Bengaluru, Jan 20 (Kabaddi News) Gujarat Giants and Bengal Warriors dished out superlative performances to notch up narrow wins over Tamil Thalaivas and Bengaluru Bulls respectively in the Pro Kabaddi League here on Thursday.

While the Giants produced a gritty performance to rally their way to a thrilling 37-35 win over Tamil Thalaivas, defending champions Bengal overcame Bengaluru 40-39 in another pulsating contest.

The Bulls dominated most parts of the match with captain Pawan Sehrawat scoring a Super 10 but an 8-point raid by Bengal shifted the balance of play and eventually helped them to clinch the match.

Earlier, multiple tackles and an ALL OUT in the dying minutes ensured a great night of kabaddi as coach Manpreet Singh's men secured an incredible comeback against Thalaivas after trailing by six points.

Gujarat captain Sunil Kumar scored a High 5, while raider Mahendra Rajput picked 9 points, including one from the last raid of the match.

Gujarat started the match positively with their raiders Rakesh S and Rakesh Narwal looking good. They helped the team open a five-point lead in the early minutes as the Tamil defenders struggled to find their usual rhythm.

But just when the Giants sensed an ALL OUT, Tamil raider Ajinkya Pawar produced a stunning Super Tackle to temporarily shift the balance of play.  The Thalaivas took the lead but the Gujarat defence, marshalled by their calm covers Parvesh Bhainswal and Sunil Kumar, ensured the momentum remained with them.

Mahendra Rajput's two-point raid took out Thalaivas' Sagar and Surjeet Singh in one move and that helped Gujarat clinch an ALL OUT with under three minutes remaining for half time.

The teams changed sides with the score reading 17-14 in Gujarat's favour.

The early minutes of the second half were played with high intensity with both teams looking clinical. Thalaivas' Ajinkya Pawar raced to nine raid points in the first 10 minutes while the raiding trio of Rakesh, Rakesh Narwal and Mahendra Rajput found errors in the Tamil defence.

Thalaivas stayed within touching distance of the Giants with their raider Manjeet leading the way.

Coach Uday Kumar wanted his Tamil team to inflict an ALL OUT in the final minutes to give Gujarat and take the lead.

His team delivered exactly that with a stunning tackle by Sagar and a two-point raid by Manjeet. Thalaivas took a three-point lead with an ALL OUT with four minutes remaining as Manjeet and Ajinkya Pawar clinched Super 10s.

The Giants got back into the match when substitute Pradeep Kumar clinched a stunning three-point Super Raid with just a minute to go. Gujarat got an ALL OUT to take a one-point lead, but Mohit made the scores level again with a tackle on Mahendra Rajput.

But Sunil's stunning tackle on Manjeet followed by a successful raid by Mahendra Rajput got the Giants a crucial win. 
 

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News Source : PTI

Muscat, Jan 20 (Cricket News) Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen on Thursday suggested that "harsh" bio-bubble life could be one of the reasons for Virat Kohli quitting Test captaincy as he backed Rohit Sharma to lead India in all formats.

Kohli stunned the cricketing world by stepping down from the Test captaincy following India's 1-2 series loss to South Africa. He had earlier relinquished T20 captaincy after the World Cup last year, something that led to a war of words with BCCI, leading to his removal from ODI leadership.

"People who are critical of the modern day sportsmen I think are foolish because these bio-bubbles are very hard to play in," the former England star batsman told PTI in a group interaction on the sidelines of Legends League Cricket here.

"It will be very unfair to be too harsh, to be critical. Because you have not looked at Virat Kohli. Kohli needs crowds, he gets going (from it), he is an entertainer.

"I think it's very difficult for his personality to perform to the best of his (Kohli's) abilities (in the bubble)." The 33-year-old Kohli held the record for most Test wins by an Indian captain (40) with only Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting, and Steve Waugh having won more matches than him.

Pietersen said he was not surprised when Kohli quit captaincy from all formats.

"A lot of players have suffered. It is the greatest job in the world. But when you put them in a bubble, it's certainly not the greatest job because there is no fun," the 41-year-old said.

"I'm actually not surprised that Virat wants just a little bit of a break from that extra pressure because it's damn difficult playing in these bubbles," he said.

"It's very difficult to judge all International sportsmen, be it premier league footballers or any sportsman around the world, playing in a pandemic." Pietersen said from his perspective, he would not have performed well for two years without any crowd, with nobody watching.

"As a batter, I feed on the energy of players, and there are a lot of these players, be it in football, rugby or tennis." Rohit Sharma should be the captain, Pant's time will come ==================================== Vice-captain KL Rahul is leading India in the ongoing ODI series in South Africa with Rohit Sharma injured. Pietersen backed Rohit to captain India across all formats.

