India defeat Pakistan in hockey, again
India put up a quality display to thrash arch-rivals Pakistan 6-1 in a fifth-eighth classification match of the Hockey World League Semi-Final in London. Ramandeep Singh (eighth and 28th minutes), Talwinder Singh (25th), Mandeep Singh (27th, 59th) and Harmanpreet Singh (36th) found the back of the net for India. For Pakistan, Ajaz Ahmad pulled one back in the 41st minute. India will take on Canada for the fifth-sixth position classification tie on Sunday. This was the second time in this tournament that India has outclassed Pakistan by a huge margin. India had recorded their biggest win over Pakistan on June 18 when they thrashed their arch-rivals 7-1 in a pool match. India had crashed out of the race for the podium after suffering a 2-3 loss to Malaysia in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Srikanth enters Australian Open final
Star Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth defeated fourth seed Shi Yuqi of China to reach the final of the Australia Open Superseries badminton tournament in Sydney. The Guntur player took only 37 minutes to outplay his Chinese opponent 21-10, 21-14. The 24-year-old Indian shuttler dominated the proceedings right from the start and finished off in straight games to reach the summit clash. Srikanth has now reached his third consecutive final. He finished runner-up at the Singapore Open before winning the Indonesia Open title last week. He will face Chen Long of China in the final. Chen defeated Lee Hyun Il of South Korea in a tough three-game battle in the other semifinal. The World No. 6 Chinese was forced to struggle hard before scripting a 26-24, 15-21, 21-17 victory over his 14th ranked Korean rival in an hour and eight minutes. Chen enjoys a 5-0 advantage against Srikanth in the head to head record.
Jaipur traffic police apologises to Bumrah
The Jaipur traffic police have apologised to Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah for making a mockery of his no-ball in the Champions Trophy final against Pakistan. Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman was caught behind off Bumrah's bowling during the final which was eventually adjudged a no-ball by the television umpire. It proved to be one of the turning points of the game as Zaman, who was on three at the time, went on to score a clinical century which helped Pakistan put up a mammoth total of 338/4. India lost the match by 180 runs. The Jaipur Police have used a picture of Bumrah's no-ball in one of their campaigns to raise public awareness about road safety. They made a billboard of the Indian pacer in the act of delivering the no-ball alongside an image of several cars waiting patiently behind a line at a traffic signal. The caption of the billboard read, "Don't cross the line. You know it can be costly."
Hamilton takes 66th career pole in Azerbaijan
Lewis Hamilton surpassed Ayrton Senna's career haul of 65 pole positions in Formula One as he edged Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas to secure top spot the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Hamilton banished memories of a dismal qualifying session in Baku last year, when he clipped the barrier, to grab pole with a time of 1:40.593 despite running wide at Turn 16. He will be joined in an all-Mercedes front row by Bottas, who was pipped at the death. Formula One championship leader Sebastian Vettel, who leads Hamilton by 12 points in the standings, qualified fourth for Sunday's race. His Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen was in third. Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who dominated Friday practice, qualified fifth but his teammate Daniel Ricciardo was down in 10th after hitting a wall.
Indian men held by Turkey; Women bow to Russia
Krishnan Sasikiran proved to be the saviour as Indian men were held 2-2 by Turkey while the Indian eves suffered a 1-3 loss against Russia in the sixth round of World teams' chess championships in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia. Grandmaster B. Adhiban ran out of steam as he lost to Yilmaz Mustafa on the second board while Vidit Gujarathi was held to a draw by Solak Dragan on the top board. Mohamad Batuhan Dastan held Parimarjan Negi on the fourth board and Sasikiran won in a highly complex game against Can Emre. The draw against Turkey put the Indian men a little off track for a podium finish for which they will need to do really well against Ukraine now in the next round. In the last two matches the Indians have to face Russia and Norway. The Indian aspirations suffered a setback in the women's section but it's not all over yet for the eves. Padmini Rout and S. Vijayalakshmi lost on board three and four while D Harika and Eesha Karavade played out draws on the top two boards for the team. Rout lost to Valentina Gunina while Olga Girya proved stronger than S. Viajayalakshmi.
Ford steps down as Sri Lanka coach
Sri Lanka's cricket coach Graham Ford has quit, officials said, midway through a 45- month contract and just two weeks after the team's early exit from the Champions Trophy. Sri Lanka's cricket board said the 56-year-old South African was ending his second stint with the team after a "decision arrived at mutually". No immediate replacement was announced. Sri Lanka will play a home series of five ODI matches and one Test against Zimbabwe from the end of this month. Ford, who was previously with Sri Lanka from 2012 to 2014, had said he faced a huge rebuilding task when he returned to the team in February last year, when the islanders had dropped down the rankings. Sri Lanka failed to reach the semifinals of this month's eight-team Champions Trophy in England, and there have been recriminations with the country's sports minister accusing the players of being too fat.
First India-West Indies ODI abandoned
The first One-Day International (ODI) match between India and West Indies here on Friday was called off due to incessant rain. Put in to bat, India were 199/3 in 39.2 overs before rain played the spoilsport. After the continuous rain, the match officials gave West Indies a revised target of 194 in 26 overs through Duckworth-lewis method but after a long wait, umpires decided to call-off the match due to heavy downpour and wet outfield. Earlier, India got off to a solid start as openers Shikhar Dhawan (87) and Ajinkya Rahane (62) forged a 132-run partnership. Rahane's 78-ball knock included eight boundaries. For West Indies, Holder, Joseph and Bishoo chipped in with one wicket each.
