Laporta back as president
Madrid: The president of Barcelona when Lionel Messi began playing in Spain will also be in charge when the club tries to convince the star to stay. Joan Laporta was elected Barcelona president again on Sunday, inheriting a club in crisis and facing daunting problems that include a huge debt and the possible departure of Messi when his contract finishes at the end of the season. "The fact that the best player in the world came to vote today, along with his son, is proof that Leo loves Barça," Laporta said.
Spurs beats Palace 4-1
London: Gareth Bale and Harry Kane both scored twice to help Tottenham make it three PL wins in a row and boost its top-four hopes after a 4-1 victory against Crystal Palace. The duo combined twice with Kane the architect for both goals by Bale before the England captain hit a wonder strike and then created history with another in the 76th minute.
Rublev reigns in Rotterdam
Rotterdam: Andrey Rublev extended his phenomenal winning run at ATP 500 events to 20 matches on Sunday when he defeated Marton Fucsovics 7-6(4), 6-4 to win the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. The World No. 8 also stretched his winning streak in ATP Tour championship matches to seven victories. Rublev saved all four break points he faced to capture his fourth straight title at ATP 500-level after one hour and 50 minutes
Manika, Sathiyan in 2nd round
Doha: India's Manika Batra and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran on Monday went through to the second round of the WTT Star Contender table tennis tournament in Doha. Manika, ranked 63 in women's singles, beat Chinese Taipei's Hsien-Tzy Cheng 3-0. Manika held her own to beat her opponent in straight sets 11-5, 11-9, 11-9. The 2018 Asian Games Bronze medallist will face Japanese world No. 3 Mima Ito in her round of 16 match on Tuesday. Meanwhile, world No. 37 Gnanasekaran had a more tricky encounter against France's 40th ranked Emmanuel Lebesson, winning the match 3-2.
Atanu, Tarun, Deepika in recurve squad
PUNE: Seasoned Atanu Das and Tarundeeep Rai among men and Deepika Kumari in the women's section will headline the Indian recurve archery contingent during this year's Tokyo Olympics. After the final selection trials (Trial 3) at the Army Insitute of Sports in Pune, a six-strong squad which has three male and equal number of female archers was selected for the quadrennial extravaganza. Besides Atanu and Tarundeep, the other archer in the Indian men's team is Pravin Jadhav, while Ankita Bhakat and Komolika Bari complete the women's squad.
India beat Great Britain 3-2
Belgium: Striker Mandeep Singh struck a brace as the Indian men's hockey team eked out a close 3-2 win over Great Britain to end their Europe tour on an unbeaten note here on Monday.Harmanpreet Singh's strike in the very first minute and two goals by Mandeep in the 28th and 59th minutes helped India remain undefeated on the tour.For Great Britain, James Gall (20th) and striker Adam Forsyth (55th) were the goal scorers. The last few minutes was a battle of nerves as both the teams lived up to the billing, but it was Mandeep who rose to the occasion as his late strike helped India cap off their first assignment of 2021 with a 3-2 win.
Windies win third T20I
Belgium: Fabian Allen hit three mighty sixes in the 19th over to help the West Indies to a series-clinching, three-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the third Twenty20 international. Chasing Sri Lanka's modest 131-4, the West Indies were again constrained by Sri Lanka's spin attack and came to the 18th over at 105-7, needing 27 runs from 18 balls.