LONDON: CHELSEA manager Frank Lampard had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Leicester City in his first home match in charge on Sunday as a second-half header by Wilfred Ndidi cancelled out Mason Mount’s early goal on his home debut. Chelsea raced into a quick lead when the 20 year-old Mount, one of a crop of young players given their chance by Lampard, stole the ball from a dallying Ndidi and left Kasper Schmeichel with no chance with his shot in the seventh minute. The goal capped an ..

 NEW DELHI:  AFTER being recommended for the highest sporting award in the country the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna para athlete Deepa Malik has dedicated the honour to her late father Bal Krishan Nagpal, saying the recognition was a real tribute to “Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikaas.” The Government on Saturday decided to recommend Deepa’s name for the Khel Ratna award. She will become the second para athlete to be honoured with the prestigious award after javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia ..

STAND-IN goalkeeper Adrian was the hero as his save from Tammy Abraham allowed Liverpool to beat Chelsea 5-4 on penalties and win the UEFA Super Cup after a richly entertaining match in Istanbul finished 2-2 at the end of extra time.Every penalty in the shoot-out had been successful before Mohamed Salah stepped up to convert Liverpool’s fifth kick at the home of Besiktas. Substitute Abraham then had his effort saved by Adrian, the summer signing only playing in the absence of the injured Allison Becker...

 Real Madrid’s French forward Karim Benzema (R) vies for the ball with defender Jerome Junior Onguene during the pre-season friendly match against FC Red Bull Salzburg in Salzburg, Austria. (AFP) MADRID:  ZINEDINE Zidane returned to save Real Madrid and the time has come for results. In a packed-out press conference under the Santiago Bernabeu in March, the club’s president Florentino Perez delivered the grandest of re-introductions. “We need to start working on a ..

 PORT OF SPAIN: RISHABH Pant is on a learning curve in a tricky journey called international cricket and his only endeavour is to improve each day, not only as a cricketer but also a human being. The nascent international career of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s heir apparent has been an eventful one — a few eye-catching knocks interspersed with indiscreet shot selections that invited a lot of critical comments. With India having a packed schedule in the next six months, Pant was asked ..

    MUMBAI: THE Committee of Administrators (CoA) on Tuesday cleared Rahul Dravid’s appointment as Head of Cricket at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), ruling that there is “no conflict of interest” case against the former India captain. Lt General Ravi Thogde, the new member of the CoA, said the ball is now in BCCI Ombudsman-cum-ethics officer DK Jain’s court. “There is no conflict on Rahul’s case. He has got a notice and we have cleared his appointment..

MONTREAL: DEFENDING champion Rafael Nadal heads the field for the ATP Montreal Masters that starts on Monday with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer opting out of the key US Open tune-up. With Djokovic and Federer putting a return to action on hold after their dramatic Wimbledon final, 33-year-old Nadal will be seeking to retain the title he earned last year in Toronto, when he beat rising star Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final.  The Greek is back, taking the fourth seeding behind a pair of ..

 BANGKOK: ACE Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth crashed out of the Thailand Open after suffering unexpected defeats but B Sai Praneeth sailed into the quarter-finals of the men’s singles here on Thursday. Seventh seed Saina, who returned to action after nearly two months, squandered a game advantage to lose 21-16, 11-21, 14-21 against unseeded Sayaka Takahashi of Japan in a women’s singles second round duel that lasted 48 minutes. In the absence of PV Sindhu, ..

 BENGALURU:  PULLING off a victory against the world No 2 Australia will help boost our confidence ahead of the Olympics qualifiers, feels Indian women’s hockey player Gurjit Kaur. The Indian women’s team, currently ranked 10th in the FIH Rankings, will face tough challenges against the likes of Australia, China (11th) and hosts Japan (14th) at the Olympic test event, scheduled to begin in Tokyo on August 17.  The tournament will give the Indian team a chance to work on ..

 NEW DELHI: INDIAN athletics’ High Performance Director Volker Herrmann feels star sprinter Hima Das is nearing her best, having won five successive gold medals in three weeks in Europe. The 19-year-old Hima has won five races — four in 200m and one in her pet 400m event — in Poland and Czech Republic since July 2. She has been improving on her timing even though the field in all the five races was mediocre. “Hima is progressing in the right direction. If you want ..

