Page 877 - Sports
Mary Kom scripts history, becomes six-time boxing World Champion
Legendary boxer Mary Kom on Saturday scripted history, becoming India's only six-time world boxing champion after defeating Hanna Okhota of Ukraine.As the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall was filled to the rafters for Mary, the 35-year-old outfoxed her Ukrainian counterpart in a unanimous 5:0 decision in the 48 kg (light flyweight) category.Talking about her record, a joyous Mary told reporters, "I want to dedicate the medal to all the people behind my hard-work. I dedicate my Gold to my nation."Mary has also registered her name in history books as she has now equalled male pugilist Felix Savon of Cuba, becoming an all-time best boxer with six gold and one silver medal in World Championships.The former Asian Games gold medallist and Olympic bronze medallist had also won the gold at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, earlier this year.Another Indian pugilist, Sonia Chahal will be in action later today.
We've to perform at our best: Australia captain Zalewski
Australia captain Aran Zalewski believes it will be one of the most open men's hockey World Cups in recent times and his team will have to test themselves against the best to defend the title here. "World hockey is close at the moment and very competitive and any team can win and obviously India at home with home crowd will be very tough to beat," said Zalewski after arriving here with his team for the World Cup. "We have a chance to test ourselves against the best in the world as we haven't tested ourselves since Rio (2016 Olympics) so we want to do very well here," he added. It is a sort of home coming for Australia, who had claimed the Champions Trophy in 2014 and the Hockey World League Final in 2017 here. Australia has Ireland, England and China in Pool B and head coach Colin Batch said it isn't going to be an easy task for his side even in Pool Stages. "We are the Champions but a long way from winning this tournament. We have a lot of work to do. We saw that in the Women's World
Azhar leads Pakistan's fightback in second Test
Senior batsman Azhar Ali struck a half century as Pakistan reached tea on 124-2 on the opening day of the second Test in Dubai on Saturday. The former captain was unbeaten on 69 while Haris Sohail was 37 not out. They had added 99 after Pakistan had lost their first two wickets for just 25 runs. Pakistan, who won a crucial toss and batted, were hit hard by medium pacer Colin de Grandhomme's double strike in successive overs in the first session, dismissing openers Mohammad Hafeez and Imam-ul-Haq for nine each. Azhar, who made a valiant 65 in Pakistan's narrow four-run defeat in the first Test, was shaky at the start as he edged the second ball he faced off Grandhomme through the slips. He then settled to play some exciting strokes, hitting seven boundaries and a six as he made his 31st fifty. Sohail had hit four boundaries by tea. Grandhomme, preferred over the more experienced Tim Southee for the second match running, gave New Zealand an ideal start. He had Hafeez caught in the slip
Positive results on grass by Indians an advantage: Bhupathi
Davis Cup non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi on Saturday said the recent spate of positive results by Indians on grass will give the hosts an advantage when they take on Italy in February. "Ramkumar made the finals for Newport this year on grass, Prajnesh qualified and beat Dennis Shapovalov on grass. Seeing that grass is an advantage for us..." Bhupath told PTI on the sidelines of a Kia Motors event where 100 young tennis fans of the country underwent a rigorous audition process to be selected as the ball kids for the Australian Open 2019. The Italians, led by world No 13 Fabio Fognini are superior to India on hard and clay courts, but might struggle on grass. "Italy has 6 players in the top-100, where do we have a chance against them? The only logical answer is grass. Playing at home we always have a chance. In Kolkata on grass, we will throw something at them and see how it goes. Grass is our best shot," he said. Asked about the new Davis Cup format consisting of a six-player ...
Artistic Gymnastics World Cup: Dipa finishes at 23rd spot in balance beam
Indian gymnast Dipa Karmarkar finished at the 23rd spot in balance beam event on the second day of the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Cottbus, Germany. The 25-year-old from Tripura, who had qualified for the Vault Finals on Friday, scored 11.066 (4.8 + 6.266) for a lowly finish out of the 32 competing gymnasts in the event. Rakesh Patra was ranked 16th out of 29 gymnasts in Parallel Bar qualification round with a score of 13,033 (5.3 + 7.733). In the qualification round of men's vault, Ashish Kumar finished at the 23rd place out of 27 gymnasts after scoring 12.866. Aruna Reddy, however, couldn't participate in floor due to the knee injury suffered on the opening day. The Cottbus event is part of an eight-event qualifying system for the 2020 Olympics, under which the gymnasts will make the cut based on the their top three scores.
