Page 880 - Sports
Just-retired Drogba rules out ISL stint but open to coaching
Chelsea legend Didier Drogba has ruled out the possibility of coming out of retirement and playing in the Indian Super League, saying there is nothing left for him to achieve in his illustrious career. The 40-year-old Drogba drew curtains to his two decade long career on Thursday and a day after he came on a tour to India, raising hopes of thousands of his Indian Chelsea fans. But the former Ivory Coast international rubbished any such speculations, saying he is open to help Indian football in any capacity but not as an active player. "I think there are other ways to encourage Indian football but I am not going to come out of retirement and play again," Drogba said, ruling out any chance of turning up for any ISL side like other international stars did. "Once you announce that you are done it's good to try to stick to it. I have done and achieved everything in the last 20 years so I think it's time for me to relax a bit," he added. Drogba, however, said he is open to the idea of ...
India A toil on opening day of second unofficial Test
Will Young scored an unbeaten 117, steering New Zealand A to 221 for five against India A on the opening day of the second unofficial Test here Friday. India A captain Karun Nair opted to field but he did not get the early wickets he was hoping for. The three India A pacers - Rajneesh Gurbani (2/36), Mohammed Siraj (2/26) and Navdeep Saini (1/66) - shared the five wickets amongst themselves. From 100 for two, the visitors bounced back to make it 141 for five before an unbeaten 80-run stand between Young and Theo van Woerkom (32 batting) helped New Zealand regain control of the innings. The opening unofficial Test of the three-match series had ended in a draw. Australia-bound India Test players like Ajinkya Rahane, Murali Vijay, Hanuma Vihari, Prithvi Shaw and Parthiv Patel had taken part in the game. They are all now preparing in Sydney ahead of the first Test beginning December 6 at Adelaide. Brief scores: New Zealand A 221/5 in 90 overs (Young 117 batting; Siraj 2/26, Gurbani 2/36).
Sonia joins Mary Kom in final, Simranjit settles for bronze
Unheralded Sonia Chahal stormed into the finals of Women's World Boxing Championships by outclassing her North Korean opponent Jo Son Hwa but Simranjit Kaur had to settle for a bronze after losing the semifinal bout here Friday. The 21-year-old Sonia, who began competing at the senior level only since 2016, registered a unanimous 5-0 win over her more fancied North Korean opponent, a silver medallist in the Jakrata Asian Games, in the 57kg semifinals to reach the final in her debut World Championships. The rookie boxer joins Mary Kom (48kg) in Saturday's finals. Simranjit lost to fleet-footed Chinese Dan Dou, a silver medallist in the Asian Championships last year, on a split 4-1 decision in the 64kg semifinals. The 23-year-old Simranjit was also participating in her first World Championships. Sonia now faces Wahner Ornella Gabriele of Germany in the final on Saturday. The Haryana boxer can fancy her chances as Gabriele does not have a big reputation. Seeking a historic sixth gold, ...
ISL: After hat-trick of wins, Mumbai chase record (Preview)
Mumbai City FC are on a three-match winning run and are on course to chart history by winning four Indian Super League (ISL) matches in a row for the first time ever. Standing between them and the record are former champions ATK as they host ATK at the Mumbai Football Arena here on Saturday.
I-League: East Bengal look to get back on title track against Aizawl FC (Preview)
The 25th game of the I-League will see title favourites East Bengal (EB) take on former champions Aizawl FC at the Rajiv Gandhi stadium here on Saturday.
Ranji Trophy: J&K taste first win, Uttarakhand thrash Sikkim in Round 3
Jammu and Kashmir notched up their first win in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season by hammering Tripura by eight wickets in a group A clash here on Friday.
