Gros Islet, June 19: India A look like losing the third and final cricket ‘Test’ and with it the series to West Indies A after pacers Delorn Johnson and Kevin McClean devastated them on the third day of the match.

Trailing by 106 runs on first innings, India were 181 for seven at stumps on the penultimate day of the game here at the Beausejour Cricket Stadium on Monday.

Kolkata, June 19: Asian Games gold medallist athlete Pinki Pramanik, accused of being a male and currently in judicial custody for alleged rape, underwent a gender determination test Tuesday at a North 24 Parganas district hospital, police said.

A seven-member medical board was constituted at the Barasat sub-divisional hospital where the athlete underwent the test. The report, in a seal...

DEN BOSCH, June 19: Kim Clijsters advanced to the Unicef Open quarterfinals with an easy 6-2, 6-1 victory over Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine on Tuesday.

The win on grass a week ahead of Wimbledon was just Clijster's second since returning from a three-month hip injury. She lost the opening set to Romina Oprandi on Sunday and struggled in the second before taking control of that match.<...

Bangalore, June 19: Former World champions Geet Sethi and Pankaj Advani are among the 10 invited players who will participate in the ECA 14th G. Raman Nair handicap billiards tournament, the preliminary rounds of which commenced here on Monday.

As per the draw that was officially released to the media here Tuesday, the 10 invitees will be joined by six qualifiers for the super league th...

Kolkata, June 19: Asserting that India were now one of the fittest teams, hockey team skipper Bharat Chettri on Tuesday said making the semifinals would be the first target at the July 27-Aug 12 London Olympics. “We have decided that we will first focus on making it to the semi-finals. Then we will work ourselves out,” Chettri told mediapersons here.

Indian, who have an unpa...

NEW DELHI, June 19: India has named their 30 member squad for the U-19 World Cup which will be held in August in Australia and New Zealand. They have the maximum number of players — nine— who have already played first-class cricket.

The said players are Unmukt Chand, Manan Vohra, Akhil Herwadkar, Kumar Deobrat, Aparajith Baba, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Singh, Vikas Mishra and Chi...

Colombo, June 19: Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has been suspended from this week's Galle Test after his side was found guilty of a serious over-rate offence during the fifth and last ODI against Sri Lanka at the Premadasa Stadium here on Monday.

The Pakistan side was ruled to be three overs short of its target at the end of the match when time allowances were taken into consideration....

WARSAW, June 19: UEFA has fined Croatia’s football association (euro) 80,000 ($101,000) after fans racially abused Italy forward Mario Balotelli at a European Championship match.

The charges related to “the setting-off and throwing of fireworks, and the improper conduct of supporters (racist chants, racist symbols),” UEFA said in a statement.

The fine is (euro)...

Hyderabad, June 19: India’s top badminton star Saina Nehwal says it will be tough to beat the Chinese at the London Olympics despite her recent successes against them.

Saina defeated Chinese World No 4 Shixian Wang in the quarter-finals and her World No.3 compatriot Li Xuerui to win the Indonesia Open Super Series Premier event on Sunday.

Saina, who returned home from Jaka...

NEW DELHI, June 19: After sports minister Ajay Maken refused to intervene in the selection crisis that has shaken Indian tennis, defiant Mahesh Bhupathi asserted that he is not going to change his stand, according to sources.

Sources claimed that Bhupathi has rejected AITA’s latest diktats to partner Leander Paes as he reiterates that he will only partner Rohan Bopanna in the Lond...

POZNAN/GDANSK, June 19: Antonio Cassano and Mario Balotelli scored the goals as Italy beat 10-man Ireland 2-0 at the Municipal Stadium while Defending champions Spain registered 1-0 victory over Croatia to reach the Euro 2012 quarterfinals on Monday

Spain’s 1-0 win over Croatia meant Italy finished second in Group C and will play the Group D winners in the last eight while Ireland...

New Delhi, June 19: India’s cricket captain MS Dhoni might not have enjoyed much success on the cricket ground in the last ten months, but he certainly is among the highest paid sportspersons of the world, according to the Forbes list of 100 highest paid athletes.

Dhoni, who is ranked 31, is way ahead of master blaster Sachin Tendulkar in the list, who is ranked 78 in the list rel...

Colombo, June 19: India’s five-match ODI series and one T20 International against Sri Lanka will be played from July 22 to August 7 across three venues. Sri Lanka tour marks the beginning of a fresh season for the senior national team after enjoying a two and half month break post Indian Premier League.

The Indians, who arrive on July 19 will play their first of the five ODIs at t...

Kiev, June 19: UEFA President Michel Platini has expressed his satisfaction with the arrangements for the Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. “I am very pleased with organising. Poland and Ukraine have already won the tournament. The atmosphere in the stadiums has been 99 percent fantastic," Platini was quoted on Tuesday by the Euro 2012 information centre as saying.

There were some ...

Haiyang, June 19: Indian women's basketball team Tuesday defeated hosts China to win the gold medal at the third Asian Beach Games here in east China's Shandong province.

The Indians prevailed over their Chinese counterparts 17-14 in the final. China got off to a good start, leading by 11-10. But the Indians pounced and went on a scoring spree, which helped them secure the victory.

