Dubai, September 22 (IANS): The opening match of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was watched by 20 crore people, said BCCI Secretary Jay Shah on Tuesday. As per Shah, this was the highest-ever opening day viewership for any sporting league in any country as defending champions Mumbai Indians faced Chennai Super Kings on September 19 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. MS Dhoni-led CSK defeated the four-time IPL champions by five wickets. "Opening ma

PARIS, September 22 (Reuters): Cycling has been thrown into fresh turmoil after French judicial authorities opened a preliminary investigation into potential doping at Nairo Quintana's team Arkea-Samsic on Monday, a day after the Tour de France ended in Paris. Two people had been taken into custody, Marseille prosecutor Dominique Laurens said, adding that the probe was targeting a "small part of the team" and that those in custody were part of the "close entourage

LONDON, September 22 (Reuters): Plans for the controlled return of fans into U.K. sports stadiums from Oct. 1 are set to be postponed, senior cabinet minister Michael Gove said on Tuesday as new restrictions are brought in to tackle a second wave of COVID-19. "It was the case that we were looking at a staged programme of more people returning, it wasn't going to be the case that we were going to have stadiums thronged with fans," Gove told BBC TV when asked i

Mumbai, September 22 (IANS): Ace Indian archer Atanu Das is confident of a successful show at the Tokyo Olympics which will now be held next year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Das recently revealed how the setback of Rio Olympics, where he lost to South Korean Lee Seung-Yun, helped him reassess the way he trained and approached his game. "I was very excited for my first-ever Olympics in Rio. Unfortunately, I lost in the quarters. I was very disappointed after that loss. I di

Leicestershire, September 22 (IANS): Hitech GP's championship leader Kush Maini has claimed his second win of the year in the British F3 Championship in race three at the Donington Park, after coming out on top of a Lap One battle with championship rival Kaylen Frederick. At the start, Frederick -- who was on pole -- had a good launch to lead the pack down to Redgate, holding off Maini who then got a good run on Frederick down the Craner Curves and dived up the inside of his cha

(Reuters): Inter Milan have reached an agreement with Barcelona to sign Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal for one million euros ($1.17 million) on a permanent deal, the two clubs announced on Tuesday. Vidal, who joined Barca from Bayern Munich in 2018, will be reunited with Inter coach Antonio Conte, who signed him for Juventus in 2011 and where he stayed until 2015. "The Italian club will pay Barcelona 1 million euros in variables," Barcelona said in a statement https

(Reuters): Organisers of the Italian Open and the tennis Tours came under fire on social media after it emerged that Rome men's champion Novak Djokovic was paid 10 euros ($11.74) more than women's winner Simona Halep. Djokovic, who beat Argentine Diego Schwartzman 7-5 6-3 for a record 36th ATP Masters 1000 crown, received 205,200 euros for his triumph while Halep won 10 euros less for sealing the WTA Premier 5 title after Karolina Pliskova retired from the final with in

(Reuters): Chelsea's new Brazilian defender Thiago Silva said the desire to play at another World Cup and win trophies in England had prompted him to seek a fresh challenge in his mid-30s. The former Paris St Germain centre back, who is 36 on Tuesday, signed a year-long deal plus the option of a further 12 months at Chelsea and said he could not wait to get started. "Normally, at 35-36... players leave the Premier League but I'm doing things the other way around

(Reuters): Basketball great Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin have partnered to form a new single-car NASCAR Cup Series team that will feature Bubba Wallace as its driver, the trio said on Monday. Jordan, a six-time NBA champion, will serve as principal owner of the team with Hamlin a minority partner while he continues to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing. Wallace, the only Black driver at NASCAR's top level, was thrust into the spotlight this year

WOLVERHAMPTON, England, September 22 (Reuters): Manchester City will draft in players from the club's youth academy for Thursday's League Cup match at home to Bournemouth with manager Pep Guardiola saying he did not have the squad size to compete in two competitions at this stage of the campaign. The delayed start to the season means the third round of the League Cup, in which City are holders, comes three days after their opening 3-1 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on M

