Sports News

Mumbai: Sunrisers Hyderabad stand-in skipper Bhuvneshwar Kumar was satisfied with his performance in the IPL as managing his injuries became a ‘challenge’ in an otherwise disappointing season for his team. After winning five back-to-back games out of first seven, Sunrisers Hyderabad lost six out of the next seven to finish eighth in the 10-team IPL table."As for me, it was a challenging season with injuries hampering me, thought I did a decent job and will look to come back better in the next season," Kumar said at the post-match presentation. As far as season's positives go, Umran Malik and Abhishek Sharma's emergence augurs well for franchise, said the senior India seamer."We have had many positives, Umran Malik and Abhishek Sharma were the obvious positives, but we have a decent core of batting with Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran coming up pretty well," he added. But he had a word of advice for the team management. "We will have to look at our squad and the management will have to work out on the weaknesses ahead of the next season. We won five on the bounce and had the momentum, but it didn't go our way and we pretty much lost all our matches in the second half of the tournament." For winning skipper Mayank Agarwal, it was all about not being able to stitch back-to-back victories. "We couldn't stitch two back-to-back wins. We lost wickets in a cluster, and that at times derailed us. We have played an aggressive brand of cricket over all. We are going to sit and discuss now after the IPL. We were here to get two points and we were here to enjoy ourselves," Agarwal said.—PTI

Sunrisers Hyderabad stand-in skipper Bhuvneshwar Kumar was satisfied with his performance in the IPL as managing his injuries became a ‘challenge’ in an otherwise disappointing season for his team.

I did decently despite injuries hampering me: Bhuvi

Cricket

New Delhi:&nbsp;The Badminton Association of India (BAI) has rewarded the Indian men's team with a cash prize of Rs one crore for its historic title triumph at the Thomas Cup Finals in Bangkok.BAI handed the cash prize of Rs one crore to the Indian team and Rs 20 lakh to the support staff after their arrival in the country, in a city hotel here on Saturday night. BAI president Himanta Biswa Sarma congratulated the Indian team on its historic achievement. BAI general secretary Sanjay Mishra alongside chief national coach Pullela Gopichand and other BAI officials were present during the occasion. The Indian team scripted history by clinching the Thomas Cup title for the first time in 73 years by thrashing 14-time champions Indonesia.—PTI

 The Badminton Association of India (BAI) has rewarded the Indian men's team with a cash prize of Rs one crore for its historic title triumph at the Thomas Cup Finals in Bangkok.

BAI awards cash prizes to Thomas Cup-winning contingent

Badminton

London: Jyothi Yarraji smashed the women's 100m hurdle national record for the second time in less than two weeks while winning the event at the Loughborough International Athletics Meet in the UK. The 22-year-old from Andhra Pradesh on Sunday clocked 13.11 seconds under permissible wind speed of +0.3m/s to better her own earlier national record of 13.23 that she had clocked on May 10 during the Cyprus International Meet in Limassol. Jyothi, who trains under James Hillier at Reliance Foundation Odisha Athletics High Performance Centre in Bhubaneswar, had bettered Anuradha Biswal's national mark of 13.38 which had stood since 2002. That happened a month after her national record effort was not counted due to wind assistance beyond legal limit. She had clocked 13.09 seconds during the Federation Cup in Kozhikode last month but it was not counted as national record as the wind speed was +2.1 m/s, more than the permissible +2.0 m/s.In 2020 also, Jyothi had run below Biswal's national record time as she clocked 13.03 seconds at the All India Inter-University Athletics Championships in Moodbidri, Karnataka. But it was also not counted as NR as National Anti-Doping Agency did not test her at the meet and there was no technical delegate from the Athletics Federation of India. Jyothi comes from a humble background as her father Suryanarayana is working as a private security guard and her mother Kumari is a domestic help. Another Reliance Foundation Odisha Athletics HPC trainee Amlan Borgohain, who smashed the national record during the Kozhikode Federation Cup, finished fifth in 200m race with a time of 21.27 seconds. The 24-year-old from Assam had clocked 20.52s in Kozhikode.In other results, national record holder Siddhant Thingalaya finished second in 110m hurdles with a time of 13.97. Graceson Amaldas, national swimmer-turned-hurdler from Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu won junior men's 110m hurdles guest race in 13.91 seconds.—PTI

Jyothi Yarraji smashed the women's 100m hurdle national record for the second time in less than two weeks while winning the event at the Loughborough International Athletics Meet in the UK.

