Page 868 - Sports
Kalinga Sena withdraws threat against SRK
A local outfit which had threatened to throw ink at actor Shah Rukh Khan during his proposed visit here for the inaugural of Mens Hockey World Cup here on November 27, announced on Monday to withdraw its agitation. A meeting of Kalinga Sena activists and functionaries held on Monday resolved to withdraw for the time being the agitation against Khan keeping in view the state and the country's image during an international event like the Men's Hockey World Cup. "We have decided to withdraw the agitation for the time being in view of the request made by Hockey India president Mohammed Mushtaque Ahmad and the state government," Kalinga Sena chief Hemant Rath told PTI. Hockey India president Mohammed Mushtaque Ahmad had through an e-mail to the outfit appealed to withdraw its threat of throwing ink at the Bollywood hero during his visit to the state. Khan is scheduled to attend the inagural ceremoney at Kalinga Stadium Tuesday. Ahmad in his letter had also said that Khan is .
ICC bids for inclusion of women's T20 cricket in 2022 CWG
Reiterating its commitment to globalising the game, the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday confirmed its submission of a bid for inclusion of womens T20 cricket in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Finch should open Australia's innings in Test series against India: Ponting
Limited overs skipper Aaron Finch should open the batting along with uncapped Marcus Harris for Australia in the upcoming four-Test series against India, feels former captain Ricky Ponting. India will take on Australia in the opening Test starting at Adelaide on December 6 and Ponting said on Monday that Usman Khawaja would do well at No.3. "He's (Finch) had a lot of success around the world opening the batting in T20s and one day internationals - if he can go in with a similar mindset and not worry too much about opening the batting in a Test match in Australia against the red ball, I'm sure he'll have some success," Ponting was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au. Finch is set to bat down the order for Victoria in a Shield match from Tuesday as both Victoria captain Handscomb and coach Andrew McDonald have hinted not to break their incumbent opening partnership of Harris and Travis Dean. However, Ponting said Victoria should allow Finch to open the batting for the Shield ...
Mithali, Harmanpreet meet CEO Johri, GM Karim separately, Powar summoned on Wednesday
The Indian women's T20 captain Harmanpreet Kaur and ODI skipper Mithali Raj met top BCCI officials on Monday to air their views on the selection call that has triggered a storm after the team's World T20 semi-final loss to England. Mithali was left out of the team despite being fit and Kaur had gone on to justify the call even after the humiliating eight-wicket loss on Sunday. Both the senior players along with manager Trupti Bhattacharya met BCCI CEO Rahul Johri and GM (Cricket Operations) Saba Karim. "Yes, we (Johri and Karim) met Mithali, Harman and manager Trupti Bhattacharya. All of them met us separately and put across their viewpoints. We have noted everything down," Johri told PTI. However, he refused to divulge the details of the meeting. "Please don't ask me what has been discussed during the meeting," Johri said. It is expected that Johri and Karim will present a detailed report to the CoA which will then assess and, if required, speak to the individuals concerned. There is
Klopp praises Firmino as Brazilian ends goal drought
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has praised "unbelievably valuable" Roberto Firmino after the Brazil forward ended his two-month Premier League goal drought in the 3-0 victory against Watford. He also had a hand in Mohamed Salah's opener on Saturday and won the free-kick for Trent Alexander-Arnold to make it 2-0. Firmino, who is playing a deeper role, has just six goals for club and country this season -- and only two in his past 15 outings -- but Klopp is in no doubt about the player's quality. "In the game against Fulham, 20 German coaches were in the stadium," said Klopp. "I'm not sure how the critics were but when I saw them and we had a drink together, they were saying 'Bobby Firmino. What a player.' "Because of the small things he's doing, he's working so hard, he's here, he's there, he's got six goals but he opens 5,000 gaps for everybody." "He's doing the job," added Klopp. "That makes him so unbelievably valuable for us. I'm really happy for him." Unbeaten Liverpool have a ...
