London, June 5 (IANS): Former English umpire John Holder has lashed out at England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) over the latter's statement that he and fellow umpire Ismail Dawood have withdrawn their claim of institutional racism. "Our case against the ECB has been beaten on a legal technicality. I have not withdrawn any of the claims I made," umpire Holder said. "The tone of ECB's statement would give the uninvolved reader the impression that we hav

Doha, June 4 (IANS) Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu has received appreciation for his performance despite the Sunil Chhetri-led Indian football team going down 0-1 to Asian champions Qatar in a World Cup Qatar 2022 and Asian Cup China 2023 preliminary Round 2 qualification match. Qatar's top wing-back Abdelkarim Hassan told Sandhu after the match that he was good to play in the English Premier League, said an All India Football Association (AIFF) press release on Friday. &qu

Southampton, June 4 (IANS) India batsman Hanuma Vihari says batting in England is challenging, not only because of Dukes balls that do something throughout the day, but also because overhead conditions are unpredictable. "The Kookaburra gets soft in Australia after a while. But the Dukes does something all day -- off the wicket or in the air. There's always something for the bowlers and that is the key challenge," said Vihari, who had a three-match stint with Warwicksh

Doha, June 4 (IANS): A dominant Qatar beat a 10-man India 1-0 in a FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 preliminary Round 2 qualification match here on Thursday. Qatar led 1-0 at half-time, Abdel Aziz Hatim making the difference between the two sides, slotting in a 34th minute winner at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium. The win took Qatar to 19 points, seven ahead of Oman who have two matches in hand and will face Felix Sanchez's side on Monday. India stay on th

Paris, June 4 (IANS): World No. 3 Rafael Nadal termed first set of his second round match against Richard Gasquet, which he won 6-0, 7-5, 6-2 on Thursday night, as the best of his clay-court season. Nadal allowed his French opponent, who he beat for the 17th time in a row, to win only nine points in the opening set while winning seven games in a row. "I think I played a great first set. [It was] one of the best of the clay-court season in my opinion. No mistakes, high intens

Paris, June 4 (IANS): On a day when women's section of French Open tennis was highlighted by pullout of Ashleigh Barty, defending champion Iga Swiatek and fourth-seeded Sofia Kenin resumed normal course by winning their second round matches to cruise into third round at French Open. Swiatek dispatched Rebecca Peterson of Sweden, 6-1, 6-1 in one hour and one minute to progress while Kenin beat American compatriot Hailey Baptiste 7-5, 6-3. Poland's Swiatek was emphatic in h

New Delhi, June 4 (IANS): Sumit Malik, India's Olympic-bound freestyle wrestler in men's 125 kg, has failed in-competition dope test for stimulants conducted by United World Wrestling (UWW) at World Olympic qualifiers held in Sofia, Bulgaria in May. "Since Malik has tested positive for stimulants, including methylhexanamine, he wouldn't face provisional suspension from competitions, but the development could affect his chances to compete at next month's Olympic

New Delhi, June 3 (IANS): India women's team opening batter Smriti Mandhana is excited for trip to England not just because she will get to play a Test after seven years but also because it is the only country where she can sleep and get up early. Smriti said she sleeps a lot everywhere. "I sleep a lot everywhere. The UK is very good because it is behind [the Indian time] and that really suits me, because then I can sleep early and then I am up at 5.30-6 am. That is the onl

Abu Dhabi, June 3 (IANS): Kolkata Knight Riders' West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell has said life in bio-bubble is exhausting him. The right-arm pace bowler and right-handed batsman, who is in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for Pakistan Super League, said that quarantine life is taking a toll on him mentally. "I think it's taking a toll on myself," Russell told Geo News from Abu Dhabi. "I cannot talk for any other player, or coaches or anyone that goe

Paris, June 3 (IANS): World No. 8 Serena Williams was stretched by world No. 148 Mihaela Buzarnescu, before the winner of 23 Grand Slam singles titles overcame the Romanian's challenge 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 in a late evening second-round French Open match on Wednesday. Serena will take on American world No. 50 Danielle Collins for a place in the fourth round. Danielle, a French Open quarter-finalist last year, dropped just two games against Ukrainian qualifier Anhelina Kalinina, 6-0,

