Four-Nations Hockey: India settle for silver after shootout loss to Belgium

Agencies
January 28, 2018

Hamilton (New Zealand), Jan 28: India suffered a heartbreaking loss to Belgium via penalty shootout after holding the World No. 3 side to 4-4 in regulation time in the final of the Four-Nations Invitational Tournaments second leg here.

It was Felix Denayer, Sebastien Dockier and Arthur van Doren who scored for Belgium in the shootout.

Tanguy Cosyns (41), Cedric Charlier (43), Amaury Keusters (51) and Felix Denayer (56) scored during regulation time.

For India, Ramandeep Singh (29, 53), Nilakanta Sharma (42) and Mandeep Singh (49) were the goal scorers before the shootout.

Earlier in the day, Japan beat hosts New Zealand 4-1 in the shootout for bronze after holding the Black Sticks to 1-1 in regulation time.

The final between India and Belgium was yet another goal-fest with both teams testing each other hooter-to-hooter.

It was a steady start for India as they were made to work hard to keep the ball.

The Belgian attack meanwhile kept Indian goalkeeper PR Sreejesh busy through the first quarter with as many as three PCs including a penalty stroke. Their first PC coming in the 8th minute but Sreejesh was up to the task, lunging to his right to save.

With 52 seconds for the first hooter, Belgium won two more PCs which were brilliantly saved by the Indian goalkeeper but it was the penalty stroke taken by the ever-dangerous Loick Luypaert that Sreejesh saved which enthralled the evening audience in Hamilton.

India won two back-to-back PCs at the start of the second quarter but couldn't make much of it before finally taking the lead, thanks to clever some work by Mandeep Singh in finding Ramandeep Singh at the top of the circle.

Ramandeep had the time to control the ball and take a sure shot into the goal.

The action intensified in the third quarter with Belgium upping their attack, winning an equalizer in the 41st minute through Tanguy Cosyns's well-executed PC.

Moments later, India's Nilakanta Sharma was quick to pick up a beautiful assist from Mandeep Singh to strike the ball past Vincent Vanasch into Belgium post to regain 2-1 lead in the 42nd minute.

But Belgium equalised in the following minute, via Cedric Charlier using reverse hit to send the ball between Sreejesh?s legs.

Four goals were scored in the final quarter showing just how intense this match was. India won back their lead twice in this quarter (3-2, 4-3) when Mandeep scored in the 49th minute followed by a sensational goal by Ramandeep Singh in the 53rd minute respectively.

But Belgium, are not the ones to give up easy as they stayed in hunt snatching India's lead through Amaury Keusters (51) and Felix Denayer (56) ensuring the match went into a penalty shootout.

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News Network
June 3,2020

Colorado, Jun 3: Formula One boss Chase Carey has said that races will go ahead even if a driver tests positive for coronavirus.

His remarks come as organisers revealed a revised 2020 calendar and the schedule for the first eight races was put in the public domain.

"An individual having been found with a positive infection will not lead to a cancellation of a race. We encourage teams to have procedures in place so if an individual has to be put in quarantine, we have the ability to quarantine them at a hotel and to replace that individual," the official website of Formula One quoted Carey as saying.

"Some things we'd have to talk through and work through. The array of 'what ifs' are too wide to play out every one of them, but a team not being able to race would not cancel the race. I do not think I could sit here and lay out the consequences," he said.

Carey added the organisers will be having the necessary procedures in place so that the race does not get cancelled if a driver ends up testing positive for coronavirus.

"But we will have a procedure in place that finding infection will not lead to a cancellation. If a driver has an infection, teams have reserve drivers available," Carey said.

"We would not be going forward if we were not highly confident we have necessary procedures and expertise and capabilities to provide a safe environment and manage whatever issues arrive," he added.

The Formula One 2020 season will be beginning with the Austrian Grand Prix in July.

F1 currently expects the opening races to be closed events but hopes that fans will be able to attend again when it is safe to do so.

The season will kick off with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on July 5, followed a week later by a second race on the same track.

The Hungarian Grand Prix will follow a week after that, before a break. There will be then two back to back races at Silverstone, followed by the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.

The Belgian Grand Prix will follow that, with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza a week later on September 6.

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News Network
July 6,2020

New Delhi, Jul 6: India's cricket chief Sourav Ganguly says improved fitness standards and a change in culture have led to the country developing one of the world's best pace attacks.

Spearheads Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah are part of a battery of five formidable quick bowlers that have helped change India's traditional reliance on spin bowling.

"You know culture has changed in India that we can be good fast bowlers," Ganguly said in a chat hosted on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Twitter feed.

"Fitness regimes, fitness standards not only just among fast bowlers but also among the batters, that has changed enormously. That has made everyone understand and believe that we are fit, we are strong and we can also bowl fast like the others did."

The West Indies dominated world cricket in the 1970s and 1980s led by a fearsome pace attack that included all-time greats such as Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner.

Recently Indian quicks have risen to the top in world cricket with Shami, Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in a deadly arsenal.

"The West Indies in my generation were naturally strong," the former India captain said.

"We Indians were never such naturally strong... but we worked hard to get strong. But I think it is the change in culture as well that is very important."

Shami last month claimed that the current Indian pace attack may be the best in Test history.

"You and everyone else in the world will agree to this -- that no team has ever had five fast bowlers together as a package," said Shami.

"Not just now, in the history of cricket, this might be the best fast-bowling unit in the world."

Shami took 13 wickets during India's 3-0 home Test sweep over South Africa last year, while Bumrah has claimed 68 scalps in 14 Tests since his debut.

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Agencies
July 31,2020

Northamptonshire, Jul 31: Mexican Formula One driver Sergio Perez has tested positive for coronavirus, and as a result, he will miss the British Grand Prix.

The Racing Point driver was absent from the circuit on Thursday after self-isolating following what his team called an "inconclusive" test. Perez then re-tested later in the day and it returned positive.

Formula 1 is following a strict testing regime as part of the safety protocols put in place when racing resumed earlier this month, and this is the first time a driver has tested positive.

"Perez has entered self-quarantine in accordance with the instructions of the relevant public health authorities, and will continue to follow the procedure mandated by those authorities," Formula 1 and the FIA said in a statement.

"With the assistance of the local organiser of the British Grand Prix, local health authorities and the FIA COVID-19 delegate, a full track and trace initiative has been undertaken and all close contacts have been quarantined," the statement added.

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