Page 71 - Sports

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.

Decision on Sourav Ganguly will be taken soon: Anurag Thakur

Kolkata, May 25 (ANI): Board of Cricket for Control in India (BCCI) secretary Anurag Thakur on Monday said that the decision on the possible appointment of Sourav Ganguly as Team India advisor would be taken soon. Thakur will be meeting BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya today in Kolkata to take the decision on role of Sourav Ganguly. It has been speculated that Ganguly could either become chairman of advisory panel, High Performance Manager, Team Director or the chief coach of the national cricket team. Ganguly may be approached to accompany the team as a high performance director for the short tour of Bangladesh, commencing with the one-off Test from June 10.

Mumbai Indians defeat Chennai Super Kings to win second IPL crown at Eden

New Delhi, May 25 (ANI): Mumbai Indians' love affair with Eden Gardens continued as they clinched their second IPL trophy following a crushing 41-run wins over Chennai Super Kings in Kolkata. The team won nine of their last 10 matches as all their big players came to the party when it was required. BCCI Vice-President CK Khanna said that it was a one sided match and that Mumbai Indians played very well.

International karate coach Antonio Oliva Seba trains Indian players for world championship

Coimbatore, May 19 (ANI): Internationally famed karate coach Antonio Oliva Seba trained over 75 Indian karate players in Coimbatore city for the upcoming World Karate Championship to be held in Jakarta this November. Seba, 8th Dan, Chief Instructor of World Karate Federation (WKF), has been holding special training sessions at Kumaraguru College of Technology for the past couple of days. He will also provide coaching to the Indian team of Asian Karate Championship, which will take place in Tokyo in September. He is also providing separate teachings to the coaches so that they could train the students better. Meanwhile, the players said the rigorous training by Seba is focusing more on the tactics.

Two HIV positive children from Bengaluru to participate in Netherlands Olympics

Bengaluru, May 09 (ANI): Two HIV positive children from Bengaluru are to participate in the Olympics in the Netherlands next month. Discarding the stigma attached with HIV infected people, this is for the first time two teenagers, Manik and Babu, will be representing the country at international level. The duo will be participating in a 500-metre and 100-metre sprint respectively. Their coach, Alvis Joseph, said despite odds, the two aspire to bring glory to the nation. Both Manik and Babu are orphans and stay in an orphanage, Sneha Sadan. Coach Joseph, who also has been raising sponsorships for them with great difficulty, says the duo want to end the prevailing discrimination against the HIV infected people and wish to make India AIDS free.

SAI female athletes suicide case: DG says Investigation underway, priority to save their lives

New Delhi, May 07 (ANI): After a horrific incident in Alapuzha, Kerala wherein four female athletes committed suicide alleging harassment by seniors, Sports Authority of India (SAI) Director General Injeti Srinivas on Thursday said that investigation is underway in the case. He said that the priority as of now, is to save the lives of other three athletes after one amongst them died post consuming a poisonous fruit. Srinivas said that the SAI is trying to ensure that the best medical treatment is given to the girls. He also said that a suicide note was found and the investigation is going on over the same too. Srinivas also gave his assurance to the affected families of the girls. Further, talking about the poison consumed by the girls, the SAI DG said that the poison reached their blood which has made the case more complicated.

Four SAI athletes commit suicide in Kerala, one dies

Alappuzha, May 07 (ANI): A 15 year old sportperson died and three other are undergoing treatment in a hospital in Kerala after they ate a poisonous fruit in an apparent suicide pact following alleged harassment by seniors. The girls are suspected to have consumed the fruit, locally called 'Othalanga', at around 3 PM yesterday inside the SAI women's hostel. They were rushed to a hospital and later taken to Alapuzha Medical College, where one of them died, police said. The girls were undergoing training at the Water Sports Centre of the SAI at nearby Punnamada. Meanwhile, Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal also expressed grief on the incident.

Cricketer Dwayne Bravo launches his music single 'Chalo Chalo'

Chennai, May 4 (ANI): Chennai Super Kings cricketer Dwayne Bravo recently launched his music single, Chalo Chalo in Chennai. The Caribbean cricketer, who has entertained cricket fans with his cricketing skills, said that he likes to unwind by composing music when he's not on the field. One of the star players of Chennai Super Kings team, Bravo has been a part of the side for the last few seasons. He considers Chennai "home away from home".

