Gerrard unveiled as new Rangers boss
glasgow: Rangers unveiled former liverpool and England captain Steven Gerrard as their new manager on Friday, handing the rookie boss the daunting task of ending Celtic's domination of the Scottish Premiership. Gerrard, who has previously only worked with liverpool's Under-18s, takes the helm of the giant club who have fallen on hard times in the past decade despite winning a record 54 Scottish titles. Celtic under Brendan Rodgers, Gerrard's former boss at Anfield are bidding for an unprecedented successive treble and are unbeaten against their Old Firm rivals in 11 games but Gerrard said he could not wait to get his teeth into the new role. "I'm very aware of Rangers, the size of the club, I've watched them from afar and been lucky enough to watch some of the Old Firm games," he told a press conference at the club's Ibrox stadium.
Have to do a lot to earn trust: Smith
melbourne: Former Australia captain Steve Smith on Friday vowed to earn back the "trust" that he lost due to his role in the ball-tampering scandal, saying he has been left humbled by the "incredible" support that came his way after the furore. "It's great to be back home in Australia. I have had some time away to come to terms with everything and now it's time to get back into it," Smith wrote in an Instagram post. "The amount of e-mails and letters I have received has been incredible and I have been extremely humbled by the enormous amount of support you have given me. I now have a lot to do to earn back your trust," he added. The batsman is serving a one-year ban for his role in the scandal that also led to suspensions on vice-captain David Warner and opener Cameron Bancroft.
lahiri disappoints; modest start for Woods
charlotte: Anirban lahiri had a disastrous finish as he dropped four shots in closing three holes to end at 5-over 76 on the opening day of Wells Fargo golf tournament here. The ordinary meant he will need a very low second round to ensure he stays on for the weekend. lahiri, now lying T-128, continued to miss short putts. lahiri bogeyed the second and eighth hole and dropped another shot on 11th as he was 3-over through the first 12 holes. Tiger Woods returned to Quail Hollow after a six-year absence and shot a modest 71, that pegged him at T-34th.
Praneeth marches on, Verma out of NZ Open
auckland: B Sai Praneeth was the lone Indian left in fray at the New Zealand Open Badminton Championship after he entered the semifinals of the men's singles event here on Friday. Even as third seed Praneeth marched on, Sameer Verma, seeded fifth, was shown the door by top seed and two-time Olympic champion lin Dan of China. Praneeth hardly broke a sweat as he took just 28 minutes to quell the challenge of Sri lanka's Niluka Karunaratne 21-7, 21-9 in the quarterfinals. Praneeth will next face second seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in the semifinals. However, it was curtains for Verma as he failed to counter lin Dan's attacking game and vast experience to lose 19-21, 9-21 in another semifinal duel.