"I've always loved 'Hitman' Rohit Sharma. He's a fabulous player, every time he's batting I've got to watch. His captaincy is great for the Mumbai Indians too. So he's probably next in line," Pietersen said.

Rencently, legendary Sunil Gavaskar backed the young Rishabh Pant to be the Indian captain, but Pietersen said the wicketkeeper's turn would come one day.

"You are spoilt for choice... But Pant not yet, maybe one day... But when you have got Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul you got some mighty cricketers." Full faith in Rahul Dravid to tide over the transition phase =================================== "I love Rahul Dravid. I'm looking forward to his progress with the national side. He has done wonders for the youngsters.... So I'm looking forward to seeing him progress with the senior players," Pietersen said.

Legends League will grow the sport in Oman =========================== The Englishman is part of the World Giants which will open its campaign against the Asian Lions team in the Legends League Cricket here on Friday.

"Believe me, when you get over the white line, you want to play well. We all are looking forward to it.

"This first edition will be a difficult one purely based on the fact that there was a lack of time, but when season two happens in September, the guys will be much better prepared. Growing the game here is our responsibility," he concluded. 

Also Read : Five new COVID positive cases reported by three franchises ahead of PSL

News Source : PTI

Karachi, Jan 20 (Cricket News) At least three franchises out of six have reported five new COVID positive cases, including players and officials, ahead of the Pakistan Super League beginning next week.

The six franchises have started assembling in Karachi with the Pakistan Cricket Board launching the seventh edition of the league on January 27 at the National Stadium in Karachi.

On Thursday, sources said that three franchises had reported five positive cases of players and officials.

"These are the first positive cases in Karachi among the teams," one source said.

Quetta Gladiators franchise has already lost three overseas signings including Shermon Hetmayer, James Faulkner and Luke Woods for their first match as the trio tested positive and have gone into isolation before they even boarded the flight to Karachi.

An official of the Pakistan board made it clear that they were prepared for all situations because of the rising Covid-19 cases in the country and the league was still on schedule.

"We have clear contingency plans because of the Covid-19 situation around the globe. Even if a franchise is without seven to eight players because of any cases their matches will still go on schedule and the players will go into isolation at their team hotel,” he said.

He said learning to live with COVID was a reality now in cricket and despite positive cases in different cricket playing nations matches were going on or being postponed or rescheduled by a few days.

He pointed out that even the ongoing ICC U-19 World Cup in the West Indies had been hit by Covid positive cases but the tournament was continuing.

"All boards have drawn up contingency plans as we have so we are confident that the PSL will be completed on schedule," he said.

The last two PSL editions had to be stopped and rescheduled because of Covid-19 cases in Karachi.

All the team players and officials will start checking into the team hotel and bio secure bubble from Thursday night. 

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News Source : PTI

Sentosa, Jan 20 (Golf News) Shiv Kapur and Viraj Madappa were the only Indians to shoot even par 71 even as others were either over or yet to complete the first round of the Singapore Open here on Thursday.

Besides Kapur and Madappa, Rashid Khan (72), S Chikkarangappa (73) and Abhijit Chadha (76) were the others to finish their 18 holes.

Veer Ahlawat was alone among others to be one-under through 12 holes, while Aman Raj and Jyoti Randhawa were even after 14 and SSP Chawrasia, Khalin Joshi and Karandeep Kochhar were two-over and Jeev Milkha Singh was 10-over through 15 holes.

Play was abandoned for the day at 5.51pm due to poor weather (lightning and rain), with 52 players due to resume their opening rounds at 7.30am on Friday.

Korean Taehoon Ok sensationally eagled the two par fives on the front nine of the tough Serapong Course to take the clubhouse lead along with Thailand’s Suradit Yongcharoenchai on the opening day of the USD 1.25 million event at the Sentosa Golf Club.

Ok and Suradit fired five-under 66s in the final event of the season on the Asian Tour to grab a one-stroke lead over Korean Sihwan Kim, Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana, and Justin De Los Santos from the Philippines, who returned 67s.

Koreans Joohyung Kim – the current leader of the Asian Tour Order of Merit and winner of last week’s The Singapore International – and Dongkyu Jang came in with 68s, in a group of players consisting of Thailand’s 14-year-old wonderkid Ratchanon Chantananuwat, Tirawat Kaewsiribandit, and Kosuke Hamamoto and Singapore’s Jesse Yap.

Little-known Ok hit a rescue to 20 feet for his eagle on the fourth and on the par-five seventh nailed a three wood to 15 feet and holed out. He also made three birdies, including one on 18, and two bogeys.

Paul Casey, playing in his first event after the end of season break, returned a 76. 

