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Chennaiyin FC beat FC Goa 3-2 to emerge ISL champions

December 21, 2015

Margao, Dec 21: Forced to shift base to another venue due to floods in their home city, Chhenaiyin FC were today crowned the Indian Super League champions after they beat FC Goa 3-2 in a drama-filled summit clash in which three goals were scored in the last four minutes here today.

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In a befitting grand finale of the ISL second season which saw 186 goals scored in 60 matches as compared to 121 last year, the Chennaiyin vs Goa clash at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here saw as many as five goals, all of them coming in the second half in the edge-of-the-seat match.

Bruno Pelissari put Chennaiyin ahead in the 54th minute but Goa equalised within four minutes with Thongkhosiem Haokip finding the target. Joffre Gonzalez then put Goa ahead for the first time in the 87th minute in what looked like to be the winning goal.

But, under dramatic circumstances, Goa goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani conceded an own goal in the 90th minute to level the score before Chennaiyin striker Stiven Mendoza found the target in the first minute of the injury time to stun the home supporters of Goa.

The thrilling final, attended by the likes of Indian Test cricket team captain and Goa co-owner Virat Kohli and his actress girlfriend Anushka Sharma besides Chennaiyin owner Abhishek Bachchan and ISL Chairperson Nita Ambani, brought a climactic end to the season of the lucrative league.

For Chennaiyin, coached by Italian World Cup winner Marco Materazzi, the triumph was all the more remarkable as they had to shift to Pune for their semifinals first leg after their home venue was devastated by the floods.

They were also struggling in the early part of the league phase and needed four wins on the trot in their last four matches to qualify for the semifinals.

On the other hand, it was heartbreak for Goa who looked the most attacking side in the season under Brazilian legend Zico who is not expected to return for the next season.

The winners got richer by Rs 8 crore while the runners- team got Rs 4 crore. The two semi-final losers got Rs 1.5 crore each.

Colombian Mendoza, who continued with his fine form in the tournament today also, was later named as the best player of the tournament besides also winning the Golden Boot Award for scoring highest number of 13 goals. He though missed a penalty kick in the match.

Both the team, looking for their maiden title after they lost in the semifinals last year, started cautiously and had the honours shared equally in the barren first half.

The visitors made one change in the starting line up bringing in Pelissari in place of Elano Blumer. The home side fielded unchanged eleven that won against Delhi Dynamos in the semifinals.

They got an early jolt when striker Dudu Omagbemi got injured after an aerial duel with Mailson Alves and was taken to the hospital for treatment. He was replaced by Jonathan Lucca who played as a defensive midfielder, allowing Leo Moura to move further up along with Joffre.

Mendoza, who has been a threat to all opposition defence this season, was kept quiet for long before he made his presence in the 37th minute when he played a one-two with Jeje Lalpekhlua.

Mendoza dribbled past two rival defenders before letting go a firm left footer which keeper Kattimani did well to put out of danger.

Earlier, Kattimani did well to come out of his charge to push the ball out of danger before Mendoza could score after defender Bikramjit Singh failed to intercept it inside the box.

Goa made attacking moves but the alert Chennaiyin defence led by Bernard Mendy did well to cut off their moves even as they came close to scoring on a couple of occasions.

Goa coach Zico once again reverted their earlier formation, playing two strikers bringing in Thongkoisep Haokip in place of Leo Moura to create more impact upfront.

Mendoza, who looked dangerous whenever he had the ball, earned a penalty for his team in the 54th minute when Pronay Halder brought him down inside the box. Pelissari who took the penalty saw his shot saved by keeper Kattimani but the Brazilian made sure he scored the goal in the rebound.

Goa retaliated and restored parity in the 58th minute as Romeo Fernandes sent a cross into the Chennaiyin box for Thongkoisep Haokip to tap home. Indian Test cricket captain Virat Kohli was seen punching in the air to celebrate the goal by his team.

Minutes latter, Mendoza again earned a penalty for his team after he was brought down by keeper Kattimani. Mendoza took the penalty himself but his effort was saved by Kattimani who dived to his left to put the ball out.

Thereafter, the match came to alive as both the teams made attacking moves with Goa looking more threatening. They took the lead in the 88th minute. Joffre took a free kick and Rafael ducked himself and the ball took the deflection of Elano Blumer before going into the net in the 88th minute.

Chennaiyin fought back and restored parity in the 90th minute. From a move on the left, Mehrajuddin Wadoo's looping ball inside the box saw Kattimani come off his line to punch it clear with Mendoza applying pressure. However, the ball took a touch of Kattimani's hands before landing into the net.

