Gujarat hold Bengal in PKL contest
Zone A team Gujarat Fortunegiants ended their match tied 26-26 against Zone B side Bengal Warriors in an inter zone PKL contest at the Transstadia Arena in Ahmedabad on Thursday to stay unbeaten in the home leg. Both the teams shared three points each with Gujarat further firming their top spot while Bengal rising to the fourth position in their respective group standings. Raider Sachin (7 points) along with defender Abozar Mighani (2 points) for Gujarat imposed most of the damage on the opposition, helping their side end the match with equal points on the scoreboard. For Bengal, Deepak Narwal (7 points) gave a good fight to the opposition but failed to clinch the decisive point to help his side seal the match.
Delhi beat Tamil Thalaivas
Zone A team Dabang Delhi K.C fought till the dying minutes of the match to edge past Zone B side Tamil Thalaivas 30-29 in an inter-zone contest of the Pro Kabaddi League's (PKL) fifth edition at the Transstadia Arena in Ahmedabad. With this win, Delhi rose to the third spot in the group standings. Skipper Meraj Sheykh (nine points) led Delhi from the front along with defender Viraj Langde (two points) to help their side clinch win by a single point. For Chennai, a valiant effort from their skipper Ajay Thakur (13 points) went in vain as the team failed to keep their nerves in the last few minutes of the match.
Lakshya clinches Bulgarian Open title
Sixteen-year-old Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen defeated second seed Zvonimir Durkinjak of Croatia to clinch the Bulgarian Open men's singles title in Sofia on Thursday. The junior World No.1 Lakshya edged past the Croatian player 18-21, 21-12, 21-17 in a match which lasted around one hour. Earlier, Lakshya outplayed Dinuka Karunaratna of Sri Lanka 21-19, 21-14 in the semi-finals.
PCB issues show-cause notice to Umar Akmal
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday issued notice to Umar Akmal for breaching the code of conduct after the middle-order batsman accused head coach Micky Arthur of verbally abusing him in front of chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq and other senior players. The board gave him seven days to file his reply. "The PCB has issued show-cause notice to Umar Akmal on breaching code of conduct. The middle-order batsman has seven days to file a reply," the PCB said on twitter. Akmal had on Wednesday accused Arthur of verbally abusing him when the 27-year-old wanted to use the facilities at the National Cricket Academy.
Mumbai City FC ties up with Rooter
Indian Super League (ISL) franchise Mumbai City FC on Thursday announced its association with real-time sports social platform Rooter as its official fan engagement partner for the fourth edition of the cash-rich football tournament. According to a statement, Rooter aims to give a further boost to the Ranbir Kapoor-owned Mumbai City FC which boasts of marquee players in Diego Forlan besides coach Alexandre Guimaraes, by providing unique engagement opportunities for existing MCFC fans while acquiring new ones. Commenting on the partnership, Mumbai City FC CEO Indranil Das Blah said: "While on field preparations and the team are shaping up well, we want to ensure that we give our fans the best possible avenues for them to engage with the club."
Sania-Shuai advance, Ramkumar crashes out
Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Chinese partner Peng Shuai advanced to the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Masters following a straight-set victory in the women's doubles clash in Ohia. The fourth seeded Indo-Chinese duo romped home with a comfortable 7-5 6-4 win over Germany's Julia Görges and Ukraine's Olga Savchuk in a last-16 clash that lasted one and a half hour on Wednesday. Sania and Shuai will now face Romanian combo of Irina-Camelia Begu and Raluca Olaru for a place in the last four, later on Thursday. Meanwhile, India's Ramkumar Ramanathan crashed out of the tournament after going down to American wild card Jared Donaldson in the second round men's singles tie.
Stuart MacGill turns down Bangladesh offer
Former Test spinner Stuart MacGill has rejected Bangladesh offer to join the side ahead of two-Test series against Australia. A senior official of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) confirmed this on Thursday. BCB president Nazmul Hasan had last month said that MacGill was their "first choice for the spin-bowling coach". MacGill was offered the role initially for a period of three months. And with the Test series against Australia just days away, Bangladesh were hoping to get some inside knowledge from the former leg-spinner.
Real Madrid loses appeal against Ronaldo ban
Spain's football federation have dismissed Real Madrid's appeal against the five-match ban imposed on Portugese star forward Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo was penalised for pushing the referee after he was sent off during the Blancos' 3-1 win over Barcelona in Sunday's first leg of the Spanish Super Cup, reports Efe. The Portuguese international was "suspended for one game for double booking and his consequent sending off" and an additional four matches for breach of Article 96 of the Disciplinary Code, the federation said in a statement.
