*Dhaka:* Blind from his infancy, 19-year-old Bangladeshi cricket fan Samiul Islam finally had the opportunity to see his favourite team in action yesterday after his eyesight was restored following an operation funded by a reality TV show.Hailing from a poor labourer's family in northern Sherpur district, 180 kilometres (112 miles) from Dhaka, Islam was brought to Mirpur stadium in the capital to fulfill his dream of watching the Tigers play after his eyesight was successfully restored.
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*Tokyo:* Australian power-hitter Nick Kyrgios fired an incredible 25 aces yesterday to win the Japan Open, pounding Belgium's David Goffin 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Kyrgios rocketed serves clocking in at more than 220 kilometres (136 miles) per hour in quick succession, giving Goffin little time to regain his rhythm. Goffin used his quick footwork and long rallies to put pressure on his opponent, but Kyrgios' fearsome serves overwhelmed the World No.14.
The Australian also showed off some sharp ground strokes and saved 11 of 12 break points to lift the trophy. "I think my serves are what got me out of trouble," Kyrgios said. "David makes you feel like the court is small. It was a tough match. His (Goffin's) strength was returning. So I had to step up my serves a little bit especially in the second set," Kyrgios said.
Goffin said he faced an unending shower of cannon-like serves. "In the first set, he was not serving like he did in the second and third. I was on the ball in the first set," Goffin said. "I think, during the match, he had to serve well because I was doing rallies better," he said. "He served 215 (kilometres per hour) with a lot of precision. Even if you choose the right side, it's tough to return," Goffin added.
*25*
Number of aces hit by Kyrgios vs Goffin in the final
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*London:* Jana Kramer's estranged husband Mike Caussin has apologised for the pain he caused the singer/actress after she opened up about his alleged infidelity.
The former One Tree Hill star, 32, split from American footballer Caussin in August after 15 months of marriage, and it was subsequently revealed the athlete had entered a rehabilitation centre for undisclosed reasons.
Caussin, 29, has yet to directly address the cheating allegations, but he has now expressed his regret at the way he behaved during the short-lived marriage.
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*Indore:* Ajinkya 'Jinks' Rahane termed his knock of 188 as a 'special one' which will be etched in his memory for a long time to come. Rahane, who added 365 runs with skipper Virat Kohli, is happy that he was able to play the short ball well even after struggling during the first session.
"This innings was really special and the partnership too (with captain Virat Kohli). We were 100 for 3 and from there getting 365 is really special," said Rahane, whose surpassed his highest Test score of 147 against Australia at Sydney in January of 2015.
Rahane admitted that humidity did play a part during the two days.
"It was hot out there today. I was struggling yesterday against the short ball and Virat told me to take my time. Today I wanted to dominate after getting the hundred. This partnership will stay in memory for a long time," an elated Rahane said.
"I take credit for the way I handled things yesterday when they were bowling short and I rate this 100 up there," said Rahane. He added that on Saturday the fourth wicket pair talked mainly about cricket in the middle but yesterday they wanted to have fun. "We were talking about partnership yesterday but today it was hot and humid. We did not discuss too much about cricket. We wanted to have fun," Rahane.
"In this innings, I struggled but it's important to enjoy and tackle it which is what counts. As a batsman it's important to face the next ball calmly after being beaten. This showed me what Test cricket is all about. I needed 200 to 230 balls to reach my 100," he added.
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*Indore:* India's spin all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was yesterday fined 50 per cent of his match fee and also received three demerit points for infringing the protected area on the pitch during the second day's play in the third cricket Test against New Zealand, here.
The incident happened during India's first innings when Jadeja, after previously receiving two informal and one official warnings, infringed the protected area for the fourth time and damaged it.
Jadeja admitted the offence and accepted the sanctions proposed by David Boon of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees and, as such, there was no need for a formal hearing. Jadeja was found to have breached Article 2.2.11 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to 'causing avoidable damage to the pitch during an international match'.
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Tyson Fury's trainer reckons the world heavyweight champion's cocaine use was a result of depression.
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*Suzuka:* Nico Rosberg cruised to an unchallenged win in yesterday's Japanese Grand Prix with a drive that handed Mercedes their third straight constructors' crown and his prospects of clinching a maiden Formula One title a massive boost.
The German crossed the line 4.9 seconds clear of Max Verstappen who finished second in as many races for Red Bull, after fending off a charging Lewis Hamilton who recovered from a botched start to finish third.
*Dominant Rosberg*
Rosberg now leads Hamilton by 33 points in the overall standings, following the 23rd win of his career and ninth this year. With just four rounds left, the 31-year-old — who becomes only the fifth driver in F1 history to win nine races in a single season — can clinch his maiden title even if he doesn't win again this year.
