Category: SPORTS

Double Olympic-medallist Sushil Kumar (74kg) and Rahul Aware claimed contrasting gold medals even as defending champion Babita phogat (53kg) settled for a silver on the opening day of the 21st Commonwealth Games’ wrestling competition here today. Sushil took a minute and 20 seconds to defeat Johannes Botha of South Africa on technical superiority to claim his third successive gold medal at the Games. Aware, on the other hand, prevailed 15-7 over Canada’s Steven Takahashi in an exciting contest during which the Indian was troubled by a groin niggle but chose…

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With shooting set to be dropped from the Birmingham Commonwealth Games’ roster, Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore today shot off a missive to his British counterpart and to the CGF President, asking them to intervene and ensure that the sport remains a part of the 2022 edition. The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) has left it to the host nation, in this case England, to keep or remove shooting, which has always been an optional sport, from the schedule. Rathore wrote not only to the CGF President Louise Martin but also…

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The debutant duo of Gaurav Solanki (52kg) and Manish Kaushik (60kg) advanced to the quarterfinals, continuing Indian boxers’ fine preliminary run at the Commonwealth Games here today. While Solanki eased past Ghana’s Akimos Annang Ampiah 5-0, Kaushik staved off some early resistance from Trinidad and Tobago’s Michael Alexander to win 4-0. Solanki was the first to take the ring and was quite a dominant force against a rather timid opponent. However, the Indian was modest in victory and lauded his opponent. He will next face Papua new Guinea’s Charles Keama…

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The Indian women’s hockey team rallied from a goal down to script a stunning 2-1 triumph over Olympic champions England in its third Pool A match of the 21st Commonwealth Games here today. India, aiming to do better than the fifth-place finish at the last two CWG editions, are now second on the points table behind England and look set to qualify for the semifinals. Gurjit Kaur and Navneet Kaur sounded the board for India in the 42nd and 48th minute after England captain Alexandra Danson had put her team…

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Star shuttler Kidambi Srikanth led from the front as India thrashed Mauritius 3-0 to advance to the semifinals of badminton mixed team event in the Commonwealth Games here today. Srikanth took just 29 minute to beat Georges Julien Paul 21-12 21-14 in the men’s singles after the two doubles pairs had given India a 2-0 lead. The men’s doubles duo of Satwik Rankireddy and Chirag Chandrashekhar Shetty hardly broke a sweat in their 21-12 21-3 win over Aatish Lubah and Christopher Jean Paul in the first match before Ashwini Pannappa…

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Tennis icon Leander Paes became the most successful doubles player in the history of Davis Cup with a record 43rd win before young guns Ramkumar Ramanathan and Prajnesh Gunneswaran pulled off the must-win rubbers as India advanced to the World Group Play-offs with a sensational 3-2 win over China here today. Everything depending on how they fared in the do-or-die doubles rubber, the 44-year-old Paes and Rohan Bopanna downed a fighting Chinese pair of Mao Xin Gong and Ze Zhang 5-7 7-6(5) 7-6(3) to keep India afloat in the second…

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Veteran Leander Paes will make yet another attempt to create the Davis Cup record for the most doubles win as India clash with China in their den in “brutal” cold conditions for a place in the World Group Play-offs, starting here tomorrow. The 44-year-old Paes is tied on 42 wins with Italian great Nicola Pietrangeli and one more win will make him the most successful doubles player in the history of Davis Cup. Paes had a chance to the make the record when India hosted New Zealand in Pune in…

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Mohamed Salah, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sadio Mane scored as Liverpool stunned Manchester City 3-0 at Anfield in Wednesday’s first leg of their Champions League quarter-final. Salah fired Liverpool ahead on 12 minutes with Oxlade-Chamberlain hammering in a terrific long-range strike before Mane headed in a third as Jurgen Klopp beat City counterpart Pep Guardiola for the sixth time in 10 meetings. The return fixture takes place in Manchester on April 10. Barca win Luis Suarez’s late strike sealed a 4-1 win for Barcelona against Roma in their Champions League quarter-final, first leg…

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For Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi, comes a strong word of advice from cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. “No outsider needs to know or tell us what we need to do,” said the former India captain, condemning Afridi’s comments on Kashmir. “It is obvious that we have capable people to manage our country, run our country,” the master blaster added when asked about Shahid Afridi’s tweet in which he had alleged an “appalling and worrisome situation” in Kashmir and urged UN intervention. The former Pakistani captain was apparently reacting to an anti-terror operation in…

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi today extended his best wishes to the Indian contingent for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, saying the whole country is behind the athletes. The multi-sport extravaganza begins today with the opening ceremony in the Australian city known for its sandy beaches and surfing spots. “All the best to the athletes representing India at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games! Our sportspersons have worked tremendously hard and the Games will be a wonderful opportunity to showcase their talent. Every Indian is cheering for our contingent,” Modi twitted.…

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