PALLEKELE, Sep 23: New Zealand's batsmen picked up the pace way too late as Pakistan survived some tense moments before beating them by 14 runs in their Group D clash of the World Twenty20 on Sunday.

Chasing 178, New Zealand, who beat Bangladesh in their lung-opener, played steady with the bat but it was a tad too slow for the format as they ended with 164 for nine.

Pakistan, on...

KOLKATA, Sep 23: India’s top archer Deepika Kumari came tantalisingly close to winning the World Cup final before she went down to Olympic double gold medallist Bo Bae Ki to settle for a silver in the recurve women’s individual event at Hibiya Park in Tokyo on Sunday.

Deepika, in her first appearance after the London Olympics debacle, was in splendid form as she won the quar...

Colombo, Sep 23: Having lost to Australia in their World Twenty20 opener, West Indies would not have the luxury of experimenting against Ireland here on Monday, as they need a win at any cost to book a berth in the Super Eight stage.

Although the West Indies start as clear favourites, especially with Chris Gayle in smashing form, the William Porterfield-led Irish side has a penchant for...

Colombo, Sep 23: Humility is a virtue that champion sportspersons are blessed with and Australian all-rounder Shane Watson is no different as he sees himself “nowhere” when compared to South African great Jacques Kallis.

“When I look at it, I find myself nowhere near Jacques Kallis simply because what he has achieved in all forms of the game,” said a modest Watso...

Tehran, Sep 23: Uzbekistan beat India 3-2 in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-16 Championship here at the Rah Ayan Stadium on Sunday.

Uttam Rai scored both goals for India bringing India to equalise on both occasions. If the first was off a feint from the corner of the inner box, for the other he jumped in between the two rival stoppers to meet substitute Raja Rawat's cross....

Singapore, Sep 23: Sahara Force India's Paul di Resta achieved his best result in Formula One with a fourth place finish in the Singapore Grand Prix here on Sunday.

Di Resta, whose previous best was a sixth place, challenged Alonso towards the end before coming home 3.8 seconds slower than the championship leader.

Di Resta's teammate Nico Hulkenberg finished 14th after a collisi...

Baku, Sep 23: Football is the victim of corruption in every society, FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said.

“Corruption is in our society. We are touched by it. Football is the victim,” Blatter said.

He also called for solidarity several times during the opening ceremony of AIPS (International Sports Press Association) Young Reporters Program.

According to Bla...

New Delhi, Sep 23: The Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) Sunday elected Rajasthan MLA Abhishek Matoria as its president while his predecessor Abhay Singh Chautala was nominated the chairman.

The new office-bearers were elected in the IABF's executive committee and Annual General Body Meeting in Patiala. Rajesh Bhandari from Himachal Pradesh was elected the secretary general and Ma...

LONDON, Sep 23: A listless display by India ‘A’ allowed New Zealand  ‘A’ to win the third and final unofficial ODI by 65 runs and square the three-match series 1-1 in Lincoln on Sunday.

The Indians won the first match and the second ended in a tie.

For the second successive game, the India ‘A’ middle order faltered and they were bowled ou...

Colombo, Sep 23: India`s batswomen came a cropper as the team suffered a four-wicket defeat to New Zealand in a warm-up game here today, ahead of the ICC Women’s World Twenty20.

Opting to bat, the Indian team was bundled out for 100 in 19.4 overs.

The New Zealanders chased down the target in 18.1 overs for the loss of six wickets, despite left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht turnin...

Singapore, Sep 23: A disciplined drive from Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel proved enough to win a chaotic Singapore Grand Prix night race after Lewis Hamilton retired from pole position.

Vettel's second win of the season played into the hands of championship leader Fernando Alonso of Ferrari, who was third but extended his lead in the title standings to 39 points thanks to Hamilton pulling...

MUMBAI, Sep 23: Sachin Tendulkar was in for a pleasant surprise as West Indies legend Brian Lara paid a visit to the former’s residence, in what seemed to be an impromptu meeting between two of modern day’s greatest batsmen.

Tendulkar uploaded a picture of the two legends on social networking sites — Twitter and Facebook — on Sunday morning.

“Guess ...

Shiv Kapur ends tied fourth

TOKYO, Sep 23: Japan’s Asian Tour rookie Masanori Kobayashi played a dream front nine Sunday to win the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open on home soil.

Kobayashi got seven-under-par 28 on the first nine holes at the Higashi Hirono Golf Club for a nine-under-par 62 and a winning total of 17-under-par 267.

Just behind was Koumei Oda, who ...

SEOUL, Sep 23: Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki easily beat injury-plagued Kaia Kanepi 6-1, 6-0 to win the Korea Open.

Wozniacki from Denmark needed only about one hour to defeat third seeded Kanepi of Estonia to win the tournament on Seoul’s Olympic Park hard courts on Sunday.

It was Wozniacki’s 19th career WTA victory.

She told a news conference she is “...

TOKYO, Sep 23: Two-time champion Lee Chong Wei fended off a spirited challenge from Boonsak Ponsana to win the men’s singles title at the Chinese-boycotted Japan Open badminton tournament on Sunday.

The Malaysian top seed, the winner in Japan in 2007 and 2010, powered his way through to a 21-18, 21-18 victory over the Thai.

In the women’s singles final, Tai Tzu-ying ...