Hamilton went into the race needing to revive his flagging championship prospects. But any hopes the Briton had of building on his front-row start were dashed by a slow getaway that saw him plummet down the order to eighth.
A mix of his trademark spectacular overtaking and clever strategy by Mercedes saw him scythe through the field, with Hamilton very nearly snatching second from Verstappen. But he had to settle for the final podium spot after running wide while attempting a last-gasp move on the Red Bull two laps from the end.
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Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) fell just short of winning the inaugural SNBP All-India under-16 hockey tournament at the Mhalunge-Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune on Friday.
In the final, MSSA lost to Madya Pradhesh Hockey Academy (MPHA) 3-8. MPHA's Aniket Varun and Gourav Bhagtani scored hat-tricks while Shailendra Singh and Himanshu Sanik got a goal apiece. Simant Singh, Rajveer Dhariwal and Lokesh Vats scored for MSSA.
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*Vladivostok (Russia):* Indian shuttlers signed off an impressive campaign at the Russian Open Grand Prix, notching up the women's singles as well as the mixed doubles titles here yesterday.
Fourth seed Ruthvika Shivani Gadde emerged triumphant in the women's singles event, beating local favourite Evgeniya Kosetskaya 21-10, 21-13 in a 26-minute contest. In the mixed doubles final, N Sikki Reddy and Pranaav Chopra edged past the Russian duo of Vladimir Ivanov and Valeria Sorokina 21-17, 21-19 to claim the top honours.
However, it was heartbreak for Siril Verma who lost 21-16, 19-21, 10-21 to Malaysia's Zulfadli Zulkiffli in the men's singles final. For Ruthvika, it was her second title of the year after the South Asian Games, where she had upstaged Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu in the final.
*Srikanth out of Euro circuit*
Meanwhile, Rio Olympics quarter-finalist shuttler K Srikanth has been ruled out of the upcoming European circuit due to an ankle injury that he sustained during the Japan Super Series last month.
"I won't be taking part in the European circuit as I injured my right ankle during the Japan Open," Srikanth wrote in his Instagram account along with a picture of his injured leg.
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*Ahmedabad:* It was a tale of two halves as Korea showed their experience to beat Argentina 68-42 in the Kabaddi World Cup yesterday. The first half was all Korea's but Argentina showed tremendous character and fight back on their debut to give the Koreas a run for their money—at least in the second half. Republic of Korea jump to top of group A with their second consecutive win in the tournament.
*Argentina's weak defence*
Korea showed their experience and toyed with Argentina to lead 43-11 at the end of the first half. The Argentina defence struggled to contain the Korean raiders and failed to score a single tackle point in the first half. The second half saw Argentina show a lot more fight as they trailed 31-51. Korea got a chance to test their bench strength and they didn't disappoint. Korea may have won the match but Argentina won a lot of hearts with their second half performance.
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*London:* Controversial English footballer Joey Barton, who plays for Scottish club Rangers FC, has been told not to report back for training today. Barton is on the eve of completing a three-week club suspension but Rangers have now confirmed he has been told to stay off for another week while further disciplinary action is considered.
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Cathedral & John Connon (Fort) won the Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) Division I girls U-16 inter-school football tournament for the second year in a row after they managed to beat Bombay Scottish (Mahim) 1-0 in the final at the Cooperage ground on Saturday.
The match started like any other final with both sides playing within themselves. Both teams had good amounts of possession in the final third but couldn't breach the opponent's defence.
The first half ended without any real chance for either side. The second half was a completely different story with Cathedral upping the ante and putting the Mahim outfit on the defensive.
The front three of Bombay Scottish— Sarah Arora, Arushi Choksi and Deniese Pereira— were left isolated as Cathedral instigated attack after attack. Cathedral captain Shamika Bhandarkar tested Scottish goalkeeper Saachi Kamat on many occasions but failed to get past her.
Saachi was impressive throughout, but when Cathedral's Muskaan Mehra shot at goal, she couldn't hold on and Scottish finally conceded midway through the second half. Scottish tried to get the equaliser, but Cathedral held on.
Muskaan, the scorer of the winner, was ecstatic to have retained the trophy. As for her and many others, it was their last MSSA tournament.
"It's great that we defended our title and it's even better as we faced an amazing Scottish team who have been great competitors. It was a tough match and I am glad we came out on top. For most of us, it is our last MSSA.
So we wanted to leave with a bang and that's what we did," Muskaan told mid-day. Cathedral coach Deepak Narwade was happy to have won twice in a row and said, "I am really happy that we could retain the title. I am happier for the tenth graders who played their last tournament and managed to win."
