Page 950 - Sports
Pant should have kept wickets, feels Azhar
Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin feels Rishabh Pant should have kept wickets instead of Dinesh Karthik in the first T20 International against the West Indies here on Sunday as the young stumper needs to improve his glove-work.
Rohit should allow Pant to keep wickets: Azharuddin
Former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin believes Rishabh Pant is a better wicketkeeper compared to Dinesh Karthik and should be allowed by team management to keep wickets in coming matches. "One got to bank on Pant. If he is good enough to keep wickets in Test matches in England than why not T20? And no doubt that he showed better skills in England than Karthik," Azharuddin told reporters here. "I honestly feel Rishabh should have kept wickets today. When you are a keeper, you should keep wickets. He is a good player. He has done well. The more he keeps, the more he will learn. I think his keeping needs to improve a lot though," the Hyderabadi stylist said. Azhar felt that left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav will be a "force to reckon with" in coming days. "Kuldeep has fast emerged as a good bowler. Now he is bowling well and improving everyday. In the years to come, he will be a major force," the former skipper said.
PKL: Gujarat Fortunegiants defeat Dabang Delhi 45-38
Gujarat Fortunegiants maintained their winning streak after a 45-38 win over Dabang Delhi KC in the ongoing sixth edition of the Pro Kabaddi League here on Sunday.
I-League: Chennai City beat Gokulam to claim top spot
Chennai City FC continued their impressive campaign in the I-League, beating Gokulam Kerala FC in a five-goal thriller at the EMS Corporation Stadium here on Sunday.
Federer says Serena 'went too far' with US Open final rant
Serena Williams "went too far" with her controversial rant at an umpire during the US Open final, according to Roger Federer. Williams received a code violation for coaching, a penalty point for racquet abuse and a game penalty for calling the umpire a "liar" and a "thief" during her defeat by Naomi Osaka, with her outburst overshadowing the biggest win of her opponent's career. "I feel like Serena should have walked away," Federer told Britain's Sunday Times newspaper. "She did, but she went too far. She should have walked earlier." Nevertheless the Swiss star did have some sympathy for Williams, adding: "The umpire maybe should not have pushed her there. It's unfortunate, but an incredible case study." Osaka's 6-2, 6-4 win over Williams quickly became infamous for the American's flare-up in the second set. Williams, 37, was given a first code violation after umpire Carlos Ramos judged her coach Patrick Mouratoglou to be coaching -- something that is prohibited under Grand Slam rules
Luksika wins maiden WTA title by rallying past unseeded Irina
Fifth-seeded Luksika Kumkhum of Thailand rallied in fine style to fashion a three-set victory over unseeded Russian opponent Irina Khromacheva in the L and T Mumbai Open and clinch her maiden WTA title on Sunday. Luksika was overwhelmed by the left-handed Irina with her high-ball game in the opening set before recovering to find the means to overcome the Russian, who looked tired in the third set, 1-6 6-2 6-3 in one hour and 47 minutes in the summit clash of the 125K series event at the Cricket Club of Indias courts. The 103rd-ranked received USD 20,000 for her triumph, besides bagging 160 WTA points, while Irina, who had to play the singles semi final as well as the doubles semi final in intense heat yesterday, picked up USD 11,000 and 95 WTA points. The doubles crown was won by the third-seeded Russian pair of Natela Dzalamidze and Veronila Kudermetova who defeated Bibiane Schoofs of the Netherlands and Barbora Stefkova of the Czech Republic in three sets in the ...
Unseeded Khachanov stuns Djokovic to win Paris Masters
Russia's Karen Khachanov clinched the biggest win of his career on Sunday with a 7-5, 6-4 upset of Novak Djokovic to claim the Paris Masters title. Khachanov became the third different first-time winner of a Masters tournament this year -- joining John Isner and Juan Martin del Potro-- and denied Djokovic a fourth title in a row ahead of his return to world number one on Monday. "To finish the season like this is really a dream come true," said Khachanov, who will rise to a career high of 12th when the latest rankings are published on Monday. Going into the event, Khachanov had won just three of 19 encounters against players in the top 10 but claimed a fourth such scalp in a week after snapping Djokovic's 22-match winning run. Djokovic, who will reclaim the top ranking from Rafael Nadal for the first time in two years, made a strong start in his pursuit of a record-equalling 33rd Masters title as he broke for a 3-1 lead in the opening set. But world number 18 Khachanov, a winner at ...
