Brasilia: Losing the first match of a tournament is terrible, said Brazil coach Luis Felipe Scolari on the eve of the Confederations Cup opener against Japan. Scolari was in charge of hosts Portugal when they lost the opening game of Euro 2004 to Greece and his side went on to lose again to the same opponents in the final three weeks later. "It is absolutely terrible to play the first...
09:00 AM, Jun 15, 2013
London: Indian tennis pair Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna reached the semi-finals of the Aegon Championships men's doubles with a hard fought victory over fifth seeded British pair Colin Fleming and Jonathan Marray here on Friday. The third seeds edged the local pairing 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 10-4 in an hour and 32 minutes. The Indians will face fourth seeds Alexander Peya of Austria and Bruce Soares of Brazil next. ...
08:37 AM, Jun 15, 2013
Rio de Janeiro: FIFA has "full confidence" Brazilian police can cope with the violent protests and disorder in the streets leading to the country's warmup event for the 2014 World Cup. There were clashes with police on Thursday in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro after thousands protested rising bus and subway fares. Police said 40 people were detained in Sao Paulo, some with knives and gasoline bombs. Authorities are...
12:30 AM, Jun 15, 2013
Rotterdam: A lacklustre Indian women's hockey team eked out a 1-1 draw against Belgium to avoid a second consecutive defeat in the women's competition of the FIH World League Round 3 in Rotterdam on Friday. Anupa Barla saved the day for India with the equaliser in the 38th minute after Erica Coppey gave Belgium the lead in the fourth minute. Undoubtedly it was yet another patchy performance from India, but...
09:33 PM, Jun 14, 2013
London: Lleyton Hewitt reached his first semi-finals in 11 months by upsetting third-seeded Juan Martin del Potro 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 at Queen's Club on Friday. The former four-time champion took a 4-2 lead with a backhand winner after del Potro struck consecutive double-faults, and hit a backhand volley to break again for the set. Del Potro sped to a 4-0 lead in the second set. In the decider, Hewitt broke...
09:31 PM, Jun 14, 2013
Samui, (Thailand): Anirban Lahiri carded a superb four-under 67 and was one of the only two Indians who made the halfway cut at the $312,000 Queen's Cup here on Friday. Lahiri, who is now four-under 138 for two rounds, is lying tied eighth, while the other Indian ensuring action for the weekend was Rahil Gangjee, who added a life-saving three-under to his first 76 to survive the cut. At two-over...
08:15 PM, Jun 14, 2013
Antalya, Turkey: Rajat Chouhan and Manjudha Soy stormed into the final of compound mixed section to assure India of a minimum silver medal as top archers came a cropper at the World Cup Stage II being held at Antalya, Turkey. The duo, who qualified third behind Korea, defeated Great Britain 151-149, Russia 156-154 and Canada 154-147 en route to the final. Chouhan and Manjudha will look to win a first-ever...
05:24 PM, Jun 14, 2013
FIFA president Sepp Blatter is confident that work on stadiums in Brazil - including the historic Maracana stadium - will be completed before the the start of the Confederations Cup on June 15. Construction is still underway across the country but Blatter told the BBC that everything would be ready for the opening match between Italy and Mexico. "I have seen worse situations," he said. "Yes there is still work...
04:22 PM, Jun 14, 2013
Rotterdam: Held to a draw by lower-ranked Ireland in their FIH World League Round 3 opener, the Indian men's hockey team will have to regroup quickly and come up with something special against formidable Netherlands in their next Pool B match here on Saturday. Ranked four places ahead of their rivals, India (11) started as overwhelming favourites against Ireland (15) on Thursday, but it didn't really show in their game...
02:38 PM, Jun 14, 2013
Recife: Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas feels the 2014 World Cup in Brazil would represent the end of an era for Spanish football. The 32-year-old, who captained Spain to victory at the 2010 World Cup and the 2008 and 2012 European championships, also revealed that next year's World Cup could be his international swansong, reports Xinhua. "After Brazil many of us will probably call it a day and make way...
