Page 798 - Sports

World Tour Finals: Sindhu books semis berth

Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu reached the semi-final of the ongoing World Tour Finals after defeating Beiwen Zhang of the United States in the women's singles event here on Friday.The 23-year-old registered a dominating 21-9, 21-15 victory over her American opponent in the quarters clash, which lasted 35 minutes.Having entered the quarters round after defeating world number one shuttler Tai Tzu Ying in their Group stage match, the match against Zhang turned out to be a cakewalk for the Indian shuttler. The opening game started off with the American player taking a 4-0 lead but once Sindhu gets hold of her game, she exuded sheer class and dominated the match.A calm attitude, pure aggression, and three quick points, in the end, was all she needed to seal the first game 21-9.In the second game, Sindhu picked up from where she left. Having established a big five-point lead in the initial minutes, the Rio Olympics silver-medallist maintained it throughout the game. She kept on collecting ..

Federer, Nadal to reunite at Laver Cup

Twenty-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer and Spanish tennis ace Rafael Nadal will come together as teammates for the upcoming third edition of the Laver Cup.The two players were seen joining forces in the opening edition of the tournament in 2017, where they played as doubles partners for the very first time. Delighting visuals of Nadal running towards Federer and embracing him with a warm hug after the latter secured victory for Team Europe are still fresh in the minds of the fans. The idea is to recreate the buzz.Team Europe captain Bjorn Borg is elated over the confirmation and is looking forward to defending the title for the third time in a row."It doesn't get much better for a captain than naming both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the Laver Cup in Geneva. Bringing together two of the greatest players, and rivals, the sport has ever seen, together on one team is very exciting for our sport - and will give us the best possible chance to win the Laver Cup three years in a

Success in La Liga increases self-criticism, says Atletico Madrid coach

Atletico Madrid's head coach Diego Simeone said on Friday that holding the second spot in La Liga standings requires more work from him and his players, adding that he is critical most of himself.

Atletico's Juanfran cleared for playing in Valladolid clash

Atletico Madrid on Friday said that Spanish defender Juanfran Torres is fit and is ready to take part in Saturday's clash against Valladolid.

PKL: Jaipur register comprehensive win over Puneri Paltan

Jaipur Pink Panthers registered a comprehensive win as they beat Puneri Paltan 36-23 in Pro Kabaddi League here on Friday.

Jaipur Pink Panthers beat Puneri Paltan 36-23

Jaipur Pink Panthers began their home leg with a comprehensive win as they beat Puneri Paltan 36-23 in the Vivo Pro Kabaddi here Friday. Deepak Hooda, with eight raid points, and Sunil Siddhgavale, with eight tackle points, were the heroes of the match for Jaipur. Puneri Paltan lost their way after the first 10 minutes of the match. GB More top-scored for Pune with five raid points. Jaipur Pink Panthers still have an outside chance of making it to the playoffs while Puneri Paltan are not in contention. The first five minutes of the match were evenly contested with both teams trading raid and tackle points. Ajinkya Pawar made a successful raid in the 6th minute to give Jaipur Pink Panthers 5-4 lead. Deepak Hooda made a two-point raid in the 10thminute as Jaipur led 9-7. From that point Jaipur Pink Panthers never looked back and left Puneri Paltan behind. An all out was inflicted by Jaipur as they led 12-7 and looked in rampant form. In the next 10 minutes they allowed Puneri Paltan to .

Honda riders Rajiv and Anish grab double pole positions

Honda riders Rajiv Sethu and Anish Shetty secured pole positions in both Super Sport 165cc class and Pro Stock 165cc class on Friday in the last leg of Indian National Motorcycle Championship and IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup here. In Super Sport 165cc class, fresh from scoring his maiden point in Asia Road Racing Championship, Rajiv secured pole start in the qualifying round with his best lap time of 1:54.906. Sarath Kumar qualified at 5th position. Unfortunately, Mathana Kumar crashed in the qualifying. The Honda Ten10 racing team holds 246 points in Super Sport 165cc so far. In Pro-Stock 165cc, Anish secured pole start with a best lap time of 1:50.630. Backing the team with sturdy performance, Honda's Senthil Kumar qualified at 4th position with the lap time of 2:00.266 and Mithun Kumar qualified at 8th. It was a neck to neck race today as the top 10 riders lapped back home with a very close timing, making Saturday's race even more interesting. With a total of 281 points and 150 .