Jyothi smashes own 100m hurdles national record in UK

Athletics

Mumbai: A Super Over could decide IPL 2022 champions should rain play spoilsport and no play is possible in regulation time. If the Super Over is also not possible due to the weather, the league standing will take precedence and will decide the winner. This will also apply to the Qualifier 1, Eliminator, Qualifier 2, which do not have reserve days. May 30 has been kept aside as a reserve day for the final, which will begin at 8pm IST. With the IPL moving to Kolkata for the playoffs and inclement weather forecast for the city, the IPL has issued certain guidelines in case of rain-interrupted games. While Gujarat Titans take on Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 1 on Tuesday, Lucknow Super Giants will play Royal Challengers Bangalore at the same venue the next day in the Eliminator.The second Qualifier and the final are slated to be played in Ahmedabad on Friday and Sunday respectively. "The number of overs in the playoff match may, if necessary, be reduced so that each side has the opportunity to bat for five overs," the IPL guidelines read. "For the Eliminator and each Qualifier playoff matches, in the event that it is not possible to schedule a five-over match to complete by the end of the extra time on the original day, the teams will, if conditions permit, play a Super Over to determine the winner of the relevant Eliminator or Qualifier match."If the Super Over is not possible "the team that finished highest in the league table after the 70 matches of the regular season shall be declared the winner of the relevant playoff match or final," it added. Incase of the two Qualifiers and the Eliminator, if one innings is complete but no play is possible in the second, the Duckworth-Lewis (DLS) method will come into play.If the final starts on May 29 that is at least one ball is bowled then the "match will resume at the point where it stopped on the previous day. For the avoidance of doubt, any match recalculations done without the match actually restarting on the previous night will be ignored."—PTI

A Super Over could decide IPL 2022 champions should rain play spoilsport and no play is possible in regulation time.

IPL 2022 Playoffs: Super Over could determine winner

New Delhi:&nbsp;Indian racer Arjun Maini, who drives for Mercedes-AMG with team HRT, narrowly missed out on his first podium of the 2022 DTM Championship in Lausitzring, Germany.After starting sixth in an extremely competitive qualifying session, Maini made a good start and was able to move into fourth during the first lap of the race. A quick pit stop from the team saw him briefly move into third, ahead of Lucas Auer. However, Maini's colder tyres meant he fell back to fourth, a position he would maintain till the checkered flag.The 2022 DTM Championship boasts of 29 drivers, which is not only the largest grid in DTM history, but also an extremely competitive grid with some of the world's best talent from the GT3 world taking part. Given its competitive nature, there were 21 cars that qualified within one second of pole in Qualifying 1 and 23 cars within a second in Qualifying 2. Maini's second qualifying session was compromised due to a Red Flag with four minutes to go, with the Indian failing to set a lap time when the session was halted. He eventually qualified 14th and lost some places as he went off on one of the corners as he battled side by side with several cars. He was, however, able to recover to finish 13th in Race 2. "It was a mixed weekend for me. P6 in qualifying and P4 in the race on Saturday. We had good pace and a good pit stop. "There was then a turbulent qualifying on Sunday, which meant I ended up starting from down in P14. In the end, I came home 13th not ideal, but I feel positive looking ahead to Imola," Maini said. The next Race Weekend of DTM will take place in Imola in Italy on June 18 and 19.—PTI

 Indian racer Arjun Maini, who drives for Mercedes-AMG with team HRT, narrowly missed out on his first podium of the 2022 DTM Championship in Lausitzring, Germany.

Arjun Maini narrowly misses podium in Lausitzring in DTM

 Indian racer Arjun Maini, who drives for Mercedes-AMG with team HRT, narrowly missed out on his first podium of the 2022 DTM Championship in Lausitzring, Germany.



