Page 984 - Sports
Williams guides Zimbabwe to 286-5 in third Bangladesh ODI
Sean Williams struck an unbeaten hundred to guide Zimbabwe to 286-5 in the third one-day international against Bangladesh in Chittagong on Friday. Williams hit a career best 129 off 143 balls, and shared 132 runs with Brendan Taylor for the third wicket -- helping Zimbabwe recover from 6-2 to post their highest score at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium after they were sent in. Needing a win to avoid a whitewash in the three-match series, Taylor made 75, his second successive fifty in the series, which came from 72 balls with eights fours and two sixes. Williams -- who smashed 10 fours and a six in his second ODI hundred -- then added 84 runs with Sikandar Raza (40) for the fourth wicket after Taylor fell to left-arm spinner Nazmul Hossain. Nazmul was the pick of the Bangladeshi bowlers with 2-58. Bangladesh won the first two matches of the series by 28 runs and seven wickets respectively.
Chennai City ride Pedro hat-trick to beat Arrows 4-1 in I-League opener
Spanish striker Pedro Manzi struck a hat-trick to help Chennai City FC outplay Indian Arrows 4-1 in the opening match of the 12th I-League here on Friday. Pedro scored in the 31st, 49th and 64th minutes while Romario Jesuraj got the other goal for Chennai in the 76th minute. For the Indian Arrows, captain Amarjit Singh Kiyam scored the lone goal at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium. Chennai's Singaporean coach Akbar Nawas opted to go with Pedro as the sole striker with wingers Nestor from Spain and Romario Jesuraj assisting him. Another Spaniard, Sandro operated in the middle of the attack. Gaurav Bora was in the defensive midfield role just ahead of a three-man back line. Floyd Pinto, the Arrows coach, put Rahul KP ahead with Rahim Ali in a roving role and Amarjeet Kiyam and Stalin holding the fort in the centre of midfield with Jeakson Singh behind them. Prabhsukhan Gill, at the goal, was supported by a four-man defence. The Arrows could not have asked for a better start as captain ...
Mohsin to head PCB's powerful Cricket Committee
Former Pakistan Test opener Mohsin Khan was on Friday named as the head of a powerful Cricket Committee of the Board, which also includes former stalwarts Wasim Akram and Misbah-ul-Haq. Mohsin, who was also a former head coach and chief selector of the national team, will be working with former captain Akram, who he, ironically, has described as "tainted" several times in the past. Appearing on different television channels in the recent past, Mohsin had always advocated the need to remove "tainted" players from the Pakistan cricket set-up. While pushing his argument, Mohsin had hinted towards, Akram, Waqar Younis and others, who were fined by the Pakistan Cricket Board in 2000 on the recommendations of a match-fixing inquiry commission for not cooperating with the inquiry. Mohsin later told the media that he was briefed by the Board Chairman and Chief Operating Officer on the issue and he was 99 per cent satisfied there was no authenticity in the allegations investigated against ...
UEFA orders next Romania home duel behind closed doors due to racism
The UEFA's Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body on Friday imposed a ban on Romanian fans attending their national football team's next home game in the UEFA Nations League as a result of racist behaviour from home supporters during Romania's most recent match against Serbia (0-0).
Bhullar at T-31, Shubhankar struggles again at WGC-HSBC
Gaganjeet Bhullar produced a second successive 72 but Shubhankar Sharma continued to struggle with another eighth-over 80 in the second round of the World Golf Champions-HSBC Champions on Friday. Bhullar, who was T-27 slipped to T-31, as Tony Finau (66-67) took a three-shot lead over first leader, Patrick Reed (64-72). Shubhankar, playing his fourth straight WGC Championships, is now 16-over and lying at the bottom at 77th place. His best at the WGC has been T-9 in his first appearance in Mexico. Starting from back nine, Bhullar birdied the 10th hole, double bogeyed the 18th and then picked up birdies at the second and fourth holes before dropping a shot on 17th. Shubhankar started with a bogey on 19th and then had a double on 17th and a birdie on 18th to turn in 2-over. On the second nine, he bogeyed five times and also had a double and just one birdie on Par-5 second. Finau built a three-shot lead as Reed began to stumble when Finau hit an approach from the rough on the 11th hole ...
Eight Olympians to take part in inaugural Indoor Archery meet
More than 450 archers including eight Olympians will compete in four categories in the first edition of the two-day Indian Open Indoor Archery Tournament starting Saturday at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here.
