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- Friday, July 17, 2020 0
World rapid champion Humpy got the better of the Russian 6-5 to set up a last four clash with World No.1 Hou Yifan of China. The Indian, ranked no.2 in the world, started well and established an early lead before Gunina fought back.
However, Humpy held her nerve to advance. Yifan, meanwhile, continued her good form, to post an easy 7.5-3.5 win over Zhansaya Abdumalik of Kazakhstan in the quarter-finals.
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- Friday, July 17, 2020 0
Having shifted base from the West African nation four years back, Anikebe is working his fingers to the bone so that India stays on course to create history. “Football is gaining ground in this country. For me, coaching at the grassroots level is not about earning money or fame,” said Anikebe, who is in charge of RVSS’s Under-15 and Under-18 teams that compete at the AIFF Junior League and Elite League respectively.
“My job is to help players move to the next level. In Chennai, people are intelligent in every aspect of life. The boys and girls are enthusiastic about playing football. When you see such children, it motivates you to work harder. It has been a challenging experience but an interesting one at the same time,” he added.

Anikebe’s association with the city began in 2014, the year in which he signed up as an overseas player for CFA Super Division League outfit Chennai FC. After a three-year spell at Chennai FC, he joined Chennai United FC, which was managed by India legend Raman Vijayan in 2017.

Knowing a thing or two about local football, Anikebe stated that emphasis must be laid on state/city leagues. It is to be remembered that the top-division c o m p e t i t i o n in Chennai hasn’t been hosted since 2018.

“While focussing at the grassroots level, equal importance must be given to local leagues. They act as the bridge between youth football and competitions such as the Indian Super League (ISL) and I-League. Only one team from Tamil Nadu – Chennaiyin FC ‘B’ – is a part of the I-League Second Division. Where are the opportunities for other players?” asked AFC ‘C’ License holder Anikebe, who juggled between playing and coaching for three years (2016 to 2018).

The 34-year-old referred to Chennai as his second home since he spends almost the entire year in the city. “It is the people who make up the place. And, Indians in general are helpful and supportive. I have had a great time here so far. The last time I visited my family in Nigeria was in 2019; I stayed there for four months.”

Talking about his work experience with former India striker Raman at the soccer school, he said: “Vijayan is someone who has a winning mentality. He always inspires and encourages us. He never puts pressure on the players and coaches.”
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- Friday, July 17, 2020 0
Archer went home to Brighton between the first and second Tests of the ongoing three-match series against the West Indies, contravening strict guidelines. He was subsequently ruled out of the second Test being played at the Old Trafford and will now commence five days of isolation and will undergo two COVID-19 tests in this period, which have to test negative before his self-isolation period is lifted.
"This could have been a disaster. The ripple effect this could have had through the whole summer could have cost us tens of millions of pounds," Giles was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.

"The potential knock-on effect I don't think he could have understood. He is a young man and young men make mistakes. He has to learn from them. There will be a disciplinary process to go through.

"With the help of government and the help of the opposition, in this case the West Indies, the series was set up with these protocols and we have to abide by them. Everyone has to abide by them. If you know what the protocol says and what's expected of you it's a simple choice," he added.

West Indies great Michael Holding also criticised Archer for his actions. Citing example of Nelson Mandela, Holding stated that sacrifices should be made for the larger good.

"I have no sympathy at all. I don't understand why people can't just do what is required. Talking about sacrifices -- Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in a little cell and he did nothing wrong -- that is a sacrifice," Holding told Sky Sports.

Holding also questioned the protocols put in place by the ECB and stated it should be more 'logical'. It is being reported that Archer drove to his home in Sussex as other players made their way to Manchester from Southampton.

"I just want to ask a few questions of the ECB and these protocols, though. I understand that protocols should be put in place but they should be a little bit more logical," Holding said.

"Why aren't the England team travelling on a bus? If they have already passed the COVID-19 test and everyone is together, they have six matches and are moving from one venue to another, why aren't they just all on a bus?

"Why are they allowed to travel by car? People need to just think a bit," he added.
Meanwhile, Archer has apologised for his actions.

"I am extremely sorry for what I have done," Archer was quoted as saying in an ECB statement.
"I have put, not only myself, but the whole team and management in danger. I fully accept the consequences of my actions, and I want to sincerely apologise to everyone in the bio-secure bubble.

"It deeply pains me to be missing the Test match, especially with the series poised. I feel like I have let both teams down, and again I am sorry," he added.
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- Friday, July 17, 2020 0
New Zealand is set to end its 25-year Super Rugby relationship with South Africa. NZ Rugby Chief Executive Mark Robinson has confirmed that the body is now looking to move beyond Super Rugby and is open to private participation for ownership for a potential Asia-Pacific competition.
"We started (the) Aratipu (review) with a focus on New Zealand professional rugby entities and to make them more resilient, highly capitalised, fit for purpose businesses within the construct of Super Rugby," Robinson is quoted as saying by stuff.co.nz.