Honda rider Rajiv Sethu grabs pole

: Rajiv Sethu of Honda Ten10 Racing Friday snatched pole position in the premier Super Sport 165cc category with a flying lap of 01:54.906 in the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the MMRT at nearby Sriperumbudur. Sethu, lying a distant third in the championship behind the TVS Racing duo of leader Jagan Kumar and second-placed Ahamed Arif, put in three laps in the 10-minute qualifying session as he scorched the track, displaying impressive pace. Jagan (01:55.231) qualified second ahead of Ahamed (01:55.951) for tomorrows Race-1 of the double-header. Also grabbing pole position was Prabhu Arunagiri of Team Alisha Abdullah with a lap of01:53.872in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc category, where he is third on the leaderboard for this class with 114 points. Championship leader Satyanarayana Raju of Gusto Racing (119 points) qualified third behind Sparks Racings Rahil Pillarishetty (66). In the girls section, leader Ann Jennifer of

Manipur's Bidyapati stuns Amisha in junior boxing national

Manipur's N Bidyapati stunned Amisha Kumar Bharti of Assam in the second round of Junior National Boxing Championships here Friday. In the 50kg bout of the day, the Assam pugilist began as a favourite in the afternoon against lesser-known Manipuri only to fade away as Bidyapati won 4:1 in what was a major upset so far. The Manipuri boxer was all over her Assamese opponent and landing her combination punches impressed one and all which culminated in her winning the bout on spit decisions. Amisha, who had won a silver medal at Silesian Cup in Poland, couldn't bring her best as Bidyapti emerged winners with judges' verdicts favouring her. Later in the afternoon, Aashreya Naik proved her superiority over Punjab's Jashanpreet Kaur, beating her 5:0 in the 60 kg class. The Goan boxer with good international exposure under her belt she had won a silver medal at the Selesian Cup in Poland it became easy against her Punjab rival. But for this remarkable bout in women's boxing, the other ...

'Trophies matter', says Mourinho ahead of Man Utd-Liverpool clash

Jose Mourinho says success is best measured in trophies as he prepares to take his injury-hit Manchester United squad to high-flying Liverpool on Sunday. Liverpool are top of the Premier League before the weekend round of matches but have yet to win a trophy under the management of Jurgen Klopp, who has been in charge since October 2015. The 18-times English champions have won just one prize in the past 12 years -- the League Cup under Kenny Dalglish in 2012 -- despite featuring in two European finals. Mourinho won the Europa League and FA Cup in his first season at Old Trafford but ended last season empty-handed and his team are lagging 16 points behind Klopp's side in this season's title race. "I think trophies matter, yeah," said Mourinho. "I think it matters, especially when you have the potential to fight for trophies and when you clearly say the objective is to win the trophies. "I think sometimes just to say it is not very intelligent. But when you have the potential you have ..

AC Milan risk Euro ban over FFP breaches: UEFA

AC Milan risk being excluded from European competition in the coming seasons if the club fails to "break even" after falling foul of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations, UEFA announced Friday. The Serie A giants are one of several clubs to have been investigated for breaching UEFA's rules -- which state clubs can not spend more than they generate by their own means. After winning an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) earlier this year, following a UEFA ban from the Europa League due to breaching FFP regulations, Milan crashed out of the competition on Thursday after a 3-1 defeat at Olympiakos. UEFA said Friday the former seven-time European champions again face suspension from continental competition in future seasons "should the club not be break-even compliant at 30 June 2021". A UEFA statement added: "Accordingly, should the club not be break-even compliant at 30 June 2021, it will be excluded from participating in the next UEFA club competition for which it would

Real Madrid get ready for La Liga clash vs Rayo Vallecano

Real Madrid held a training session on Friday, wrapping up preparations for the club's final La Liga game of the year against Rayo Vallecano.

Chelsea pledge action after anti-Semitic chants

Chelsea have promised to take the "strongest possible action" against any supporters found to have sung an anti-Semitic chant in Budapest, just days after four fans were suspended for abusing Raheem Sterling. Minutes into Thursday's Europa League clash with Vidi in Budapest's Groupama Arena, which ended 2-2, a vocal minority of Chelsea fans were heard singing a derogatory chant about Tottenham supporters, featuring anti-Semitic language. Chelsea in January launched a campaign to raise awareness and educate fans about anti-Semitism in football and the club, including owner Roman Abramovich, who is Jewish, have expressed disgust at the latest incident. "Anti-Semitism and any other kind of race-related or religious hatred is abhorrent to this club and the overwhelming majority of our fans," said a Chelsea spokesman. "It has no place at Chelsea or in any of our communities. "We have stated this loud and clear on many occasions from the owner, the board, coaches and players. "Any ...

