Wadekar optimistic about sa tour
Mumbai: Former India skipper Ajit Wadekar is hopeful that India will translate their brilliant performance at home into something spectacular in South Africa even though not playing a practice match is matter of concern. India will tour South Africa for a three-Test, six-ODI and three-Twenty20 series, starting January 5. "You need to get adjusted to those wickets because of the bounce. With no practice games, it is going to be a little bit hard on our players. Ours is a balanced team though," the 76- year-old veteran player told reporters on Thursday. "At the moment, the (Indian) team is doing really well, they are very balanced team and they also have (enough) experience to play on any kind of tracks. Their past track record suggests that they seem to be in good form and they should be able to do well," he said. The former left-handed batsman received the Dr Rameshwar Dayal lifetime Achievement Award.
Advani storms into last-16
Chennai: Defending champion Pankaj Advani blanked Pandurangaiah by five frames to nil to advance to the last 16 of the 7th National 6-Red Snooker Championship here on Thursday. Also advancing were former Asian billiards champion Sourav Kothari, who ended the run of lucky Vatnani, winning 5-1. In another match, Varun Madan defeated former Asian billiards champion Dhruv Sitwala 5-3 to move up. Advani, the 18-time world champion, started slowy and was trailing in the first frame, but he cleared the table in the end to clinch the frame. He did not look back after that as he took the next four to win in an hour's time. Ishpreet Singh Chadha pulled off an upset, beating former world and Asian champion Rupesh Shah 5-4, taking the final frame 41-27.
jamshedpur beat bfc 1-0 in isl
jamshedpur: Cricket South Africa said on ThJamshedpur FC scored from a stoppage time penalty as they beat Bengaluru FC 1-0 in an entertaining Indian Super league match here on Thursday. Brazillian Matheus Trindade Goncalves sent Bengaluru goalkeeper in the wrong direction in the first minute of the stoppage time to score the only goal of the match to the stunning silence of the home crowd at Sree Kanteerava Stadium. The visitors won the penalty after Rahul Bheke brought down Sameegh Doutie inside the box in a tussle for the control of the ball. Bengaluru thus tasted their back-to-back home defeat though they still remained at second place with 12 points. With the win, Jamshedpur jumped to sixth place with nine points. The first half was scrappy as Jamshedpur played a rather defensive game as compared to Bengaluru who aimed at the rival's net.
Gill back for Round 5 of Rally C'ship
Ziro: Three-time APRC champion Gaurav Gill aims to reassert his supremacy as Round 5 of the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship, the Rally of Arunachal, got underway here on Thursday. Gill, who missed Round 4 of the INRC in Chikmagalur as it was held simultaneously with the APRC, is still ahead with 50 points after winning the rounds in Coimbatore and Jaipur. But INRC 3 leader Dean Mascarenhas and defending champion Karna Kadur are snapping at his heels with 45 and 43 points respectively. He will have to be at his fiercest best here in Ziro, which will be making its debut as hosts in the picturesque backdrop of Arunachal's majestic mountains.
Birmingham to be 2022 CWG host city
london: london: The English city of Birmingham was on Thursday confirmed as the host of the 2022 Commonwealth Games after a troubled bidding process. "We warmly congratulate Birmingham and England on today's announcement -- it is a defining moment for this truly Commonwealth city," Commonwealth Games Federation president louise Martin told a press conference at Birmingham's Arena Academy. The Games were originally awarded to Durban in 2015, but the South African city had the event taken away earlier this year for financial reasons. The quadrennial multisport event, involving members of the British Commonwealth of Nations, last took place in the United Kingdom in Glasgow in 2014.