Mumbai: Punjab Kings opening batter Shikhar Dhawan has become the first player to hit 700 fours in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Dhawan reached this feat during the last league stage match of IPL 2022, between PBKS and Sunrisers Hyderabad, here at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.The batter has now a total of 701 IPL fours to his name. He is followed by David Warner and Virat Kohli, with 577 and 576 fours, respectively. Coming to the match, Liam Livingstone's unbeaten knock of 49 runs helped PBKS chase the target of 158 in just 15.1 overs with five wickets in hand.Apart from him, Dhawan and Jitesh Sharma scored 39 and 19 respectively. Earlier, Harpreet Brar and Nathan Ellis achieved their respective three-wicket hauls and restricted SRH at 157/8. For SRH, Fazalhaq Farooqi bagged two wickets, while Jagadeesha Suchith and Washington Sundar settled for one wicket each. With this win, PBKS ended their IPL 2022 campaign with a total of 14 points while SRH finished with 12 points.—ANI

Punjab Kings opening batter Shikhar Dhawan has become the first player to hit 700 fours in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

PBKS' Dhawan becomes first player to hit 700 fours in IPL's history

Mumbai: The 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) recorded a total of 1000 sixes, which is the highest in the history of the tournament. This milestone was reached during the last league-stage match of the season between Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, here at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. The six was hit by PBKS all-rounder Liam Livingstone in the 15th over, which was bowled by Romario Shepherd.Incidentally, Livingstone also holds the record for the season's longest six, which he had hit against Gujarat Titans. The six on Mohammed Shami's delivery went for a distance of 117m. Coming to Sunday's match, Livingstone's unbeaten knock of 49 runs helped PBKS chase the target of 158 in just 15.1 overs with five wickets in hand. Apart from him, Shikhar Dhawan and Jitesh Sharma scored 39 and 19 respectively.Earlier, Harpreet Brar and Nathan Ellis' respective three-wicket hauls restricted SRH to 157/8. For SRH, Fazalhaq Farooqi bagged two wickets, while Jagadeesha Suchith and Washington Sundar settled for one wicket each. With this win, PBKS ended their IPL 2022 campaign with a total of 14 points while SRH finished with 12 points.—ANI

The 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) recorded a total of 1000 sixes, which is the highest in the history of the tournament.

IPL 2022 records a total of 1000 sixes, highest in tournament's history

Manama: Top para shuttlers Pramod Bhagat and Tarun Dhillon clinched two gold medals each as the Indian team ended with a rich haul of 23 medals including seven gold medals at the 1st Bahrain Para-Badminton International Championships 2022. Promising doubles shuttler Manisha Ramdass also shot into the limelight with her twin gold medal show, while Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan (WS SH6) and Dhinagaran Pandurangan and Sivarajan Solaimalai (Doubles SH6) claimed the other top honours for India.Pairing up with a new partner, Bhagat turned the colour of his mixed doubles SL3-SU5 silver medal from Brazil into gold this time. He and promising Manisha Ramdass got the better of Thailand’s Siripong Teamarrom and Nipada Saensupa 21-14, 21-11 to take the gold. The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic champion Bhagat then went on to take the men’s singles SL3 gold after England’s Daniel Bethell gave a walkover.In the men’s SL4 events, Dhillon, who missed out on a medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, first paired with Nitesh Kumar to pull off a convincing 21-13, 21-7 win over Thailand’s Mongkhon Bunsun and Siripong Teamarrom in men’s doubles SL3-Sl4 summit clash. High in confidence, Dhillon took just 20 minutes to thump South Korea’s Shin Kyung Hwan 21-9, 21-9 for the men’s singles SL4 gold.Manisha, Nithya shine in women’s events In women’s events, Asian Youth Para Games champion Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan continued her good run of form to defeat England’s Rachel Choong 21-15, 21-15. Meanwhile, Mandeep Kaur, who pulled off an upset win in her semi-finals, had to settle for the second place after going down to Turkey’s Halime Yildiz 21-5, 21-17 in the women’s SL3 finals, the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) informed in a release on Sunday. She later came out with a strong show combining with Manisha Ramdass for the gold in the women’s doubles SL3-SU5 finals. They took just 23 minutes to defeat the Paralympian pair of Palak Kohli and Parul Dalsukhbhai Parmar 21-11, 21-11. In doubles SH6, Dhinagaran Pandurangan and Sivarajan Solaimalai took the gold after Hong Kong’s Chu Man Kai and Wong Chun Yim retired with one game all 21-12,10-21.Chief national coach Gaurav Khanna was a proud coach at the end of the day with consistent results from his wards. “Our para shuttlers have yet again come out with great results. I am very happy with the way the players are delivering excellent results in back-to-back events. Though there’s still some work needed to be done and one of the main focuses will be on their fitness.“There are quite a few names who are doing really well in the recent tournaments. We have high hopes from promising names like Manisha Ramdass etc.”The Indian team will be next in action at the 4th Fazza Dubai 2022 Para-Badminton International that gets underway on Tuesday.—IANS

Top para shuttlers Pramod Bhagat and Tarun Dhillon clinched two gold medals each as the Indian team ended with a rich haul of 23 medals including seven gold medals at the 1st Bahrain Para-Badminton International Championships 2022.