Bangladesh cruise to series win over Windies

Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar slammed half-centuries as Bangladesh cruised to an eight-wicket win over the West Indies in the third and final one-day international to take the three-match series 2-1 on Friday. Tamim hit an unbeaten 81 in the northeastern city of Sylhet while Soumya added 80 off 81 balls to guide Bangladesh to 202-2 in 38.3 overs after Mehidy Hasan's career best 4-29 helped the home side restrict the West Indies to 198-8 in 50 overs. Shai Hope fought a lone battle for the tourists, scoring his second successive hundred of the series but it was in vain as no other batsman provided support. Fresh from an unbeaten 146 off 144 balls in the previous match, Hope struck another unconquered knock of 108 off 131 to prop up the visitors, taking his tally in the series to 297 runs. Bangladesh made a steady response, with Tamim and Liton Das hitting 45 runs for the opening wicket before Liton offered a catch to Rovman Powell at mid-on off Keemo Paul. Soumya and Tamim denied the ...

Aguero, De Bruyne close to Man City return, says Guardiola

Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne are both on the verge of a return to action for Manchester City as a busy December programme gathers pace, manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday. Aguero, City's leading scorer, has missed their past four matches with a groin problem but has been able to train without discomfort and could face Everton at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. Belgium midfielder De Bruyne suffered ligament damage to his right knee in August and although he returned in October, he then injured his left knee during the League Cup win over Fulham on November 1. He too has resumed full training and Guardiola will assess both players in the hope that his lengthy casualty list might be about to ease. The City boss said he was down to 15 fit senior players for Wednesday's 2-1 Champions League victory over Hoffenheim, and remains without a significant chunk of his squad. Playmaker David Silva, full-back Benjamin Mendy and goalkeeper Claudio Bravo are longer-term absentees, while ...

Kothari confident about cue sports' inclusion in 2024 Olympics

Newly-crowned world billiards champion Sourav Kothari Friday hoped that cue sport's bid to be included in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris is successful. The World Confederation of Billiards Sports -- the body representing snooker, billiards and carom -- is making a bid for Olympic recognition. The WCBS hopes the combined cue sports bid is in a significantly stronger position than the snooker one which failed for the Tokyo 2020 Games. "Snooker is massively popular in Europe and in many parts of the world and it should be included in Olympics," Kothari said here. He hoped the inclusion in the quadrennial extravaganza will help them get more recognition in a country obsessed with the Olympics. "We are performing all the time but out country has an obsession with Olympic sports. Everywhere, whatever platform you go to, there are pushed in front," he said. He urged other associations to take a cue from the Indian Cricket Board. "What BCCI has done for cricket is amazing. You cannot blame ..

I-League: Indian Arrows, Aizawl play goalless draw

The match between the AIFF developmental side Indian Arrows and former Champions Aizawl FC ended in a goalless tie with both the teams sharing a point each in the I-League here on Friday.

World champion Kothari puts weight behind cue sports' Olympic bid

World Billiards champion Sourav Kothari on Friday put his weight behind the World Confederation of Billiards Sports (WCBS) in their bid to be part of the Paris 2024 Olympic Sports programme, saying the sport is massively popular across the globe and deserves to be part of the quadrennial extravaganza.

India bowled a little bit short, Australia pacers could benefit: Border

Former skipper Allan Border feels the Australian pace battery will have the advantage of learning from the mistakes of Indian seamers, who bowled a "little bit short" on the opening day of second Test here Friday. India struck three times in the second and third sessions to restrict Australia to 277 for six at stumps. "Given the amount of deliveries that went past the outside edge India will feel they could have had a better day. They bowled well but if I'm being supercritical they were a little bit short," he wrote in a column for Foxsports. "With so many balls passing the outside edge you've got to err on the fuller side. You may occasionally get hit down the ground but any ball that moves off the seam is good chance of catching the edge. "The good news for Australia is their bowlers will have learned from what worked and what didn't, and when it is their turn to bowl they will be confident. There were just enough balls bouncing awkwardly or moving off the seam to encourage ...

Ashwin injury could unsettle India: Hussey

Former Australia batsman Michael Hussey believes the loss of star off-spinner R Ashwin to injury could unsettle India and may prove to be a big blow to the visitors' hopes of securing victory in the second Test here. Ashwin, who took six wickets in the first Test at Adelaide Oval, was ruled out of the second Test due to a left abdominal strain. "It'll definitely throw the team balance out quite a lot I would have thought," Hussey, who played 79 Tests for Australia during his career, was quoted as saying in cricket.com.au. "You could tell quite clearly in Adelaide they liked to use the spinner - much like Australia really - to bowl a lot of overs from one end and then rotate the faster men from the other end." Ashwin had returned figures of 6 for 149 from 86.5 overs in India's 31-run win over Australia in Adelaide. In Ashwin's absence, India went for a four-pronged pace attack in the second Test -- only for the third time in their Test history. After the opening day of the second ...