Page 803 - Sports
West Indies hope to end series drought in decider against Bangladesh
West Indies captain Rovman Powell said Thursday his men were "upbeat and confident" of clinching the deciding one-day international against Bangladesh and sealing their first series win in four years. The touring side won Tuesday's match in Dhaka by four wickets after losing the opener, levelling the three-match contest 1-1 and setting the stage for a series decider in Sylhet on Friday. The Caribbean side last won an ODI series in 2014 at home against Bangladesh and are desperate to end the drought. Since then, they have capitulated in 11 series, managing their best result with a draw against minnows Afghanistan last year. "It is on the tip of everyone's tongue. West Indies haven't won an ODI series for quite some time. This is a grand opportunity to change it," Powell told reporters in Sylhet on Thursday. "The guys are upbeat and confident of doing it tomorrow." They came close to defeating Bangladesh in July on home soil, suffering a 2-1 loss. In October, they went down to India ...
Bengaluru a goal too good for ATK
Coming off back-to-back draws, Bengaluru FC returned to winning ways in the Hero Indian Super League with a solitary goal victory against ATK at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here Thursday. It was Erik Paartalu, who scored the winner when these sides met in Kolkata earlier this season, and the Australian midfielder proved to be their nemesis yet again. A 37th-minute header from the Aussie separated the teams and gave the hosts their eighth win of the season. Bengaluru extended their lead at the top of the table to six points ahead of the international break and preserved their unbeaten start to the season, while ATK remain sixth with 11 points from 12 matches and without a win in six matches. The teams started with urgency that resulted in openings at both ends. Kean Lewis dribbled past Ankit Mukherjee and crossed for Sunil Chhetri in the box but the India international shot wide. Within minutes, Ricky Lallawmawma found Jayesh Rane's run into the box from the left flank and the Indian ..
Telugu Titans beat holders Patna Pirates
Telugu Titans ended their home leg of Vivo Pro Kabaddi League Season 6 in style, beating defending champions Patna Pirates 41-36 here Thursday. Rahul Chaudhari, who became the second man to reach the 800-raid point mark in Pro Kabaddi, led the Titans' charge with 13 points. Nilesh Salunke supported Chaudhari well and scored 9 raid points. Pardeep Narwal had a slow first half yet top scored for the Patna Pirates with 12 points. Both Patna Pirates and Telugu Titans remain in contention for a place in the playoffs. Telugu Titans got off to a dream start as Nilesh Salunke made a super raid and took out four Patna players in the second minute. Vijay made a two-point raid in the third minute as Patna Pirates trailed 2-6. In the fourth minute Telugu Titans inflicted an all out to lead 11-5. Patna's star raider Pardeep Narwal was struggling to get points on board and that reflected in Patna's performance. It was the Pirates' defence that kept them in the first half. They trailed 11-19 after ..
Services pugilists stamp authority, women march ahead
Services' pugilists stamped their authority in the first round while the fancied women marched ahead on the second day of the Junior National Boxing Championships here on Thursday. SSBC's Vishwamitra, the silver medal winner at the Nations Cup held in Serbia, won his opening bout against Madan Pratap Anakapalli from Andhra with a 5:0 verdict to register his presence in 48 kg, while A Naoba Singh, teammate of Vishwamitra, a bronze medallist at the same event in Serbia, defeated Aditya Gaut from Maharashtra 3:2 in what was the best bout of the morning in the 52 kg weight class. In middleweight (75 kg), Lakhmani from SSCB, a silver medal winner at the Nation's Cup earlier this year, won his first bout against Abhimanyu Singh of Rajasthan when the referee stopped the contest in the second round. As for the women's bouts, there were as many as nine RSC verdicts with half a dozen clear decisions on points telling the story of one-sided contests among the 32 bouts in categories between 48 kg
India sweeps Asian boxing Confederation's online poll
India dominated the Asian Boxing Confederation's online poll to pick the Best of Asians for 2018 with as many as six from the country taking the top positions. The online poll saw a record number of votes being polled with Boxing Federation of India (BFI) figuring among the top three federations in the continent along with Uzbekistan and Thailand for their overall performances in the year. Commonwealth gold medallist, Gaurav Solanki (52kg) was adjudged the best find of the year in the Asian Discovery of the Year category with 39.35 percent voting. He had qualified for the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games at the age of 17 and the Indian who showed progress in flyweight (52kg) boxer winning title at the Chemistry Cup in Germany in June had defeated top-ranked Cuban and Russian. Indian youth pugilists Sakshi Choudhary, was adjudicated as the best Asian Women's Youth Boxer in 57kg, winning 67.36 percent votes and compatriot Nitu Ghanghas, coming second after she received 13.44 percent ...