India's Meenakshi Chaudhary is first runner-up at Miss Grand International 2018
India's Meenakshi Chaudhary narrowly missed out from being crowned Miss Grand International 2018 at the sixth edition of the pageant. Held in Myanmar, Chaudhary was edged out by Paraguay's Clara Sosa for the top honour. Sosa succeeds Miss Grand International 2017 Maria Jose Lora of Peru. Chaudhary was adjudged the first runner-up while Indonesia's Nadia Purwoko was declared the second runner-up. Puerto Rico's Nicole Colon and Japan's Haruka Oda were announced as third and fourth runner-ups respectively. In a statement, Chaudhary said: "I would like to thank everyone who has supported me in my journey right from the time I participated in fbb Colors Femina Miss India 2018 to then winning the title of fbb Colors Femina Miss Grand India 2018 and now being crowned as Miss Grand International 2018 1st runner up.
Golfer Ajeetesh one behind co-leaders Suradit & Siddikur at Panasonic Open
Ajeetesh Sandhu shot a second successive 5-under but was still one shot behind joint leaders Suradit Yongcharoenchai of Thailand and Bangladesh's Siddikur Rahman after the second round of the $400,000 Panasonic Open India, being played at the Delhi Golf Club here on Friday.
Bishop backs Kohli's decision to win toss & bat in 2nd ODI
Reflecting on India skipper Virat Kohli's unusual decision to bat first in the tied second one-dayer against the West Indies in Visakhapatnam, pace bowling great Ian Bishop said the ploy was to test his team with just a handful of ODIs to go before the 2019 ICC World Cup in England and Wales.
Sandhu lies at 3rd, Jeev moves to T-6 at Panasonic Open India
Indian golfer Ajeetesh Sandhu shot a second successive five-under 67 to stay one shot off the lead at the USD 400,000 Panasonic Open India here on Friday. Overnight leader Suradit Yongcharoenchai (66-67) from Thailand and Bangladesh's seasoned star Siddikur Rahman (67-66) shared the halfway lead at 11-under 133. Sandhu, one of the seven players Tied-2nd a year ago, is now 10-under and sole third. The scoreboard continued to have a liberal sprinkling of the Indian tricolour as half of the Top-14 players were home stars and just over a half, 38 out of 74 making the cut were home golfers. The cut fell at 2-over 146. Rashid Khan (68-68) was fifth, while veteran Jeev Milkha Singh, who has made just two cuts in 15 starts in 2018 and has just one Top-5 finish since his win in 2012 Scottish Open, was T-6th with M Dharma (70-67) and four others. One shot behind them in T-12 place were 53-year-old Mukesh Kumar (71-67), the 2016 Panasonic Open India champion; 23-year-old Aman Raj (70-68) and ...
ISL: Mumbai City FC look to start afresh against Delhi (Preview)
Mumbai City FC want to forget their loss against FC Goa in a hurry and will now seek to redeem themselves with a positive result against Delhi Dynamos at the Mumbai Football Arena here on Saturday.
Gokulam face Mohun Bagan in their I-League opening game
I-League laggards Gokulam Kerala FC host Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan in their opening match of the season at the EMS Corporation Stadium here on Saturday. The Bino George-coached Gokulam finished seventh last season while Mohun Bagan were in title contention at one stage before eventually finishing third. But the Kerala side have the upper hand in the two head-to-head encounters between the two sides so far, with a win and a draw respectively and the hosts would like to take that confidence into Saturday's clash. Mohun Bagan, on the other hand, would be looking to erase memories of a painful final day in last year's edition, when needing a win desperately to give themselves a shot at the title, they were held to a draw in front of desolate home fans. Both Gokulam and Mohun Bagan have continuity on the coaching front, with both Bino and Sankarlal Chakraborty now in the saddle for a considerable length of time. Gokulam had a brilliant run of form in the middle stages last season. The ...
SPO-ARCHERY
India's top archers, including the duo of Deepika Kumari and Abhishek Verma will be seen in action in the country's first-ever Indoor archery tournament beginning Saturday at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here. The two-day invitational Indian Open Indoor Archery Tournament organised by the brother-sister duo of Rahul and Dola Banerjee, will see eight Olympians in the recurve section. Apart from Deepika, Dola and Rahul, the other Olympians include Mangal Singh Champia, Tarundeep Rai, Atanu Das, Laishram Bombayla Devi and Laxmirani Majhi. Instead of the usual 70 metres, the target here is placed at a distance of 18 metres making it more spectator-friendly. "Time taken to play in the indoor format is also much lesser than outdoor," World Cup Final gold medalist Dola said. Terming it the future of archery, 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medalist Rahul said, "It is encouraging that eight Olympians are participating in the inaugural edition of the meet." Rahul further said he is hopeful of World .