Magnificent Mary clinches record 6th World Championship gold
Indian boxing legend M.C. Mary Kom scripted history by clinching a record sixth World Championship Gold medal in the light flyweight 48 kilogram category after outclassing Ukraine's Hanna Okhota 5:0 at the K.D. Jadhav Indoor Stadium here on Saturday.
Leverkusen end skid with 2-0 win over Stuttgart
Bayer Leverkusen defeated last-place Stuttgart 2-0 on a brace by Kevin Volland in the final 15 minutes.
Need to have multiple success stories to create tennis culture: Bhupathi
Lamenting the dearth of quality tennis talents in the country, legendary doubles player and the current non-playing captain of the Indian Davis Cup team, Mahesh Bhupathi on Saturday urged to take a leaf out of Indian badminton's story where there are multiple success stories for youngsters to emulate.
Sri Lanka make England's bowlers toil
Sri Lanka made England's bowlers work hard on Saturday as Dimuth Karunaratne and Dhananjaya de Silva put on a 142-run third-wicket partnership on day two of the third and final Test. But just before tea de Silva fell for 73, falling to a fine catch by Keaton Jennings -- his second of the innings after getting Danushka Gunathilaka -- at short leg off Adil Rashid. At tea in Colombo, Sri Lanka were 183 for 2. Karunaratne, dropped at slip by captain Joe Root off Stuart Broad early in his innings, was unbeaten on 81 with Kusal Mendis not out 6. Seeking to prevent a 3-0 series whitewash, earlier in the day Sri Lanka's bowlers had wrapped up England's first innings for 336 within half an hour, the visitors losing their final three wickets for just 24 runs. On Friday, Jonny Bairstow had put his marker down to be England's permanent Test number three with a no-nonsense 110, with partnerships of 100 with captain Joe Root and 99 with Ben Stokes. But resuming on 312-7 on Saturday, Moeen Ali, ...
Taijul bowls Bangladesh to win against Windies in first Test
Taijul Islam claimed 6/33 as Bangladesh defeated West Indies by 64 runs on Saturday in the first match of their two-Test series. Chasing a target of 204 runs in Chittagong, West Indies stuttered from the start and were all out for 139 on the stroke of tea on the third day, suffering their first defeat in Bangladesh in seven Tests. Sunil Ambris was the last man dismissed after top-scoring for the visitors with 43. He had put on a 63-run partnership with Jomel Warrican for the ninth wicket to lift West Indies from 75 for eight to revive an unlikely hope. But Mehidy Hasan dismissed Warrican for 41, and Taijul sealed the contest in the next over with the wicket of Ambris. Left-arm spinner Taijul led Bangladesh's attack with his seventh five-wicket haul in Tests, while Shakib al Hasan and Mehidy each picked up two wickets. West Indies' chase got off to a disastrous start, sinking to 11-4 at the lunch break before an attacking 27 off 19 by Shimron Hetmyer provided the visitors a brief ...
N'Golo Kante signs new five-year contract with Chelsea
French footballer N'Golo Kante has extended his stay with Chelsea as he signed a new five-year contract with the club.The 27-year-old, who joined the club in 2016, has been one of the most consistent performers of the club attracting offers from teams like Paris Saint-Germain.Talking about the new contract, the midfielder said that he is happy to prolong his stay with the club as he completely improved as a player during a two-year stay with the team."I'm happy to extend my time with Chelsea, it has been two beautiful years and I wish for more to come. Since I came, I completely improved as a player, challenged myself and got some awards I never thought about. I like the city, I like the club and I am happy to be here for more time," Chelsea official website quoted Kante, as saying.Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia also expressed delight over the development and said that they are looking forward to five more years with the footballer at the heart of the Chelsea midfield."We are ...
Leganes emerge from drop zone with 1-0 win against Alaves
Youssef En-Nesyri's goal minutes before half-time gave Leganes a 1-0 victory over Alaves to lift the home side out of the La Liga relegation zone.