 TOKYO:  ACE Indian shuttler PV Sindhu will have to quickly pick up the pieces after her deflating loss in the Indonesia Open final and prepare for the next battle at the Japan Open BWF World Tour Super 750 starting here Tuesday. The USD 750,000 tournament will also see the return of Saina Nehwal, who had missed the Indonesia Open Super 1000 event due to fitness issues.  Sindhu missed an opportunity to break a seven-month title drought when she lost in straight games to Akane Yamaguchi ..

China’s Sun Yang poses with his medal after the men’s 400m freestyle final at the 2019 World Championships at Gwangju, South Korea. (AFP/Oli Scarff)   GWANGJU: CHINA’S Sun Yang stormed to 400 metres freestyle gold at the world swimming championships Sunday, retaining his title and winning it for a record fourth time. The controversial triple Olympic champion clocked three minutes, 42.44 seconds in Gwangju with fierce Australian rival Mack Horton taking silver ..

 JAKARTA: TOP Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth made impressive starts to their campaign, progressing to the second round of the Indonesia Open with contrasting wins at the BWF World Tour Super 1000 tournament here Wednesday. Rejuvenated after a month-long break from a hectic BWF schedule, Sindhu and Srikanth prevailed over Japanese shuttlers Aya Ohori and Kenta Nishimoto in women’s and men’s singles respectively.  Fifth seed Sindhu, who is looking for her ..

 STAR Indian sprinter Hima Das clinched her fourth gold in a fortnight as she won the 200m race with a creditable timing in the Tabor Athletics Meet in Czech Republic, Wednesday. Hima won the race in 23.25 seconds, which had a mediocre field with most of the competitors representing clubs of Czech Republic. Hima’s compatriot VK Vismaya was second with a season of best 23.43 seconds. Hima has a 200m personal best of 23.10 seconds.  This was 19-year-old Hima’s fourth gold since ..

NEW Zealand did not lose. England did not win, but they are the World Champions. That is the insanity this game throws up once in a blue moon..

Indian boxing star Vijender Singh remained an unstoppable force, clinching a Technical Knockout over the more experienced Mike Snider on his debut in the US professional circuit here...

NOVAK Djokovic saved two match points to clinch a fifth Wimbledon title and 16th major on Sunday, shattering Roger Federer’s bid to become the oldest Grand Slam champion in the longest final ever played at the tournament. ..

 MANCHESTER:  IT WAS unacceptable that 45 minutes of bad cricket resulted in India’s shock exit from the World Cup, lamented captain Virat Kohli after his team suffered a heart-breaking semi-final defeat against New Zealand. MS Dhoni (50) and Ravindra Jadeja (77) then fought back with a superb 116-run partnership for the seventh wicket but the former’s run-out in the penultimate over tilted the game in the favour of the Kiwis. “Always feels disappointed when you play such ..

 India’s captain Virat Kohli addresses media representatives during a press conference at Old Trafford in Manchester, north-west England on Monday, ahead of their 2019 Cricket World Cup semi-final match against New Zealand. (More reports on page 13) (AFP/ Dibyangshu Sarkar)  MANCHESTER;  INDIA TAKE ON KIWIS IN 1ST SEMIS TODAY  IT HAS been a dream World Cup campaign for Virat Kohli’s men and now everything boils down to having two perfect days. The ..

 KARACHI:  FACING the ire of critics and fans alike, the Pakistan cricket team found an ally in former captain Moin Khan, who believes the 1992 champions did not have a disastrous World Cup campaign despite standing on the verge of ouster. Pakistan’s hopes of sealing a semi-final berth were trampled when arch-rivals India and New Zealand lost to England, leaving the road to the knockout stage for Sarfaraz Ahmed and his men just an improbable mathematical calculation. They will take ..

 FORMER champions Sri Lanka are all but out of the ongoing World Cup after suffering a nine-wicket drubbing against a clinical South Africa, here Friday. Sent in to bat, Sri Lanka produced a dismal batting show to manage a modest 203, a target which the Proteas overhauled with 76 balls in hand.  With just six points from seven games, Sri Lanka still have a mathematical chance to be in the semi-finals. First, they need to win their last two games against already-eliminated West Indies ..

