Tokyo, April 9 (IANS) Within days of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics in 4x100m medley relay event, Japanese swimmer Ikee Rikako, a cancer survivor, looks set to qualify in an individual event as well after clocking the fastest semi-final time in 50m freestyle in the trials on Friday. "I feel really good, all things considered. I hope I can wrap up the meet on a positive note. I might be tired physically but my goal for this competition has been to empty the tank each and ever

Tokyo, April 9 (AP) Japan announced Friday that it will raise the coronavirus alert level in Tokyo to allow tougher measures to curb the rapid spread of a more contagious variant ahead of the Summer Olympics. Japan's national vaccination drive has lagged and most people in the capital still have not been inoculated as infections have surged. The raised status announced by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will allow Tokyo's governor to mandate shorter opening hours for bars a

Mumbai, April 9 (IANS) Saturday night will see a clash between the master and the apprentice. MS Dhoni, who is on the last bend of his career and has been turning up only for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) since his retirement from international cricket last year, will lead the three-time champions against Delhi Capitals (DC), who will be captained by Rishabh Pant, his long-term successor as India's first choice wicketkeeper. Pant has said in the past that he wants to emulate Dhoni b

New Delhi, April 9 (IANS): The Indian women's football team's campaign in Uzbekistan came to an end with a 1-2 defeat to Belarus in the second friendly match in Tashkent. Maymol Rocky's India had earlier lost the opening tie of the two-match friendly series to a much higher-ranked Uzbekistan 0-1 in extremely cold and windy conditions on April 5. After a barren first half when the Indian team defended doggedly, Belarus, ranked three spots below India in world rankings,

Berlin, April 9 (IANS) All the evidence suggests that Hansi Flick will leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season. The 56-year-old Flick and club officials continue to avoid making a clear statement regarding the 2020 treble-winning coach's future, Xinhua news reports. Reports speak of Flick's growing unrest regarding club structures as the relationship with sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic seems to have reached a new low. Flick is demanding more influence when buyi

Madrid, April 9 (IANS): The 'Clasico' between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona on Saturday is the key game of Matchday 30 in La Liga with the winner assured of going to the top of the league table for at least 24 hours and perhaps longer. The game comes with Barcelona just one point behind Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid a further two points back, but with a better head-to-head goal difference than their two title rivals, Xinhua news reports. It also comes with both Real

Our Correspondent Kohima | April 8  Around 200 participants from 11 districts of Nagaland today converged at Indira Gandhi Stadium, Kohima for the two day long 2nd state level indigenous games competition which got underway under the aegis of the Department of Youth Resources & Sports, Nagaland. The event is being marked by tug of war, bamboo stilt race, greased bamboo pole climbing and cock fight events. Inaugurating the competition, Alun Hangsing, Commissioner &

Our Correspondent Kohima | April 8  The stage is all set for the 13th Open Naga Wrestling Championship 2021 under the aegis of Nagaland Wrestling Association (NWA) on April 9 at Khuochiezie (Kohima Local Ground). 86 wrestlers have confirmed their participation, informed NWA President, Dr. Hiabe Zeliang while addressing a press conference here this evening. Out of this, 25 wrestlers have registered for the Above 85 kg category and 61 have registered for the 80 kg and belo

New Delhi, April 8 (IANS): Fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar from India's men's team and spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad and batter Punam Raut from the women's team have been nominated for the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Player of the Month award. Bhuvneshwar played three ODIs against England in which he took six wickets with an economy rate of 4.65. He also went on to play five T20Is against them where he took 4 wickets with an economy rate of 6.38. He was the sta

New Delhi, April 8 (IANS): FC Goa announced their squad for their maiden AFC Champions League campaign on Friday. Forward Igor Angulo and midfielder Alberto Noguera are missing from among the team's foreign contingent in the 28-man squad while Australian defender James Donachie fills the slot of a player from an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member nation. All of the team's group stage matches in the Champions League will be played in Goa. FC Goa face Qatar's Al-Ray

