying will be leaving the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) in January after the pair sent in their resignation letters last month. "After discussions with various stakeholders, BAM has accepted their resignation, effective 1 January 2019," a statement from the body read. It did not say why Chan, 30, and Goh, 29, who both took silvers at the Rio 2016 Summer Games, were quitting the national sports body. But association president Norza Zakaria told AFP that the duo, who've been playing together since 2008 according to local media, merely wanted to chart their own careers apart from the national body. "They wanted to become independent, so they thought that it was better for them to be outside to focus on their Olympic ambitions," he said. "It's a mutual ..

Afghanistan asks FIFA for evidence of abuse against women footballers

Afghanistan's attorney general on Sunday called on football's world governing body FIFA to share evidence about allegations of sexual and physical abuse against the women's national team. The request is part of an ongoing investigation into claims of abuse by male officials against players in Afghanistan's female football team, Jamshid Rasuli the attorney general spokesman told reporters in Kabul. "We officially ask FIFA to provide us with any evidence that may help the investigation," he said. FIFA on Wednesday suspended the president of the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) Keramuddin Karim for 90 days over allegations of sexual and physical abuse against the women's team. The move came days after the attorney general's office said it also suspended five officials, including the president of AFF, to facilitate the investigation into the case. Allegations were first reported in November by Britain's Guardian newspaper, which cited what it described as senior officials associated .

SPAL play 0-0 draw with Chievo Verona in Serie A

SPAL played a goalless tie with visiting Chievo Verona in a Serie A contest held at Stadio Paolo Mazza here on Sunday.

Gill claims INRC 2018 title

Mahindra Adventures Gaurav Gill was at his fast and furious best to annex his sixth MRF Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) title here on Sunday.