India's Pranjala seeded third in WTA Mumbai Open qualifiers
India's Pranjala Yadlapalli has been seeded third in the 16-strong qualification stage of the women's singles at the USD 125,000 WTA L&T Mumbai Open tennis championship commencing here Saturday. Pranjala will face her compatriot and wild card Mihika Yadav in round one of the qualifiers, while Mahak Jain, also a wild card, Sowjanya Bavisetti and Ashmitha Eeshwaramurthi are the others in the fray in the singles qualification stage. Mahak will take on sixth seeded Russian Yana Sizikova, Sowjanya will face No. 2 seed Hiroko Kawata of Japan and Ashmitha will line up against Georgia's seventh seeded Sofia Shapatava, as per the schedule of matches at the Cricket Club of India's (CCI) courts on Saturday. Czech Republic's Tereza Martincova is the top seed in the singles qualifiers, while Urszula Radwanska of Poland, Natalija Kostic of Serbia and Ksenia Palkina of Kazakhstan are the other seeds in the qualifying stage of singles. The main draw matches will commence on Monday at
Bertens books place in WTA Finals semis as Osaka pulls out due to injury
World No. 9 Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands advanced to the semi-final round of the WTA Finals in Singapore on Friday after Japan's Naomi Osaka was forced to retire due to injury.
After 'shame' in Goa, Mumbai look to start afresh
Mumbai City FC would want to forget their humiliating defeat against FC Goa and look to bounce back with a victory against a winless Delhi Dynamos in their Indian Super League football match here on Saturday. Mumbai lost 0-5 to Goa earlier this week and will now seek to redeem themselves with a positive result against the Delhi side at the Mumbai Football Arena. The Jorge Costa-coached side started well against Goa and had chances to turn the match on its head. However, they were woeful in front of goal and Goa capitalised to inflict a painful defeat. That defeat hurt Costa a lot, not just the result but also the manner in which they surrendered towards the end. "The first half (against Goa) was very good. The players did almost everything that I asked. In the second half, it was not bad in the first 20 minutes. Then, we gave up. That is why I am sad. Not because we lost 5-0 but because in the last 15 minutes we saw a team waiting for the game to finish," said Costa. The Portuguese ...
Men's boxing Nationals start Saturday; Vikas, Amit not there
World bronze-medallist Gaurav Bidhuri (56kg) will be among the 360 boxers vying for top honours in the National Men's Championship starting here Saturday which will be skipped by some top stars such as Amit Panghal and Vikas Krishan. More than 30 state teams and units will be in action at the event, where the Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) will be the defending champions. Bidhuri will be competing for RSPB, which will also feature Commonwealth Games bronze-medallist Naman Tanwar (91kg). The youngster is a former world youth bronze-medallist. "It is a big comeback for me after missing out on big events in the last one year. I am going to make it count," Bidhuri, who was upset at being denied a trial for both the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games, told PTI. Also there in the Railways team is Sachin Siwach (52g), a former world youth champion. The RSPB will be missing veteran Manoj Kumar (69kg), who got married earlier this month. Manoj was adjudged the best boxer of the ...
Neroca FC and East Bengal clash in Imphal on Saturday in I-League top draw
A new coach at the helm of affairs to usher in a style of football different from last year, Neroca FC face heavyweights East Bengal in their opening match of the I-League here on Saturday. Neroca almost pulled off a sensational debut title win last season before finishing an honourable second, while East Bengal could only manage a fourth-place finish at the end of a nerve-wracking final day which saw Minerva Punjab clinched the coveted crown. Both teams look equally balanced on paper and both outfits, having Spanish coaches, will lock horns at Imphal's Khuman Lumpak stadium for the initial bragging rights, as a fresh season begins. The home side have brought in Spaniard Manuel Fraile, who was earlier with Aizawl FC three years ago, as head coach while retaining the nucleus of the side from last season. Neroca have signed a few foreign players, prominent among them being the tireless Japanese winger Katsumi Yusa, who was earlier with Mohun Bagan and East Bengal. Besides Katsumi, ...
I-League: Neroca look to open account on a high against East Bengal (Preview)
Manipur's Neroca FC, who ran a fairytale debut campaign last season, are all set to renew their love affair with the I-League as they get ready to host Kolkata giants East Bengal at the Khuman Lumpak stadium here on Saturday.
Prajnesh takes revenge, beats Fabbiano to reach semis of Liuzhou Challenger
India's Prajnesh Gunneswaran knocked out third seed Thomas Fabbiano of Italy to seal his place in the semifinals of the Liuzhou Challenger in China on Friday. The win enabled Prajnesh to exact sweet revenge over Fabbiano, who had defeated the Indian in the final of the Ningbo Challenger last week. Prajnesh came from behind to beat the Italian 6-7(5) 6-1 6-3 in the battle of baseline, having lost to him the title clash, last week.. Prajnesh struck the ball hard, retrieving almost everything thrown at him and found some delectable winners on both flanks. Asked how he managed to beat Fabbiano this time around, Prajnesh said, the conditions suited him better. "The courts were a bit slower and it suits my game more. I played well. It was not the best of first set. I had chances but did not play well when I was close to getting break of serves," Prajnesh told PTI. "In the second set I really played well. I got an early break and played well to finish the set. The third set was very close, ..