New Delhi, April 8 (IANS): The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has temporarily stopped hockey activities for a week at the National Stadium here from Thursday due to a surge in new cases of coronavirus in the Capital, confirmed a SAI coach. There are 30-35 hockey players enrolled under SAI's come-and-play scheme, said an official of the SAI. "The activities have been stopped for a week but if Covid-19 cases continue to spiral, practice could be stopped for another week,&

Charleston (US), April 8 (IANS): Lauren Davis shocked fellow American and second seed Sofia Kenin in the second round of the Charleston Open. Davis picked up her third career win over a Top 5 player with the gruelling two-and-a-half-hour victory over world number four Kenin, rallying to claim the win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday, Xinhua news reports. "I'm super excited," Davis said. "It was a really tough match, she obviously is an incredible player and one of th

Paris, April 8 (IANS): The French Open has been postponed by a week due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the French Tennis Federation (FFT) said in a statement on Thursday. The clay court Grand Slam will be held from May 30 to June 11, with the qualifying rounds scheduled for May 24 to 28. The FFT said that the decision was made in response to France President Emmanuel Macron's announcement last month that a scheduled to progressively get cultural and sporting events in the country bac

Lahore, April 8 (IANS): Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said that it was surprising to see Cricket South Africa (CSA) allowing players to leave for the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the middle of an international series. South Africa's Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje were among players who were allowed to leave for their respective IPL teams after the second ODI of their three-match series against Pakistan. "Surprising to see @OfficialCSA allowing

Rome, April 8 (IANS): Paulo Dybala marked his return with a moment of magic as Juventus beat Napoli 2-1 in a high-profile rescheduled Serie A fixture. The Bianconeri have been struggling recently as the defending champions suffered a shock 1-0 home defeat to Benevento, followed by a 2-2 tie against city rivals Torino, so Andrea Pirlo's coaching spot was in doubt while his counterpart Gennaro Gattuso's future was also up in the air with Napoli's shaky performance. The

London, April 8 (IANS): Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has extended his contract with Manchester City for two years to 2025, confirmed the English Premier League side. De Bruyne, 29, has spent five-and-a-half years at City and his previous contract with the club would expire in 2023. The playmaker has won two Premier League titles, one FA Cup and four League Cups together with City and has gained great trust from manager Pep Guardiola. "I could not be happier," t

New Delhi, April 7 (PTI): Olympic-bound six-time world champion M C Mary Kom (51kg) will spearhead the Indian women's challenge in the Asian Boxing Championship slated to be held here from May 21 to 31. Mary Kom is a six-time Asian medallist, including five gold medals. She had opted out of the previous edition of the event in 2019. She recently won a bronze medal at a tournament in Spain, her first competitive outing since qualifying for the Olympics a year ago. Another p

Mount Maunganui, April 7 (IANS): New Zealand's Leigh Kasparek took six wickets but her side ended up losing to Australia by 71 runs in the second ODI on Wednesday. Australia scored 271/7 batting first and New Zealand were all out for 200 in reply. This was Australia's 23rd consecutive ODI win and they have taken a 2-0 lead, thus sealing victory in the three-match ODI series. New Zealand were dealt with early blows in their chase, with opener Lauren Down falling for a duck

Lausanne, April 7 (IANS): Football's world governing body FIFA on Wednesday suspended the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) with immediate effect due to third-party interference. It also banned the Chadian Football Association (FTFA) due to government interference. FIFA issued a statement on its website stating, "The situation was prompted by the recent hostile takeover of the PFF headquarters in Lahore by a group of protestors and an alleged decision by certain individual

New Delhi, April 7 (IANS): Sports activities in Bhopal's Sports Authority of India (SAI) training centre have been stopped temporarily after more than 30 athletes tested positive for Covid-19, confirmed a SAI coach. The affected athletes, comprising judokas, boxers, hockey players and those from track & field, have been shifted to a local hospital. SAI has a National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) residential wing in Bhopal. Last week, SAI had conducted 250 tests. Initi