Paris, June 3 (IANS): Second seed Daniil Medvedev defeated American Tommy Paul 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 to enter third round of French Open at Roland Garros late on Wednesday. The Russian, who had registered his first career win at Roland Garros in the first round earlier, beat Paul in a game that saw him bounce back from one set down. The 25-year-old, who is eyeing the world No. 1 spot in the tournament, had arrived in Paris with a 0-4 record here. But he has been impressive through t

London, June 3 (IANS): Pacer Ollie Robinson, who returned as England's most successful bowler with two wickets for 50 on the first day of first Test against New Zealand at Lord's, was left red-faced after his racist and misogynist tweets resurfaced on twitter forcing him to issue an apology. "On the biggest day of my career so far, I am embarrassed by the racist and sexist tweets that I posted over eight years ago, which have today become public. I want to make it clear

Doha, June 2 (IANS): Despite a far-from-ideal preparation, the Sunil Chhetri-led Indian football team begins its bid to qualify for the 2023 Asian Cup with a match against Asian champions Qatar on Thursday. Although it is a combined qualification tournament, combining the 2022 World Cup, India are out of contention for the game's biggest tournament. India's other qualification matches are against Bangladesh on June 7 and Afghanistan on June 15. There is a huge different i

London, June 2 (IANS): New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat in first Test against England here at Lord's on Wednesday. The Kiwis have won only one out of the 17 Tests they have played at Lord's in their 90-year cricket history in England. Their lone victory came in 1999 under Stephen Fleming's captaincy. They have lost eight and drawn eight matches. England are missing some of their top stars. Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer (both due to injuries), Jos Buttler, Chris

Sydney, June 2 (IANS): Australia's top cricketers will display skills in gaming on Thursday as they look to raise $100,000 for Covid-19 relief in India. The money raised will go to UNICEF Australia's India COVID-19 Crisis Appeal. The likes of pace bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, Josh Hazlewood and spinner Nathan Lyon will be on live stream as they will talk cricket and play video games. The initiative is the brainchild of domestic cricketer Josh Lalor. From 5pm AEST (12

New Delhi, June 2 (IANS): Pandemic and injury were the reasons behind missing May 31 deadline to qualify for marathon event at Tokyo Olympic Games, said India's 2017 Asian marathon champion Thonakal Gopi. "I had a knee injury in later part of 2019 while 2020 was disrupted by the pandemic. Since the deadline to achieve qualification is over, focus is to get fit for 2022 season now," Gopi told IANS from Bengaluru. The deadline for achieving the Olympic qualification m

Sydney, June 2 (IANS): Australia opener David Warner said watching Indians struggle for oxygen and seeing people a couple of times line up on streets to cremate family members hit visiting players hard during Indian Premier League (IPL). "I think it really hit home when everyone saw that piece on the TV about what was happening in India with the oxygen," Warner was quoted as saying by Fox Sports. "You know, people on the streets lining up to cremate their family me

Mumbai, June 2 (IANS): India women cricket team's travel to England for their first Test in seven years will pit them in challenging conditions but the team is not going with a pre-determined plan. Though this will be India women's first Test in seven years, many of the current squad members featured in India's last Test in 2014, also against England, at Wormsley. Smriti Mandhana, Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Punam Raut and Harmanpreet Kaur were in the

New Delhi, June 2 (IANS): Neeraj Chopra, India's medal hope at Olympic Games in men's javelin throw, looks doubtful for this month's Kuortane Games due to travel restrictions placed by Finland government on Indian visitors. Kuortane Games is a one-day athletics meet scheduled to take place on June 26. "It looks doubtful as Chopra hasn't got approval to travel to Kuortane from the Finnish government though he would be competing in Karlstad Grand Prix in Sweden

Dubai, June 2 (IANS): The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board has given India a month's time to show its readiness to host T20 World Cup in the country later this year. The governing body of cricket, however, confirmed that Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will remain host of the tournament, to be held in October-November, even it is shifted outside India. The ICC Board has also asked its management to begin planning the tournament in UAE and look for anothe