Manavjit-Rajeshwari win mixed team trap title at Shooting Nationals
Former trap world champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu and Rajeshwari Kumari, representing Punjab, won the Mixed Team Trap competition at the 62nd National Shooting Championship here Friday. Manavjit and Rajeshwari shot a score of 44 in the finals, to get the better of Delhi's pair Fahad Sultan and Saumya Gupta, who ended with a 39. Tamil Nadu's Prthviraj Tondaiman and N. Nivetha won bronze with a 26. In the Junior Mixed Team finals, the Haryana pairing of Vishwa Kundu and Kiran emerged triumphant with a 35. Vivaan Kapoor and Anishka Bhati won the silver with a 33 hits while Delhi's Vrishankaditra Parmar and Kirti Gupta won the bronze with a 28. Earlier, Manavjit and Rajeshwari had come second in the qualification round, scoring 135. Army's Balabhadra Tarasia and Seema Tomar topped the round on the same score while Haryana's Lakshay Sheoran and Bhavna Choudhary took the final and sixth qualification spot with a 130.
I-League: Rampaging Chennai City take on Neroca at home (Preview)
Table toppers Chennai City FC will look to keep their winning momentum going when they face Manipur-based side Neroca FC in an I-League encounter at the Nehru stadium here on Saturday.
Uttarakhand thrash Sikkim, go top of table after third win on trot
Uttarakhand jumped to the top of the Plate Group table with a thumping innings and 178-run win over Sikkim in the Ranji Trophy tournament here on Friday. Overnight 27/2 after following on, Sikkim folded for 140 in just 48.5 overs with Deepak Dhapola claiming 4/44 to help them secure a third win on the trot. Uttarakhand bagged seven including a bonus point to consolidate their position atop the standings with 20 points from three matches. Meghalaya (13 points) also climbed past Sikkim on net run rate, following their six-wicket win over Nagaland in Shillong with left-arm spinner Aditya Singhania bagging his maiden five-wicket haul. Sikkim batsmen provided hardly any resistance with eight of their batsmen failing to get even double digits. It was once again Milind Kumar who waged the lone battle and top-scored with his 61 from 68 balls. The former Delhi batsman had scored 133 in the first innings for his third successive triple-digit score. But after Dhopola dismissed him in the 44.2 ...
Khaleel learning the ropes on his maiden Australia tour
Young India pacer Khaleel Ahmed is learning everyday on his maiden tour of Australia and getting the much needed help from senior pro Bhuvneshwar Kumar on how to bowl on the hard and bouncy tracks Down Under. The T20 series so far has been a mixed bag for the 20-year-old, who took two crucial wickets in the abandoned second T20 here on Friday after getting hammered in the opening game at the Gabba. India arrived in Australia less than a week to go for the series opener and adjusting to the hard and bouncy surfaces is a work in progress for Ahmed. "Conditions are different here. Against the West Indies or in Asia Cup, we played in subcontinent and in familiar grounds. When you come to Australia, there weren't many practice sessions and it isn't easy to figure out which line/length is the best option here," said Ahmed, who has played six ODIs and five T20s. "So it isn't easy to come and play here. If you don't have ample practice sessions and then suddenly play T20 matches where batsmen
NSCI cueists Mehta, Desai and Yelve qualify for main draw
Anant Mehta and Sagar Desai, both from NSCI, scored hard-fought wins to confirm their berths in the 32-player snooker main draw of the BSAM Maharashtra State Senior Snooker & Billiards Selection (leg-2) Championship 2018 Friday. In the third and final qualifying round matches, Mehta got the better of Suraj Rathi of Otters Club by a narrow 3-2 (58-31, 66-53, 38-73, 13-54 and 74-43) frame scores at the Bombay Gymkhana billiards room here. In the other match, Desai managed to overcome fancied Taaha Khan of Pune, also winning by a close 3-2 (61-47, 63-25, 22-80, 52-73, 50-33) score line. Ajinkya Yelve, a billiards marker with NSCI, also progressed to the round-robin league phase of the competition. Yelve staved off a strong fight from Khar Gymkhanas 14-year-old Sumehr Mago before going on to register 3-2 (30-65, 67-26, 37-29, 16-61 and 54-51) victory. Results: Snooker qualifying (Round-3): Abhishek Bajaj (Bombay Gym) beat Sumit Saldurkar (KVSC) 3-2 (31-49, 76-52, 67-44, .
Red Bull leads Abu Dhabi's 1st Formula One free practice session
Red Bull dominated on Friday the first free practice session for the upcoming Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, occupying the first two places.