 FORMER India skipper Saurav Ganguly has thrown his weight behind under-fire Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is facing criticism for his slow-paced knocks in the ongoing World Cup, saying the stumper would definitely succeed due to his experience and ability.  Dhoni initially found the going tough before getting 16 runs in the final over to finish unbeaten on 56 off 61 deliveries and take India to 268 for seven against the West Indies at Manchester Thursday. India won the game by 125 runs. ..

 LONDON: JASON Behrendorff doesn’t seen an issue if left-arm pacers like him and Mitchell Starc feature in the Australian playing eleven more often, especially after the duo’s match winning performances against England in the World Cup here on Tuesday. Behrendorff was brought into the side for just his eighth ODI due to England’s historic struggles against left-arm pacemen and that decision proved a masterstroke at Lord’s. The 29-year-old took his maiden international ..

 NEW DELHI: KAPIL DEV-led Indian team’s stupendous World Cup win on June 25, 1983, is till date looked at as a revolutionary tale. The Indian team had defeated an invincible West Indies in the finals to lift the World Cup trophy for the first time. After the win, cricket got a fillip in the country, elevating the sport to a religion for fans with every child wanting to become a cricketer. Many cricketers, who are now viewed as some of the greatest ones to have played for India, also ..

 SOUTHAMPTON:  AFGHANISTAN captain Gulbadin Naib slammed his side's sloppy fielding in their 62-run World Cup defeat against Bangladesh on Monday. Naib's men were guilty of a series of errors- - dropping catches and committing careless misfields -- as Bangladesh scored 262-7 in Southampton. Those blunders were worth an extra 35 runs according to the disgruntled Naib, who defended his decision to bowl first after winning the toss. “I'm happy with the toss, but if you look at the ..

 MANCHESTER: CARLOS Brathwaite Saturday said he will take confidence from his valiant 101 that took West Indies close to victory only to lose the World Cup thriller by five runs against New Zealand. Brathwaite set up an exciting game with his 82-ball blitz after West Indies slipped to 245 for nine in their chase of 292 at Manchester’s Old Trafford. He smashed five sixes and nine fours for his maiden ODI ton, but fell to paceman Jimmy Neesham in trying to get the winning hit in the ..

 MANCHESTER ENGLAND skipper Eoin Morgan, who smashed a world record 17 sixes in his side’s 150-run crushing of Afghanistan in a World Cup game, said he never thought a knock like that could come from his bat. Morgan blasted an incredible 17 sixes — the most in ODI history — during his game-changing knock of 148 at Old Trafford Tuesday, breaking the previous record of 16 held jointly by AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle and Rohit Sharma. His knock helped England post 397/6 — ..

 LONDON: AARON Finch says it was a slight change in mindset and technique that helped him overcome a dismal Australian summer that even raised questions over his place in the ODI side, both as player and captain. The Australian skipper is now back to his best and bludgeoned 153 from only 132 balls at the Oval on Saturday to lead the defending champions to an 87-run win over Sri Lanka. He is now the top run scorer in the World Cup, has equalled Jason Roy for the highest individual score of ..

 MANCHESTER:  Rohit, Kuldeep ensure India drub Pakistan once again; stretch record to 7-0 in World Cup   ROHIT Sharma produced an elegant hundred before Kuldeep Yadav flummoxed the Pakistani batsmen as India inflicted a humiliating 89-run defeat on their arch-rivals in a much-hyped World Cup match, which eventually turned to be a lop-sided affair. Chasing a stiff 337-run target, Pakistan were already down and out when rain stopped play after 35 overs.  They had managed just ..

 Paris: Rafael Nadal swept to an historic 12th Roland Garros title and 18th Grand Slam crown on Sunday with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Austria’s Dominic Thiem. The 33-year-old Spaniard becomes the first player, man or woman, to win the same Slam 12 times after seeing off a brave challenge from a weary Thiem in a repeat of the 2018 final. Nadal is now just two behind Roger Federer’s all-time record of 20 majors and three ahead of Novak Djokovic who was knocked out by Thiem ..