Boxing India Chief Sandeep Jajodia removed, cries foul

New Delhi, May 04 (ANI): Boxing India Chief Sandeep Jajodia who lost the no-confidence motion at a special general meeting (SGM), alleged that the voting was illegal. Jajodia lost the motion 2-55 after 57 of the 64 general body members voted in the no-confidence motion, which he skipped. Refuting Jajodia's allegations, a key member of Boxing India, Abhay Singh Chautala, said the current leadership failed to live up to the faith reposed in them. The body's current Vice-President Miren Paul is likely to take over as interim chief.

Floyd Mayweather Jr cements legacy with win against Manny Pacquiao

Las Vegas, May 03 (ANI): Floyd Mayweather Jr. cemented his place among the pantheon of boxing greats by improving to 48-0 with a unanimous decision over Manny Pacquiao in a fight that lived up to its immense hype and price tag. Mayweather weathered an early assault from the Filipino southpaw before winning the later rounds using his reach and jab to finish ahead on all three scorecards in a welterweight showdown set to be the top grossing prize fight of all-time. Though Pacquiao repeatedly forced Mayweather to backpedal, the wily American blunted his opponent's best efforts by using his renowned defensive skills while getting in several telling jabs and punches of his own. The fight between the two greatest boxers of their generation was one that appeared might never happen as Pacquiao resisted Mayweather's demands for blood-testing for five years. The fighters were also paid royally for their night's work, with Mayweather guaranteed $120 million and Pacquiao $80 million although both

Promising Bengal cricketer dies after fielding collision

Kolkata, April 20 (ANI): Ankit Keshri, a former Bengal Under-19 cricketer, died on Monday after encountering an accident on the cricket field last Friday. The 20-year-old talented cricketer had collided with his teammate Sourabh Mondal while attempting a catch and had been rushed to the hospital after he stopped breathing briefly. He eventually died of a cardiac arrest. Keshri was the captain of the Bengal Under-19 team two years ago.

Ace Badminton Player Saina Nehwal regains World No 1 ranking

Bengaluru, April 16 (ANI): Ace Badminton Player Saina Nehwal regained the number one position in international rankings after China's Li Xuerui dropped a couple of rungs to third in the latest list issued on Thursday. Nehwal said that No 1 ranking is something which is still unbelievable for her and that it is a big achievement. She added that she hopes to stay at the rank for some more time.

Former Indian tennis players laud Sania for climbing top of doubles ranking

New Delhi/ Hyderabad, April 14 (ANI): Former Indian tennis players have lauded Sania Mirza for becoming the first Indian to climb to the top of the WTA doubles ranking after she teamed up with Swiss great Martina Hingis to claim the Family Circle Cup title. The 28-year-old won her third successive doubles title with Hingis, following triumphs in Indian Wells and Miami, to achieve the top ranking milestone. Former Indian Tennis Player, Vishal Uppal, termed Sania's achievement as a huge accomplishment for an Indian sportsperson. President of All India Tennis Association, Anil Khanna, said that Sania's record was one of the greatest achievements in history of Indian sports. Only three other Asian women have achieved the top WTA doubles ranking: Japan's Ai Sugiyama, China's Peng Shuai and Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei.

Sania Mirza creates history, becomes World number 1 in tennis doubles

New Delhi, April 13 (ANI): Ace tennis player Sania Mirza created history by becoming the first female tennis player from India to achieve the world number one rank in doubles, following her stupendous title win at the WTA Family Circle Cup with Swiss partner Martina Hingis. They beat the Aussie-Croation pair Casey Dellacqua and Darija Jurak 6-0, 6-4 in the match. Mirza and Hingis survived a stressful semi-final to reach the final. The pair beat Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 1-6, 10-7 in a rain-affected semifinal. An ecstatic Sania Mirza on Monday shared her excitement and delight at creating history by becoming the world number one in tennis doubles and asked her young fans to believe in themselves strongly.