Record-breaking Dortmund head to Madrid to start 'awesome' week
Thomas Delaney says record-breaking Borussia Dortmund are relishing their chance to claim a place in the Champions League knockout phase at Atletico Madrid and tighten their grip on top spot in the Bundesliga in their showdown with Bayern Munich next weekend. "It's going to be an awesome week - we're in good form and looking forward to it," said Denmark midfielder Delaney, who set up club captain Marco Reus for their winning goal in Saturday's hard-earned 1-0 win at Wolfsburg. It was Dortmund's 15th straight match without defeat in all competitions under head coach Lucien Favre, bettering the previous record of Thomas Tuchel, who led Dortmund to 14 games without defeat three years ago. "I didn't know about that," admitted Favre when asked about the new club record, ahead of a week in which he faces his biggest challenges since he took charge in July. The Germans travel to Atletico's Wanda Metropolitano stadium for Tuesday's Champions League rematch having thrashed Diego Simeone's side
Jamshedpur deny Delhi first ISL win
Delhi Dynamos wait for their first win in this edition of the Indian Super League (ISL) continued after their clash with Jamshedpur FC finished 2-2 in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Sunday.
Late header from Diop gives Eibar 2-1 win over Alaves
A stoppage-time header from midfielder Papakouli Diop gave Eibar a late 2-1 win over Alaves in the Basque Country derby on Sunday, earning its first La Liga victory in four games.
Jamshedpur deny Delhi their first win
Delhi Dynamos' wait for their first win in this edition of Hero Indian Super League continued after their clash against Jamshedpur FC finished 2-2 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Sunday. The hosts struck through two second-half goals from Lallianzuala Chhangte (55') and Adria Carmona (58') while Sergio Cidoncha (39th) and Tiri (77') got on the scoresheet for the visitors who climbed above NorthEast United FC at the top of the table on goal difference. Delhi remain rooted to the eighth position with four points from seven games. The teams started in cagey fashion with neither of them able being to assert their dominance over the ball. It were the visitors who carved the first real chance of the match with Tiri's header from a Cidoncha corner flying straight into the hands of Delhi custodian Francisco Dorronsoro. Another Cidoncha set-piece threatened Delhi's goal again. The Spaniard's floated free-kick found Tiri unmarked at the edge of the box with the defender redirecting the ball .
Conmebol suspends Gallardo for 4 matches
The South American Soccer Confederation (Conmebol) has ruled against Brazil's Gremio, which asked the regional soccer body last week to overturn its loss to River Plate in the Copa Libertadores semi-finals because the Argentine club's manager, Marcelo Gallardo, violated the terms of his suspension.
Gujarat Fortunegiants beat Dabang Delhi in PKL
Gujarat Fortunegiants continued their impressive run with a 45-38 win over Dabang Delhi KC in the Vivo Pro Kabaddi League Season VI here Sunday. Chandran Ranjit and Naveen Kumar tried their best to make an impact on the match by getting 11 and 8 raid points. They were led down by the experienced corner pair of Ravinder Pahal and captain Joginder Narwal who collected 3 tackle points in total between them. Dong Geon Lee was brought in for the match and caused problems for Delhi to get a Super 10. Sunil Kumar had a below par performance but his absence was covered up by Parvesh Bhainswal who got 6 tackle points. Gujarat Fortunegiants started with a toe touch by Rohit Gulia on Vishal in the first raid of the match. They continued to dominate Delhi with Gulia getting a Super Raid with a bonus point and touch points on Vishal and Yogesh Hooda to make it 1-5 in favour of Gujarat by the third minute. They then inflicted an All Out on Delhi by the sixth minute to take an 8 point lead with ...
Kuldeep, Pandya restrict Windies to 109/8
Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav and debutant Krunal Pandya spun a web around the West Indies batsmen in a joint spell of eight overs to restrict them to a paltry 109/8 in 20 overs in the first of the three T20 Internationals at the Eden Gardens here on Sunday.
Rose wins Turkish Airlines Open, becomes World No 1; Sharma finishes tied 43rd
India's Shubhankar Sharma produced his best card of four-under 67 to finish tied 43rd after Justin Rose beat Li Haotong in a play-off to successfully defend a Rolex Series title at the Turkish Airlines Open. In the process, Rose also got back his top position in the ranking charts. Sharma was happy to take a good final round as he took off for the next event, the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa. He said, "I think I played quite well. Can't really look at the past three days, good that finally I had a decent round. Something good to take from this week for South Africa. I saw it on TV last years, the same event. I won in South Africa, not too far away, so good memories." On his Sunday's performance, he added,"It was a decent round today. I missed a few putts, missed at least two inside eight feet. A few more great ones did not go in. Got out to a good start, made birdie on first, the 11th, then 13th and another on 15th, so I was three-under after five which is always great. "After ...