Bahrain 2022 Para-Badminton: Bhagat, Dhillon Win Two Gold Each; Indian Contingent Finishes With 23 Medals

Bhubaneswar: Former champions Sethu FC defeated Hans Women 5-0 in the Hero Indian Women’s League here on Sunday. With this win, Sethu cemented the second spot after Gokulam with 31 points from 10 matches. A brace from Devneta, and a solitary goal from Sandhiya, Lavanya and Vanlalmawii ensured the Tamil Nadu side earn all three points from the game.Sethu had a quick start to the game with Devneta finding the net as soon as in the 2nd minute when she curled home the ball from Sandhiya’s cross. Within the 16th minute, she doubled the lead for her side making it a brace for herself again scoring from the same spot through Sandhiya’s cross. Thereafter it turned out to be a one-sided affair as Sethu FC continued to dominate Hans in every department. In the 38th minute, Sandhiya found the net through her shot inside the box from the left flank to keep it 0-3 going into the break.After the breather, the demolition continued. As Sethu continued to maintain the waves of attack. In the 72nd minute, Lavanya struck the net to increase the lead. And finally, Vanlalmawii scored the winner in the 88 minutes to ensure a 0-5 victory for Sethu.—IANS

Former champions Sethu FC defeated Hans Women 5-0 in the Hero Indian Women’s League here on Sunday.

 IWL 2022: Sethu FC thrash Hans 5-0 to keep the championship run open

Football

Turin: &nbsp;Olympique Lyonnais won the UEFA Women's Champions League for the eighth time as they dethroned holders Barcelona with a 3-1 victory in Turin on Saturday, all the goals coming in the first half. Amandine Henry, Ada Hegerberg and Catarina Macario put Lyon three up before Alexia Putellas pulled one back. The action did not stop in the second period but Lyon, 12 months after Barcelona replaced them as champions, is on top again.The huge Barcelona travelling support in an attendance of over 30,000 was stunned at its own end six minutes in when Amandine Henry curled in a superb effort from distance. Barcelona responded swiftly and Christiane Endler was called into action by Jenni Hermoso, who was then denied by a great saving tackle from Selma Bacha. Bacha was overlapping on the right and she made the second goal as she swung in a cross met by a perfect header from Ada Hegerberg, already a hat-trick scorer in the 2019 final defeat of Barcelona.Amazingly, it was three later in the half, Catarina Macario forcing the ball in after a defensive mix-up. Hegerberg was then denied by Sandra Panos, but there was hope for Barcelona before the break when Alexia Putellas turned in Caroline Graham Hansen's cross, the captain's competition-leading 11th goal of the season.Endler was relieved not long prior to the hour mark when Patri Guijarro tried a lob from the halfway line with the Lyon keeper out of her goal, only for the ball to drop onto the crossbar. Barcelona sent on Asisat Oshoala, who headed fractionally wide, and fellow substitute Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic also volleyed just past the post. But in a finish as breathless as the start in a sweltering Turin, with Hegerberg hitting the post, Lyon held on and the celebrations began.—ANI

 Olympique Lyonnais won the UEFA Women's Champions League for the eighth time as they dethroned holders Barcelona with a 3-1 victory in Turin on Saturday, all the goals coming in the first half.

Lyon win eighth UEFA Women's Champions League final against Barcelona

Paris: Kaia Kanepi recorded the 10th top-10 victory of her career at a Grand Slam by eliminating Spanish 10th seed Garbine Muguruza on Sunday in the ongoing French Open 2022. Estonian Kanepi defeated Muguruza by 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in just over two hours. The 36-year-old Kanepi, the oldest player in the women's draw, has a knack for knocking out seeds at the majors and continued the trend against two-time Grand Slam champion and former world No.1 Muguruza.Kanepi is a two-time Roland-Garros quarter-finalist and recently made a trip to the last-eight stage at this year's Australian Open. The first victor of Roland-Garros 2022 was Romanian No.26 seed Sorana Cirstea, who eased past Germany's Tatjana Maria 6-3, 6-3 in just 64 minutes. Cirstea next takes on Stephens in round two.—ANI

Kaia Kanepi recorded the 10th top-10 victory of her career at a Grand Slam by eliminating Spanish 10th seed Garbine Muguruza on Sunday in the ongoing French Open 2022.