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*New Delhi:* Punjab captain Yuvraj Singh suffered a double failure as Railways picked up three points on the basis of first innings lead in the Ranji Trophy Group 'A' match that ended in a draw yesterday.
Railways, resuming their second innings at 180 for two, went on to declare at 245 for seven with first innings centurion Shivakant Shukla missing out on another ton by three runs.
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*London:* The first American to take charge at a top division club in Europe, newly-appointed Swansea City manager Bob Bradley insists that he can handle the pressure of EPL. "Whether I am judged after one, two, three or five games, it's no problem," Bradley said.
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*Jakarta:* India's Gaganjeet Bhullar and S Chikkarangappa registered creditable top-10 finishes at the BNI Indonesian Masters yesterday. While Bhullar ended the week the way he began it with a bogey-free round of 67 and finished at 12-under for fifth place, Chikka was one place behind him Tied-sixth.
Coming on the heels of a win in Korea the previous week, it signaled a welcome return to form of the 28-year-old Kapurthala golfer, Bhullar, who has six Asian Tour titles to his name. Returning from a wrist injury, he had just one birdie on front nine but four on back nine for his 67. He had a 66 on day one, but in between he shot 73 and 70.
Chikka also had an error-free round of 67 and it helped him finish at 11-under and in Tied-sixth place. Like Bhullar, he also had just one birdie on front nine and four on back stretch at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club.
Anirban Lahiri (70) was six-under for the week and tied-31st. Jyoti Randhawa (67) and Arjun Atwal (74) were tied-46th, while Rahil Gangjee (70), Chiragh Kumar (70) and Himmat Rai (75) were tied-43rd. Jeev Milkha Singh (71), in the top-10 after the first day ended tied-56th and Shiv Kapur (75), clearly not fully recovered yet, was tied-63rd and Abhinav Lohan (75) was tied 66th.
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*Dhaka:* England captain Jos Buttler's (57) lone rally proved futile as opposite number Mashrafe Mortaza inspired Bangladesh to a series-levelling 34-run victory in the second ODI yesterday.
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*Elizabeth, South Africa:* South Africa rested three of their frontline bowlers but continued to dominate Australia as they won the fourth one-day international by six wickets at St George's Park on Sunday. Kyle Abbott led what was effectively South Africa's back-up bowling attack as Australia were bowled out for 167, the lowest total of the series. South African captain Faf du Plessis made 69 as South Africa secured their fourth successive win with 14.3 overs to spare.
It left Australian captain Steve Smith having to contemplate the prospect of a 5-0 series defeat going into the final match in Cape Town on Wednesday. "We don't want a whitewash so we?ll have to turn up and play," he said. Smith said he was disappointed with the batting performance.
"The wicket maybe wasn't as good as the others but 250 was about par." Having clinched the five-match series by winning the first three games, South Africa rested fast bowlers Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada and leading spin bowler Imran Tahir. They were replaced by Abbott and spinners Tabraiz Shamsi and Aaron Phangiso. Man of the match Abbott admitted that he felt nervous before the game, having not been part of the first three matches.
But he bowled both Australian opening batsmen inside the first three overs and finished with four for 40. Unorthodox left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi took three for 36 and orthodox left-armer Phangiso picked up the last two wickets at a cost of 17 runs. On a slow pitch, which offered some seam movement and uneven bounce, Abbott bowled a full length and made the ball deviate in both directions. He bowled Aaron Finch with the third ball of the match and then bowled David Warner with the first ball of his second over.
He struck another crucial blow when he was brought back into the attack and had Mitchell Marsh caught behind for 50, ending a 62-run sixth wicket partnership with Matthew Wade. George Bailey was leg before wicket to Dwaine Pretorius as Australia slumped to 12 for three. It became 49 for five when Shamsi deceived Australian captain Steve Smith and Travis Head, trapping them both leg before, in the space of three balls.
Wade hit a defiant 52 off 58 deliveries and found some support from number ten batsman Chris Tremain, who made 23 not out and helped Wade add 46 for the ninth wicket. Tremain, who took some heavy punishment in his first two matches for Australia earlier in the series, gave South Africa some early worries by dismissing both opening batsmen, Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock. With a strong wind blowing across the field, Du Plessis survived a chance on 16 when Adam Zampa misjudged a high catch off John Hastings at point.
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*Beijing:* Agnieszka Radwanska beat Johanna Konta in straight sets to take the title at the China Open in a chilly Beijing yesterday, denying the Briton her biggest career crown.
The third-ranked Pole — who cruised through the tournament without dropping a set — sealed her second title in Beijing with an ace for a 6-4, 6-2 win.