We are one win away from taking the series: Ben McDermott
Australian batsman Ben McDermott Friday said his side will have the edge over India in the third and final T20 International in Sydney after rain denied the visitors a shot at drawing parity in the series here. Australia head into Sunday's game with a 1-0 lead after winning the opening T20 in Brisbane on Wednesday by four runs. "It is not every day you have the opportunity to win a series for Australia (against a team like India). We're doing the right things and we've got one win on the board, we just need that one more," McDermott said after the match in which Australia posted 132/7 in 19 overs. The target was first revised to 137 in 19 overs for India, curtailed to 90 in 11 overs and 46 from five overs. But the visiting side could not even lay foot on the crease to give any of the targets a shot owing to the weather. "It was very frustrating especially with the rain following us around (in all T20 matches). We had set ourselves up nicely for the 19th over but we lost momentum with .
Colombo, Nov 23 (AFP) Scorecard at stumps on day one of the third and final Test between Sri Lanka and England in Colombo on Friday:
Scorecard at stumps on day one of the third and final Test between Sri Lanka and England in Colombo on Friday: England first innings R Burns b Perera 14 K Jennings c Silva b Pushpakumara 13 J Bairstow b Sandakan 110 J Root c Gunathilaka b Sandakan 46 B Stokes c de Silva b Sandakan 57 J Buttler c & b Sandakan 16 M Ali not out 23 B Foakes c Dickwella b Pushpakumara 13 A Rashid not out 13 Extras (B-3, LB-3, NB-1) 7 Total (7 wickets, 88.1 overs) 312 Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-36, 3-136, 4-235, 5-254, 6-265, 7-294. Bowling: Lakmal 10-2-23-0, Perera 30.1-1-107-1, Pushpakumara 20-3-64-2, Sandakan 21-0-91-4, de Silva 5-0-16-0, Gunathilaka 2-0-5-0.
Chittagong, Nov 23 (AFP) Scoreboard at stumps on the second day of the first Test between Bangladesh and West Indies at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Friday:
Scoreboard at stumps on the second day of the first Test between Bangladesh and West Indies at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Friday: Bangladesh first innings (overnight 315-8) Imrul Kayes c Ambris b Warrican 44 Soumya Sarkar c Dowrich b Roach 0 Mominul Haque c Dowrich b Gabriel 120 Mohammad Mithun c Dowrich b Bishoo 20 Shakib Al Hasan b Gabriel 34 Mushfiqur Rahim lbw b Gabriel 4 Mahmudullah Riyad b Gabriel 3 Mehidy Hasan b Warrican 22 Nayeem Hasan c Hope b Warrican 26 Taijul Islam not out 39 Mustafizur Rahman lbw b Warrican 0 Extras (B-3, LB-5, NB-4) 12 Total (all out; 92.4 overs) 324 Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-105, 3-153, 4-222, 5-226, 6-230, 7-235, 8-259, 9-324, 10-324. Bowling: Roach 17-2-63-1, Gabriel 20-3-70-4, Chase 11-0-42-0, Warrican 21.4-6-62-4, Bishoo 15-0-60-1, Brathwaite 8-1-19-0 West Indies first innings K Brathwaite c Soumya b Shakib 13 K Powell lbw b Taijul 14 S Hope b Shakib 1 S Ambris lbw b Nayeem 19 R Chase c Imrul b Nayeem 31 S Hetmyer c ...
Bairstow shines at No.3 but Sri Lanka fight back
Jonny Bairstow laid down a marker to be England's permanent number three on Friday but Sri Lanka clawed their way back into the final Test with late wickets. At stumps on day one, England, 2-0 up in the series, were 312-7, Bairstow having made 110 after valuable partnerships with Joe Root and Ben Stokes, who made a half-century. Batting after Root won his eighth straight toss, England lost both openers cheaply in the morning. Rory Burns disappointed again, bowled by Dilruwan Perera for 14 as he tried to cut. Keaton Jennings fell three overs later, caught at leg slip off Malinda Pushpakumara for 13. But Root and Bairstow, England's fourth different number three in the series, steadied the ship, surviving one review each to steer the visitors to 102-2 at lunch. Bairstow and Root put on a 100-run stand before the captain fell to left-arm wrist spinner Lakshan Sandakan after lunch, top-edging an attempted slog sweep on 46. Sri Lanka should have had Stokes as well, with umpire Chris ...