LONDON, Sep 23:  Ashley Cole scored in the 85th minute for his first goal in two years Saturday, sending Premier League leader Chelsea to a 1-0 victory over Stoke.

Cole lifted the ball over Asmir Begovic at Stamford Bridge to give Chelsea a three-point lead in the standings over Everton and West Bromwich Albion. Everton won 3-0 at Swansea, and West Brom beat Reading 1-0.

So...

Berlin, Sep 23: Hamburg SV ended Borussia Dortmund’s 31-game unbeaten run after a 3-2 win owing to a brace by Heung Min Son while Bayern Munich cruised to a 2-0 win over Schalke at the fourth round of German football league Bundesliga.

Hamburg finished their negative run of three losses after stunning performance against defending champions Borussia Dortmund at an outsold Imtech A...

Rome, Sep 23: Thanks to Fabio Quagliarella’s brace, Juventus beat Chievo 2-0 at home to stay on top of Italian football league Serie A.

If it had not been for the the heroics of Chievo’s goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino, the margin of victory might have been much greater for the defending champions on Saturday.

Quagliarella, who scored Juve’s vital equaliser again...

PARIS , Sep 23: Zlatan Ibrahimovic struck for two goals to help Paris Saint-Germain cap a fine week by crushing Ajaccio 4-0 in the French league.

The Sweden striker, who scored in PSG's 4-1 thrashing of Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League on Tuesday, now has seven league goals in five games since coming from AC Milan. He was the leading scorer in the Italian league last season with 28 g...

GLASGOW, Sep 23: Celtic, behind goals from Gary Hooper and Victor Wanyama, defeated last-place Dundee to revive its title defense in the Scottish Premier League.

After Robert Douglas saved Scott Brown's penalty kick in the 38th minute, the former Celtic goalkeeper was beaten just before the half by Hooper. Wanyama scored four minutes into the second half.

Celtic is in third plac...

MADRID, Sep 23: Substitute Xavi Hernandez scored a late goal to set Barcelona on their way to a 2-0 win over Granada which maintained their perfect start and sent them 11 points clear of bitter rivals Real Madrid.

The Catalan side have now picked up a maximum 15 points from their opening five games.

But for most of Saturday’s match they looked off-colour and appeared to be...

Madrid, Sep 23: Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has defended his decision to leave central defender Sergio Ramos out of the side that defeated Manchester City and hinted he was prepared to do the same when his side play Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.

Ramos was left out Tuesday and replaced by Rafael Varene after Mourinho criticised his side for last weekend’s defeat to Sevilla and many...

Rabat, Sep 23: The Moroccan Football Federation appointed Rachid Taoussi as the new coach of the national team replacing Belgian Eric Gerets, who was sacked last Saturday. Taoussi, 56, is considered one of the most famous Moroccan coaches and had a bright career with the country’s clubs.

He led the national youth team to the African Cup of Nations victory in 1997 before leading th...

Rio de Janeiro, Sep 23: Former Lyon striker Fred scored his 12th championship goal of the season as Fluminense extended its lead at the top of Brazil’s Serie A standings with a 2-1 victory over Nautico.

Fred struck just before half-time with a powerful shot after a pinpoint Thiago Neves cross at Rio’s Engenhao Stadium on Saturday.

Leandro Euzebio had earlier handed t...

Barcelona, Sep 23: Tito Vilanova insists too much has been made of a heated on-pitch discussion involving David Villa and Lionel Messi, an instance that occured during Barcelona`s hard-fought 2-0 victory over Granada.

The Catalan side were frustrated for large periods of the game and that appeared to boil over when Villa engaged in a heated debate with his team-mate after Messi failed t...

COLOMBO, Sep 23: India recorded a comprehensive 90-run win over England, courtesy four wickets from Harbhajan Singh, in a Group A encounter of the World T20 championship at the R. Premadasa Stadium here on Sunday. With this win India took the top position in group A.

Rohit Sharma’s 55 off 33 balls propelled India to a fighting score of 170 for four in 20 overs. In reply England we...

Irani Trophy

Bangalore, Sep 23: Opener Murali Vijay struck a magnificent double century as Rest of India stretched their lead to a mammoth 354 runs against a hapless Rajasthan on the third day of the Irani Cup match at in Bangalore.

Rajasthan were 43 for one in their second innings with skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar and opener Vineet Saxena on 21 and 17 respectively at clos...

Metz, Sep 23: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga remained on course to defend his Metz Open title with a three-set semi-final victory over Nikolay Davydenko  on Saturday but there will no all-French final after Gael Monfils’ comeback run was ended by Italy’s Andreas Seppi.

Top seed Tsonga seemed to be cruising to his second final of the season but eighth seed Davydenko eventually posed...

Jamshedpur, Sep 23: Nigerian Koko Sakibo scored a hat-trick as Dempo SC entered the semifinals, crushing Mumbai FC 4-0 in a Group A tie of the 34th Federation Cup here today.

After captain Clifford Miranda opened the account for the winners on the 23rd minute, Sakibo pumped in two goals in the 43rd and 79th minute, and scored the third in injury time.

In another inconsequential ...

LIVERPOOL, Sep 23: Robin van Persie's second-half penalty secured a 2-1 Premier League win for Manchester United over 10-man Liverpool at an emotionally-charged Anfield on Sunday.

The Dutchman's goal saw United complete a come from behind victory after Rafael da Silva's effort had cancelled out Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard's volley early in the second half.

Victory saw Unite...