2018 INRC overall champion set to be crowned at Popular Rally
The 2018 Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) is set for an exciting winner-takes-all finish, with Keralas iconic Popular Rally, the fifth and final round of the championship, emerging as the stage for the grand showdown.
India's World Cup dream over with 1-2 defeat against Netherlands
India let history slip out of its hands with a heartbreaking quarterfinal defeat against the Netherlands in the men's hockey World Cup, a result which left the young players of the team crying on the pitch. A well-oiled Indian unit had raised the hopes of making the semifinals for the first time since 1975 but the Dutch side broke a million hearts by coming from behind to knock out the hosts 2-1 in the last-eight clash. Young players such as Dilpreet Singh left the pitch with tears in their eyes. India took the lead in the 12th minute through Akashdeep Singh before Thierry Brinkman drew parity for Netherlands five seconds before the end of the first quarter. After a hard-fought third quarter, Netherlands scored the winner in the 50th minute when Mink van der Weerden converted a penalty corner. The defeat ended India's long cherished dream of lifting the trophy only for the second time after its lone triumph in 1975 at Kuala Lumpur. It was a momentous occasion for India to rewrite ...
Malleswari says weightlifter Mirabai best in her category
Former Olympic medallist weightlifter Karnam Malleswari Thursday heaped praise on Mirabai Chanu and expressed hope the Manipuri athlete would do well at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Malleswari said Chanu is the best weightlifter in her category. Chanu had won gold in the 48-kg category at the 2018 Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast, Australia. "Comparison between Mirabai Chanu and me is not possible since we both were in different weight categories. Performance-wise, she is the best in her category. "Recently she performed really well in the Commonwealth Games, winning gold and after 24 years, and she became the world champion after me. "So there is no doubt that she has done well. I pray to God that she does well and is fit for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympics," Malleswari told reporters here. Malleswari, the first Indian woman to win an Olympic individual medal, spoke on the sidelines of The Times of India Global Sports and Business Show here. The former weightlifter, ...
Green top will aid India more than Australia: Michael Vaughan
Former England captain Michael Vaughan has predicted that the fast and bounce wicket here will actually help Indian fast bowlers who are in form and not the Australians, contrary to popular opinion.
Bayern's forward Muller apologises to Tagliafico
Bayern Munich's forward and captain Thomas Muller on Thursday apologised to Ajax defender Nicolas Tagliafico following a kick to the head during the two teams' 3-3 UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Amsterdam.
Cricket playing nations should make match-fixing criminal offence: David Richardson
International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive officer David Richardson is of the view that match-fixing should be made a criminal offence by the governments of all the cricket playing nations.Richardson said that they are actively trying to disrupt these criminal activities, adding that the education programmes they have set up in this regard are working really well for them."The ACSU (ICC's anti-corruption unit) is trying to be much more proactive in first of all disrupting these criminals who are travelling the world trying to corrupt the game. We are persuading governments to introduce legislation that can make attempts to fix cricket matches a criminal offence and put these people behind bars," ESPNcricinfo quoted Richardson, as saying."We are also getting much better intelligence on who these people are and we have been able to do that only because more players are reporting the approaches to us," Richardson said. "The education programmes we have put in place have worked ..
21st Usha National Athletics meet for Blind concludes
The 21st Usha National Athletics Sports Championship for the Blind ended with a prize distribution ceremony at Thyagaraj Stadium here on Thursday.
Belgium players, coach credit disciplined approach for beating Germany
Having stormed into the semi-finals by beating title contenders Germany here on Thursday, the Belgium players and coach said their disciplined approach helped them beat a tough opponent in the quarter-finals.
My friend Ryan inspired me to win gold at 1988 Olympics: Louganis
After being hit on the head in the 3m springboard event in the preliminaries of the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, legendary American diver Greg Louganis took inspiration from his friend Ryan White to come back the next day and win the gold medal.
