Page 845 - Sports

Live up to the hype, Southgate challenges England

England manager Gareth Southgate called on the Three Lions to live up to the expectation they have created in reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup and Nations League by delivering on home soil at Euro 2020. Wembley will host both semi-finals and final of a tournament spread across 12 countries in 18 months time and England will also be guaranteed home advantage for at least two of their three group games as long as they negotiate what appears a comfortable qualifying group alongside the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Kosovo. "We have high expectations over the next few years and adapting to that is probably key to our development as a team now," said Southgate after the qualifying draw in Dublin on Sunday. England will also learn their semi-final opponents for June's Nations League finals in the Irish capital on Monday. But despite the fanfare that has greeted Southgate and his side since they surpassed expectations to reach the last four in Russia, he is keen to keep .

Five meet records tumble at NIDJAM

Five meet records were created on the second day of the National Inter District Junior Athletics meet here on Sunday. New meet marks were set at the U-14 girls' shot put, U-16 boys' discus throw, U-16 girls' shot put, U-14 boys' high jump and U-14 boys' shot put events. Two athletes went past the old meet record in the boys U-16 discus throw competition. Mohammad Affan of Seoni, Madhya Pradesh threw the discus to 50.74m to erase the previous mark of 49.62m set by Abhey Gupta at the Haridwar edition of NIDJAM in 2014. Shyam Chaudhary of Mathura, Uttar Pradesh also threw further than the old mark but his effort of 50.29m was only enough to secure a silver medal. Ajay Sharma of Sonipat, Haryana claimed the bronze with a throw of 49.14m. Another two athletes also went past the old meet record in the girls' U-14 shot put competition. Bharti of Ambala, Haryana took the gold with a throw of 13.07m, beating the old mark of 11.28m set in 2014. Also going past that old mark was Vidhi Singh of ..

Defending champ set to conquer JK Tyre Hornbill Rally

The countrys top TSD rallyists are all set to race in the JK Tyre Hornbill Rally, with the defending champion Gagan Sethi promising another valiant attempt at the title on Monday.

Kapur finishes Tied sixth in Queen's Cup

Shiv Kapur finished as the best Indian golfer in the Queen's with a final round of 3-under 67, placing him Tied-sixth here Sunday. Five birdies against two bogeys saw him finish the week at 11-under 269 at the Queen's Cup hosted by Jaidee Foundation. Among other Indians, M Dharma (70) and Abhijit Chadha (68) were T-28, Rashid Khan (69) was T-38; Kshitij Naveed Kaul (70) and Honey Baisoya (66) were T-48 and Amardip Malik (78) had a sharp fall to T-62 after being in Top-10 first two days. Miguel Tabuena of the Philippines signed for a stunning four-under-par 66 in the final round to end a three-year title drought on the Asian Tour. The 24-year-old Filipino dug deep into his reserves to hold off the challenge from the fast-chasing field after he birdied four of his closing six holes to reign supreme on a 20-under-par 260 total at the Legacy Golf Club. "Overall, I can't complain, I think I played quite well, made a couple of bogeys where I shouldn't but that is going to happen to anyone. .

Sachin bats for India becoming a sports-playing nation

Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar Sunday said India is a sports-loving nation and also underlined the importance of it becoming a "sports-playing" country. The cricket icon inaugurated the 'Sparking the Future' initiative of DBS Bank at a TMC school in Mumbra area near here. Under the initiative, solar-powered flood-lights have been installed at the ground to enable the children to play the game in night. Addressing a large number of students, Tendulkar emphasised the need to make a change in life-style, so that the country becomes a healthy nation. "....and I will give another message here, as I have been always saying that India has to be young and fit. We are a young (nation)...when you see the average age of the nations, India is called the youngest nation. "But I don't think that India is the fittest nation or the healthiest nation, because if that had been the case we wouldn't have been the diabetes capital...we are the diabetic capital of the world, as far as ...

Honda India finish debut ARRC season on a high

Chennai rider Rajiv Sethu continued his impressive run to finish in top 15 as all the three riders of Honda Racing India team collected points in their debut season of the 2018 Asia Road Racing Championship here Sunday. Twenty-year-old Rajiv finished 15th in the race of the Asia Production 250cc class, while rookie Anish Shetty (2 points) ended 20th. In the high performance Super Sports 600cc class, Japanese rider Taiga Hada went full throttle to climb five spots to finish 12th and thus earning three points in final round race at the Chang International Circuit here. With 79 points won this season, Hada has pushed Honda Racing India into the top seven teams of the 2018 season. Hada himself is ranked 11th out of 34 riders in the 2018 SS600 championship. Compared to his 46th position in the overall AP 250 championship last year, Rajiv jumped 19 spots and won seven points for the first time in 2018. In SS600 class too, Hada has amassed 79 points for the India team. On a hot and sultry ...