MOSCO, June 19: After falling out of love with the pole vault, Yelena Isinbayeva is back at the peak of her powers as she bids to become the first female track and field athlete to win three successive Olympic golds in what is likely to be her last Games.

The peerless Russian, with 28 world records to her name, is brimming with confidence after overcoming the problems with form that led...

Host seal series by 3-1

COLOMBO, June 19: Angelo Mathews led Sri Lanka to a series win over Pakistan helping his side win the fifth and final ODI at the Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.

The all-rounder scored a match winning knock of 80 runs off just 76 balls after his team was left reeling in run chase of 247 on a very slow track. After openers Dilshan and Tharanga wen...

EASTBOURNE, June 19: Petra Kvitova will head to next week’s start of her Wimbledon title defence without a win on grass after exiting in her opening match at the Eastbourne event on Tuesday 7-5, 6-4 to Ekaterina Makarova.

Czech Kvitova was humbled at Devonshire Park in 91 minutes in the second round by the Russian, who benefited from six Kvitova double-faults and broke the second ...

LONDON, June 19: David Nalbandian was fined the maximum USD 12,560 and placed under police investigation for assault after kicking an advertising board and injuring a line judge during the Queen’s Club final.

The ATP confirmed the fine for unsportsmanlike conduct and said the Argentine player also was stripped of his USD 57,350 in prize money.

London police, meanwhile, sai...

NEW YORK, June 19: The world’s highest-paid athlete is in jail. The guy in second place just lost a title fight, and the man who held the distinction for a decade is now third.

Forbes has released its list of the 100 highest paid athletes, and boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr, nicknamed Money is No. 1.

Mayweather, who made $85 million for two fights last year, is currently servin...

MOSCOW, June 19: Russian football captain and fan favourite Andrei Arshavin was ensnared in scandal on Tuesday after being caught on tape saying it was the fans’ ‘problem’ that his squad were knocked out of Euro 2012. Controversy around Russia’s most talismanic player broke almost immediately after the national squad failed to make the quarterfinals of Euro 2012 by losin...

LONDON, June 19: Manchester City are refusing to pay more than £15 million to sign Robin van Persie from Arsenal this summer.

The Premier League champions have registered their interest in the Dutch spearhead but are adamant they will not be held to ransom on the transfer fee.

City’s interest in Van Persie has cooled in recent weeks after learning that Arsenal would ...

BANGALORE, June 19: Every morning, Sarath Kumar wakes up with the desire to keep his dream alive.

The 20-year-old Moto GP rider, who recently became the first Indian to secure a podium finish in an international motorcycle racing championship, begins his day at 5am with three hours of fitness and conditioning with a personal trainer before breakfast and a short nap.

An hour late...

LOS CABOS, June 19: Judo black belt and Russian leader President Vladimir Putin hopes to go to the London Olympics to watch his favorite sport, a spokesman said on Monday. In a meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron, whose capital will host the Olympics in July and August, Putin said that he had tentative plans to attend the judo matches at the games. “Putin wished Cameron luck in...

PARIS, June 18: RadioShack on Monday announced two 40-year-old riders in their team for the Tour de France, already shorn of 2010 champion Andy Schleck, the Luxemburger having sustained a fractured pelvis last week. German Jens Voigt and American Chris Horner, born within a month of each other in 1971, will be on the start line in Liege, Belgium, on June 30 alongside Frank Schleck, third in last y...

BEIJING, June 19: Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba is set to sign for Shanghai Shenhua, joining Nicolas Anelka at the Chinese club, its chief investor said. The Ivory Coast international, 34, will announce the move on his personal website, siad Zhu Jun in a deal that will reportedly put Drogba on 200,000 pounds ($314,000) a week. French forward Anelka, who joined Shenhua in January also from C...

BERLIN, June 19: German giants Bayern Munich are in talks to sign former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola when current boss Jupp Heynckes steps down in 2013. Bayern’s director of football Christian Nerlinger held talks in May with Guardiola’s brother Pere, who is also his advisor, on the sidelines of the Spanish Cup Final, which Barcelona won 3-0, Bild said. Guardiola, 41, delivered three...

AMSTERDAM, June 19: The Dutch national football team returned home on Monday after their inglorious exit at Euro 2012 and were treated with boos when they arrived at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. Fences were placed to hold back possible fans, but there turned out to be more journalists than supporters waiting for the arrival. Most people who stood by the railings had come to Schiphol for ano...

LONDON, June 19: English club Arsenal have reportedly agreed to sign highly rated French forward Olivier Giroud on a deal worth 12.8 million pounds from French champions Montpellier. Giroud, who has two years remaining on his Montpellier contract, has agreed a 45,000 pounds-a-week four-year deal, which will almost treble his current wages of around 15,000 pounds-a-week. The 25-year-old, who is cur...

CHENNAI, June 19: National and Asian champion Aditya Mehta survived a close call before winning 3-2 against top Indian junior Laxman Rawat in a Group B league match of the Kences Constructions - ASCA International snooker tournament here on Tuesday. After sharing four frames, Rawat had his chances in the decider, but committed far too many errors while the crafty Mehta, aided by small breaks, went...