Page 938 - Sports
Barcelona train for La Liga game vs Real Betis without Dembele
Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele of France did not attend Thursday's training session held in preparation for Barça's home La Liga clash against Real Betis.
Anand to open account against Wesley So in Chess India
Five-time former world champion Viswanathan Anand will begin his campaign against Filipino-American Wesley So in the 'Tata Steel Chess India 2018' starting here at the Indian Council for Cultural Relations on Friday.
Anand takes on Wesley So in Tata Steel Chess India
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand will begin his campaign against Filipino-American Wesley So in the star-studded Tata Steel Chess India 2018 beginning here on Friday. The 48-year-old Indian chess wizard last played in the country at his hometown in 2013 when he lost the World Championship title to Magnus Carlsen of Norway. Anand termed it an emotional moment returning to Kolkata where he lost his final GM norm by a whisker in 1986. "It's a very nice feeling to be back in Kolkata. I've got a lot of memories here. I'm really excited," Anand, who last played here at the 3rd Goodricke Open in 1992, said on the sidelines of the draw ceremony. The top board will see India number two and former world junior champion Pentala Harikrishna against local challenger Surya Sekhar Ganguly. A former second of Anand during three World Championship matches, Ganguly is looking forward to face Anand for the first time in his life. "I remember making the demo board during Anand's match here in ..
Saurabh guns down gold, silver for Arjun as Indians bag 4 medals
Teenage shooting prodigy Saurabh Chaudhary led a golden sweep, while Manu Bhaker missed out on the medal at the ongoing 11th Asian Airgun Shooting Championship here, on Thursday.In the 10m Air Pistol men's junior event, Saurabh succeeded into the second stage of the final after scoring 98.2. He went onto clinch the medal round with 24-shot final and logging a total of 220.5.The silver went to Arjun Singh Cheema who registered 218.8, while Wei-Te Huang of Taiwan settled for bronze. Meanwhile, Anmol Jain settled at fourth position due to unlucky last two shots of 8.6 and 9.4.Saurabh along with his compatriots Arjun and Anmol shot scores of to win the gold medal in the men's team event 576, 578 and 577 respectively, however, missed the world record by a whisker.Bhaker, in women's junior event, scored 99 to qualify for the eliminators. She started the medal campaign with a decent 19 and 20.3 but couldn't recover the point gap of her Taiwan counterpart who scored 216.5 and got eliminated ..
Myneni gets final wild card for Bengaluru Open
Saketh Myneni was on Thursday awarded the final singles wild card for the USD 150,000 Bengaluru Open, which kicks off at KSLTA from Saturday with a qualifying event. "We are happy to confirm the wild card to Saketh who has emerged as a revelation to Indian tennis. He has had a phenomenal jump in the rankings in the last few years and went on to represent India in the Davis Cup apart from a stellar performance in the Asian Games," Tournament Director Sunil Yajman said. "The Bengaluru Open just got strengthened with Saketh's participation and I am sure the spectators will enjoy his booming serves," added Yajman. Before Myneni, defending champion Sumit Nagal, 2017 National runner-up Suraj Prabodh, and local boy Adil Kalyanpur were given the wild cards for main draw. "Firstly, a big congratulation to all the organisers for making the Bengaluru Open bigger than the previous year. It is one of the biggest challenger tournaments in Asia and it will be a great opportunity for all the Indian ..
World Chess Championship: Harika enters prequarters, Humpy out
Grandmaster Dronavalli Harika advanced to the pre-quarterfinals, crushing Bela Khotenashvili of Georgia in the second game of the rapid tiebreaker in round two of the world women's chess championship here. After the shocking ouster of Grandmaster Koneru Humpy, Harika emerged as the last remaining hope for the Indian fans and the lady from Andhra did not disappoint, winning with black in the second rapid game played with 25 minutes for each player. Having drawn the second game of the match as white without achieving much, Harika knew her chances were bright in the tiebreaker as she is known to be a good rapid player. A bronze medallist in the last two edition in the knockout format, Harika was at her best when playing black. It was the second rapid game and by transposition, Harika reached a Pirc defense, an opening that does not enjoy wide following in elite chess circles but at the same time something that promises a complex an uneven game. Harika got her chance in the middle game ...
Sathiyan shocks world No 17 to qualify for Austrian Open
Indian paddler G Sathiyan stunned world number 17 Sangeun Jong in the final match of the preliminary rounds to qualify for the main draw of the ITTF Austrian Open in Linz. Sathiyan began his impressive run in the elite Platinum tournament, featuring 59 out of the world's top 60 players, by beating the recently-crowned Youth Olympic champion Wang Chuqin from China. He tamed Chuqin 4-1 to make the most of his first round bye in the preliminaries. He got off to a winning 11-8 start but lost the next one 12-14. He, however, recovered quickly to claim the next three games 11-8 11-6 and 18-16 for a morale-boosting victory. Sathiyan then beat Slovakia's Lubomir Pistej 4-0 to show that he was on a roll. In the final preliminary, he faced Jong and erased a two-game deficit to come out a 6-11 13-11 11-3 11-8 11-6 11-6 to grab a berth in the main round. He faces Marcos Freitas of Portugal in the Round of 32 later in the night. This is a great opportunity for Sathiyan to pick up crucial points ..