"Then part way through the process the full ramifications of COVID-19 and the limiting impacts it was going to have become more apparent and obviously more work was needed to determine future competition models.

"We think we can do that by virtue of what we are essentially doing, which is going out to the wider Australasian-Pacific environment to see what we can find out.

"At this stage we're working to 2021 but it's our preference to work beyond that, but we've got a lot of work to do with Sanzaar around that," he added.

NZ Rugby is not taking its decision to part ways with South Africa and Argentina at Super Rugby level lightly and Robinson said that both parties have been kept in the loop throughout the process.
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- Friday, July 17, 2020 0
Sunil Chhetri, captain of the Indian men's football team, on Friday called for attention and assistance for the northeastern state of Assam which has been battling with floods amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"Along with the prayers, Assam needs as much attention and help as possible to recover from the floods it is under," said Chhetri in a tweet.

"There's been considerable loss of life -- both man and animal and I can only sincerely hope that the numbers don't rise," he added.

Over 70 people have lost their lives while around 40 lakh people across 27 of the state's 33 districts have been affected by the floods in the state.

Though the flood affected 27 districts, 23 -- Dhemaji, Udalguri, Darrang, Biswanath, Sonitpur, Baksa, Lakhimpur, Chirang, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, South Salmara, Goalpara, Kamrup, Golaghat, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Majuli, Dibrugarh, West Karbi Anglong, Karbi Anglong and Tinsukia -- are the worst-hit.

Besides erosion of river banks at a large number of places, roads, embankments, bridges, culverts and other infrastructure have been damaged at many locations in 27 districts, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) officials said, adding that several hundred houses were fully or partially damaged due to the flood.

The National Disaster Response Force, and State Disaster Response Force personnel, along with the local administration, are continuously working to rescue the affected people and render relief services, including distribution of necessary material to the marooned villagers.
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- Friday, July 17, 2020 0
Dom Sibley scored his second Test century while Ben Stokes reached 99 at Lunch on Day 2 of the second Test between England and the West Indies at Old Trafford in Manchester on Thursday. The pair ensured that it was a second consecutive wicketless session for the visitors as they ground the runs out of the session and England ended it on 264/3.
The partnership between Stokes and Sibley for the fourth wicket is on 183 off 465 balls. While Sibley faced 316 balls for his 101, Stokes has absorbed 252 balls thus far.

Despite the pair surviving for more than two sessions, the first session was an encouraging one for the West Indies in the way that they repeatedly beat the two batsmen's outside edge and not allowed them to score freely despite Stokes trying to do so on multiple occasions.

Roston Chase in particular managed to procure significant turn from the pitch in the last over before lunch with the last delivery going past Stokes' outside edge.

The partnership between Stokes and Sibley is now England's highest fourth-wicket partnership at Old Trafford, beating 179 by Alec Stewart and Marcus Trescothick in 2000. This is also Stokes' longest innings in terms of balls faced.

Brief Scores: England 264/3 (Dom Sibley 101*, Ben Stokes 99*; Roston Chase 2/55) vs West Indies
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- Thursday, July 16, 2020 0
Inzamam-ul-Haq heaped praise on Sunil Gavaskar, saying that Gavaskar's record was unique because the pitches didn't aid batsmen during his time.
Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has heaped praise on India's batting great Sunil Gavaskar, saying that the former Indian batsman feat of breaching the 10,000-run mark in the longest format of the game was unthinkable.

Talking about Gavaskar on his official YouTube channel, the former Pakistan batsman said that there have been many great batsmen in the past but none thought of reaching the five-figure mark.

'There were several great players in his era as well as before that. There were batsmen like Javed Miandad, Viv Richards, Garry Sobers, and Don Bradman but none of them thought to reach the figure. Even in today's cricket when there is too much Test cricket, there are very few players who've achieved that feat,' said Inzamam.

'If you ask me, I'll say Sunil's 10,000 runs of that era are equal to today's 15,000 to 16,000 runs. These can be more than that but not less in anyway."

Inzamam further said that the pitches didn't support the batsmen as much in the days of Gavaskar, as they do today, which adds value to his run-scoring abilities.

'If [as a batsman] your form is good you can even score 1000 to 1500 runs in a season. But when Sunil was batting, the situation was not like that. Today purely batting wickets are prepared so that you can continue scoring runs. The ICC also wants to see batsmen doing that so that spectators are entertained," said the former Pakistan skipper.

'But in the past wickets were not so easy to bat on, especially when you were playing outside the sub-continent."

Gavaskar scored 10,122 runs in 125 Test matches for India, slamming 34 hundreds and 45 half-centuries. He breached the 10,000-run mark in his final Test series, which took place in India against Pakistan. Since Gavaskar, 12 other batsmen have reached the five-figure mark in Test cricket.

Sachin Tendulkar currently holds the record for most number of runs in the longest format of the game (15,921 in 200 Tests). Among Indians, Rahul Dravid is the only other batsman to have scored more than 10,000 runs in Tests.
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