Page 966 - Sports
Magnificent Mary has no plans for retirement, wants to continue till 2020
Celebrated woman boxer M C Mary Kom on Wednesday said she has no plans to hang up her gloves and wants to continue till 2020 Tokyo Games in a bid to fulfil her dream of winning an Olympic gold. "I am not yet done. I will carry on till 2020. I am fit, training hard and confident. I will try my best to bring glory for the country," said Mary when asked whether she is eyeing her sixth world title at the AIBA Women's World Championships to be held at the IG Stadium here from November 15 to 24. Magnificent Mary, as she is fondly called, has five World Championships titles under her belt besides numerous other crowns, including Asian Games gold and bronze in London Olympics. Mother of three doting kids, Mary still remains hungry for more and wants to give a last shot at gold in 2020 Tokyo. The 35-year-old from Manipur will compete in her pet 48kg category at the World Championships here. But with the 48kg weight category not a part of women's boxing in the Olympics, Mary said she will shift
Women's World Boxing C'ships logo launched
The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) on Wednesday unveiled the logo and anthem for the 2018 AIBA Womens World Boxing Championships, to be held at the IG Stadium here from November 15-24.
Chennai City faces Churchill Brothers in I-League
Chennai City will look to continue their impressive run when they lock horns with Churchill Brothers in the ninth game of the 12th Hero I-League at Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium on Thursday. Chennai put up an impressive show last week when they won their opening encounter at home against Indian Arrows 4-1, riding on a sizzling hattrick by Uruguayan marksman Pedro Manzi. Churchill, on the other hand, drew their first game against defending champions Minerva Punjab FC 0-0 and will be playing their second straight away game on the trot. The hosts go into the game leading 3-1 on the head-to-head count, while one game ended in a stalemate, among the five played between the sides in the Hero I-League. Chennai's new Singaporean coach Akbar Nawas could not have been happier with the result and will look to carry on the winning momentum. Besides Manzi, his Spanish signings, in particular, winger Nestor Jesus also had a good first game and so did his other winger Romario Jesuraj and coach Nawas ...
Ramos admits team feels responsible for crisis, calls for action
Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos on Wednesday admitted that the squad felt responsible for its current crisis, which led to the firing of coach Julen Lopetegui earlier this week, and called for the team to take action to change its trajectory.
Amaravati gears up for F1 Power Boating World Championship
The lesser known Andhra Pradesh town of Amaravati is all set to witness exciting water sports action when the sixth round of the F1H2O World Championship takes place on the banks of the Krishna river from November 16 to 18, the organisers announced here on Wednesday.
Qatar Airways becomes CONMEBOL 'airline partner'
Qatar Airways announced yet another football sponsorship deal on Wednesday by unveiling a four-and-a-half year agreement with CONMEBOL to become the South American football confederation's "official global airline partner". The sponsorship agreement will run until the end of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. "Qatar Airways is delighted to become the official global airline partner of CONMEBOL," said Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al-Baker. "This is another big sponsorship that we are doing in football." Baker said the "milestone" deal would help bolster the brand of the airline and the country. Jose Manuel Astigarraga, CONMEBOL's secretary general, called it a "super, fantastic agreement". "(It will) build a brighter situation for all of football," he said. "For us, it's a really big honour to have Qatar as a sponsor." Citing a confidentiality agreement, Astigarraga refused to disclose how much the deal was worth but said it was "very interesting". It is the latest deal in a rapidly growing ...
India plays 60 per cent more cricket than other teams: Bharath Arun
Indian cricketers play 60 per cent more cricket than other international teams and hence there is a heavy workload for the bowlers, Indian bowling coach Bharath Arun has opined.
Chennai aim to continue winning run against Churchill (Preview)
Chennai City FC will look to continue their winning momentum when they take on Churchill Brothers in an I-League football game at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Thursday.
Rituparna enters pre-quarters at Macau Open
Rituparna Das was the lone Indian surviving at the Macau Open World Tour Super 300 tournament, progressing to the pre-quarterfinal of the women's singles here on Wednesday. The 22-year-old, who had clinched the Polish International and reached the finals of Belgian International this year, defeated Chinese Taipei's Chiang Ying Li 21-13 21-7 to set up a clash with Chinese fifth seed Han Yue. It was curtains for others such as former Commonwealth Games bronze medallist RMV Gurusaidutt and youngsters such as Mithun Manjunath and Shreyansh Jaiswal. While Gurusaidutt went down fighting 21-13 14-21 16-21 to Thailand's Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk, Indonesia's Firman Abdul Kholik ended Mithun's campaign with a 21-12 21-15 thrashing. Shreyansh too was no match for Lu Guangzu of China, while Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka retired midway through the second game against Japan's second seed Minatsu Mitani after the score read 12-21 8-16. India's Tarun Kona and Malaysia's Lim Khim Wah also bowed out after ..