Shuttlers Sindhu, Srikanth in China Open quarters
Star Indian shuttlers P.V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth entered the quarter-finals, defeating their opponents in the China Open tournament here on Thursday.
Chirag-Satwiksairaj sail into doubles quarterfinals
Ace Indian shuttlers Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy trounced Wahyu Nayaka and Ade Yusuf of Indonesia in straight sets of the ongoing China Open badminton tournament here.The Indian pair staged a scintillating comeback after losing a game to stun their Indonesian opponents 16-21, 21-14, 21-15 in the men's doubles pre-quarterfinals.Chirag and Satwiksairaj failed to find rhythm in the opening game, handing an easy advantage to Wahyu and Ade 16-21.As the game advanced, the match took a drastic turn in favour of the Indian duo. Th pair then dominated the exchanges and went onto dispose of their opponents 21-14 to take the match to the deciding round.In the crucial cliffhanger, the Indians while maintaining their momentum, showed the door to their Indonesian opponents 21-15 and won the match that lasted over an hour.Earlier today, star shuttler PV Sindhu hardly broke a sweat in 21-12, 21-15 win over Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand, while Srikanth defeated Tommy Sugiarto of ...
Hockey World Cup: Manpreet to lead India, Chinglensana to be his deputy
Hockey India on Thursday named the 18-member team, which will feature at the Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018, slated to begin on November 28 at the iconic Kalinga Stadium, here. Midfielder Manpreet Singh will lead the team while Chinglensana Singh Kangujam will be his deputy.The Indian team will open its campaign against South Africa on the opening day. PR Sreejesh and Krishan Bahadur Pathak have been included as goalkeepers.Odisha's experienced defender Birendra Lakra has made a comeback into the team after missing out on the Hero Asian Champions Trophy in Muscat last month due to rehabilitation.He will be joined by fellow Odia Amit Rohidas, Surender Kumar, Kothajit Singh and 2016 Junior World Cup winners Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar to form India's defence. The latter three are renowned for their dragflick.The midfield will see the dynamic Manpreet Singh who played a pivotal role defending the title at the Hero Asian Champions Trophy campaign.Chinglensana Singh ...
Should Sterling have owned up over bizarre penalty?
The bizarre spot-kick awarded after Raheem Sterling tripped himself up during Manchester City's 6-0 demolition of Shakhtar Donetsk has been branded the "worst penalty decision ever" but should he have owned up? Hungarian referee Viktor Kassai remarkably pointed to the spot after Sterling kicked the turf and took a tumble midway through the first half on Wednesday. City manager Pep Guardiola's body language on the touchline suggested that he disagreed with the award of the penalty, and Sterling went so far as to apologise to Kassai following the mistake. "I went to chip the ball and don't know what happened," said the England international. "I didn't feel contact. I scuffed the ball, apologies to the ref." Former Liverpool and Manchester City midfielder Steve McManaman called it a "comical mistake" while Henry Winter, the chief football writer for the Times, tweeted: "Roll on VAR and get rid of the useless lollipop men behind the goal." Ex-England captain Gary Lineker absolved Sterling
Ramkumar out of singles at Slovak Open
There was no end to Ramkumar Ramanathan's lean patch as the Indian Davis Cupper yet again made an early exit, losing his second round at the Slovak Open in Bratislava while Purav Raja lost his doubles quarterfinal with partner Antonio Sancic. Seeded sixth, Ramkumar lost 3-6 6-3 2-6 to Germany's Matthias Bachinger in the second round of the Euro 106,000 hard court tournament. Ramkumar has not crossed a second round either on the Challenger circuit or on the ATP World Tour since making the summit clash of the Hall of Fame Open in July. In the doubles, though, Ramkumar and his partner Andre Vaselevski moved to the semifinals with a 4-6 6-3 10-8 win over local wild card pair of Andrej K Martin and Filip Polasek. But Purav Raja and Sancic lost their quarterfinal 6-4 4-6 6-10 to top seeded Britons Ken Skupski Jonny O'mara in 72 minutes.
Uber partners ICC to support Women's World T20
Ride hailing app Uber Thursday said it has partnered with the International Cricket Council (ICC) to support the first-ever standalone ICC Women's World T20 in the West Indies. "Uber and the ICC aim to leverage one of the world's most popular sports to engage the broader cricketing community in a conversation around the important role sport plays in empowering girls and women around the world," Uber said in a statement. The global partnership will include on-the-ground activation in participating WWT20 countries, in addition to the creation of a six-part digital film series featuring stories of female cricketers, it added. The ICC Women's World T20 will be held from November 9-24, 2018. The 10-team tournament will be played as a standalone event for the first time between Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies. Uber said it will also use social media to celebrate women in sports and various community outreach .
