Ahmedabad, Mar 16: Cricketer Irfan Pathan met Chief Minister Narendra Modi in his chamber in the Assembly building Friday and invited him for the wedding of his elder brother and cricketer Yusuf Pathan in Mumbai on March 27.
Yusuf is getting married to physiotherapist Afreen. She works in Vadodara while her parents live in Mumbai. Officials in CMO said Modi, who had so far avoided attending wedding of cricketers, was willing to attend Yusuf's wedding.
Chennai, Jul 26: Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand suffered his fifth straight defeat in the USD 150,000 Legends of Chess online tournament, going down 2-3 to Peter Leko of Hungry.
The former world champion got off to a good start and won the first game of the best-of-four contest. The next two games were drawn before Leko levelled by winning the fourth.
The Hungarian then claimed the Armageddon (a tie-breaker) to ensure Anand remain winless and at the bottom of the points table.
Anand, who is making his maiden appearance on the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour, had earlier lost to Peter Svidler, Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik and Anish Giri.
World no. 1 Carlsen bounced back strongly to avoid an upset, beating veteran Vasyl Ivanchuk 3-2 to stay on top.
Legends of Chess is a unique event where Carlsen, Liren, Nepomniachtchi and Giri, semifinalists at the Chessable Masters (part of the Magnus Carlsen Tour), received an automatic invite and are up against six legends aged 40-52, who have been at the top of world chess at various points in their career.
The tournament is part of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour. The winner of this event will qualify for the USD 300,000 Grand Final scheduled from August 9 to 20.
Results of Round 5: Peter Leko beat Viswanathan Anand 3-2; Magnus Carlsen beat Vasyl Ivanchuk 3-2: Vladmir Kramnik beat Ding Liren 2.5-1.5; Anish Giri beat Boris Gelfand 2.5-1.5; Ian Nepominiachtchi beat Peter Svidler 3-1.
Srinagar, Jan 10: Real Kashmir FC made a strong comeback in the second half to play out a 1-1 draw against former champions Punjab FC in their home I-League match here on Friday.
The 'Snow Leopards' equalised in the 62nd minute through Gnohere Krizo in front of a partisan crowd of 8,500 spectators after Makan Chothe had given Punjab FC the lead in the 21st minute at the TRC ground.
After Thursday's draw, Punjab FC is placed third on the table with 10 points from seven games. Real Kashmir FC remained at eighth with six points from five matches. This was Real Kashmir's third home match on the trot.
The match was a story of two halves as the first belonged to the visitors who enjoyed a 62 per cent possession of the ball, whereas the second belonged to the home side.
Both the teams were looking to gain an early advantage and Punjab FC took the lead after 21 minutes.
Confusion inside the Real Kashmir box because of a long ball from Punjab opened up an opportunity for Chothe and he made no mistake as he smashed the ball at the back of the net.
As the fans cheered on, Real Kashmir created a flurry of chances, but none of the home side players could find the back of the net. Punjab was able to hold on to their slender lead heading into the tunnel.
The second half resumed with Real Kashmir pressing high up the field and pressurising Punjab.
In the 56th minute, Real Kashmir playmaker Kallum Higginbotham cut through two defenders on the left side of the box and the ball fell to Mason Robertson, whose shot was too weak to trouble the Punjab goalkeeper.
Soon after, it was Danish Farooq who tried a curler from a distance but his shot did not have enough bend to trouble the Punjab goalkeeper. The home team's effort finally paid off in the 62nd minute.
A miscalculated header by Danilo Augusto fell at the feet of Gnohere Krizo, who was one-on-one with the keeper. He made no mistake in striking the ball into the opponent's goal to score the equaliser.
Real Kashmir was in their groove now, and Kallum came in from the right with a beautiful low cross across the face of the goal but Mason could not get a touch as the chance went begging.
The duo of Kallum and Mason were proving difficult for Punjab to deal with. In the 82nd minute, a beautiful long ball by Kallum found the head of a towering Mason, but the effort went just over the crossbar.
Within a few moments, Punjab again had another nervous moment as Chesterpoul Lyngdoh's cross from the right side hit the arm of Thoiba Singh but the referee turned down an appeal for penalty.
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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