01:04 PM, Jun 14, 2013
Rio de Janerio: On the field, the Confederations Cup can give Brazil's national team a major boost in their quest to win a sixth World Cup title next year. Off the field, the eight-team tournament will offer the first hints about where the country stands in their preparations for the main event in 2014. Brazil have won the last two Confederations Cup titles - in 2005 and 2009. And while...
12:52 PM, Jun 14, 2013
Rio de Janeiro: Mexico striker Javier Hernandez says the Confederations Cup will provide his team with a welcome break from their stuttering 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign. The reigning Concacaf champions play their first match of the Confederations Cup, against Italy at the Maracana stadium Sunday and Hernandez could not hide his eagerness for the event to begin, reports Xinhua. "We are lucky. We are in one of the most...
12:42 PM, Jun 14, 2013
Rio de Janerio: Italy forward Stephan El Shaarawy has sat out training with a muscle problem, just three days before the Azzurri's Confederations Cup opener against Mexico on Sunday. Without El Shaarawy, coach Cesare Prandelli tested a 4-3-3 on Thursday that was spearheaded by Claudio Marchisio, Emanuele Giaccherini and Mario Balotelli. While he was Serie A's top scorer at the season midpoint with 14 goals for AC Milan, El Shaarawy...
10:45 AM, Jun 14, 2013
Brasilia: Neymar acknowledges that he finds it difficult to replicate his Santos success with the Brazilian national team. Neymar thrived with the elite Brazilian club to become one of the world's most talked-about players, earning a multi-million euro (dollar) transfer to Barcelona. But with Brazil, he hasn't lived up to expectations so far. He said Thursday that he isn't bothered by the criticism over his lackluster performances with the national...
10:05 AM, Jun 14, 2013
Birmingham: Top-seeded Kirsten Flipkens lost at the Aegon Classic on Thursday, leaving four seeded players in the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon tuneup. Flipkens was beaten 7-6 (5), 6-2 by 16th-seeded Magdalena Rybarikova on another rainy day in Birmingham. Third-seeded Sorana Cirstea of Romania defeated Bojana Jovanovski 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 and is the highest-seeded player left in the grass-court tournament. Fifth-seeded Sabine Lisicki, a Wimbledon finalist in 2011, beat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni...
09:36 AM, Jun 14, 2013
Nigeria's soccer team went on strike on Thursday, refusing to leave their hotel in Namibia and missing a flight to Brazil where they are supposed to compete in the Confederations Cup, which gets underway at the weekend. "They are declining to leave," Namibia Football Association general secretary Barry Rukoro told Reuters. "They were supposed to go at 11 a.m. this morning but they say they are owed money by their...
11:48 PM, Jun 13, 2013
London: Indian tennis pair Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna entered the Aegon Championships men's doubles quarterfinals here Thursday. The third seeds got a walkover after French pair of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Nicolas Mahut decided to not take part in the second round doubles game after playing their respective singles matches on the grass courts of the Queen's Club. The Indian duo will play the winners of the match between Benoit...
11:42 PM, Jun 13, 2013
London: Australia's Lleyton Hewitt upset American Sam Querrey 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 Thursday at the Queen's Club grass-court tournament. In a matchup between two former Queen's champions, the 19th-ranked Querrey saved five break points in the first set but failed to convert five in the second. The 82nd-ranked Hewitt won the only break point of the final set to advance to the quarterfinals. Top-seeded Andy Murray beat Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 6-3,...
10:51 PM, Jun 13, 2013
New Delhi: Having got the government clearance, AIFF president Praful Patel on Thursday expressed confidence that India would win the right to host the U-17 FIFA World Cup in 2017 despite facing strong competition from the other three bidding countries. "This is an extremely positive development for Indian football and I am confident India will be able to make a formidable and successful bid with the backing of the Union...
10:43 PM, Jun 13, 2013
Rotterdam: Rupinderpal Singh scored two goals as India survived a scare before eking out a 4-4 draw against lower-ranked Ireland in a hard-fought Pool B match in the men's competition of the FIH World League Round 3, here on Thursday. Rupinderpal (40th, 66th minute) converted two penalty corners in the second half to save India the blushes after Akashdeep Singh (21st) and Shivendra Singh (47th) scored two field goals. For...
08:52 PM, Jun 13, 2013