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News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Jan 20 (Cricket News) Veteran batters Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane's position in group A of the BCCI central contracts could be up for deliberation when the board finalises its fresh list of contracted players for the upcoming season in a few days' time.

Another big question is whether the BCCI top brass is in a mood to upgrade two future captaincy contenders -- KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant -- alongside Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah in the elite A+ category.

The BCCI has four categories -- A+, A, B and C -- which carry annual retainership of Rs 7 crore, Rs 5 crore, Rs 3 crore and Rs 1 crore respectively.

Normally, it is the three office-bearers, five selectors and the national head coach, who decide retainerships.

As of now, there won't be massive changes to the 28 names that featured in the last list but there could be some serious discussions about the composition of the current groups which were in place last year.

"Obviously, Rohit, Kohli and Bumrah being the three indispensable players across formats would be in A plus category beyond doubt. But now Rahul and Pant are slowly establishing themselves as all-format regulars, so it needs to be seen whether the duo gets promotion or not," a senior BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

But what could be a more debatable issue is Pujara and Rahane's status after a year of consistent non-performance.

"The central contract is a performance indicator of where you stand as per your performance during the last season. If the BCCI and head coach (Rahul) Dravid decide to honour the duo and keep them in group A, then it's a different issue but under normal circumstances, they ideally won't feature in group A," the source said.

Ditto for Ishant Sharma and Hardik Pandya, who have both struggled due to injuries and lack of form throughout the season and could feature in group B.

Similarly, among the group B players of last season, only Shardul Thakur, who has had some impactful performances in Test matches, can be hopeful of a promotion to group A.

In current group C, Mohammed Siraj is one man, who has shown tremendous improvement while Shubman Gill is one for the future along with Hanuma Vihari, who would also be expecting an upgrade.

Among newcomers, the likes of Venkatesh Iyer and Harshal Patel could make their maiden cut.

Last Season's (2021) Contract List ================= Grade A+: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah Grade A: Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Mohd. Shami, Ishant Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya Grade B: Wriddhiman Saha, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur, Mayank Agarwal Grade C: Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari, Axar Patel, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Md. Siraj. 

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News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Jan 20 (Archery News) Star archer Deepika Kumari and her husband Atanu Das were on Thursday dropped from the Sports Ministry's Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) due to their below-par performances in the national ranking tournament.

The Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) last month decided to review support for Deepika, a former world number one recurve archer, and Atanu after the National Ranking Archery Tournament in Hyderabad, where they cut a sorry figure.

"Considering their below-par performances in the event, MOC decided to not include them in the TOPS list for now," Sports Ministry said in a statement.

The archery couple was rated highly after their exploits in the different World Cups, but both Deepika and Atanu have time and again failed to shine at the multi-sport events -- the latest being the Tokyo Olympics, where much was expected from them but they returned empty-handed.

Their problems compounded after they flopped at the World Cup Finals in Yankton, USA last October.

Aware of their immense contribution in raising the profile of archery in the country, the decision was conveyed to the duo by MOC members, SAI and Archery Association of India officials.

Deepika said the TOPS omission will only motivate her to comeback stronger.

"I appreciate that SAI officials informed me before the MOC meeting itself that there was a possibility of me being excluded from the TOP Scheme. I will be motivated to return with good scores in the competitions ahead," Deepika was quoted as saying in the sports ministry release.

Atanu Das added: "We were very disturbed that we could not get the results we wanted in the Olympic Games. And we took a break from competitive archery after the Olympic Games. I know it is a matter of time before we find the form and get back to where we belong." The MOC has approved proposals worth Rs 6.56 lakh for two development group athletes to assist them in their preparation for this year's Asian Games and other international events.

The MOC has sanctioned Rs 4.14 lakh to 20-year-old pistol shooter Naveen, who finished fourth in the 10m air pistol competition in the ISSF World Junior Shooting Championships in Peru.

The grant will help him purchase equipments -- a Steyr Evo 10 E pistol and a Scatt MX-W2 wireless optical sensor.

Besides the MOC has also approved Rs 2.42 lakh for 17-year-old recurve archer Ridhi, who was part of the Indian women's team that won silver in the Asian Championships in Dhaka in November last year.

The financial assistance will enable the young archer to purchase Hoyt Formula Velos limbs for her bow and X10 arrows.

Ridhi impressed when she fought hard against Japan's world number 29 Tomomi Sugimoto in the World Championships in Yankton, USA last September.

The MOC also ratified the approval of a Rs 4 lakh proposal from para shooter Manish Narwal towards purchase of ammunition and board and lodging costs of his Dronacharya Award-winning coach JP Nautiyal. 

Also Read : Sukhchain Singh clinches recurve title: National archery

News Source : PTI