 CARDIFF: ENGLAND captain Eoin Morgan feels a significant improvement in temperament has led opener Jason Roy to stellar success in the last two years. Roy smashed his sixth ODI century in the last 18 months to get England back to winning ways in the World Cup here on Saturday. After a player of the series effort in the warm-up ODI series against Pakistan, Roy is in a rich vein of form that contrasts markedly with his efforts two years ago in the Champions Trophy.  Out of form and, ..

 LONDON: BANGLADESH skipper Mashrafe Mortaza came out in defence of wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim following his run-out blunder during their World Cup match against New Zealand here. The incident happened in the 12th over when Mushfiqur dislodged the bails with his elbow while trying to run out New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, who went on to share a crucial 105-run stand for the third wicket with Ross Taylor. The partnership set the tone as New Zealand chased down Bangladesh’s ..

It is not often that stalwarts like Vivian Richards comes out and praises you. But such is the pedestal that India skipper Virat Kohli has reached that Richards not only shut critics who have questioned Kohli’s attitude, but also said that Kohli reminds him of his own game. “I love guys like that. People talk about arrogance but it is about believing in yourself. It is like having the keys to your home, Virat has something similar now (know all the entry and exits)...

Novak Djokovic on Monday became the first man to reach the French Open quarter-finals for 10 successive seasons while Kei Nishikori set-up the toughest challenge on a clay court — facing Rafael Nadal. Top seed and world number one Djokovic continued his bid to hold all four..

 BRISTOL:  AUSTRALIA’S David Warner showed little of his menacing hitting and brash in-your-face approach as he made his return to the international arena at the World Cup on Saturday. But he has evidently lost none of his match-winning form. The 32-year-old was back for a first official ODI outing after a year-long ban and produced a performance that appeared almost contrite yet highly effective as Australia began the defence of their World Cup crown with an easy seven-wicket victory ..

 London: Sachin Tendulkar will be rooting for Indian victory but at the same time would keep a keen eye on David Warner, Rashid Khan and Jofra Archer, the players who can be potential ‘Game Changers’ in the six World Cup weeks. Tendulkar’s suggestion for the Afghan star Rashid Khan is to “set attacking fields” and treat the 50-over game like a “Test match”, challenging the opposition batsmen regularly. “I think he’s (Rashid) going to ..

 Madrid: Mauricio Pochettino used to wince when his pressing game was compared with Jurgen Klopp’s but Tottenham and Liverpool share more than just a love of the chase in their recent fight to join Europe’s elite. With star players sold and the proceeds, largely, squandered, Pochettino and Klopp were each tasked with restoring a sense of direction to clubs clearly wandering off course. Only this year have Liverpool soared ahead, their 26-point advantage over Spurs in the Premier ..

 PARIS: DEFENDING champion Rafael Nadal got his bid for a record-extending 12th French Open title off to the perfect start by brushing aside German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann, while world number one Novak Djokovic was also a comfortable victor in the first round at Roland Garros on Monday. Nadal, a 17-time Grand Slam champion, cruised to a 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 victory on the rebuilt Court Philippe Chatrier to set up a clash with another German qualifier — world number 114 Yannick Maden —in ..

 MONACO: LEWIS Hamilton resisted intense race-long pressure on Sunday to secure a narrow, dramatic and emotional victory for a mourning Mercedes in the Monaco Grand Prix. The defending five-time world champion and current series leader, who came home less than a second ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, said he survived the Dutchman’s late attacks by “fighting with the spirit of Niki (Lauda)”. He lifted his red helmet in tribute to the three-time champion Austrian ..

 BELAGAVI ABHIMANYU Easwaran’s double ton and Amolpreet Singh’s century helped India ‘A’ post an imposing 622 for five declared against Sri Lanka ‘A’ in the first unofficial Test here Sunday. At stumps on Day Two, Sri Lanka ‘A’ were in deep trouble at 83 for four, trailing India ‘A’ by 539 runs, with Ashan Priyanjan and Niroshan Dickwella batting on 22 runs each. In reply to the hosts’ mammoth total, Sri Lanka ‘A’ ..