Mithali Raj's manager hits out at 'manipulative' Harmanpreet
India's decision to bench an in-form Mithali Raj in the crucial ICC World T20 semi-final against England, which the Women in Blue lost by 8 wickets, came in for more flak with Mithali's manager lashing out at skipper Harmanpreet Kaur.
Anti-doping agency says UEFA followed the rules in Ramos case
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has confirmed that UEFA acted properly in a case involving the possible use of a banned substance by Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos ahead of the 2017 Champions League final.
Croatia takes commanding 2-0 lead over France in Davis Cup final
Marin Cilic defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in the second singles match to give Croatia a commanding 2-0 lead over France in the final of the Davis Cup, tennis' premier international team competition.
Shakib-Al Hasan is quickest to 200 wickets and 3,000 runs in Tests
Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib-Al Hassan has become the quickest player to claim the dual achievement of taking 200 wickets and scoring 3000 runs in Test cricket.The 31-year-old achieved the feat on Day 3 of the opening Test in the ongoing three-match series against West Indies and it was the Caribbean all-rounder Keiron Pollard who became his 200th Test wicket.Shakib has surpassed former English cricketer Ian Botham to be the fastest man to achieve this double milestone. While he did it within 54 Tests, Botham had reached the same figures in 55 matches.Apart from this dual achievement, the left-arm bowler has also become the first Bangladesh player to take 200 wickets in Test matches. Overall, he has picked a five-wicket haul 18 times for his side in Test matches.Meanwhile, Bangladesh are defending a 204-run total in the ongoing first Test against West Indies.
Shakib, Taijul put Windies in deep trouble
Shakib Al Hasan became the first Bangladeshi cricketer to claim 200 wickets in Tests as the hosts began their victory push in the first Test against the West Indies in Chittagong on Saturday. Shakib struck twice in his first three overs and fellow left-arm spinner Taijul Islam added two wickets as Bangladesh reduced West Indies to 11-4 by lunch on the third day after setting a target of 204 runs for the visitors to win the Test. Earlier, leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo claimed three wickets in the morning to finish with 4-26 as West Indies bowled out Bangladesh for 125 runs in the second innings. Bangladesh spinners responded almost immediately when Shakib drew Kieran Powell forward for Mushfiqur Rahim to accomplish a simple stumping, completing his 200-wicket milestone. Shakib took an edge from Shai Hope (three) in the next overs before a two-wicket burst by Taijul, who trapped Roston Chase (zero) and Kraigg Brathwaite (eight) in one over, to put West Indies in dire straits. It killed ...
Mexican football needs restructuring, says Cruz Azul's coach
The head coach of Mexico City club Cruz Azul said that Mexico's probable return to the Copa Libertadores and Copa America would be positive in some respects but that football in the Aztec nation needs a deeper restructuring.
Real Madrid rebut doping accusations against Sergio Ramos
Real Madrid has said that team captain Sergio Ramos has never run afoul of anti-doping rules, responding to a news account claiming the Spain international tested positive for a restricted substance after the 2017 Champions League final.
Sri Lanka's morning as England tail fails
Sri Lanka's bowlers restricted England to 336 all out in their first innings of the third and final Test on Saturday as the visitors' tail folded inside half an hour. The hosts then made a solid start to reach 74-1 at lunch on day two in Colombo, with Dimuth Karunaratne and Dhananjaya de Silva both unbeaten on 28 having withstood pressure bowling by England. Reaching a decent 312 for 7 overnight after a Jonny Bairstow century, England only managed to add 24 runs with Moeen Ali falling for 33, Stuart Broad for a duck and Jack Leach 2. Ali skipped down the pitch and lifted the ball to long off, Broad was bowled trying to sweep left-arm wrist spinner Lakshan Sandakan and Leach's attempted heave saw him caught. Sandakan was the pick of the bowlers, taking five wickets for 95 runs while finger spinners Dilruwan Perera and Malinda Pushpakumara took 3 for 113 and 2 for 64 respectively. Danushka Gunathilaka was the only man out for Sri Lanka before lunch, caught superbly at short leg by ...