Palermo: Roberta Vinci will face Petra Kvitova on the opening day of the Fed Cup semi-finals between Italy and the two-time defending champion Czech Republic. Vinci beat former Wimbledon champion Kvitova in straight sets in Poland last weekend to move up to a career-high ranking of No. 12. The semifinal opens Saturday with seventh-ranked Sara Errani facing the 25th-ranked Lucie Safarova. After reverse singles on Sunday on the red clay...
06:22 PM, Apr 19, 2013
Moscow: Slovakia chose the experienced Daniela Hantuchova over the higher-ranked Magdalena Rybarikova to back up Dominika Cibulkova against Russia in their Fed Cup semi-final this weekend. Cibulkova will open against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, followed by Hantuchova playing Maria Kirilenko in the second singles on indoor clay at Krylatskoye Ice Stadium. Rybarikova was picked in Friday's draw in doubles, which concludes the semi on Sunday. She and Jana Cepelova will face Russia's...
06:14 PM, Apr 19, 2013
Moscow: Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will face Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova in the opening singles of their Fed Cup semi-final on Saturday. Maria Kirilenko was nominated to play Slovak veteran Daniela Hantuchova in the second singles on indoor clay at Krylatskoye Ice Stadium In doubles, which concludes the semi on Sunday, Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina will face the Slovak pair of Magdalena Rybarikova and Jana Cepelova. Russia beat Slovakia 3-2 in...
04:47 PM, Apr 19, 2013
Lahore: Pakistan's cricket chief said on Thursday he had offered to host qualifiers for the 2019 World Cup despite a four-year suspension of international cricket in the country over security fears. Pakistan has not staged any top-level cricket since militants attacked the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in March 2009, killing eight people and wounding seven visiting players. Foreign teams have shunned tours to the troubled country over security fears,...
07:51 AM, Apr 19, 2013
Al Ain (UAE): Indian shooters failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the men's trap event in the ISSF Shotgun World Cup after all of them figured outside the top-6, with Mansher Singh finishing 10th in the qualifiers, here on Thursday. After his impressive display on Wednesday, Mansher could manage 24, 24, 23 to add to his first day's scores of 25 25, which gave him a total of 121....
07:42 PM, Apr 18, 2013
Milan: Roma came from behind to win 3-2 at Inter Milan in the second leg of the Italian Cup semi-finals on Wednesday to set up a capital derby final against Lazio. Mattia Destro, who spent time in Inter's youth ranks, scored twice for Roma before a stunning long-range lob from teammate Vasilis Torosidis helped their team progress 5-3 on aggregate. "I really wanted to play and score, I had been...
09:08 AM, Apr 18, 2013
Moscow: Standard & Poor's is warning that many of the Russian cities hosting the 2018 World Cup will have trouble finding the money to build soccer stadiums and improve transportation and other infrastructure. Seven of the 11 Russian host cities will have to borrow money or receive much more support from the federal government than is now planned, the US ratings agency said. Unless the Russian government steps up its...
11:46 PM, Apr 17, 2013
Madrid: Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has spoken out in support of goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who has been warming the bench at Real Madrid despite recovering from a broken hand. Casillas, the Real and Spain captain and a fixture in both teams for more than a decade, sustained the injury during a King's Cup game in January when team mate Alvaro Arbeloa kicked his hand while trying to clear the...
11:04 PM, Apr 17, 2013
Al Ain, UAE: Veteran Mansher Singh led Indian trap shooters' impressive display as he jointly held the top spot after two rounds in the men's trap qualifying event on the first day of the ISSF Shotgun World Cup here on Wednesday. Mansher shot a perfect 25 each in the two rounds with the remaining three to be held on Thursday. He was sharing the top spot with Slovakia's Marian Kovacocy...
07:38 PM, Apr 17, 2013
Manchester: Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero has apologised to David Luiz for his ugly two-footed stamp on the back of the Chelsea defender's thighs during Sunday's FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium. Aguero says in a Twitter post that he has contacted Luiz to say sorry for the 85th-minute tackle in City's 2-1 win, adding that it was an "impulse reaction that shouldn't have happened." Luiz used Twitter to thank...
