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Sumit Nagal wins junior boys' doubles Wimbledon title

New Delhi, July 13 (ANI): Teenager Sumit Nagal continued India's winning streak at Wimbledon, winning the boys doubles junior trophy with Vietnamese partner Nam Hoang Ly. Nagal has become only sixth Indian to win a grand slam junior title, defeating the fourth seeded Reilly Opelka and Akira Santillan 7-6(4), 6-4 in the title clash that lasted 63 minutes. With this victory, Nagal has joined Leander Paes and Sania Mirza after the two tennis aces both partnered Martina Hingis to clinch the women's doubles and mixed doubles titles respectively.

Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis win Wimbledon women's doubles title

New Delhi, July 12 (ANI): Sania Mirza and her partner Martina Hingis won the Wimbledon women's doubles title to claim the Indian tennis ace's first-ever women's doubles Grand Slam title. The on-fire duo delivered a 5-7 7-6(4) 7-5 blow to their Russian comeptitors Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova. This is Sania's latest heist after winning three mixed doubles Grand Slam trophies. The tennis star has claimed the Australian Open in 2009, the French Open in 2012 with Mahesh Bhupathi and the US Open with Bruno Soares last year.

ISL team Delhi Dynamos names Roberto Carlos as marquee player

New Delhi, July 10 (ANI): Former Brazil and Real Madrid defender Roberto Carlos was named as the marquee player and manager of Delhi Dynamos franchise in the domestic Indian Super League (ISL) for the second edition of the tournament. The eight-team league got off to a rousing start last year with Brazilian Zico headlining the managers' list while marquee players included Italian duo Alessandro Del Piero and Marco Materazzi, and Frenchman Nicholas Anelka. Speaking at a news conference where Delhi Dynamos also unveiled its new logo, Carlos said he would use the opportunity to win trophies for the team and raise the level of football in the country. Speaking on his decision to resume playing after a gap of three years, the 42-year old World Cup winner said he is fully confident of playing at the highest level and added if he felt he was not at his best, he would not enter the ground. The second season of Indian Super League, boasting of celebrity owners, kicks off on October 03 this year

Soccer legend Zico returns to Indian Super League

Panaji, July 08 (ANI): Brazilian soccer legend, Zico, returned as the marquee manager of FC Goa for the second season of the Indian Super League. The eight team league kicked off with a rousing start last year with Zico headlining the managers' list and marquee players including Italian duo Alessandro Del Piero and Marco Materazzi and Frenchman Nicholas Anelka. Addressing the media persons at a news conference in India's coastal state of Goa, Zico said that it was fantastic to be back. Also called as the White Pele', Zico, was an outstanding creator and goal scorer for Brazil and played in the 1978, 1982 and 1986 World Cups, has also coached in Brazil, Japan, Turkey, Russia, Greece, Iraq and Qatar. The owners of FC Goa expressed happiness on the return of Zico. FC Goa had a good season last year as they reached the semi finals, but lost in the penalty shootouts against Atletico de Kolkata.

Looking forward to Zimbabwe tour, have a pretty balanced team and we'll try to win: Ajinkya Rahane

Mumbai, July 6 (ANI): India's ODI captain for Zimbabwe tour, Ajinkya Rahane on Monday said that he is looking forward to the Zimbabwe tour where all 15 players are important in the squad and there is no difference between seniors and juniors. Rahane also had a word of praise for Harbhajan Singh, who makes his ODI comeback after four years.

Raina refutes Modi's betting allegations, mulls legal action

New Delhi, June 02 (ANI): Cricketer Suresh Raina refuted the allegations made by former IPL czar Lalit Modi that the left-hand batsman was involved in betting in Indian Premier League (IPL) matches. "In the wake of recent media reports about me, I would like to make my fans around the world aware and clear the air that I have always played the game in right spirit and with utmost integrity," Raina said in a statement issued by sports management firm Rhiti Sports. "I have never been involved in any wrong doing and all allegations against me are false. Playing cricket is my passion for whichever team I have represented. I'm also figuring out my legal rights to take the right steps ahead in this matter", he added.