NorthEast face Mumbai in ISL
NorthEast United FC will look to continue their unbeaten run when they host Mumbai City FC in an Indian Super League fixture at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium here on Friday. Only one point separates third-placed NorthEast United and fifth-placed Mumbai City, though the hosts have a game in hand. The Highlanders are heading into the fixture with 11 points from five matches while the visitors have notched up 10 points from six games. NorthEast United had a good start to the season under Eelco Schattorie with three wins and two draws. Mumbai, on the other hand, have been inconsistent with three wins, a draw and two losses in the last six matches. The combination of Bartholomew Ogbeche and Fernando Gallego in NorthEast's attack has looked good and it will pose a serious challenge for opposition's defenders. Ogbeche leads the goal-scoring chart alongside FC Goa's Ferran Corominas, having scored six goals from five matches. Gallego is top of the assist chart with four assists from five
Pereira memorial tennis tourney: Top seed Eqbal crashes out
Top-seeded Ishaque Eqbal and fourth-seeded Shivam Dalmia suffered shock quarter-final defeats as they crashed out of the JS Pereira Memorial AITA Ranking men's tennis tournament here Thursday. The tournament is being organised by Bandra Gymkhana. Eqbal from West Bengal was no match for fifth-seeded Fahad Mohammed, who maintained his aggressive wining momentum and breezed to a straight sets win. Mohammed was robust and dominant throughout as he knocked the fight out of Eqbal, coasting to a 6-2, 6-1 win. Meanwhile, unseeded Shahbaz Khan of Maharashtra produced a gutsy performance to defeat Dalmia of Delhi in three sets and advance to the semi-finals. Khan stunned Dalmia with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-0 win. Mohammed, the only seed remaining in the competition, will take on qualifier Vaidik Munshaw of Gujarat in Fridays semi-finals. Munshaw sidelined K. Srinivas of Andhra Pradesh 6-4, 6-0 in the quarter-finals. In the fourth quarter-final, which was an all-Maharashtra contest, Atharva ...
England set Sri Lanka huge target after Jennings ton
A Keaton Jennings century helped England put Sri Lanka on the ropes in the first Test on Thursday, setting the hosts a daunting 462 to win at notoriously low-scoring Galle. England declared at 322 for six on day three with Jennings 146 not out after a patient innings that saw him deal deftly with the home side's tricky spin attack. At the close of play, Sri Lanka were 15 without loss with Dimuth Karunaratne on seven and Kaushal Silva on eight after hanging on for seven overs. In the morning session a somewhat shaky Rory Burns, brought in to fill the huge shoes of the retired Alastair Cook, was run out for 23. Moeen Ali, out first ball in the first innings, fared little better, driving straight to Rangana Herath at mid-on off Dilruwan Perera for three. Herath, in his last game before retiring, then got England captain Joe Root out for the second time in the match, caught behind for three. But Jennings played cautiously and looked comfortable against spin on a wearing pitch that ...
ISL: NorthEast aim to boost playoff chances (Preview)
NorthEast United FC have put up more than just a decent performance so far and they will be keen to boost their playoff probabilities when they host Mumbai City FC at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium here on Friday.
AFC 2020 Olympics Qualifiers: Indian eves play out a stalemate with Nepal
Coming afresh after a rigorous three-week preparatory, Indian women's football team on Thursday held Nepal in their first battle of Asian Football Confederation Olympic 2020 qualifier match.During the initial exchanges, the home team got an early opportunity as a routine free-kick found Grace Dangmei in space down the right.However, her cross was blocked by the Indian defenders. Meanwhile, India were forced to substitute Sweety Devi early owing to an injury. She was replaced by Manisha Panna.In the 11th minute, Nepal got the lead through its captain Niru Thapa. She poked home a cross from the left flank to give her team the much-required goal.India's Sangita tried her luck with a shot from afar but to no avail as it was easily gathered by the opposition keeper. Anju Tamang also found an equalizing chance against the Nepalese keeper after a long ball but her chipped effort got over the crossbar.After consistent failures, Kamala Devi finally earned the equaliser for her team in the 37th
Coutinho to be sidelined for 3 weeks due to injury
Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho of Brazil will be sidelined for around two-three weeks due to a hamstring injury, the Spanish club announced on Thursday.
CA to give 'due consideration' to demand of lifting bans on Smith and Warner
Cricket Australia will give "due consideration" to the Australian Cricketers Association's (ACA) demand of revoking the ball-tampering bans on Steve Smith and David Warner, said board CEO Kevin Roberts. ACA has increased the pressure on CA to lift the ban on Smith and Warner ever since an independent review claimed that the 'culture' nurtured by the board contributed to the ball-tampering scandal, which rocked the nation in March. The scathing review said the governing body was perceived as "arrogant" and treated its elite players like commodities, allowing 'alpha-male' egos to develop a win-at-all-costs approach. "The ACA submission around the players' sanctions was received by the board a few days ago," Roberts told reporters. "It was addressed to the board rather than to me or all management. So not for me to comment on a board matter other than to say that the board will be respecting that submission and giving it due consideration," he added. Smith and Warner were handed a ...