Manipur win Women's Football C'ship
Cuttak: Manipur claimed victory in the final of the 24th Senior Women's National Football Championships, defeating hosts Odisha in the summit clash by a 2-1 margin here. The result marked the 19th occasion that the state from the northeast of India won the trophy, having lost out in the final to Tamil Nadu last time around. The final, held at the Barabati Stadium, was a nail-biting affair. After a tense start, it appeared as if the first half would end goalless but it was Manipur who took the lead thanks to captain Bala Devi, who found the net in the 45th minute. Soon after the break, Irom Prameshwori Devi doubled her team's lead with a goal in the 50th minute. The hosts continued to strive for a comeback and found a goal with nine minutes to play via midfielder Arati Sethi. However, Manipur defended well to hold on for the win and went on to lift the trophy.
Sam Curran wins young cricketer award
London: England all-rounder Sam Curran won the Cricket Writers' Club young cricketer of the year award on Tuesday while his Surrey teammate Rory Burns was named County Championship player of the year. Curran, 20, made his Test debut against Pakistan in June and ended up as England's man-of-the-series in a 4-1 success over India. He is averaging an impressive 36.50 with the bat and 23.23 with the ball after five Tests, with a highest score of 78 and best bowling figures of four for 74 with his left-arm swing. Surrey captain Burns led from the front with a tally of 1,359 runs at an average of 64.71, including four hundreds, as the County Championship title returned to the Oval for the first time since 2002. The 28-year-old finally forced his way into the England squad, where he will now have a chance to fill a vacancy at the top of the order following Alastair Cook's retirement from international cricket.
Indian paddlers reach career-best ranking
New Delhi: Top Indian paddlers Manika Batra, Achanta Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan achieved career-best world rankings in the latest chart released by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) on Tuesday. Manika, who became the first Indian woman to win a singles Gold at Commonwealth Games, was rewarded for her consistent show as she moved up to World No 55, climbing one rung up the order. The 36-year-old Sharath, who had clinched a historic team Gold at Commonwealth Games and a Silver and Bronze in men's doubles and singles at the 18th Asian Games, jumped four places to grab the World No 31 spot. He had achieved a ranking of 32 in May 2015. Sathiyan too jumped four places to reach the World No 36 spot. He had won three medals in the Commonwealth Games and a Bronze (men's team event) in the Asian Games.
India beat Eng by 7 wickets in blind T20I
Bengaluru: Sunil Ramesh (108) slammed a superb century as India thrashed England by seven wickets in the opening T20I match to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match bilateral cricket series for Blind here on Tuesday. England posted 150 for 7 at the end of the 20 overs after captain Ed Hossel won the toss and opted to bat first. Debutant Nakul struck in the very first ball, removing Matt Dean to give India a great start. But England rode on a good partnership between Luke Sugg and Peter Blueit (40) before Justin played a cameo of 10-ball 22 to propel them to 150. Chasing the total on a good batting track, India got off to a fantastic start with a century partnership between Sunil (108) and Nakul (27). Sunil anchored the chase, bringing up his 50 off 22 balls and then scored an unbeaten match-winning hundred to take India home by scoring 152 for three in 12.3 overs. The second match will be played at the same ground on Wednesday.
Yashasvi, spinners star in Ind colts win
Dhaka: Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal's 92 and left-arm spinner Siddharth Desai's four-wicket haul ensured an easy 51-run win for India against Afghanistan in an U-19 Asia Cup encounter, here on Tuesday. Batting first, India were all-out for 221 in 45.3 overs with Jaiswal scoring 92 off 93 balls with 13 boundaries and a six. Opener Jaiswal resurrected the innings when India were down in the dumps at 14 for 3, adding 62 runs for the fourth wicket with Prabh Simran Singh (17). However, more important stand was of 80 runs for the fifth wicket with Ayush Badoni, who scored 65 with eight fours and a six. Seamer Azmatullah Omarzai and leg-spinner Qais Ahmed took three wickets apiece. While chasing, Afghanistan started off well with 56 run opening stand but lost the momentum in the middle overs when left-arm spin duo of Desai (4/37 in 7.4 overs) and Harsh Tyagi (3/40 in 10 overs) operated.