I-League: Debutant Real Kashmir crush Minerva Punjab
The I-League debutant Real Kashmir FC on Wednesday handed a thumping defeat to the defending champions Minerva Punjab FC here at Tau Devi Stadium.After clinching the I-League's second division, Real Kashmir became the first club from the state to play in I-League's first division.Forward player Gnohere Krizo, in the 73rd minute of the game, scored off a free-kick inside the box, which helped his side to register a 1-0 victory over the opposing side.Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah congratulated the team for the victory.Taking to his official Twitter handle, Abdullah wrote, "That's called a debut - @realkashmirfc defeat the defending champions in their opening match. Well done guys. Onwards & upwards. Here's to more glory in the days ahead. It's so nice to have something to cheer about. 1-0 was the score at final whistle."Real Kashmir will now play against Churchill Brothers FC Goa on November 6.
Want to crack top 15 and win a super 300 title next year: Chirag
Keen to build on a reasonably successful season, India's young men's doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Reddy has now set eyes on reaching a major final and breaking into the top-15 bracket, next year. From being newbies, Chirag and Satwik emerged as India's best-ranked men's doubles pair this year, where they claimed a maiden silver medal at Commonwealth Games, clinched the Hyderabad Open Super 100 title and made the semifinals of a Super 300 and 750 event. "It has been a great year for us. We reached the targets we had set for ourself and we hope to replicate the same form in the next year," Chirag told PTI. "We played semis at Indonesia Open and French Open last week, had decent outing at All England, followed by CWG where we won a silver. The World Championship and Asian Games were also decent. "We also won a super 100 title at Hyderabad, which was one of our targets. So next year we want to play a final of a major tournament and win at least a super 300 tournament," ..
Indian boxers to get central contracts in 6 months: BFI President
The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) is planning to give central contracts to its pugilists in the next six months, President Ajay Singh said Wednesday. If the plan sees the light of the day, BFI would be following in the footsteps of the BCCI and the Wrestling Federation of India in offering the security of a contract to its wards. WFI has also promised to unveil its contract system soon. "Central contracts for boxers is something on which we have been working on for sometime now. We should be able to come up with central contracts for our boxers in six months," Singh told PTI on the sidelines of the logo and anthem launch of the Women's World Championships scheduled here from November 15 to 24. Refusing to dwell any further, Singh said once introduced, the contracts will make Indian boxers financially strong. "We will come up with a gradation system. It means we will grade our boxers depending on their performance and achievements," he said. "The A grade boxers will get the highest .
Lajong and East Bengal to battle for winning run
Hosts Shillong Lajong FC will yet again bank on its young brigade to deliver the goods when it takes on East Bengal FC in an I-League match, here on Wednesday. Lajong had kick started their campaign on a winning note against Aizawl FC on Sunday and East Bengal too are coming into this match after a win over Neroca FC. The Lajong youngsters delivered an exceptional performance in their opening game, playing their hearts out. Mahesh Singh scored a brace, ensuring three points. East Bengal have roped in Spanish coach, Alejandro Menendez Garcia for the 2018-19 season along with Costa Rican defender Johnny Acosta and the team had a good pre-season in Malaysia where they played a few games. The last time Shillong Lajong and East Bengal faced each other was in March this year and match had ended in a 2-2 draw in Shillong. "The game against East Bengal is always a tough fixture, especially this season as they have some experienced players in every department. We must put in a lot of efforts ..
I-League: Gokulam hold Neroca FC to 1-1 draw
Gokulam Kerala FC held Neroca FC to a 1-1 draw to break their jinx and bag their first-ever point at the Khuman Lampak Stadium here on Wednesday.