Swedish tennis player Ymer finds connect with 'Dangal'
When Elias Ymer, the number one Swedish tennis player of Ethiopian descent, watched 'Dangal' he could not stop tears from rolling down his eyes. The story reminded him of his father's struggle for him and his two younger brothers (Mikael and Rafael), who at one stage faced similar difficulties, if not opposition, while establishing themselves as tennis players in their adopted country. "Ethiopia is known more for producing runners and it had nothing to do with tennis, so people started saying you can't be tennis players," Ymer said, recalling the days when his father had enrolled them at a club for learning tennis after taking refuge in Stockholm following his escape from the African country, gripped in a civil war. "It's not that people at the club stopped us from playing tennis but they questioned it. They thought we can only run. They said tennis is not for you guys. When I watched this movie on Thursday, I cried. It was same story. A father was struggling to help his girls to ...
Sharma, Sandhu lie T-22 at Hong Kong Open
Shubhankar Sharma and Ajeetesh Sandhu were the best-placed Indians at tied 22 after the second round of the HONMA Hong Kong Open here on Friday. Sharma (68) and Sandhu (70) were both three-under 137 after 36 holes. Arjun Atwal (72) and Khalin Joshi (71) were Tied-30th and Tied-44th, while Shiv Kapur (67) and Viraj Madappa (68) were the only other Indians to make the cut. Kapur was Tied-55th and Madappa made the cut on the line at Tied-65th. Sharma should seal his Asian Tour's Habitat for Humanity Order of Merit this week. He already leads by more than USD 134,000 and a solid week here could put it beyond all others. Second placed Park Sunghyun was disqualified on Friday and that virtually finished the race. Third placed Matt Wallace and fourth placed Gaganjeet Bhullar are not playing in Hong Kong this week. Events left include Queen's Cup, Mauritius Open and Indonesia Masters. Missing the cut in Hong Kong were Jeev Milkha Singh, SSP Chawrasia, Rashid Khan, Chiragh Kumar and S ...
Lahiri, Bhullar Tied-3rd at World Cup
Anirban Lahiri and Gaganjeet Bhullar weathered the brutal conditions, carding an even-par 72 on day two to take a share of the third place at the prestigious USD 7 million ISPS HANDA Melbourne World Cup of Golf event here on Friday. Lahiri and Bhullar, playing their second World Cup together, moved up from Tied-seventh to Tied-third and gave themselves a solid chance over the weekend. The Indian duo shared the third place with Malaysia's Ben Leong and Gavin Green, who also fought hard for 73 in the second round. Korean duo Byeonghun An and Siwoo Kim battled it out for an even-par 72 to retain their overnight share of the lead after the Foursomes match on Friday. The tournament will switch back to fourballs for Saturday's third round, with the final round moving back to foursomes on Sunday. Despite the testing conditions with persistent rain and howling winds reaching 32 km/hr, An and Kim remained calm as they marked their card with three birdies against three bogeys at The ...
Tvesa wins fourth title of 2018, extends lead on Hero Order of Merit
Tvesa Malik wrapped up her fourth title of the season with a birdie-birdie finish in the 16th Leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour at The Palms Golf Club and Resort here Friday. Tvesa carded one-over 71 for a total of even par 210 over three days and 54 holes. Tvesa also extended her lead at the top of the Hero Order of Merit with two more events to go in the season. Tvesa did well to win as Ridhima Dilawari put up a great challenge with the week's best score of three-under 67 that brought her to four-over 214 but four shots short of Tvesa, who rode her earlier lead. Ridhima had started the final day eight shots behind Ridhima. Smriti Mehra (72) totalled 216 and finished third, while Khushi Khanijau carded in red figures at one-under 69 and was fourth at 220. Neha Tripathi (71) and Siddhi Kapoor (73) were Tied-fifth at 223, while Gursimar Badwal (72 and 225) was sixth and Amandeep Drall (78) was eighth. Tvesa, who started the day with a handy lead of five shots over Smriti Mehra, ...