French Open: Kaia Kanepi ousts Garbine Muguruza in opener

Tennis

Mumbai: &nbsp;Punjab Kings beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets in an inconsequential last league match of the IPL here on Sunday. Punjab chased down the target of 158 with 29 balls to spare with Liam Livingstone top-scoring with 49 not out off 22 balls. Shikhar Dhawan chipped in with 39.For SRH, Fazalhaq Farooqi took two wickets for 32 runs. Earlier, opting to bat, Sunrisers Hyderabad posted 157 for 8. Abhishek Sharma top-scored for SRH with 43 while Romario Shepherd and Washington Sundar chipped in with 26 not out and 25 respectively. For Punjab, Harpreet Brar and Nathan Ellis took three wickets apiece. Brief Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad: 157 for 8 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 43; Harpreet Brar 3/26, Nathan Ellis 3/40).Punjab Kings:&nbsp;160 for 5 in 15.1 overs (Liam Livingstone 49 not out; Fazalhaq Farooqi 2/32).—PTI

Punjab Kings beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets in an inconsequential last league match of the IPL here on Sunday.

IPL 2022: PBKS beat SRH by 5 wickets

Mumbai: Punjab Kings ended their campaign on a winning note, crushing an already demoralised Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets in an inconsequential final IPL league match, in Mumbai, on Sunday.Batting first, Sunrisers Hyderabad managed only 157 for 8 on a good batting track.But it was never going to be enough as Liam Livingstone made mincemeat of a hapless SRH attack, scoring 49 not out off 22 balls, and also hitting the coveted 1000th six of the tournament.Shikhar Dhawan (39 off 32 balls) and Jitesh Sharma (19 off 7 balls) also contributed handsomely to the team's cause as the chase was completed in just 15.1 overs.Punjab Kings, who haven't made the play-offs since their final appearance in 2014, finished sixth while the Sunrisers ended their high-spending IPL on eighth in the 10-team competition. For Livingstone, it was all about smashing big sixes once again as he hit five in all, while Dhawan helped himself to two fours and two sixes.<img src="https://im.rediff.com/cricket/2022/may/22pun-farooqi.JPG?w=670&amp;h=900"> It was Jonny Bairstow (23 off 15 balls), who straightaway attacked Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Washington Sundar, with a flurry of boundaries to set the tempo.It helped Dhawan to play his accumulating game as Punjab maintained their philosophy of all out attack even as Sunrisers dropped some sitters on the field.Worst was Washington Sundar's blooper when Livingstone tried to hit Jagadeesha Suchit against the turn and offered a dolly at point.There were too many on-field bungles with Roamrio Shepherd's 15th over going for 23 runs.&nbsp;<img src="https://im.rediff.com/cricket/2022/may/22srh-sundar.JPG?w=670&amp;h=900">Earlier, Punjab Kings bowlers showed a lot of discipline, restricting SRH to 157 for 8 in 20 overs.Arshdeep Singh (0/25 in 4 overs) celebrated his maiden India call-up with another parsimonious spell but it was his state team colleague Harpreet Brar (3/26 in 4 overs), who was the pick of the bowlers with wickets of Priyam Garg, Rahul Tripathi and Aiden Markram.<img src="https://im.rediff.com/cricket/2022/may/22srh-brar-wkt.JPG?w=670&amp;h=900">With four qualifiers already decided on Saturday, there was little more than academic interest left in the game and the 'Orange Army' in fact looked jaded and more like going through the motions while batting before sprucing up their scores in the final few overs.SRH's best batter of the season, Abhishek Sharma (43 off 32 balls) once again got a start but should have converted it into a big one which didn't happen.A solemn looking Tripathi (20) did cross a personal milestone of 400 runs for the season but disappointment of not making it to the national team was writ large in his body language as he failed to connect the big hits. Brar didn't do anything extraordinary and kept it mostly on the stumps, stifling the opposition batters for runs.It was left to Romario Shepherd (26 not out off 15 balls) and Washington Sundar (25 off 19 balls) to take the Sunrisers past the 150-run mark, as both of them used the long handle to good effect in their 58-run sixth-wicket partnership off only 4.5 overs.<img src="https://im.rediff.com/cricket/2022/may/22srh-ellis-wkt.JPG?w=670&amp;h=900"> In fact, 50-plus runs came in the last four overs as Nathan Ellis (3/40 in 4 overs) erred in length despite a couple of back-to-back wickets that he got in the bargain.Ellis did bowl a good hat-trick delivery which Bhuvneshwar Kumar averted only to get run-out of the very next delivery.—PTI

Punjab Kings ended their campaign on a winning note, crushing an already demoralised Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets in an inconsequential final IPL league match, in Mumbai, on Sunday.