Ramkumar ousted from Shenzhen Challenger
India's Ramkumar Ramanathan was knocked out of the singles event of the Shenzhen Challenger tournament in China but advanced to the men's doubles quarterfinals with compatriot Saketh Myneni on Wednesday. In his first ever meeting against Mohamed Sawat, the Indian ranked 121, lost the tight second round contest 6-7 (3) 4-6 to his Egyptian rival, ranked 202. With his defeat, qualifier Sasi Kumar Mukund is the only Indian left in the singles draw. He will play against eighth seed Canadian Filip Peliwo on Thursday. Ramkumar and Myneni advanced to last-eight pairs stage with a 6-3 3-6 10-8 win over third seeds Mao-Xin Gong and Ze Zhang. Also winning their opening round were top seeded Indians Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and N Sriram Balaji, who defeated Safwat and Aleksandr Nedovysov 7-5 2-6 10-7. At the Rolex Masters in Paris, India's Rohan Bopanna and Edouard Roger-Vasselin defeated Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop 7-6(3) 5-7 10-5 to progress to the second round.
Pak coach says wanted to play ACT final despite soggy pitch; blatant lie, asserts India
They lifted the Asian Champions Trophy jointly but India and Pakistan were Wednesday locked in a war of words over how the decision was reached to abandon the final after a thunderstorm and heavy showers in Muscat. The two teams jointly took the trophy on Sunday night and on Wednesday Pakistan coach Hasan Sardar triggered a controversy by claiming that India backed out of the summit clash on a soggy pitch even though his side wanted to play. A Hockey India official rejected the claim, calling it a "blatant lie" and said Pakistan were the ones in a hurry to leave owing to an early morning return flight. "Our boys were pumped up for the final match. Even after the heavy rains we told the organisers we will play if they wanted the final to go ahead. But the Indians refused because of the conditions," Sardar said on Wednesday in Karachi. Hockey India rubbished the assertion. "It's a blatant lie. It was Pakistan who didn't want to play as they had a return flight at 3am in the morning. Our
India to face S. Africa in Deaf T20 WC opener
Hosts India will face South Africa in the opening game of the Deaf ICC Twenty20 World Cup, starting November 26, it was announced on Wednesday.
Gokulam Kerala FC break jinx to earn first-ever point against Neroca FC
Gokulam Kerala FC broke a jinx by winning their first-ever point against Neroca FC since debut in the Hero I-League here Wednesday. The Kerala-based side had been at the receiving ends twice in the last edition but they stole a vital point against the Manipuri outfit at the Khuman Lampak Stadium. Local player Baoringdao Bodo opened the scoring for the visitors at the stroke of the half time but Eduardo Ferriera (59') struck in a perfect equaliser to open their tally in the 12th edition. Newly-appointed Neroca FC boss Manuel Fraile induced two changes from the last match as Varney Kallon, who was injured, made a comeback in his usual position as well as Ronald made his first start of the season. On the other side of the pitch, Bino George made as many as four changes in the starting line-up too. He brought in Rashid K, Pritam Singh, Monotosh and Rajesh S who had a spectacular game against Mohun Bagan last day. The hosts came to the pitch at the back of a loss against East Bengal ...
'The Family Run Marathon' to be introduced in Pune event
The inaugural Bajaj Allianz Pune Half Marathon, which will introduce a first-of-its-kind 'The Family Run Marathon' will be held here on December 9. The event will attract runners across the country in three categories - Half Marathon, The 10K Run, and The Family Run (6 km). The unique race has been introduced to encourage families to come out and run. The event has applied to work as a qualifier for most of international runs in the world. The course has already been measured and submitted for approval. Chandramohan Mehra, the company's chief marketing officer, said, "The initiative is a reflection of Bajaj Allianz' deep commitment towards promoting and enabling good health. "Our attempt is to bring world-class and an inclusive marathon event that Punekars and Indians are proud of. We are confident that the initiative will further fuel the fitness drive across millions of Indian families." The event is curated by Dr Jack Daniels, also known as the world's best running coach, and Ryan .
Underdogs shock on second day at Zhuhai
Top seed Daria Kasatkina and defending champion Julia Goerges both lost to lower-ranking opponents on an afternoon for underdogs at the WTA Elite Trophy in China on Wednesday. Kasatkina, 21, was beaten with relative ease by 23-year-old Madison Keys, who took 70 minutes to win 6-2, 6-4. The Russian, who finished her previous match against Wang Qiang at 10pm on Tuesday, looked tired on court and had already slammed the tournament schedule, saying it "sucks". Keys cruised to take the first set at the Hengqin International Tennis Center, and although Kasatkina put up a fight in the second, the sixth seed clinched the tie. The American showed little sign of the left knee injury which forced her to retire from her last two tournaments, in Wuhan and Beijing. Earlier Goerges suffered a bruising defeat to Anett Kontaveit. The fifth seed took a nasty tumble mid-way through the match, which she went on to lose 2-6, 6-4, 4-6 after more than two hours. Kontaveit, the tournament tenth seed, started