Chess Olympiad: Indian men beat Czech Republic, Hungarian eves shock Indian women

Agencies
October 4, 2018

Batumi, Oct 4: Krishnan Sasikiran guided Indian men to a 2.5-1.5 win over Czech Republic but the women's team suffered a shocking 1-3 defeat against Hungary in the eighth round of the 43rd chess Olympiad here Tuesday.

On a day when Indian think-tank decided to rest P Harikrishna, the best Indian performer so far, Viswanathan Anand was held to an easy draw by David Navarra, Vidit Gujrathi tried hard before splitting points with Viktor Laznicka on the second board and B Adhiban also drew with Hracek Zbynek on the third board in the first game.

However, the decision to rest Harikrishna was justified by Sasikiran who played a crushing game to outwit Ziri Stocek on the fourth board. With 13 points in their kitty now, the Indian men assured themselves of a joint third place with three rounds still to come in the biggest chess event.

The United States are likely to be the sole leader as they cruised to a 2.5-1.5 victory over Azerbaijan while Poland stands third following a 2-2 draw with Armenia.

In the women's section, India suffered a major setback as in-form Koneru Humpy and Tania Sachdev both lost to Hoang Thang Trang and Ticia Gara of Hungary respectively.

The Indian women could only manage draws on the remaining two boards where D Harika and Eesha Karavade played with white pieces translating into a painful defeat.

The loss left Indian women on 11 points with a lot of catching up to do in the remaining rounds. Indian Results after round 8:

Open: India (13) beat Czech Republic (11) 2.5-1.5 (David Navarra drew with V Anand, Vidit Gujrathi drew with Viktor Laznicka, Hracek Zbynek drew with B Adhiban, Krishnan Sasikiran beat Ziri Stocek.

Women: Hungary (13) beat India (11): Hoang Thang Trang beat Koneru Humpy, D Harika drew with Anita Gara, Ticia Gara beat Tania Sachdev; Eesha Karavade drew with J Terbe.

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Agencies
May 25,2020

Chandigarh, May 25: Legendary former hockey player Balbir Singh Senior died in a private hospital on Monday, his family said.

He was 96 years old. His condition was critical for nearly a fortnight.

He was undergoing treatment at Fortis Mohali and was in a "semi-comatose condition".

He was hospitalised on May 8 with high fever and breathing trouble. His COVID-19 test came negative.

Balbir was part of the Indian teams that won gold at the 1948 London Olympics, Helsinki 1952 and Melbourne 1956. His record for most individual goals scored in an Olympic men's hockey final remains unbeaten.

Balbir had set this record when he scored five goals in India's 6-1 win over Netherlands in the gold medal match of the 1952 Games.

He was the head coach of the Indian team for the 1975 men's World Cup, which India won and the 1971 men's World Cup, where India earned a bronze medal. He was also conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri in 1957.

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Agencies
August 1,2020

Colombo, Aug 1: Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has expressed his interest in playing the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL), scheduled to start from August 28.

Pathan is among 70 foreign players to have shown interest in playing the LPL, ESPNcricinfo reported.

It is believed that Pathan has taken permission from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to take part in the competition. 

BCCI doesn't allow active players to participate in other T20 leagues but Pathan announced his retirement in January this year.

Former swashbuckling all-rounder Yuvraj Singh also played in a foreign league last year. He played for Maratha Arabians in the T10 League in Abu Dhabi.

According to ESPNcricinfo, Pathan will now be put in a player draft unless one of the five franchises choose him to be a marquee player. The details of the draft, and the franchise owners, are yet to be finalised and announced. 

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is also waiting on some government clearances even as it decides on franchise owners. The five franchises will represent Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Dambulla and Jaffna.

On Monday, SLC Executive Committee granted approval for the tournament.

"The 23 match League will be played on the four international venues of R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Rangiri Dambulu International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium and Suriyawewa Mahinda Rajapakse International Cricket Stadium. Five teams named after the cities of Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Dambulla and Jaffna will participate in the League," SLC said in a statement on Monday.

Sri Lanka has controlled the spread of COVID-19 better than many other cricket-playing nations.

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News Network
April 4,2020

New Delhi, April 4: India skipper Virat Kohli has said that the 2014 Test series against England was the lowest point of his career.

He made the revelation during a candid Instagram Live session with former England batsman Kevin Pietersen.

To date, the 2014 Test series in England remains one of the worst Test series for Kohli as he averaged just 13.40 from 10 ten innings with his highest score being 39.

"I felt like as a batsman, you know you are going to get out in the morning as soon as you wake up. That was the time I felt like that there is no chance I am getting runs. And still to get out of bed and just get dressed for the game and to go out there and go through that, knowing that you will fail, was something that ate me up," Kohli told Pietersen.

However, just four years later, Kohli made a triumphant return to England as he scored a century in the opening Test of the 2018 series and finished as the highest run-getter in the series.

Kohli told Pietersen that the performance in 2014 came because he was just thinking about his own batting.

"2014 series happened, for all the younger guys listening, because I was too focused on doing well from a personal point of view. I wanted to get runs. I could never think of what does the team want me to do in this situation," Kohli said.

"I just got too engulfed with England tour - if I perform here, Test cricket, in my mind I am going to feel established and all that crap on the outside, which is not important at all," he added.
During the chat, Kohli talked about his favourite format in cricket and he also revealed the main reason for turning into a vegan.

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