Author: Team Spogonews

Mumbai, Jan 17 (PTI) Seher Atwal will be looking to get another morale boosting win as she tees up at the second leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour, starting here Tuesday. While Seher won the first event last week, strong contenders are lined up this week with Amandeep Drall and Vani Kapoor leading the way along with Pranavi Urs, winner of the 2022 Hero WPGT season, with five wins in 13 starts, also playing. Seher, 24, has won at least once in each of the last three years, including the one that has just begun. Her consistency also…

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New Delhi, Jan 17 (PTI) Sitting atop a pile of runs, Sarfaraz Khan was a shattered man after failing to break into the Indian team for the upcoming Test series against Australia. Not one to give up, the Mumbai run-machine sent the national selectors yet another reminder on Tuesday, notching up his third century in the ongoing edition of Ranji Trophy to extend his astonishing run in the Indian domestic circuit. That Mumbai could make 293 before being bowled out on the first day of their Group B match against traditional rivals Delhi, was largely due to the 25-year-old’s 125…

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Hyderabad, Jan 17 (PTI) Rohit Sharma on Tuesday backed Ravichandran Ashwin’s idea of an early start in the ODI World Cup to negate the dew factor as the Indian captain does not want any team to gain undue advantage in a major event. It becomes difficult for the bowlers to grip the ball when dew covers the field in the evening, making batting easier for the chasing team. Ashwin had proposed an 11.30 am start for the World Cup games to be played in India in October-November. Usually in India, the game starts at 1:30pm. However, the broadcasters who pay…

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New Delhi, Jan 17 (PTI) Defending champion Lakshya Sen looked in fine fettle as he registered a straight-game win over compatriot HS Prannoy to make a winning start to his title defence at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open Super 750 badminton tournament here on Tuesday. World No. 12 Sen, seeded seventh, was by far the better player on display as he settled the score against world No. 9 Prannoy after his opening round reversal at the Malaysia Open with a 21-14, 21-15 win at the KD Jadhav Indoor hall in the IG Stadium here. Reigning champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty…

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Hyderabad, Jan 17 (PTI) Experienced pacers Tim Southee and Trent Boult’s absence leaves a “massive hole” in the New Zealand squad but it also provides a chance to fringe players to step up during the India tour, stand-in-captain Tom Latham said on Tuesday. While Southee has gone back home after a successful tour of Pakistan, Boult is playing the ILT20 in the UAE, having opted out of a New Zealand central contract. In the batting department, the Kiwis will miss the services of regular skipper Kane Williamson. “They (Boult, Southee, Williamson) are not in the side and that leaves a…

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Saunamara (Odisha), Jan 17 (PTI) In the small village that has given India some of its biggest hockey players, it all starts with sticks made from bamboo or kendu tree. Every evening more than 100 children at Saunamara, a hamlet of little over 2000 tribal inhabitants in Odisha’s Sundargarh district, play on a dusty ground, pursuing their dreams of becoming the next Dilip Tirkey, Amit Rohidas or Subhadra Pradhan. Their fortunes, though, could change soon as an artificial turf will be ready by next month. That means the village, which is located just over 100km from Birsa Munda Stadium, the…

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New Delhi, Jan 17 (PTI) Defending champion Lakshya Sen registered a straight-game win over compatriot HS Prannoy to make a winning start to his title defence at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open Super 750 badminton tournament here on Tuesday. World No. 12 Sen, seeded seventh, was by far the better player on display as he settled the score against world No. 9 Prannoy after his opening-round reversal at the Malaysia Open with a 21-14, 21-15 win at the KD Jadhav Indoor hall in IG stadium here. Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand notched up a 22-20, 17-21, 21-18…

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Melbourne, Jan 17 (PTI) Former Australia skipper Adam Gilchrist is confident the Pat Cummins-led side will be able to win the Border-Gavaskar series in India after 19 years if they go in with three seamers to partner spinner Nathan Lyon. The former wicketkeeper-batter, who was Australia’s stand-in skipper during the 2004 series win — the only one they pocketed since 1969 — added that experimenting with a new spinner in sub-continental conditions has never worked, and Cummins should refrain from doing that. “I think they’ll do it (win the series). I really do. I think they’ve got a squad and…

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Saunamara (Odisha), Jan 17 (PTI) In the small village that has given India some of its biggest hockey players, it all starts with sticks made from bamboo or kendu tree. Every evening more than 100 children at Saunamara, a hamlet of little over 2000 tribal inhabitants in Odisha’s Sundargarh district, play on a dusty ground, pursuing their dreams of becoming the next Dilip Tirkey, Amit Rohidas or Subhadra Pradhan. Their fortunes, though, could change soon as an artificial turf will be ready by next month. That means the village, which is located just over 100km from Birsa Munda Stadium, the…

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Hyderabad, Jan 17 (PTI) Having stirred a debate after being left out of the squad despite a world record double hundred, Ishan Kishan is expected to be in the playing eleven in the upcoming ODI series against a tough New Zealand. KL Rahul’s unavailability due to personal reasons opens up a slot for Kishan, but he may not be asked to open during the three-match series starting here on Wednesday. Kishan had to sit out of the Sri Lanka series despite scoring the fastest double hundred in the history of ODIs, against Bangladesh in the preceding series. Shubman Gill, who…

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