The victory was Radwanska's 20th career crown but there was more on the line for Konta, 25, who was making a bid in the Chinese capital for what would have been her second and biggest title.
Despite the loss, by reaching the Beijing final Konta has amassed enough points to break into the top 10 — the first British woman to do so since Jo Durie in 1984.
Konta claimed two top 10 scalps en route to the final, sixth-ranked Karoline Pliskova and number eight Madison Keys, but she was kept on the defensive on Sunday.
*Murray wins too*
Andy Murray beat Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets to win the China Open as he closes in on the number one ranking.
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Debutants Bombay Republicans were unfortunate to concede a goal from a penalty stroke losing 1-2 to Western Railway (WR) in a Super Division match of the Mumbai Hockey Association Limited League held at the MHAL Mahindra Stadium yesterday.
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Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar's idea of 14-a-side teams at the school level has got the green signal from the sport's governing body in Mumbai.
Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) recently passed a proposal allowing 14 members, instead of 11, to play in a team at the school level, a move aimed at popularising the game among children. The idea floated by the batting great will be implemented in well-known Giles Shield and Harris Shield tournaments, both inter-school events.
"The association (MCA) has recently given the go-ahead for the proposal and the same would be implemented in the Haris Shield and Garris Shield tournament," MCA Joint Secretary P V Shetty told PTI over phone today. According to the proposal, every side can field their best batsman and bowlers, enabling all the 14 members to play. All the players will be also be allowed to bowl. At present, 11 players are allowed to play in each side.
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*Indore:* India continued their domination over New zealand as brilliant batting from skipper Virat Kohli and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane helped the hosts to a mammoth 557/5 on the second day of the third and final Test match at the Holkar Cricket Stadium here on Sunday.
Rohit Sharma (51 not out) and Ravindra Jadeja (17 not out) forged a 53-run partnership before Kohli decided to declare the innings midway through the final session of the day. Sharma bought up his half century off 62 balls, with three fours and two sixes.
At the close of play, New Zealand were on 28/0 and trailed India by 529 runs. Martin Guptill (17 batting) and Tom Latham (6 batting) were at the crease.
Resuming the second day at 267/3, Kohli and Rahane helped India reach 358/3 at lunch.
Kohli continued to bat in the post-lunch session with the same authority, maintaining a high scoring rate and slammed his second double-ton in Tests.*Kohli celebrates his double century. Pic/ AFP*
At 199, Kiwi pacer Henry delivered a length ball and Kohli rolled his wrists nicely to work it towards deep square and became the first Indian to score two double tons as captain.
Rahane, on the other hand, was not so fluent, but supported his skipper from the other end. The Mumbai batsman scored his first 150 of his career.
Resuming the post-tea session at 456/3, Kohli and Rahane again paced up their innings as they hit the Kiwi bowlers all around the park before off-spinner Jeetan Patel broke their 365-run partnership by trapping Kohli leg-before for 211.
Kohli's 366-ball innings was laced with 20 boundaries.
Soon after he added 39 runs to the overall score with incoming batsman Rohit Sharma, Rahane too was sent back to the pavilion for a well made 188 runs when he hit out at a widish delivery from pacer Trent Boult only to see New Zealand wicketkeeper Bradley-John Watling pull off a simple catch.
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*Ahmedabad:* A strong team performance by India saw them score a resounding 54-20 win over Australia a day after their shock defeat to Korea in a Kabaddi World Cup match here on Saturday.
India benched Rahul Chaudhari and Jasvir Singh and started with Pardeep Narwal and Sandeep Narwal instead. The Indian substitutes played a key role in the victory as the bench contributed 20 points. Ajay Thakur was top scorer for India and scored seven points — all scored after coming on as a substitute.
The Indian defence began strongly as they sent two Australian players on the bench and raced into a 3-0 lead after two minutes. Pardeep Narwal scored with his first raid in fourth minute as India led 6-0.
An all out was inflicted by India in the fifth minute as India took a commanding 10-0 lead. Australia scored their first point as Campbell. Brown got a bonus in the sixth minute.
India's Deepak Hooda scored with a raid as India led 13-1 after seven minutes. India then inflicted another all out in the 11th minute to lead.India coaches have one-on-one chatsThe Indian team management took a very serious view of their shock 32-34 defeat to Korea on Friday. "Our coaches Balwant Singh and K Bhaskaran had a one-on-one discussion with every player. They motivated them and also pointed out their mistakes and chalked out a plan for each opponent next up," team manager Tushar Arothe told mid-day on Saturday. Reported by Mid-Day 55 minutes ago.