IPL PIX: Punjab Kings beat Sunrisers to finish sixth

Mumbai: ''Thank you, Mumbai, we will remember this one,'' said Virat Kohli after Royal Challengers Bangalore sneaked into the playoffs following Mumbai Indians' thrilling five-wicket win over Delhi Capitals in their last game of the IPL here. On Saturday, MI chased down a victory target of 160 in 19.1 overs to knockout Delhi from the competition and paved the way for RCB's entry as the fourth and final team in the knockout stage. ''It was unbelievable. The emotions in the changing room were unbelievable. Thank you, Mumbai, we will remember this one,'' Kohli said in a release.RCB had defeated table-toppers Gujarat Titans by eight wickets in their final league match to keep their hopes alive for a playoff, which depended on the clash between DC and MI.Delhi needed to win the match to make it to the playoffs but they came a cropper against bottom-placed MI. RCB skipper Faf Du Plessis said the entire team watched the match together and was cheering every move made by the Mumbai team. ''It was so good, I think first of all it was nice to see that everyone was here from the start of the game, so we watched it together,'' he said.''We were all shouting for every wicket that Mumbai got and then when they are chasing every boundary. It's good for everyone to watch together and then the celebration towards the end was awesome to be a part of.'' RCB will now take on third-placed Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator at Edens Gardens on May 25. ''The last game we played we felt almost like we played our best game of cricket of this campaign so far and that is how you want to enter the knockout stages, so we needed someone to do us a favor and Mumbai did that for us, we are very thankful for that,'' Du Plessis said.''Obviously, now the work starts again, and we get our work mode back on.'' RCB has never won the IPL and allrounder Glenn Maxwell feels the team is very close to achieving that dream. ''Amazing result for us tonight. There is just one small step in us going further, we are that close to making history for RCB in this tournament. We needed another team, but from now on it's all us.'—PTI

''Thank you, Mumbai, we will remember this one,'' said Virat Kohli after Royal Challengers Bangalore sneaked into the playoffs following Mumbai Indians' thrilling five-wicket win over Delhi Capitals in their last game of the IPL here.

Thank you, Mumbai, we will remember this one: Kohli after MI's win

Mumbai: &nbsp;Several Chennai Super Kings players have conceded following the team's failed campaign in IPL 2022 that they "did not play" to their expectations, which ultimately contributed to the four-time IPL champions finishing a dismal ninth this season. The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led defending champions won just four of their 14 league games, finishing only above five-time IPL winners Mumbai Indians. "Many people would be saying that we did not have luck going our way or we did not have things going our way. I would be very honest and tell them that we did not play to our expectations. But, as I said, we have to accept things and move forward," said CSK opener Ruturaj Gaikwad, the Orange Cap winner for scoring the most runs (635) in the 2021 IPL season.One of the main reasons for CSK's poor performance this season was Gaikwad's indifferent form, but the 25-year-old Maharashtra cricketer said that the team will come back stronger next season."You (CSK fans) have our backs. We will come out of this year really stronger next year," he added.CSK's prolific run-getter, New Zealand's Devon Conway, told CSK TV that, "We all know it wasn't quite our year this time. We can accept that and move on. We will bounce back next year. It's not because of lack of trying or practice, we just didn't quite play at our best this year. Things will be better next year, for sure."Young right-arm pace bowler Simarjeet Singh indicated that during the latter part of the IPL 2022 season, self-doubts had started creeping into the minds of the players after a series of losses in spite of due processes being followed. "When you lose, even if the process that you followed was the right one, you tend to question it. In hindsight, you feel as if you could have done things in a different way. But, we all are trying to learn something from this. From every game, if we try to extract as many learnings as possible, that will hold us in good stead," said Singh.Sri Lankan pace bowler Maheesh Theekshana felt that despite the failed season, it was important the players don't lose trust in their ability ahead of the next IPL season. "All the guys really did well, but we were not consistent. Like MS Dhoni says, trust in your ability, do what you can do, result does not matter. The process matters," said Theekshana. On a positive note, batter Shivam Dube, who played some good innings, said, "The story is not complete yet. It is not over."—IANS

Several Chennai Super Kings players have conceded following the team's failed campaign in IPL 2022 that they "did not play" to their expectations, which ultimately contributed to the four-time IPL champions finishing a dismal ninth this season.