England claim landmark Test series sweep in Sri Lanka
Skipper Joe Root hailed England's "complete team-effort" Monday after his team sealed a tense victory over Sri Lanka in the third and final Test to record their first overseas series sweep in 55 years. In the face of stubborn Sri Lankan resistance, spinners Jack Leach and Moeen Ali took four wickets each to set up the 42 run win inside four days in Colombo. Needing 327 for an unlikely victory, Sri Lanka reached 284. Leach trapped captain Suranga Lakmal lbw for 11 to trigger celebrations for England who have not won all the games in an overseas series of three or more Tests since Ted Dexter's side won 3-0 in New Zealand in 1963. It was the third time Sri Lanka have been whitewashed at home after India last year and Australia in 2004. The third Test highlighted England's pool of talent with Leach coming in as the third spinner with Ali and Adil Rashid, and Ben Foakes taking the wicketkeeper's gloves but also scoring big runs. "That's been a big secret in our success -- being able to ...
Bayern no longer talking about 7th straight Bundesliga title
No one at Bayern Munich is talking about a seventh consecutive Bundesliga title anymore. The club is back in crisis with coach Niko Kovac likely to pay the price for the team's failure to reinforce the squad in the offseason. Bayern's 3-3 draw against relegation-threatened Fortuna Duesseldorf has left the defending champions nine points behind Borussia Dortmund after 12 matches. It was Bayern's fourth consecutive league game at home without a win, prompting Germany forward Thomas Mueller to note: "I never experienced that before." It is, indeed, a record for the club. The 47-year-old Kovac is in trouble in his first spell in charge of a major club. Kovac previously enjoyed success with Eintracht Frankfurt, helping the side beat Bayern in the German Cup final last May, but he is struggling to get his current team playing as cohesively as his former. It doesn't help that Frankfurt is now two points ahead of Bayern, which is languishing in fifth place. The last time Bayern was nine ...
Kuldeep, Zampa vault into top five in T20I rankings
India's left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav made the most significant gains and entered the top five for the first time in the latest ICC men's T20 International player rankings. Yadav, who took four wickets across the three Twenty20 Internationals against Australia, moved up a whopping 20 places to No.3. Adam Zampa, the Australia leg-spinner, made a 17-spot leap to No.5 after picking three wickets against India across two innings, including a match-winning spell of 2/22 in the first match. And with Australia quicks Billy Stanlake and Andrew Tye slipping five places to No.14 and eight places to No.18 respectively, the top 10 bowlers' list now features nine spinners Pakistan's Faheem Ashraf the lone quick among the top names. Krunal Pandya, who claimed a stunning 4/36 in India's series levelling-win in the third game, rose 66 places to No.98, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah held their places at No.19 and No.21 respectively. In the batting department, the results were ...
Manipur beat Mandalay in football match at Sangai Festival
Manipur women's football team have defeated Myanmar's Mandalay team 3-1 in a friendly football match.The match was organised as part of the Sangai Festival aiming to foster a close friendship relation between India and Myanmar. The endeavour is to connect Myanmar with Manipur through sports.Manipur will take on Sagaing in their next friendly match of the ongoing tournament.Sagaing and Mandalay team were led by their chief minister Myint Naing along with council of ministers, who also witnessed the match.A business summit is scheduled to be held between Sagaing and Manipur which will be attended by Manipur Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh and Sagaing Chief Minister along with their council of ministers and businessmen for the two states.Moreover, two CEOs from Korea and Europe will also attend the business summits.Manipur and Sagaing were landlocked states until the opening of the Indo-Myanmar gate recently. The summit is organised as a part of the celebration of the land link ...
Yasir devastates New Zealand in second Test
Leg-spinner Yasir Shah took a career best eight wicket haul as New Zealand were forced to follow-on on the third day of the second Test in Dubai on Monday. Yasir's 8-41 in 12.3 overs rocked New Zealand to 90 all out and after follow-on they were 39-1 at tea, needing another 289 runs with nine wickets left to avoid an innings defeat. Tom Latham (19) and Ken Williamson (13) were at the crease as Yasir's destruction gave Pakistan a good chance of levelling the series after losing the first Test by four runs in Abu Dhabi last week. Yasir dismissed opener Jeet Raval for his ninth wicket in the match, stumped for two. Rain had delayed the start of the third day by an hour but when the action started Yasir was lightening, bowling to his best ability on a turning Dubai stadium pitch. Yasir dismissed Latham (22), Ross Taylor (nought) and Henry Nicholls (nought) in his ninth over, triggering a collapse during which New Zealand lost all their ten wickets for just 40 runs after being well set on .