Canada, South Africa play out 1-1 draw to stay alive in WC

Canada and South Africa played out a 1-1 draw in their second Pool C match to stay afloat in the men's hockey World Cup here on Sunday. It was a hard-fought battle with little separating the two teams. In the contest between world no 11. Canada and world no 15. South Africa, both teams fought hard in the opening two quarters and did not give each other an inch of advantage to remain goalless at half time. It was South Africa who took the lead in the 43rd minute through a fine reverse stick field goal by Nqobile Ntuli. But South Africa's joy was shortlived as Canada equalised two minutes later when they were awarded a penalty stroke and skipper Scott Tupper took the onus on himself to level the match. Thereafter, both Canada and South Africa pressed hard in search of the winner but they failed to breach the rival defence to eventually share the spoils. The result kept both the teams in the hunt for a place in the knock-out round. While Canada will play hosts India in their last pool ...

Priyanka, Nick pose for Bride vs Groom cricket match

Newly-wed Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas, who took the internet by storm with their many dreamy pictures from Mehendi ceremony, have yet again managed to steal the limelight with adorable pictures from the cricket match held between Team Groom and Team Bride.Taking to her official Instagram account, Priyanka posted a picture and video from the match wherein the couple can be seen posing in Bollywood style as Nick holds Priyanka in his arms.She also shared a two-second video of Nick hitting a sixer during the match.After keeping their wedding under tight wraps, the couple exchanged the vows at Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur in a Christian wedding ceremony on Saturday. They will continue their wedding weekend with a Hindu ceremony today.The couple began their wedding celebration with a puja at Priyanka's residence on Wednesday..

Must-win for misfiring Delhi Dynamos against Mumbai City FC

Still winless at the halfway stage of the Indian Super Leauge, Delhi Dynamos will look to lock their first full points from a match when they take on Mumbai City FC here on Monday. Delhi Dynamos are at the bottom of the ISL table with four points from their first nine matches. They are yet to win a single game and they have just four draws to show. Delhi Dynamos have shown plenty of promises in several games, but if they do not convert their dominance into wins, they can forget about qualifying for the play-offs. "We have an important game against a very good side, Mumbai City FC. It's match-day 10 and we still don't have a win. But I think we have been playing well in the last couple of games. I have a lot of respect for Mumbai but I hope that we can put a good performance and win the game," said Dynamos head coach Josep Gombau. The Lions do not have dearth of creativity but it is their finishing which has let them down. Gombau will hope that his side can get their act together and ..

ISL: Must-win for misfiring Delhi against Mumbai (Preview)

Delhi Dynamos FC are in a must-win situation when they face Mumbai City FC in an Indian Super League (ISL) match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Monday.

Bangladesh beat West Indies to complete historic Test series whitewash

Bangladesh beat West Indies by an innings and 184 runs here on Sunday to complete their first whitewash on home soil in a two-Test series.

Germany, Netherlands to meet in Euro 2020 qualifying as England given clement draw

Former champions Germany and the Netherlands will meet each in qualifying for Euro 2020 after being paired together in Sunday's draw in Dublin, but World Cup semi-finalists England will not complain about their group. The Germans were the most dangerous team outside the first pot of seeds for the competition, relegated due to poor recent results which included losing to the Dutch in the Nations League. Joachim Loew's side will also face Northern Ireland, who they met at the Euro 2016 finals, as well as Estonia and Belarus in Group C. The top two teams in each of the 10 groups will qualify for Euro 2020, which for the first time will be staged in 12 different venues across the continent. The semi-finals and final will be played at Wembley, handing England a major incentive to go on and win the competition, fresh from reaching the last four at this year's World Cup. Gareth Southgate's side will be happy with a draw which places them in Group A along with the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, ...

Mauritius Open: Chikka finishes career best tied 2nd

India's S Chikkarangappa achieved the most noteworthy result of his professional career with a tied second finish at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open on Sunday. America's Kurt Kityama won the event, carding 68 on the final day to end on a total score of 20 under 268. Despite having two bogeys, Kityama had a double birdie on the fourth hole and four more single birdies to earn a cool 158,000 euro. This was Chikka's best result at the European PGA tour event as he carded 67 on the final day to finish on an aggregate score of 18 under 270. He shared the second spot with Frenchman Matthieu Pavon. It was an incredible performance for the 25-year-old Indian as he stands to earn Euro 110,000 along with 222 points. "It's been the most important week of my career. A tied 2nd finish in an European PGA tour event. I also got my Asian Tour card. I couldn't have asked for more," an elated Chikka told PTI after the tournament got over. Starting the day at 13-under, Chikka had birdies on third and ...