CSK players concede they had self-doubts after a string of losses

Bhubaneswar: Gokulam Kerala maintained their top spot in the Indian Women's League after beating Sports Odisha 7-1 here on Sunday. Striker Elshaddai Acheampong scored four goals, while winger Soumya Guguloth netted two and set up two more and Manisha scored one to help the Malabarians to yet another massive win. The defending champions made a quick start, getting the lead as soon as the 5th minute of the game. Elshaddai found the net perfectly when she ran onto Soumya's cross after a touch from Grace inside the box.Elshaddai soon doubled the lead for Gokulam Kerala on the 23rd minute. Sports Odisha were able to pull one back within a minute, when Pyari Xaxa slammed in her shot from outside the box into the top corner. However, it turned out to be a mere consolation goal. Just before the half time whistle, Manisha scored the third with a curler from Elshaddai's missed header, making it 3-1 for Gokulam going into the breather.After the breather, Gokulam Kerala took full control of the game. As the game crossed the hour mark, Soumya scored two goals in quick succession in the 64th and 68th minute, respectively, to make it a brace for herself. Elshaddai finished off the drubbing in the closing embers of the game, scoring on the 78th and 87th minute to make it 7-1 in favour of the Malabarians.After this win, Gokulam Kerala have 30 points from 10 straight wins in the league. As it stands, the league will be decided on May 26, with the winners of the game between Gokulam Kerala and Sethu FC taking the title.—PTI

Gokulam Kerala maintained their top spot in the Indian Women's League after beating Sports Odisha 7-1 here on Sunday.

Gokulam Kerala in seventh heaven against Sports Odisha

Berlin: Leipzig came from behind despite a numerical disadvantage, shocking passive Freiburg 4-2 (1-1) on penalties to clinch their first-ever title in the club history following the 79th German Cup final at Berlin Olympia stadium. Both teams started highly motivated in the encounter on Saturday night, yet the spectators had to wait until the 14th minute to see the first clear-cut chance as Emil Forsberg tested Freiburg goalkeeper Mark Flekken from a tight angle The opener was scored at the other end of the pitch five minutes later when Maximilian Eggestein hammered a loose ball from the edge of the box past Leipzig custodian Peter Gulacsi, Xinhua reports.Leipzig should have levelled the scores in the 24th minute but Christopher Nkunku couldn’t take advantage of Nicolas Hofler’s misplaced pass. After the restart, the ‘Red Bulls’ started where they left off as Nkunku’s turn shot forced Flekken into action once again in the 50th minute. Leipzig’s game suffered a heavy setback in the 57th minute when Marcel Halstenberg committed a professional foul to receive his marching orders. Freiburg gained momentum and pushed forward but Vincenzo Grifo, as well as Roland Sallai, rattled only the side netting in quick succession at the hour mark.However, as the match progressed, Freiburg reduced their offensive actions and got flabbergasted by resilient Leipzig, who restored parity through Nkunku out of thin air. Ten-man Leipzig sparked to life and pressed uninspired Freiburg on the back foot. The ‘Breisgauers’ defended deep in their territory and had a lot of work to reach the overtime. In the overtime, Freiburg assumed control again and squared two promising opportunities by substituting Yannick Haberer against smart defending Leipzig.However, after 120 minutes and a 1-1 stalemate the penalty shoot-out had to bring the decision. Ten-man Leipzig kept their nerves from the spot and snatched the title as Freiburg’s Christian Gunter and Ermedin Demirovic couldn’t convert their penalties. “This is nuts. We played over 60 minutes with 10 men and staged a terrible performance in the first half. It is unbelievable. This is the first title in our club history,” said Leipzig’s sporting director Oliver Mintzlaff.—IANS

Leipzig came from behind despite a numerical disadvantage, shocking passive Freiburg 4-2 (1-1) on penalties to clinch their first-ever title in the club history following the 79th German Cup final at Berlin Olympia stadium.

