Indian hockey team beats France 2-0

August 4, 2015

Le Touquet (France), Aug 4: Playing an aggressive game, the Indian hockey team defeated France 2-0 in the first of two matches here.

Chinglensana Singh and S.V. Sunil helped India dominate and kept the European team under pressure. France came back strongly after the third quarter but failed to breach the Indian defence line on Monday.

hockey

At the start, both teams attacked aggressively on each other's half and tried score first. After a series of attacks from both sides, midfielder Chinglensana sneaked into French half and hit the ball into the box to score the first goal of the match in the 18th minute.

With the lead, World No.8 India took control of the match and put France under tremendous pressure. India didn't allow the hosts to take control of possession as France struggled in rest of the quarter.

Captain Sardar Singh, midfielders S.K. Uthappa, Danish Mujtaba and Devinder Walmiki played some high level hockey and created quite a few opportunities to keep on their attack. Meanwhile, forwards Sunil, Ramandeep Singh and Akashdeep Singh kept on charging towards the French goal.

After continuous attacks, Sunil dribbled past French defenders and sent the ball into the net for the second goal in the 26th minute. At halftime, India led 2-0.

In the third quarter, the hosts stepped on the gas and surprised India with their quick passes. The French were desperately looking for opportunities to reduce the goal margin, putting some pressure on the Indian defence.

On a few occasions, they came very close to scoring but the Indian defence line restricted their attacks. In the last few minutes of the quarter, France earned a penalty corner which successfully thwarted by India goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh.

The fourth quarter saw some a closely-fought battle as both teams pushed each other for goals. But it was France who earned two back-to-back penalty corners. Sreejesh stood like a rock and saved both the chances with brilliant moves.

India counter-attacked and tried hard to increase their lead but the match ended with the same scoreline of 2-0.

The next match between the two sides will be played on Wednesday at the Wattignies Sports Centre.

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News Network
May 1,2020

Melbourne, May 1: Reclaiming the top spot in Test cricket has brought smiles back on their faces but Australia coach Justin Langer says beating India in their own den remains the ultimate test and their numero uno status will be put to test when they clash with the Virat Kohli-led team.

After a tumultuous transition phase post the ball-tampering scandal, Australia on Friday displaced India as number one side in Test format but Langer is aware that it does not take long for the situation to change.

"We recognise how fluid these rankings are, but at this time it was certainly nice to put a smile on our faces," Langer told Cricket Australia website. "We've got lots of work to do to get to be the team that we want to be, but hopefully over the last couple of years not only have we performed well on the field, but also off the field," Langer added.

The former left-handed opener underlined what he felt will be the ultimate test of character.

"Certainly a goal for us has been the World Test Championship ... but ultimately, we have to beat India in India and we've got to beat them when they come back (to Australia).

"You can only judge yourself as being the best if you beat the best and we've got some really tough opposition to come," Langer put his priorities in place. The team he insists needs to get better as now others will come gunning for them.

"Getting to No.1 is a great thing, but when you're No.1, you're always the hunted," Langer said. "We've been the hunters for a while, now we're the hunted and we need to get better and better."

Langer also hoped that white ball team under Aaron Finch will win the World Cup. "I know how hard it is to win World Cups ... everything has to go right. One day, I'd love to see Aaron Finch with all his mates lift that T20 World Cup above his head."

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Agencies
May 9,2020

Tokyo, May 9: As the world continues to grapple with coronavirus pandemic, the organisers of Tokyo Game Show have cancelled 2020 showpiece event.

TGS 2020 was slated to be played from September 24 to September 27 at the Makuhari Messe convention center. However, there now talks going on for holding an online event instead.

According to the Verge, this is the first time that TGS has ever been cancelled since it started in 1996.

TGS 2020 gained more attention because of its status as the last major trade show before the launch of the upcoming next-gen consoles, the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.

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News Network
July 18,2020

Johannesburg, Jul 18: Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Saturday mourned the demise of former spinner Ismail 'Baboo' Ebrahim who died in Durban at the age of 73.

"Baboo was one of the outstanding South African spin bowlers of the 1960s and 1970s who would undoubtedly have played as many Test matches for his country as the 48 first-class games to which he was limited," CSA said in a statement.

In those matches, he took 179 wickets at an average of 21.33 with an economy rate of 2.12 including 8 five-wicket hauls and 2 ten-wicket hauls.

The left-arm spinner only had one opportunity on the international stage when he played for a SA Invitation XI against the International Wanderers at Kingsmead in 1976.

"At the age of 29, he was in his prime and took a match-winning 6/66 in the second innings, his victims including international captains, Greg Chappell of Australia and Mike Denness of England. It was a clear indication of what he could have achieved on grounds around the world at the highest level had he been given the opportunity. He was a master of flight and spin and had a good arm ball to back it up," the statement read.

His ability to perform at this level had become apparent much earlier when he went to watch the Australians at practice before their Test match against South Africa in 1970.

He persuaded the Australians to let him bowl to them and made an immediate impression, bowling experienced Test batsman Ian Redpath and impressing the likes of Ian Chappell and Ashley Mallett, the latter being Australia's leading spinner of the 1970s.

He had one season for Radcliffe in the Lancashire Central League when he took 62 wickets at 14.62 apiece.

Baboo finally got his chance to represent his country in Masters events in one of which he dismissed both Sir Vivian Richards and Gordon Greenidge.

"Baboo Ebrahim was one of the countless number of outstanding cricketers who was denied the opportunity to display his talents to the world and live his cricketing dreams," said CSA Acting Chief Executive, Dr Jacques Faul.

"On behalf of the CSA Family I extend our deepest sympathy to his family, friends and cricketing colleagues," he added. 

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