Red-hot Ronaldo gunning for revenge against Valencia
Cristiano Ronaldo is in hot form and gunning for revenge going into Tuesday's Champions League clash against Valencia after seeing red against the Spaniards in the away leg, with Juventus needing a draw in Turin to book their ticket to the knockout rounds of the European competition. "Happy to have helped the team on another important win," the 33-year-old wrote on social media after scoring his tenth goal this season for the Italian giants in Saturday's 2-0 win over SPAL as Juventus opened up a record eight-point lead on the top of Serie A after 13 games. Ronaldo was purchased by Juventus for 100 million euros ($113 million) from Real Madrid last summer to help their quest for the elusive Champions League title after finishing runners up twice in the past four seasons. But the Portuguese superstar is also proving to be a key element in the team's race towards an eighth straight Serie A title, with nine goals and five assists of their 28 goals this season. No Italian team have ever ...
Pro Volleyball League announces six teams for 1st edition
Pro Volleyball League, an initiative by Baseline Ventures India Pvt. Ltd and Volleyball Federation of India (VFI), on Monday announced that six teams have confirmed their participation in the inaugural edition from February 2 to 22.
Indian football team to play against Oman just before Asian Cup
The Indian football team will play against Oman on December 27 in Abu Dhabi just before the start of its AFC Asian Cup campaign in the United Arab Emirates, the national federation said Monday. This will be the third match for India as part of its preparations against a team that is taking part in the January 5-February 1 Asian Cup, to be held in three cities of the UAE. India had drawn goal-less with China while losing to Jordan 0-1 in its earlier two matches. India is placed in Group A in the Asian Cup while Oman is in Group F. India begins its campaign against Thailand on January 6 in Abh Dhabi. As per the October FIFA Rankings, Oman is ranked 84th in comparison to India's 97th. The Indian team head coach Stephen Constantine said that Oman will be similar to Bahrain and UAE in playing style, both of whom India will be facing in the group stage of AFC Asian Cup. "Oman will be in some ways very similar to Bahrain and UAE which is why we wanted to play them so that we can get a good ..
Root's England triumph 3-0 in Sri Lanka
Skipper Joe Root led England to their first overseas series sweep in 55 years after they beat Sri Lanka by 42 runs in the third and final Test on Monday. Spinners Jack Leach and Moeen Ali took four wickets each to help bowl out Sri Lanka, chasing a daunting 327 for victory, for 284 in the final session on day four in Colombo. Leach got captain Suranga Lakmal trapped lbw for 11 to trigger celebrations for England who have not won all the games in a series of three or more Tests since Ted Dexter's side won 3-0 in New Zealand in 1963. Number 11 Malinda Pushpakumara gave England a scare with his unbeaten 42 off 40 deliveries, lifting the hosts from 226-9 and raise hopes of a miracle. But Leach broke the 58-run last wicket stand in the fourth ball of the final session. Kusal Mendis, who hit a gritty 86, and Roshen Silva, who made 65, put on 102 runs for the sixth wicket to launch Sri Lanka's resistance campaign on a turning wicket. Leach broke the stand with a one-handed pick-up and a ...
Six teams in inaugural edition of Pro Volleyball League
Pro Volleyball League organisers Monday announced that six teams would take part in its first edition slated to be held in February. The league, supported by Olympic silver medallist shuttler P V Sindhu, is scheduled to be held from February 2 to 22 in Chennai and Kochi. Ahmedabad Defenders, Calicut Heroes, Chennai Spartans, U Mumba Volley, Hyderabad Black Hawks and Kochi Blue Spikers would take part in it. Pro Volleyball League CEO Joy Bhattacharya said there will be a draft of foreign players. "The auction (for the league) will be in December 13 and 14 and Rs 75 lakh is the cap. We will do a draft of foreign players. The idea is to get good international players at a good price," Bhattacharya told reporters here. "There will be maximum two foreign players in year one (per team) and the reason we are capping it is to keep a control on prices," he said. He also said that the matches will be telecast between 7 pm and 9 pm, which was the prime-time, on Sony SIX and SONY ...