07:04 PM, Apr 17, 2013
Islamabad: Pakistan hopes to restart their Davis Cup tie against New Zealand in an appeal to the International Tennis Federation against awarding the match to New Zealand this month. Pakistan was up 1-0 and leading the second singles at Yangon, Myanmar, when Sri Lankan referee Ashita Ajigala declared the grass-court unplayable and ruled the Asia-Oceania Group II tie in New Zealand's favor. Waqar Yousuf, the secretary of the Pakistan Tennis...
03:07 PM, Apr 17, 2013
Brasilia: The stadium where the Confederations Cup is due to kick off in two months will not be officially opened until May 18 because rain has delayed the laying of the pitch, officials in Brazil's capital said on Monday. The Confederations Cup is a dress-rehearsal for the 2014 World Cup. "Without the grass it would be like opening a theatre with no stage," Brasilia's World Cup secretary Claudio Monteiro said....
10:06 AM, Apr 16, 2013
New Delhi: With India in the reckoning for hosting the Under-17 World Cup in 2017, FIFA is learnt to be keen on educating the AIFF officials on the nitty gritty associated with organising big international football events. The United Arab Emirates FA, host of 2013 junior World Cup, recently told the All India Football Federation that it was open to the idea of having some AIFF officials in its organising...
06:44 PM, Apr 15, 2013
London: Manchester City reached the FA Cup final by beating defending champions Chelsea 2-1 in a free-flowing game at Wembley on Sunday to maintain their only remaining hope for a trophy this season. City dominated much of the first hour and went 2-0 up through goals by Samir Nasri and Sergio Aguero, before Demba Ba pulled Chelsea back into the game with an acrobatic finish in the 66th. That led...
10:41 PM, Apr 14, 2013
Karachi: Veteran allrounder Shahid Afridi said Thursday he is targeting the 2015 World Cup after returning to the Pakistan side, but vowed to quit if he became a burden on the team. The 33-year-old was left out of the squad for the one-day series against India in December before staging a comeback for the tour of South Africa, but his woeful run of form has continued. Afridi's 88 in the...
06:18 PM, Apr 14, 2013
New Delhi: The Asia Cup cricket tournament will be held in Bangladesh for the second time in a row after India, who had earlier agreed to host the 2014 edition, backed out citing a packed international schedule. Bangladesh had hosted the last edition of the tournament in 2012. The likely dates for the tournament will be February 24 to March 8. The decision was taken at the Asian Cricket Council...
12:17 PM, Apr 14, 2013
London: Millwall fans fought among themselves at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, overshadowing Wigan's 2-0 victory that advanced the club to the first FA Cup final in their 81-year history. Police and security officers appeared slow to react as disorder built throughout the second half. Groups of Millwall supporters brawled with each other and security personnel. Ten people were arrested following "sporadic disorder" among Millwall fans, police said. The investigation was...
09:57 AM, Apr 14, 2013
London: Frank Lampard believes fatigue will be no excuse for Chelsea in Sunday's FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City even though his club had to squeeze five games into a punishing 13-day schedule ahead of the tie. The Londoners have almost turned the FA Cup into their own personal property in recent years, lifting the trophy in 2012, 2010, 2009, 2007, 2000 and 1997. "City will be fresher than us...
08:16 PM, Apr 13, 2013
New Delhi: Indian paddlers Achanta Sharath Kamal and K Shamini have failed to qualify for the knockout stages of the 26th Table Tennis Asian Cup, being played at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Hong Kong. Honk Kong's Tang Peng defeated Sharath (70), the highest-ranked Indian in the world, 13-11, 7-11, 5-11, 11-1, 11-8, 11-7 in the qualification play-off round. Sharath grabbed a 2-1 lead over the local favourite after losing...
06:17 PM, Apr 13, 2013
Manchester: Manchester City and Chelsea can make up for unfulfilling campaigns in the Premier League by winning their FA Cup semi-final on Sunday and installing themselves as heavy favorites to lift the old trophy next month. City's 2-1 league win at Old Trafford on Monday is unlikely to trigger a meltdown by Manchester United, which holds a commanding 12-point lead over its neighbor with just seven games left. In fact,...
08:52 AM, Apr 13, 2013
