Kabaddi World Cup 2016: Rampant India batter England to book semi-final spot

October 19, 2016

Ahmedabad, Oct 19: India produced a scintillating performance to thrash England 69-18 in their last Group B encounter and seal their berth for the Kabaddi World Cup semi-finals at the TransStadia in Ahmedabad.

Kabaddi

Star raider Pardeep Narwal scored 13 points while Ajay Thakur scored 11 points as India made full use of their squad depth to notch a comfortable win and end their group campaign on a high.

The crowd at the TransStadia arena was in for a treat as the home team put on a spectacular show.

After suffering a shocking defeat in their opening match against South Korea, India bounced back in style and finished the group matches with a whopping score difference of 174.

England, on the other hand, can take a lot of heart from their performances as they finished fourth in Group B with 10 points.

On Tuesday, England made a bright start as captain Someshwar Kalia scored two points in the first minute to lead 2-1. Sandeep Narwal scored with a super raid in the third minute as India overtook the visitors 5-2.

Thakur scored with a two-point raid in the fifth minute as India extended the lead to 8-3 and reduced England to just two men.

India inflicted the first all out of the match in the sixth minute to lead 12-3. Narwal scored his first points in the seventh minute to give India 14-3 lead.

Keshav Gupta scored with a two-point read in the 10th minute as England trailed 5-17.

Sandeep Narwal was in great raiding form as he scored six points to help India inflict the second all out in the 13th minute and get a lead of 24-5.

England's defence let them down as they failed to score a single point in the first 15 minutes.

India inflicted another all out in the 16th minute to take a commanding 33-5 lead. Such was India's dominance that they went on a 20-0 run in eight minutes to lead 37-5 after 18 minutes.

Pardeep attained a super 10 in the first half whereas Surjeet got a high five as India inflicted the fourth all out in the 20th minute to lead 45-6 at the end of the first half.

Coming back, India brought on five substitutes in the second half, including Rahul Chaudhari, to make use of their squad.

Nitin Tomar scored two points in the 23rd minute as India led 49-7. England were still looking for their first tackle point and their star raider Tope Adewalure struggled to get raid points.

India went on to inflict another all out in the 28th minute to take their lead to 57-8 before England's Adewalure scored two raid points consecutively to become the first man to score 50 points in the ongoing World Cup.

With less than five minutes to go, and India leading 64-14, Rahul scored his third point of the match.

India cruised in the last few minutes as Thakur attained a super 10 in the 39th minute to give India a handsome 69-18 win.

Kenya record big win against USA to stay alive

Kenya kept their hopes alive of a semi-final berth after registering a thumping 74-19 win over the US in their last league tie of the Kabaddi World Cup. Desperately in need of a win, Kenya finally pressed the acceleration button to push Thailand out and occupy the second spot in Group B.

Top-placed Iran are already in the semi-finals while Kenya will have to wait for the Japan (fourth) vs Thailand (third) match on Wednesday to know their fate.

On Tuesday, Kenya exhibited great determination to outplay minnows US as they went into the break with a 38-8 lead. Three Kenyan defenders achieved a high five whereas captain David Mosambayi top-scored with 12 points.

On the other hand, the US defence could manage only five points as the newbies committed too many errors, to end their campaign without a win.

The US started with a 2-1 lead, scoring a raid and tackle point whereas David Mosambayi got a tackle point for Kenya in the first two minutes. But their joy was shortlived as Kenya's David Obilo scored two tackle points while Mosambayi added two raid points to take the lead to 5-4 after five minutes.

Kenya, immediately inflicted the first all out of the match in the seventh minute to lead 10-4. Kenya scored five more points in three minutes to lead 15-4 after 10 minutes. Mosambayi scored with a two-point raid as Kenya inflicted the second all out to lead 20-4 in the 12th minute.

In the next minute, Ben Marcelus helped the US add two more points as they trailed 6-21. Phelix Ospina then scored with a super raid in the 15th minute as Kenya took their lead to 26-6.

In response, the US suffered the third all out in the next minute as Kenya's lead soared to 31-7. Kenya went into the break with a 30-point lead after David Mosambayi attained a super 10 and contributed 10 points whereas Ospina scored seven.

