stefan urges James to leave Bayern
Munich: Former Bayern Munich captain Stefan Effenberg has said that Colombian star James Rodriguez should leave the club in order to pick up more game time. "James should recognise that the right path for him is to leave Bayern," wrote Effenberg in his column for the German news website T-online. The 27-year-old Colombian joined Bayern from Real Madrid in 2017, on a two-year loan deal which expires at the end of this season. The midfielder has not been a first-team regular under Niko Kovac this season. "He has to play and enjoy his football, but he cannot do that if he is only allowed to play seven, 10, 12 or 15 minutes at a time," wrote Effenberg.
Semenya to run in diamond League
Doha: Olympic champion Caster Semenya, who lost her legal challenge against new IAAF gender rules, will race in the 800 metres in Friday's Doha Diamond League after making a late entry, organisers said on Thursday. Semenya, the double Olympic champion, was added to the start list for Friday's 800 metres on Thursday morning, a day after her appeal against the IAAF's rule regulating testosterone levels for women athletes was rejected by the Court for Arbitration of Sport. Doha organisers said the South African runner had waited for the outcome of Wednesday's CAS hearing in Lausanne before deciding whether to run in the meeting that opens the Diamond League season.
Bajrang wins gold at Ali Aliyev
New Delhi: World No 1 Bajrang Punia on Thursday bagged his second title in two weeks as he defeated Viktor Rassadin in the finals of men's 65kg freestyle in the Ali Aliyev wrestling tournament in Kaspiisk, Russia. Bajrang got the better of the local favourite 13-8 in his final bout after being down 0-5 at one stage. The 25-year-old Indian grappler had won a yellow metal last week at the Asian Championships in Xi'an, China. The two wrestled last in 2017 at the Dan Kolov where Punia won and finished as runner-up to Boris Novachkov of Bulgaria.
Prannoy stuns Sugiarto in nz open
Auckland: India's HS Prannoy stunned Tommy Sugiarto in straight games to sail into the men's singles quarterfinals even as his compatriot B Sai Praneeth crashed out in the second round of the New Zealand Open badminton tournament here on Thursday. Unseeded Prannoy shocked second seed Sugiarto 21-14, 21-12 in just 37 minutes to book his place in the last-eight round, where he will be up against fifth seed Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan. Meanwhile, Praneeth suffered a straight-game 12-21, 12-21 loss to the legendary Lin Dan of China. Indian men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and Sumeeth B Reddy too lost in the second round, going down against seventh seeds Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong of Malaysia 17-21, 19-21.
ipl form won't affect kuldeep in WC
Mohali: Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Jacques Kallis on Thursday said that spinner Kuldeep Yadav's omission from last two games was done to maintain the team's balance and it would not affect his performance in the upcoming World Cup. "I don't think it will affect him, it's just a different format and unfortunately looking at the makeup of the side, he has not played the last couple of games. He has been working quite hard in the nets and seems to be getting it right again, so I am sure he will be okay for the World Cup," he added.