Bengal players bag seven medals in Inter-School National TT meet

Bengals young table tennis players cornered as many as one gold, two silver and four bronze medals in the 4th Inter-School National Table Tennis Championship, here at the Abhay Prashal Sports Club on Sunday.

Lakshya, Ashmita clinch singles titles in Tata Open

Rising Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen avenged his defeat in last month's World Juniors final in style with a straight-game victory over Thailand's Kunlavat Vitidsarn to lift the men's singles title in the Tata Open India International Challenger here on Sunday. Sen, beaten in three games in the final by the Thai who was the defending champion in the world juniors in Canada last month, came out with all guns blazing to chalk out an impressive 21-15, 21-10 victory in just 35 minutes in a lop- sided final at the Cricket Club of India's courts. In the all-Indian women's singles final, qualifier Ashmita Chaliha outclassed her eighth-seeded opponent Vrushali Gummadi 21-16, 21-13 in half an hour to lift her first international crown. Left-handed Ashmita had dumped top seed Ksenia Polikarpova of Israel and fourth seed Chananchida Jucharoen of Thailand on way to the summit contest in which she blew away Vrushali with her speed and aggression. The men's final was a grudge match and .

Dhankar, Khatri emerge national champions; Punia takes bronze

Seasoned Amit Dhankar showed that he still has enough left in his tank by emerging champion in the 74kg but the next Bajrang Punia or a Sushil Kumar was not in sight as Tata Motors Senior National Wrestling Championship concluded here Sunday. Dhankar, former Asian and Commonwealth Champion, mixed his aggressive tactics with solid defence enroute to his seventh National title in the men's freesstyle competition. While he stood out with his leg attack till the final, the gold medal bout against SSCB's Vinod was all about defence as he won 5-1. Someone whose international career never took off due to presence of Olympic medallist Yogeshwar Dutt in his category. Dhankar still is competing in a category which is owned by two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, who skipped the Nationals. Dhankar said he feels ready to replace Sushil. "I have lot of faith in my defence. I could not do that well in the final. I have beaten him a lot of times but I could not attack. Nevertheless, I am happy ..

Unperturbed by injuries, Honda rider Rajiv hopes to make it big in two-wheel racing

From a broken knee to a dislocated hip, Rajiv Sethu has suffered severe injuries on the circuit but each wound has strengthened the Honda rider's resolve to reach the pinnacle of two-wheel racing. The Chennai rider, who represents Idemitsu Honda Racing India by T Pro Ten10, became the first Indian to race in the Asia Production 250cc Class of the Asian Road Racing Championship in 2017. He had an impressive outing at the 2018 Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC)final in Chang International Circuit here, finishing 13th in race one and thereby claiming his first international points in the AP 250cc class. Inspired by his elder brother S Sivanesan who rides for TVS, the 21-year-old's career started off with a disaster. He broke his wrist in his maiden race in 2014. "It was just the beginning as in last two years I've had injuries to my knee, wrists shoulder, and a hip dislocation that had kept me out for nearly two months. But every time I come out stronger," Rajiv told PTI on the ...

We lacked mad dogs on the pitch but showed grit: Mourinho

Manchester United lacked "mad dogs" on the pitch, rued manager Jose Mourinho but said at the same time that the players showed grit in staging another fight-back to salvage a 2-2 draw against Southampton.

J-K: Boost in football facilities to ignite passion among youth

In the backdrop of rising popularity of football in the Valley and players' interest in sweating out the game, the local authorities of Jammu and Kashmir are focusing on improving soccer facilities in the state.The TRC football ground in Srinagar, which also hosts I-League matches, is getting a complete makeover as new dressing rooms, rest rooms, changing rooms and lavatories are being constructed in a full swing to extend full facility to local and national players.Sarmad Hafeez, Commissioner Secretary of J&K Youth Sports & Services, said that they are aiming to make the stadium well-equipped to hold international football matches. He also expressed the desire to take these developmental activities to the grassroot levels.Speaking to ANI, Hafeez said: "We have all kind of facilities that are required for conducting an international football game. For teams, there are change rooms, locker rooms and rest rooms. We have created facilities for the public as well. Gender-based ...

Leganes ends long road skid with win over Valladolid

CD Leganes ended a 13-month winless skid away from home in La Liga by defeating Real Valladolid 4-2 at Jose Zorrilla stadium.