New Delhi, September 25 (IANS): No foreign cricketer has visited India as many times as former Australian batting mainstay Dean Jones - more than 100 times - such was his connection with this country, said legendary Kapil Dev, while recalling his "35-year long association" with one of his closest friends who passed away on Thursday. Jones, 59, collapsed and died following a cardiac arrest in a Mumbai hotel where he was staying during an assignment with the official broadca

New Delhi, September 25 (IANS): My comments on Anushka Sharma, Bollywood actor and wife of Royal Challengers Bangalore and India captain Virat Kohli, has been misinterpreted, former India captain and commentator Sunil Gavaskar clarified on Friday. Gavaskar faced the ire on social media for a remark he made on Anushka helping Kohli with his practice during the lockdown, with the actress herself demanding an explanation from the legendary former India captain in a post on her social m

New Delhi, September 25 (IANS): Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and midfielder Sanju were on Friday declared the AIFF men's and women's Footballer of the Year respectively, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) said. Sandhu is the second goalkeeper to win the award after Subrata Paul in 2009. Meanwhile, Anirudh Thapa and Ratanbala Devi were declared men's and women's Emerging Footballer of the Year respectively. The AIFF said that while the men were chosen based

TOKYO, September (Reuters): Organisers of the Tokyo Olympics on Friday proposed a raft of measures to hold a streamlined Summer Games next year, including a shorter opening period for training venues and scaling back staff for the torch relay. The Games, originally scheduled to start this summer, were postponed for a year by the International Olympic Committee and the Japanese government due to the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, organisers and government officials have been lo

Reuters Mexican driver Sergio Perez said on Friday he had cleared the air with his Racing Point team, a day after accusing some members of hiding things from him now that he is leaving at the end of the Formula One season. Perez is being replaced by four times world champion Sebastian Vettel, who moves from Ferrari, for 2021. He said on Thursday that since the news came out of his departure, "some people inside the team tend to hide things, which I don’t think is great

Reuters David Moyes will not take charge of West Ham United's Premier League game against Woverhampton Wanderers and the League Cup fourth-round tie against Everton after returning a second positive COVID-19 test, the Times reported. Moyes, as well as players Issa Diop and Josh Cullen, had returned positive tests on Tuesday ahead of West Ham's League Cup third-round match against Hull City at London Stadium. The Times said West Ham were hoping for a negative test resul

(Reuters/Field Level Media): Rookie Tyler Herro scored a career-high 37 points, Jimmy Butler added 24 and the Heat held off the Boston Celtics 112-109 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals Wednesday night near Orlando, moving Miami within one win of an NBA Finals berth. Herro, 20, made 14 of 21 shots off the bench to continue his dynamic playoff run as the Heat grabbed a 3-1 advantage in the best-of-seven series. Goran Dragic had 22 points, and Bam Adebayo added 20 points and 1

MILAN, September 24 (Reuters): AC Milan's talismanic forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday and the 38-year-old responded in typically irreverent style, saying it was a bad idea for the virus to challenge him. Milan said that Ibrahimovic, who will miss the Europa League match at home to Bodo/Glimt later on Thursday, was placed in quarantine at home and the health authorities had been informed. The announcement came one day after his team mate

(Reuters): The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday overturned life bans handed to Russian biathletes Olga Vilukhina, Yana Romanova and Olga Zaytseva, who were stripped of their medals for doping violations at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The trio won silver in the 4x6 kilometre relay biathlon before they were disqualified and their result annulled in 2017 following an investigation into widespread doping and tampering with samples of Russian athletes during the Sochi G

BARCELONA, September 24 (Reuters): Luis Suarez highlighted his close friendship with Lionel Messi as he bid a teary farewell to Barcelona on Thursday ahead of his move to La Liga title rivals Atletico Madrid. Messi had failed to dovetail with other top strikers such as Samuel Eto'o, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Villa but took no time at all to gel with Suarez, who became his best friend at the club as well as a prolific strike partner. "When I got to Barcelona every

(Reuters): Chelsea have signed Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy from French club Stade Rennes on a five-year deal, the Premier League side said on Thursday. Financial details of the transfer were not disclosed but British media reported Chelsea paid around 22 million pounds ($28.01 million) for the 28-year-old who had three years left on his Rennes contract. "I am so excited to be joining Chelsea. It's a dream for me to be a part of this exciting squad and to work w

(Reuters): Tiger Woods will defend his Zozo Championship title next month at Sherwood Country Club in California, the PGA Tour said on Wednesday. The 78-player tournament, which will be held Oct. 22-25, was relocated to California this year from Japan due to logistical issues caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. "It is disappointing that we will not be able to play in Japan this year, but Sherwood Country Club will be a great backdrop for what I know will be a great champio

New Delhi, September 24 (IANS): Former Australian cricketer Dean Jones passed away in Mumbai on Thursday after suffering a cardiac arrest. The 59-year-old was part of the Star Sports commentary panel for the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) being held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). "It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing away of Mr. Dean Mervyn Jones AM. He died of a sudden cardiac arrest," Star India confirmed in a statement. "We exp

(Reuters/ Field Level Media): The Denver Nuggets played their way back into the Western Conference finals on Tuesday night, riding 28 points from Jamal Murray, a postseason career-high 26 from Jerami Grant and a key late defensive stand to a 114-106 victory over the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 near Orlando. Nikola Jokic contributed 22 points and 10 rebounds as third-seeded Denver recorded its first win in the best-of-seven series. Murray handed out a game-high 12 assi

(Reuters): Lewis Hamilton is one win away from matching Michael Schumacher's all-time record 91 and the Mercedes Formula One driver will be favourite to get the job done in Russia on Sunday. Some felt Schumacher's tally might never be equalled when the seven-times world champion celebrated his last win in China in 2006. Hamilton, a winner since his debut 2007 season and now making his 260th start, stands on the cusp of doing just that at a circuit that did not exist

TOKYO, September 23 (Reuters): Thirty four years after making his professional debut, Japanese forward Kazuyoshi Miura became the oldest player to appear in a J-League first division match when he led Yokohama FC on Wednesday at the age of 53. The player known as "King Kazu", who started his career in Brazil in 1986 because Japan did not have a professional league for him to play in, was given the captain's armband, but he could not inspire his team who lost 3-2 t

(Reuters): U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka, American soccer player Megan Rapinoe and Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes were among the athletes named on the 2020 "Time 100" list of the most influential people in the world. The annual list, which is not ranked, honours individuals who have had the most significant impact on the global landscape that year and includes heads of state, business leaders, activists and entertainers, among others. There is no winner named. The

BUDAPEST, September 23 (Reuters): When Hungarian and European football leaders invited Hungarian ambulance workers to the continent's first major international match open to fans since the COVID-19 pandemic began, 500 paramedics jumped at the chance to attend Thursday's Super Cup. Champions League winners Bayern Munich of Germany and Europa League champions Sevilla of Spain meet at Budapest's Puskas Arena in a game that European football's governing body UEFA co

TOKYO, September 23 (Reuters): Organisers of next year's delayed Tokyo Olympics will require coronavirus tests of foreign athletes upon their arrival in Japan, but may not mandate a two-week quarantine period, according to draft measures released on Wednesday. Japanese athletes and other participants living in Japan would face similar requirements when travelling to training camps and competition venues under the planned measures, which were released after a meeting between