 Bethpage (US): Brooks Koepka held off a late charge from Dustin Johnson to capture his second consecutive PGA Championship on Sunday, completing a wire-to-wire victory for his fourth major title in nerve-wracking fashion. A near-collapse saw Koepka’s record seven-stroke lead reduced to a single shot, but he withstood making four bogeys in a row on the back nine and another at 17 for an unexpectedly narrow triumph. “This is probably the most satisfied I’ve been with all ..

 EIBAR: Barcelona captain and La Liga top scorer Lionel Messi rounded off a spectacular season by netting twice in a 2-2 draw away to Eibar in the champions’ final game on Sunday, taking his tally to a remarkable 36 league goals. Eibar went ahead in the 20th minute with a strike from Barca’s on-loan midfielder Marc Cucurella which squirmed under keeper Jasper Cillessen but Messi levelled in the 31st after sneaking into the box to meet a pass from Arturo Vidal.  Messi struck ..

 By Mukund Dhus: COIMBATORE Maharashtra’s boys and girls crashed out of contention in the ongoing 36th Youth National Basketball Championship in progress at Coimbatore. Weary looking boys were thrashed by Chandigarh 54-95 in the pre-quarterfinals while girls were beaten by holders Punjab 50-71 in the quarter-finals. In a totally one sided affair Chandigarh boys dominated overall in the game.  Last year’s runners-up, Maharashtra gave a fight in the first quarter but ..

 Madrid; Antoine Griezmann's decision to leave Atletico Madrid has plunged the club into chaos and fired the starting gun for a summer scramble among Europe's elite. Top scorer in each of his five seasons, Griezmann was the stardust of Atleti, offering spontaneity and craft in a team renowned for discipline and grit. But he grafted too, which is why he was the perfect fit. Griezmann would run and chase as much as he passed and shot, his willingness perhaps exceptional for one of the world’s ..

 Bethpage (US): Tiger Woods faces a lawsuit from the parents of a staffer at his Florida restaurant who died in a drink driving accident after allegedly being overserved alcohol, TMZ reported. The parents of Nicholas Immesberger, who died last December at age 24, filed the lawsuit saying their son had worked as a bartender at The Woods in Jupiter, Florida, and knew the golf star personally, the celebrity website reported. The news broke hours after Woods played his opening practice round ..

 New Delhi: With Olympic qualification round the corner, the second edition of the India Open Boxing Tournament kicks-off with 35 men and 37 women boxers from India vying for glory as close to 200 pugilists from 16 boxing powerhouses will participate in this tournament to be held at the Karmabir Nabin Chandra Bordoloi Indoor Stadium in Guwahati, Assam from May 20-24. The $70,000 tournament will see London Olympic bronze medallist Mary Kom making her competitive debut at home in the 51 kg ..

  AMSTERDAM: Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Christian Eriksen said they threw tactics out the window and relied on grit and heart to come back from 3-0 down on aggregate to beat Ajax Amsterdam on away goals and reach the Champions League final on Wednesday. Having lost the first leg in London 1-0, Tottenham got off to the worst possible start in Amsterdam by going 2-0 down on the night. The second leg turned on its head after halftime, however, as Lucas Moura scored twice in quick succession ..

  New Delhi: The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has recommended the names of Heena Sidhu and Ankur Mittal for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. Asian Games bronze medallist Heena, in 2013, became the first Indian pistol shooter to win a gold medal in an ISSF World Cup finals when she won the 10m Air Pistol event.  The 29-year-old has also won a silver medal in the women’s 10m Air Pistol event, and a gold medal in the women’s 25m Air Pistol event. ..

 New Delhi: The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has recommended the names of Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. Current number one wrestler Punia recently stamped his authority on Asia after he won the Asian Wrestling Champion-ships in Xi’an, China. Punia had last year won the gold medal in the 65-kg freestyle wrestling event at the Asian Games held in Jakarta. He defeated Japanese wrestler Takatani Daichi 11-8. Before that, he had also won the ..

  London:  More than 40,000 people participated in the 39th London Marathon on Sunday, with many runner targeting over 80 Guinness World Records. Tennis ace Andy Murray fired the starting gun at this year’s event as the participants descended on the British capital for the race, the BBC reported. The marathon has raised 1 billion pounds since it started in 1981, according to race sponsors Virgin Money. Event director Hugh Brasher said: “No other mass participation event ..