Coming from the break, Kenya began with a bang and inflicted the fourth all out in the 22nd minute to take their lead to 42-8 before further taking it to 48-10 by the 25th minute. A minute later the US suffered another all out as Kenya took full advantage of the US' defensive errors.

Kenya continued on their dominant form to take the lead to 56-12 after 30 minutes. In the 33rd minute, Dillyon Banks came up with a super raid to take three points for Kenya. Kenya then forced two super tackles in quick succession to lead 64-18 after 35 minutes before forcing another all out in the last minute to take it to 74-19.

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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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News Network
April 6,2020

London, Apr 6: As the coronavirus brings the international sports calendar to a grinding halt, news agency Sport looks at three long-standing habits which could change forever once competition resumes.

Saliva to take shine off swing bowling

It's been a tried and trusted friend to fast bowlers throughout the history of cricket. But the days of applying saliva to one side of the ball to encourage swing could be over in the aftermath of Covid19.

"As a bowler I think it would be pretty tough going if we couldn't shine the ball in a Test match," said Australia quick Pat Cummins.

"If it's at that stage and we're that worried about the spread, I'm not sure we'd be playing sport."

Towels in tennis - no touching

Tennis players throwing towels, dripping with sweat and blood and probably a tear or two, at ball boys and girls, has often left fans sympathising for the youngsters.

Moves by officials to tackle the issue took on greater urgency in March when the coronavirus was taking a global grip.

Behind closed doors in Miki, ball boys and girls on duty at the Davis Cup tie between Japan and Ecuador wore gloves.

Baskets, meanwhile, were made available for players to deposit their towels.

Back in 2018, the ATP introduced towel racks at some events on a trial basis, but not everyone was overjoyed.

"I think having the towel whenever you need it, it's very helpful. It's one thing less that you have to think about," said Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas when he was playing at the NextGen Finals in Milan.

"I think it's the job of the ball kids to provide towels and balls for the players."

Let's not shake on it

Pre-match handshakes were abandoned in top football leagues just before the sports shutdown.

Premier League leaders Liverpool also banned the use of mascots while Southampton warned against players signing autographs and stopped them posing for selfies.

Away from football, the NBA urged players to opt for the fist bump rather than the long-standing high-five.

"I ain't high-fiving nobody for the rest of my life after this," NBA superstar LeBron James told the "Road Trippin' Podcast".

"No more high-fiving. After this corona shit? Wait 'til you see me and my teammates’ handshakes after this shit."

Basketball stars were also told not to take items such as balls or teams shirts to autograph.

US women's football star Megan Rapinoe says edicts to ban handshakes or even high-fives may be counter-productive anyway.

"We're going to be sweating all over each other all game, so it sort of defeats the purpose of not doing a handshake," she said.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Sunday said the Women's IPL or the Challenger series, as it is better known, is "very much on", ending speculation about the parent body not having a plan for Harmanpreet Kaur and her team.

The men's IPL will be held between September 19 and November 8 or 10 (final date yet to be locked in) in the UAE due to the surge in Covid-19 cases in India. The women's IPL will also be fit in to the schedule, according to the BCCI chief.

"I can confirm to you that the women's IPL is very much on and we do have a plan in place for the national team also," Ganguly told PTI ahead of the IPL Governing Council meeting later on Sunday.

The BCCI president, who is awaiting a Supreme Court verdict on waiver of the cooling-off period to continue in the position, did not divulge details but another senior official privy to the development said that women's Challenger will be held during the last phase of IPL like last year.

"The women's Challenger series is likely to be held between November 1-10 and there could be a camp before that," the source said.

The former India captain also said that the centrally contracted women players will have a camp which has been delayed due to the prevailing situation in the country.

"We couldn't have exposed any of our cricketers -- be it male or female to health risk. It would have been dangerous," Ganguly said.

"The NCA also remained shut because of Covid-19. But we have a plan in place and we will have a camp for women, I can tell you that," he added.

The BCCI's cricket operations team is chalking up a schedule where Indian women are likely to have two full-fledged white-ball series against South Africa and the West Indies before playing the ODI World Cup in New Zealand. 

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