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FIFA World Cup: Russia to lock horns with Croatia in quarters

Agencies
July 7, 2018

Sochi, July 7: Russia will look to book their place in the semi-final of the ongoing 21st edition of FIFA World Cup when they square off with Croatia in the quarter-final clash here at Fisht Stadium on Saturday.

Russia, who came into the tournament ranked 70, surprised the spectators around the world with their impressive run in the tournament so far.

The hosts will be coming off in the clash on the back of their two convincing victories over Saudi Arabia and Egypt while a 0-3 defeat against Uruguay in their third and final group-stage match.

The Igor Akinfeev- led side, in one of the major upsets of the tournament, defeated pre-tournament favourites Spain 4-3 via penalty shootouts after the high-voltage round of 16 ended with a 1-1 draw at full time.

Croatia, on the other hand, are so far unbeaten in the tournament and will definitely be fancying their chances against the host nation.

The Croatians squeezed past Denmark 3-2 in the penalty shootout in their high-voltage round-16 clash to book their place against Russians in the quarterfinals.

Previously, the two teams met twice during the qualifiers of Euro 2008 but both the matches ended in stalemate draws.

However, in a friendly match in November 2017, Croatia thrashed the Russians 3-1 in the encounter.

In other clashes of the day, world number twenty-four Sweden will collide with 12th-ranked England for the semi-final berth in the tournament.

Both the teams have had a roller-coaster ride in the World Cup so far and will be aiming to put their best foot forward in the match.

The two teams met twice in the World Cup so far, settling with a 2-2 draw in 2006 and a 1-1 draw in 2002.

As far as head-to-head record is concerned, England have won just two of the matches in their last fifteen meetings.

On a related note, the full Russian and Croatian squads are as follow:

Russia

Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev (C), Vladimir Gabulov, Soslan Dzhanaev, Andrei Lunev.
Defenders: Vladimir Granat, Ruslan Kambolov, Fedor Kudryashov, Ilya Kutepov Roman Neustadter Konstantin Rausch, Andrei Semenov, Igor Smolnikov, Mario Fernandes.
Midfielders: Yuri Gazinsky, Alexander Golovin Alan Dzagoev, Alexander Erokhin, Yuri Zhirkov, Daler Kuzyaev, Roman Zobnin, Alexander Samedov, Anton Miranchuk, Alexander Tashaev, Denis Cheryshev.
Forwards: Fedor Smolov, Aleksei Miranchu, Artem Dzyuba.

Croatia

Goalkeepers: Danijel Subasic , Lovre Kalinic, Dominik Livakovic
Defenders: Vedran Corluka , Domagoj Vida, Ivan Strinic , Dejan Lovren, Sime Vrsaljko , Josip Pivaric , Tin Jedvaj, Duje Caleta-Car
Midfielders: Luka Modric , Ivan Rakitic, Mateo Kovacic , Milan Badelj, Marcelo Brozovic, Filip Bradaric
Forwards: Mario Mandzukic , Ivan Perisic , Nikola Kalinic , Andrej Kramaric, Marko Pjaca, Ante Rebic. 

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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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News Network
May 30,2020

New Delhi, May 30: Former world chess champion Viswanathan Anand will be finally reaching India late on Saturday after being stuck in Germany for over three months due to the travel restrictions imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Yes.. Anand will be returning today," the chess maestro's wife Aruna told PTI on Saturday morning. Anand, who boarded an Air India flight (AI-120) from Frankfurt on Friday night will reach Bengaluru via Delhi.

He is expected to reach Bengaluru at 1.15 pm. The five-time world champion will undergo 14 days quarantine as per rules laid down by the Karnataka government.

"He will complete quarantine procedures and come to Chennai as per protocol," Aruna Anand said. The flights from Germany are only scheduled to land only in Delhi and Bengaluru.

The chess ace was in Germany to play in the Bundesliga chess league and was to return to India, but was forced to stay put after the COVID-19 outbreak disrupted sporting schedules across the globe, apart from restricting movement.

He was staying near Frankfurt and was doing online commentary for the Candidates tournament which was called off mid-way due to the pandemic and led the Indian team in the Online Nations Cup early this month.

Anand had been in touch with his family in Chennai on a regular basis via video calls and kept himself busy with chess-related work.

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Agencies
February 13,2020

New Delhi, Feb 13: Sanjiv Chawla, a key accused in the match-fixing scandal involving former South African cricket team captain Hansie Cronje in 2000, was extradited from the UK on Thursday, Delhi Police said.

The 50-year-old British national, accompanied by a crime branch team from London, reached IGI Airport this morning, a senior officer said.

He is likely to be taken to the crime branch office for questioning, he added.

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