Kuldeep's guile restricts West Indies to 109/8
Spinner Kuldeep Yadav led the Indian bowlers' fine show with three wickets to restrict West Indies to 109 for eight in their first T20 International here Sunday. Electing to field on a dew-laden Eden Gardens, India responded well with the pacers giving them a fine start after Umesh Yadav dismissed Denesh Ramdin in the third over. Debutant Khaleel Ahmed (1/16) and Jasprit Bumrah (1/27) ensured that the Windies run-rate dried up before the spin duo of Krunal Pandya (1/15) and Kuldeep made merry. Kuldeep (3/13) also completed 100 wickets in T20 cricket. Tottering at 63 for seven inside 15 overs, the Windies looked to fold up inside 100 but Fabian Allen (27 from 20 balls) and Khary Pierre (15 not out from 13 balls) lifted the total past 100. Debutant Krunal finished with excellent figures of 1/14 bowling his four overs at a stretch. After being hit for a six by Kieron Pollard in his first over, the left-arm spinner not only dismissed the explosive batsman but conceded just four runs in ...
Immobile scores brace, leads Lazio to rout SPAL 4-1
Italy striker Ciro Immobile scored a brace on Sunday, leading Lazio to a 4-1 home win against SPAL in Serie A action, bouncing back from last week's 3-0 loss to Inter Milan.
Bhuvneshwar pulls out due to gastric problem
India's premier seamer Bhunveshwar Kumar pulled out of first T20I against West Indies on Sunday owing to a gastric problem. Having named in the their XII on the eve of the match, India made a last minute change as Bhuvneshwar was ruled out because of a "gastric complaint" as he stayed back at the hotel. "Bhuvneshwar Kumar has a gastric complaint and is expected to be fit for the second T20I in Lucknow (on November 6)," BCCI media manager said. Umesh Yadav came in as the replacement while Kuldeep Yadav was picked ahead of Yuzvendra Chahal. India's handed debuts to left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder Krunal Pandya and left-arm quick Khaleel Ahmed in their first-ever T20I at home without MS Dhoni. West Indies line-up had three debutants in fast bowler Oshane Thomas, left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder Khary Pierre, and batting all-rounder Fabian Allen. Rovman Powell, had had opened in the final ODI in Thiruvananthapuram, was listed to open again with Darren Bravo, who was playing his first ..
Chennai City overcome Gokulam Kerala in five-goal thriller
Chennai City FC continued their impressive campaign in the 12th Hero I-League, winning the season's first Southern Derby against Gokulam Kerala FC 3-2 here Sunday. They now top the points table with seven points from three games. In an edge-of-the-seats game, Chennai rode on goals by Pravitto Raju, Pedro Manzi and Ameerudeen to get the better of their hosts. Grenadian forward Antonio German scored off a penalty to give Gokulam an early lead and then V P Suhair got one back with a brilliant individual effort but it turned out to be futile for coach Bino George's side in the end. Gokulam coach George opted for a change of tactics playing Antonio German on the right wing and Suhair as the target man up front. Surprisingly both Baoringdao Bodo, the goal scorer in the last game, and S Rajesh, who has been so impressive in the I-League, did not get a start. Pritam Singh started the game and Deepak Kumar was also replaced by under-22 Monotosh Chakladar in defence. Chennai's Singaporean coach
Leicester City players pay respects at owner's Thai funeral
Leicester City manager Claude Puel led his soccer team's players as they arrived Sunday at a Bangkok temple to pay their respects to the club's late founder. Thai billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was killed when his helicopter crashed Oct. 27 in a parking lot next to the English Premier League club's stadium. His funeral began Saturday, with other ceremonies scheduled through Nov. 9. The Leicester City players arrived Sunday after traveling to Bangkok following their match with Cardiff City the day before. In its first game since Vichai's death, Leicester won an emotional and highly charged match 1-0. Vichai oversaw one of the greatest underdog successes in sports when his 5,000-1 outsiders won the English Premier League title in 2016. The business world remembers Vichai as the retail entrepreneur who grew Thailand's massive King Power duty-free chain. Today the King Power empire is worth 3.8 billion pounds (USD 4.88 billion), according to Forbes, with Vichai having been the ...