Rahane wishes to emulate Dhoni's calmness, Virat's aggression in Zimbabwe tour

Mumbai, July 01 (ANI): India's new ODI captain Ajinkya Rahane has insisted that he wants to emulate a blend of Mahendra Singh Dhoni's calmness, Virat Kohli's aggression and Rahul Dravid's composure in his new role in the upcoming series against Zimbabwe. Rahane, who has been named as the skipper for the Zimbabwe tour in the absence of One-Day International captain Dhoni, will lead the young Indian side in three ODIs and two Twenty20 Internationals. While sharing his experience of working under these three captains, the 27-year-old said that he wants to produce a combination of Dhoni's on-field calmness, Kohli's controlled aggression and Dravid's process of keeping things simple along with his own ideas in the short series. Rahane also maintained that he is not taking their opponents lightly and would lead the team from the front.The selectors announced a second-string team for the tour while resting most of the senior players including Dhoni, Kohli and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

Jwala Gutta returns home after winning Canadian Open

Hyderabad, July 01 (ANI): Shuttler Jwala Gutta, who clinched the Canadian Open Women's Doubles with partner Ashwini Ponnappa, returned to Hyderabad. Gutta who won the tournament on June 28 was welcomed by fans and supporters with bouquets and garlands. A visibly happy Gutta attributed the victory to her partner Ponnappa. Gutta said that continuing the good run in the upcoming tournaments was very important, keeping in mind the Olympics next year.

Satnam Singh becomes first Indian to be drafted into NBA

Ludhiana / New Delhi, June 27 (ANI): Satnam Singh Bhamara became the first Indian basketball player to be drafted into the National Basketball Association (NBA). Singh, at 7-foot-2-inch, was selected by the Dallas Mavericks for the next season. He was selected as the 52nd pick in the second round. Sports Minister Sarbanand Sonowal congratulated Singh on his feat and said that he would be an inspiration to younger players. The 19-year-old player hails from a remote village in Punjab. Friends and family broke into celebrations as Singh made history at the NBA.

Mental tensions because of environment in dressing room have affected Dhoni's performance, says his former coach

Ranchi, June 22 (ANI): After India's ODI skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni offered to step down after the side suffered the first-ever series defeat against Bangladesh, his former coach Chanchal Bhattacharya blamed the environment in the dressing room for his performance. Refuting all reports of retirement by Dhoni, Bhattacharya said that he had only said that he can give up captaincy and had never said that he will stop playing. The former coach also said that the environment of dressing room is not letting him get comfortable and therefore Dhoni's performance is getting adversely affected. Bangladesh took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series with a six-wicket win over the World Cup semi-finalists in Dhaka yesterday.

MS Dhoni takes responsibility for ODI series defeat, offers to quit captaincy

New Delhi, June 22 (ANI): After India's historic ODI series defeat against Bangladesh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni said he was willing to step down if that helped Indian cricket. During the post match press conference of second ODI, which India lost by six wickets, an emotional Dhoni stated: "If it's justified that you remove me, that I am the reason about everything going bad in Indian cricket, I would love to step aside." India went down by six wickets in the rain-marred second ODI to lose the three-match series. Dhoni, who promoted himself to the number 4 position in a crisis situation, blamed poor batting for the series loss. Bangladesh now has a lead of 2-0 in a three-match series. This is a memorable victory for the Tigers, which has also helped them to qualify for the 2017 Champions Trophy.

Dhoni fined 75% of match fee, Rahman 50% for collision in India-Bangladesh 1st ODI

New Delhi, June 19 (ANI): Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Bangladesh paceman Mustafizur Rahman have been fined for a collision during Thursday's first one-day international at Mirpur. While Dhoni has been fined 75% of his match fee, Rahman, who made his ODI debut with a man-of-the-match performance, was docked half of his match earnings. Dhoni was charged with Level 2 offence under ICC Code of Conduct for elbowing the debutant pacer while chasing an imposing 308-run target set by Bangladesh at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium. The incident happened during India's chase when Mustafizur came in Dhoni's way while completing his follow through as India captain was running for a single. Replays showed Dhoni shoved him while trying to reach the crease.

Sports enthusiast creates terrace soccer ground in Hyderabad

Hyderabad, June 17 (ANI): A sports enthusiast in Hyderabad literally took his passion to a higher level by creating a terrace soccer ground on the 10th floor of his building to promote the game, especially among youngsters. It features a heavier ball than the normal football to control the speed on the artificial field with highly durable and high quality nets with a height of 25 feet to ensure uninterrupted play area under flood lights. Director and promoter of the ground, Pavit Singh said that the concept received positive response from the people. Artificial grass ensures consistency in bounce and ball control. The smooth artificial surface and rubber in-fill make the playfield very safe and offer greater movement to players with the foam-stuffed rebound walls alongside the pitch. The facility is said to be the first-of-its-kind in south India and has set a new trend for people who love sports but don't find space.

