Category: SPORTS

Sending out a strong message that it won’t allow players to interfere in selection matters, the AITA today brought back old warhorse Leander Paes in the Davis Cup team despite “reservations” from seasoned campaigner Rohan Bopanna. The five-member selection committee named Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Sumit Nagal, Bopanna and Paes apart from including left-handed Divij Sharan as a reserve member in the side. Purav Raja, who performed below-par against Canada in the World Group Play-Off tie, was predictably dropped from the squad. According to sources in the AITA, non-playing captain…

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A young and inexperienced India will be eyeing a big win over Ireland here tomorrow to keep alive their slim hopes of qualifying for the final of Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament and hope for favourable results in other matches. After a below-par outing in the first three matches, India rekindled their hopes by registering their first win of the tournament yesterday, mauling hosts Malaysia 5-1. Before the win, India had earlier lost 2-3 to Olympic champions Argentina, 2-4 against world champions Australia and drew 1-1 against England. World champions…

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A below-par performance in the powerplays cost India the tri-series opener against Sri Lanka, reckoned opener Shikhar Dhawan, who credited Kusal Perera for taking the game away from his team with a blazing knock. India lost the lung-opener by five wickets with Perera putting the inexperienced visiting attack to sword during his 37-ball 66. India had managed to reach a mere 40 for 2 in the first six overs after being reduced to 9 for 2 in two overs. On the other hand, Sri Lanka posted 75 for two in…

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With an eye on the upcoming Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games, Hockey India has roped in former Australia dragflick specialist Chris Ciriello as the analytical coach of the men’s side. Even though his appointment is yet to be officially confirmed by the Sports Authority of India (SAI), the 32-year-old Ciriello, the youngest to join the Indian team management, started working with the Indian national side from the New Zealand tour in January. However, a top Hockey India official has confirmed that Ciriello is already on board and it’s a…

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ndia jumped to the top of the pecking order as young Manu Bhaker clinched a gold medal while Ravi Kumar bagged a bronze in the ISSF World Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico. Bhaker beat the host country s Alejandra Zavala, a two-time World Cup Finals winner, with a 10.8 in the last shot of the 24 shot final, to come out on top with a score of 237.5. Zavala ended at 237.1 while Celine Goberville of France won the bronze with a score of 217.0. India s Yashaswini Singh Deswal missed…

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Rony Lopes scored the winner midway through the second half as second-place Monaco beat Bordeaux 2-1 in the French league on Friday. The attacking midfielder is emerging as a replacement for Bernardo Silva, who was arguably Monaco’s best player when it won the league and reached the Champions League semifinals last season. Silva’s scintillating form earned him a big-money move to runaway English Premier League leader Manchester City. Lopes was on City’s books in 2014 but made only a handful of appearances. He was loaned to Monaco and then to Lille,…

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In a departure from the current formula for sharing the Davis Cup prize money, non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi and coach Zeeshan Ali were allowed by the AITA to claim a share from the players’ prize purse from the Canada tie. Till the World Group Play-off tie against Canada last September, the prize money was distributed only among only six players including the two reserves while the support staff was paid directly by the All India Tennis Association (AITA). However, the prize purse for the Canada tie was distributed equally among…

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Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar suffered a sprained ankle and a fractured metatarsal when he was stretchered off in Sunday’s win over Marseille, the Ligue 1 leaders has announced. The Brazilian, who signed for PSG in a world-record move from Barcelona last year, is now a serious injury doubt for the Champions League last-16 second leg against Real Madrid at the Parc des Princes on March 6. PSG trail in the tie after a 3-1 first-leg defeat in Spain, with their hopes of a maiden Champions League title taking a further…

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Even brother Ian Chappell was not very positive about Greg Chappell taking over as Team India coach in 2005 and so was Sunil Gavaskar but Sourav Ganguly says he decided to ignore all these warnings and follow his instincts on the appointment. In fact, Ganguly was in awe of Chappell prior to his appointment and even embarked on a secret trip to Australia in 2003 before the team was to tour that country for doing an exhaustive recce of the grounds and preparing himself and his teammates. He got in…

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Paris Saint-Germain coach Unai Emery remains optimistic that superstar Neymar will be fit to face Real Madrid in their do-or-die Champions League clash despite suffering an ankle injury in Sunday’s 3-0 victory over Marseille. Neymar, the world’s most expensive footballer, was stretchered off 10 minutes from time at the Parc des Princes as PSG opened up a 14-point lead in Ligue 1. The 26-year-old was on his own when he innocuously rolled his ankle and flopped to the ground in pain. “The first examination in the locker room revealed that…

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