November 19, 2015

Kolkata, Nov 19: The Indian Premier League (IPL) is keenly followed in Afghanistan, says Naweed Sayem, manager of the country's under-19 cricket team.Amid the explosions rising from constant fighting, political or otherwise, cricket has taken giant strides in the war-ravaged nation and Sayem on Thursday confirmed that there was now a cricketing structure in place. The Afghan players are here to play a tri-series against India and Bangladesh. A good show here will help boost the confidence of the outfit ahead of the…

New Delhi, Nov 19: Delhi Dynamos defender Anas Edathodika deserves to be in the Indian national team after being a consistent performer in the ongoing Indian Super League (ISL), the team's marquee player-coach Roberto Carlos said after a 3-1 win over FC Pune City here on Thursday.Anas headed in Dynamos' second goal in a comfortable victory at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium and Carlos felt the Keralite defender deserves a chance in the national squad. Carlos, however, said it was only his opinion and has no idea if…

London, Nov 19: India's Rohan Bopanna and Romanian Florin Mergea entered the semi-finals of the prestigious $7 million ATP World Tour Finals despite going down to Italian pairing of Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli in their men's doubles third match of the round robin encounter here on Thursday.The fifth seeds Fognini-Bolelli completed their campaign with a 6-1, 1-6, 10-5 victory in 61 minutes over eighth seeds Bopanna and Mergea, who were already assured of topping Group Ashe/Smith at The O2 Arena here. Bopanna…

Kolkata, Nov 19: V. Varshini of Tamil Nadu outwitted world under-14 girls' champion R. Vaishali to take her tally to three points from six rounds in the national women's premier chess Championship here on Thursday.The second round game, which was postponed as Vaishali had gone to Delhi to receive her award for excellence in chess from President Pranab Mukherjee, was played on Thursday -- otherwise a rest day -- at ICCR. In a Ruy Lopez opening, Varshini won a piece on the 29th move, by exploiting a pin, after…

New Delhi, Nov 19: Two opportunistic first half strikes stimulated Delhi Dynamos' efficient 3-1 victory over FC Pune City in an Indian Super League (ISL) contest that brightened their semi-final prospects here on Thursday.It was Dynamos’ second home win at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium after three consecutive 1-1 draws that catapulted them to the second position in the standings, level on 18 points from 10 matches with leaders FC Goa, only trailing them on goal difference. English striker Adil Nabi and defenders…