India to play football friendly against Oman
India will be playing an International Friendly against Oman on December 27 in Abu Dhabi as part of their preparation for the forthcoming AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019, it was announced on Monday.
Pushpakumara keeps England waiting for landmark win
Sri Lanka's number 11 batsman Malinda Pushpakumara hit an unbeaten 42 to keep England waiting for a landmark win in the third and final Test on Monday. Chasing a daunting 327 for victory to prevent England scoring a series whitewash, the hosts were 284 for nine at tea on day four. Pushpakumara and captain Suranga Lakmal, on 11, had put on 58 runs for the last wicket when the break was called. Sri Lanka need another 43 runs to avoid a humiliating third straight defeat in the series. England are looking for their first overseas sweep in a series of three or more Tests since Ted Dexter's England won 3-0 in New Zealand in 1963. Moeen Ali claimed four wickets while fellow spinner Jack Leach took three and affected a key run out as Sri Lanka slipped to 226-9. Kusal Mendis, who hit a gritty 86, and Roshen Silva, who made 65, put on 102 runs for the sixth wicket to resist a persistent opposition spin attack. Leach broke the dangerous stand with a one-handed pick up and a bullet throw at the .
Vettel takes stock as Ferrari lick wounds
Sebastian Vettel, so graceful in his handling of defeat by Lewis Hamilton in this year's drivers' title race, on Monday began serious reflections on his and Ferrari's disappointing season and a harsh self-examination. The four-time champion German, whose Ferrari car was often the fastest on the grid, conceded he had to look at himself first and the team secondly after he had finished second behind new five-time champion Hamilton in Sunday's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. "I don't think I ever have any problems raising my hand if I made a mistake," he said, conceding that in 2018 he had made a few. "I have to look at myself first." In a spectacular season that saw the title race ebb and flow as Ferrari and Mercedes battled for supremacy before an exceptional purple patch from Hamilton secured both titles for the Silver Arrows, Vettel was, he admitted fallible. "Knowing as well, as a racing driver, how quickly things can go wrong, how quickly things could have gone differently this
Bournemouth game too 'demanding' for Ozil, says Emery
Mesut Ozil's relationship with Arsenal boss Unai Emery is again under scrutiny after the Spaniard appeared to suggest Sunday's match at Bournemouth was too "demanding" for the German. The 30-year-old German World Cup-winning midfielder had played in the Gunners' previous three matches -- all draws -- but Emery decided his style did not fit with Bournemouth's robust approach. "We thought 'how we can do better in the match', a very demanding match with physicality and intensity," Emery said following the 2-1 win for Arsenal, when asked why Ozil had not started. "Every player is important but today we tried with three centre-backs and it was another possibility for us to improve and find our best performance as a team." Ozil, whose place in the team for Sunday's North London derby with Tottenham could now be in doubt, did not even warm up for the match. "It depends on how the match is going," said Emery, replying to a question on why Ozil had not warmed up. "I decided on another option. .
Golfer's shot sponsors only participant from India in Ultraman 2018
Positioned around #BetterYourGame, Golfer's Shot Premium Whisky is proud to announce its sponsorship of Gaurav Makkar - only participant from India in Ultraman 2018 championship at Hawaii.Speaking about this step, Romesh Pandita, CEO and MD at Alcobrew Distilleries India Pvt. Ltd. - the makers of Golfer's Shot whisky, said - "Right from its inception, the brand symbolises the spirit of #BetterYourGame through its "Best in class" blend and global standard packaging. With our uncompromising focus on product quality and continuous efforts to better consumer experiences with the brand, we aim to play a big role in Premium Whisky business in India. In continuation of this brand agenda, we are happy to sponsor Gaurav Makkar's participation in Ultraman 2018. Ultraman symbolises peak of fitness regime and one needs to better his game to complete the challenge. The spirit of Ultraman Championship is a perfect example of efforts which go into making of our whisky."A 3 days, 320 miles individual