Belgium surpass German hurdle to reach Hockey WC semi-final
In a grueling contest, world number three Belgium get past two-time champions Germany 2-1 to advance into the semi-final of the ongoing men's Hockey World Cup here at the Kalinga Stadium on Thursday.The match, which saw both the European countries engaged in a cut to cut battle, tilted towards Belgium when their striker Tom Boon gave his side a lead in the 50th minute of the match. The goal, though scrappy in nature, was an important one as it changed the narrative of the game.The hero of the match, however, was Belgian defender Arthur Van Doren who made some exceptional contribution on the field to keep the German strikers at bay.Interestingly, it was Germany who had made an aggressive start to the game. With some of the best strikers in their line-up, their attacking mindset on the field did not come as a surprise. Belgium, on the flip side, were visibly struggling to put forward a meaningful attack.Germany put initial pressure on Belgium with a goal in the very first quarter of the
Aizawl travel to Barabati to take on Indian Arrows
Former champions Aizawl FC travel to Cuttack's Barabati stadium to take on Indian Arrows in the I-League on Friday. In what will be a bottom-of-the table clash, Aizawl go into the game lying ninth on the table with five points from eight games while Arrows bring up the rear with just one win and five losses in the six matches. Both teams will be eyeing a win, albeit for completely different reasons. For the side from Mizoram, this will be the end of a near two-week journey on the road traversing the length and breadth of the country, made more arduous by two deflating back-to-back defeats. Coach Gift Raikhan will need to point to the team's goal-scoring prowess to inspire his players for one major push towards securing a win before they head back to the comforts of home, where their next three games are lined-up over a period of next 30 days. Indian Arrows coach Floyd Pinto, on the other hand, will know that his side despite being bottom placed has not quite been blown over or ...
Davis Cup: This is our best chance to beat Italy, says Bhupathi
Davis Cup non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi on Thursday said this will be India's best chance to beat Italy in the qualifiers for the finals as they are playing on grass.
INRC overall champion set to be coronated at Popular Rally
The 2018 MRF Indian National Rally Championship is set for an exciting winner-takes-all finish, with Kerala's iconic Popular Rally, the fifth and final round of the championship, emerging as the stage for the grand showdown. Mahindra Adventure's two-time INRC champion Amittrajit Ghosh comes into the last round with the highest points (79) but will still start behind his teammate and three-time APRC champion Gaurav Gill due to the N-1 rule. Gill, in fact, will not only begin on pole position but also as the favourite, given his aggressive style of driving. He has 62 points while Ghosh, with 61 points after the N-1 factor, will be right in his tail. Ghosh, the European Rally Championship driver, will also fancy his chances, especially two very good rounds in the INRC. Both will, however, be wary of Arka Motorsports' Karna Kadur, who is not too far behind with 55 points after the N-1 factor. The former INRC champion is competing in the INRC 2 category but has shown the speed and desire ..
Hockey is almost dead in Pakistan: AHF CEO Ikram
Asian Hockey Federation CEO Tayyab Ikram on Thursday lamented demise of hockey in Pakistan and feared that the prevailing political and security situation will make the game's revival very difficult. Ikram, a Pakistani national who now resides in Hong Kong, said due to lack of international exposure hockey has no takers in the troubled nation. "Pakistan is a completely different case, at this stage. Bringing young generation into hockey from a national point of view, it always has to do something with what glamour is left in the sport. It was the case when Pakistan was winning all the World Cups, Champions Trophy together with India. There was glamour then, there was interest, he said. "Pakistan why I say is a different case because of political and security situation at this stage. The sport in Pakistan is almost dead. The people of Pakistan are waiting to see international hockey in Pakistan, Ikram said on the sidelines of the men's hockey World Cup here. Ikram said Pakistan is one .
Diving legend says HIV-contracted friend inspired him to Olympic gold
Legendary American diver Greg Louganis Thursday revealed that his HIV-contracted friend, Ryan White, inspired him to win gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics despite being hit on his head. The gay Olympic diving champion Louganis, who was diagnosed wtih HIV six months prior to the Games, won the springboard and platform events for the second time after 1984. But this almost did not happen as in the preliminaries for the 3m springboard event, Louganis hit his head on the ninth dive on the springboard, suffered a concussion and had to receive multiple stitches. "I wondered what Ryan would do in that situation. He decided that Ryan wouldn't give up, which gave me strength to continue," Louganis, who is the International ambassador of the TSK 25K run, said here. Louganis went on to complete the best dive of the competition and won the gold medal the next day. "The thing I'll always remember about Ryan is his courage, strength, and sense of humor...The way Ryan lived his life continues to