WOLVERHAMPTON, England, September 22 (Reuters): Manchester City got their Premier League campaign off to a flying start with a 3-1 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers thanks to first-half goals by Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden plus a late Gabriel Jesus strike on Monday. The result means there has not been a single drawn match in the opening two rounds of Premier League fixtures and the 44 goals over a single 'game week' is a record for the 20-team era. Wolves beat City h

PARIS, September 22 (Reuters): Tadej Pogacar became the first Slovenian to win the Tour de France after he retained the yellow jersey in the 21st stage on Sunday, a day after he pulled off a major coup to take the overall lead. While Sam Bennett won the final stage, the day belonged to Team UAE Emirates rider Pogacar, who will celebrate his 22nd birthday on Monday and is the youngest man to win the race since Henri Cornet in 1904. Pogacar, who claimed the yellow jersey from

Kohima, September 21 (MExN): Kohima Town Club (KTC) today informed that the Kohima Football League-4 for the year 2020 has been postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The league will be held sometime next year as and when the situation improves, according to KTC president Dr. Viketuolie  Pienyu. Meanwhile, the club will conduct its lottery which was postponed due to the Covid-19 lockdown. The tickets stands as valid as when it was first launched. The Club regretted fo

ROME, September 21 (Reuters): World number one Novak Djokovic overcame a sluggish start to lift his fifth Italian Open title on Monday, defeating Argentine Diego Schwartzman 7-5 6-3 for a record 36th ATP Masters crown. Playing his maiden ATP 1000 final, eighth seed Schwartzman raced out of the blocks to convert two break point opportunities for a 3-0 lead as Djokovic struggled to put a lid on his backhand errors. An on-and-off drizzle at Foro Italico added to Djokovic's

Dubai, September 21 (IANS): A brilliant half-century from debutant Devdutt Padikkal followed by some class spin bowling from Yujvendra Chahal helped Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) beat the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 10 runs in their opening game of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) here on Monday evening. The RCB first posted 163/5 in their allotted 20 overs and then defended the total by causing a sensational batting collapse at the Dubai International Cricke

(Reuters): Anthony Davis’ 3-pointer at the buzzer lifted the Los Angeles Lakers to a 105-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals. “Special moment for a special player. Happy to be a part of it,” LeBron James said of Davis’ shot. Davis, who scored the last 10 Laker points, delivered 22 of his 31 points in the second half for the Lakers, who hold a 2-0 series lead. Davis also finished with nine rebounds. “

ROME, September 21 (Reuters): Top seed Simona Halep gave her French Open preparations a boost when she claimed the Italian Open in Rome on Monday after second seed Karolina Pliskova retired from the final with injury when she was down 6-0 2-1. Victory gave Halep her first title in Rome and her third consecutive title of the year after wins in Dubai -- before the COVID-19 hiatus -- and Prague last month. Pliskova attempted to continue playing after receiving treatment on her

BARCELONA, September 21 (Reuters): Barcelona striker Luis Suarez has agreed a deal with the club to end his contract and settled on personal terms with Atletico Madrid, according to reports in Spain on Monday. The Catalans' third top scorer of all time was told he was not wanted by new Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman and has been looking for a new club. Suarez, 33, who has one year to run on his Barcelona contract, agreed a deal with the club to cut it short, reports

(Reuters): Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has tested positive for COVID-19, the Premier League club said on Monday, making him the third player in the squad to return a positive test in recent weeks. City winger Riyad Mahrez and defender Aymeric Laporte previously tested positive for the novel coronavirus earlier this month. "Ilkay is now observing a 10-day period of self-isolation in accordance with Premier League and UK Government protocol on quarantine,&qu

(Reuters): Five players have been withdrawn from the French Open qualifying tournament after two players and a coach tested positive for COVID-19, organisers have said. The qualifiers will begin later on Monday, with the main draw set to commence on Sept. 27. "The Roland Garros tournament directors can confirm that two players competing in the qualifying tournament have tested positive for COVID-19 and three others have confirmed close contact with a coach who has teste