India extends support to Nepal cricket team to play world cup qualifier

Dharamsala, June 11 (ANI): In a warm gesture, Board of Control for Cricket in India extended support to the national cricket team of Nepal - hit by a devastating earthquake in April - to play the World Cup qualifying match in Ireland. Nepal, scheduled to play a qualifier in Ireland later this year, is undergoing training at the cricket stadium in Dharamsala town of Himachal Pradesh.Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary and Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association president Anurag Singh Thakur met the players and encouraged them to give their best. The coach of Nepal cricket team, Pubudu Dassanayake, thanked BCCI for providing the required infrastructure for the team to train.

Indian cricket team departs for Bangladesh

Kolkata, June 08 (ANI): The Indian cricket team departed for Bangladesh on Monday to play test and one-day match series. The team arrived early morning at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata to leave for Dhaka. India's first match is scheduled for Wednesday when it will play one-off test match against Bangladesh. The three-match one-day internationals (ODI) would begin from June 18 and will be played at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. The second ODI is scheduled for June 21 and the third on June 24. Ravi Shastri, the former test captain, will lead India. The 53-year-old will be supported by assistant coaches Sanjay Bangar (batting), Bharat Arun (bowling) and Ramakrishnan Sridhar (fielding) for the Bangladesh tour. After the Bangladesh trip, India will travel to Africa to play three one-day internationals against Zimbabwe in July.

J-K Chief Minister inaugurates state-level cricket league

Srinagar, June 7 (ANI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed inaugurated a cricket league in Srinagar to promote sports among the youth. Called "Police Public Cricket Premier League (PPCPL)", the event was organised by the state police to encourage players to improve their skills. Inspector General (IG) of Jammu and Kashmir police, Javaid Gillani, said the objective of the event was to connect with the youth. Ten teams from across the state will be participating in the tournament. Indian cricket commentator, Charu Sharma, will do the commentary for the tournament. Sharma said several state players had the potential to don the cap of the national team and such tournaments would go a long way in achieving their dreams. Abid Nabi, who plays domestic cricket, said that such events gave a platform to the players to improve the skill. He said that the event was a good initiative.

India vs Bangladesh Test Match: We have got experience in bowling department, says Ravi Shastri

Kolkata, June 07 (ANI): Former Indian cricketer Ravi Shastri on Sunday while addressing a media press conference said that the Indian Cricket team has got experience in its bowling department. Speaking on Cricketer Harbhajan Singh's comeback, Shastri said that they welcome Harbhajan back in the side and that he's a world good operator and he will bring plenty to the plate. Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli said that they conducted a fitness test because they feel that fitness is one area which the team needs to strengthen.

Serena Williams beats Safarova in three sets at French Open, wins 20th Grand Slam

New Delhi, June 07 (ANI): Serena Williams won her third French Open title and 20th major singles trophy by beating 13th-seeded Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-7, 6-2. Beaten French Open finalist Lucie Safarova has now backed Serena Williams to complete the calendar Grand Slam in 2015. Safarova described Serena as a great and experienced player, and added that if she was in great shape and playing the best tennis, no opponent would be able to stop her from achieving that goal.

FIFA gives provisional thumbs-up to soccer stadium in Kochi

Kochi/ Guwahati, May 29 (ANI): FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) announced that Kochi has been provisionally selected as the venue for Under-17 FIFA World Cup 2017. Tournament director Javier Ceppi along with project director Joy Bhattacharjya made the announcement at a news conference in Kochi. However, the finalisation of Kochi as the venue will depend on many factors. He added Kochi may miss out if the stadium was not found satisfactory during the inspection and the atmosphere or crowd turn out would also decide marquee matches or a team being given to some venues. FIFA panel will also conduct two major inspections in January and September next year before finalizing the six venues in India that will host the league phase of the World Cup. The other possible venues are Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Goa. The tournament will take place in the month of October-November in 2017.

FIFA officials arrested on corruption charges, face US extradition

Zurich, May 28 (ANI): Newspapers headlines in Switzerland were dominated on Thursday with news the world's most popular sport was plunged into turmoil as seven senior soccer officials were arrested on US corruption charges and faced extradition from Switzerland, whose authorities also announced a criminal investigation into the awarding of the next two World Cups. The arrests in a dawn raid at a five-star Zurich hotel on Wednesday marked an unprecedented blow against soccer's governing body FIFA, which for years has been dogged by allegations of corruption but always escaped major criminal cases. The charges allege there has been widespread corruption throughout football's governing body over the past 20 years, involving bids for World Cups as well as marketing and broadcast deals.