With the match heading for penalty shoot out, Chennaiyin pocket dynamo Mendoza scored the winner in the injury time. Rane played the ball for Mendoza from the left. The Colombian striker chested it down and got the better of Arnolin and Lucio and took a shot which Kattimani could only get a touch but could not keep out.

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News Network
March 23,2020

Colombo, Mar 23: Sri Lankan batting great Kumar Sangakkara has said he is currently in self-quarantine, following his government's guidelines for those recently returning from Europe, which has now become the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The authorities are concerned over people returning from the most-affected COVID-19 countries in Europe not registering with the police and practising isolation.

"I have no symptoms or anything like that, but I'm following government guidelines," Sangakkara told News First.

"I arrived from London over a week ago and the first thing was there was a news bulletin saying that anyone who had travelled from within March 1 to 15 should register themselves with the police and undergo self-quarantine. I registered myself with the police."

The former captain said this even as the government confirmed there have been at least three cases of recent returnees attempting to hide the novel coronavirus symptoms from authorities.

Both Sangakkara and his former teammate Mahela Jayawardene have been active on social media, urging Sri Lankans to avoid panic and to exercise proper social distancing, as the country went into curfew on Friday evening.

Sri Lanka has so far reported more than 80 active COVID-19 positive cases in the country.

Across the world, the number of infected has crossed three lakh besides a death toll of more than 14,000 people.

Meanwhile, former Australia pacer Jason Gillespie has also gone into a two-week isolation after returning from the United Kingdom.

Gillespie, who is the head coach at Sussex, had been in Cape Town with the team for a pre-season tour, which was cut short as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

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News Network
January 17,2020

Jan 17: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza cruised into the women's doubles final of the Hobart International with her Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok here on Friday.

Sania and Kichenok sailed past the Slovenian-Czech pair of Tamara Zidansek and Marie Bouzkova 7-6 (3) 6-2 in the semifinal contest that lasted one hour and 24 minutes.

The fifth-seeded Indo-Ukrainian combination will lock horns with second seeds Shuai Peng and Shuai Zhang of China. The Chinese pair got a walkover after Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens and Alison Van Uytvanck conceded the other semifinal match because of injury.

While Sania and Kichenok had to fight hard in the opening set, the second set was a cakewalk for the combination.

The first set was a tough contest between the two pairs, bringing the tie-breaker into the equation after it was level at 6-6.

In the tie-breaker, Sania and Kichenok upped their game by a few notches to outsmart their opponents and take the lead.

The second set was a no-contest as Saina and Kichenok broke their opponents thrice -- in the second, sixth and eighth game -- to easily pocket the set and a place in the summit clash.

Saina and Kichenok got 11 break chances out of which they converted four, while their opponents utilised two out of the five break chances that came their way.

The 33-year-old Sania is returning to the WTA circuit after two years. During her time away from the game, she battled injury breakdowns before taking a formal break in April 2018 to give birth to her son Izhaan. She is married to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.

Before the ongoing event, Sania last played at China Open in October 2017.

A trailblazer in Indian tennis, Sania is a former world No.1 in doubles and has six Grand Slam titles to her credit.

She retired from the singles competition in 2013 after becoming the most successful Indian woman tennis player.

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News Network
May 7,2020

Melbourne, May 7: Australia opener Joe Burns is eyeing the Tests against India should they take place later this year, to stabilise his stop-start international career, saying "you want to play in and do well in" in this kind of series.

India is scheduled to play four Tests in Australia in December-January, a series which is currently in doubt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed over 2.5 lakh lives across the world.

"They are obviously world class team. I think the two teams going at each other will be very exciting to watch and players playing against each other as well," Burns told reporters in a video conference on Thursday.

"You look at the world ranking, they were number one and now we have got to number one, so I know that series will be anticipated by everyone and as a player this is a sort of series you want to play in and do well in."

With the coronavirus also threatening the T20 World Cup, Cricket Australia is under financial stress and has gone on a cost-cutting drive, which included standing down 80 per cent of its staff at 20 per cent salary.

There are also speculations that the Sheffield Shield for 2020-21 would be curtailed to cut costs.

Burns, however, hoped it won't be tinkered with.

"I love the fact we have a really strong first-class system. The 10 games, where you play everyone twice," Burns, who was struck down by a fatigue illness after an indifferent season, said.

"It leads to world-class players coming into Test teams. You don't want to see that get changed.

"Obviously it is unique circumstances at the moment and There's a lot of things to work through ... the players' association is consulted on those things."

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