Ten-man Leipzig secure comeback win over Freiburg to lift German Cup

New Delhi (The Hawk): Minister of State for Sports ShriNisith Pramanik and Minister of State for Railways Smt. Darshana Jardosh laid the foundation stone of the Sports Authority of India National Centre of Excellence in Coochbehar on Saturday. A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed between SAI and the Ministry of Railways on the occasion.Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Anurag Singh Thakur&nbsp;joined the event virtually, alongside Tokyo Olympics medallists Neeraj Chopra and Lovlina Borgohain. Also in attendance during the occasion in Coochbehar included Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Men’s hockey team players Manpreet Singh and Nilakanta Sharma, Women’s hockey team players Salima Tete and Nikki Pradhan as well as North Bengal’s very own local favourite heptathlon athlete Swapna Barman.&nbsp;Shri Anurag Thakur said that Initiatives like Target Olympic Podium Scheme and Khelo India scheme have made it sure to do the best possible for athletes. "Opening of this NCOE is another big step taken especially by Nisith Pramanik ji and Darshana ji. We wanted to make one of the best sporting facilities in North Bengal and today, the foundation stone has been laid. This will help over 1000 athletes get the training who will in return help India reach new heights in the sporting arena", Shri Thakur added.<img src="https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/userfiles/image/image002DUYI.jpg">Expressing his delight while laying the foundation stone of this High Performance Centre, Shri Pramanik said, “Today is a historic day for the development of sports not just in North Bengal but also for India. I thank Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, whose vision made this sports hub possible here. In every region, from north to south and east to west, Modiji has been envisioning the overall development of sports. Before March 2024, we want to inaugurate the NCOE here in the presence of Shri Modi ji.<img src="https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/userfiles/image/image00355SY.jpg">"We believe in positivity. There are numerous talents here. We want champions here across every nook and corner. Therefore, we are making available the best of infrastructure here. Let us work together to make the best of facilities for our future champions. We want to develop 10 more Khelo India Centres in North Bengal," added Shri Pramanik.<img src="https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/userfiles/image/image0043GJK.jpg">Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra asserted the role this NCOE will play in building more future champions. "When athletes are starting out, they need a lot of infrastructure facilities. When I started out, there weren't much facilities in my village, but things have changed now," mentioned Neeraj Chopra virtually during the event. "I thank Anurag sir, Nisith sir and Darshana ma'am for establishing the SAI centre. I wish this NCOE all the best and I hope that a lot of future champions emerge from this centre who will make our country proud."The National Centre of Excellence will provide aspiring athletes of Coochbehar with excellent sporting facilities, besides providing top class coaching facilities covering 12 sports disciplines. NCOE Coochbehar also has a 100-bedded Hostel for athletes including Kitchen, Dining hall, a Recreational Zone, as well as a Residential Area for Staff. It also has both an Outdoor training area and Indoor Sporting facilities.Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Ravi Kumar Dahiya mentioned this NCOE is a big step in developing grassroots athletes. "I want to thank both Railways and Govt of India. This is a massive step for developing grassroots athletes. Many athletes emerging from here will make the the country proud."Boxer Lovlina Borgohain mentioned she is looking forward to visiting the centre soon. "A SAI NCOE in North Bengal is a fantastic opportunity for athletes. I myself am indebted to SAI for the role they played in my life when I started out with the SAI Guwahati center. If I can, I will really want to go to Coochbehar and meet the young athletes training in the NCOE," Lovlina said.Manpreet Singh, captain of the Men's Hockey Team that won the bronze medal in Tokyo Olympics, emphasized the importance of the NCOE in modern sports. "I want to thank the Government for starting this NCOE in Coochbehar. There will be 12 sports disciplines featuring here, world class coaching facilities, best equipments, great facilities, and so on. This is very important in modern sports. The Khelo India scheme has also helped in awareness of sports across universities. There are many youngsters I've come across who are in national camps due to Khelo India. We're going in the right way."Local favourite Swapna Barman said, "It's a big dream come true for sports in North Bengal and it has become a reality. I cannot thank the Government, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Indian Railways and Sports Authority of India more for this."With the establishment of this centre, SAI will now have a total of 24 NCOEs across the country. The NCOEs impart specialized training to promising athletes by providing state of the art infrastructure and playing facilities, sports science support, individualized diet prescribed by trained nutritionists and overall supervision under the best coaches, qualified support staff and High Performance Directors.

Minister of State for Sports ShriNisith Pramanik and Minister of State for Railways Smt. Darshana Jardosh laid the foundation stone of the Sports Authority of India National Centre of Excellence in Coochbehar on Saturday. A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed between SAI and the Ministry of Railways on the occasion.

Foundation stone laid for SAI National Centre of Excellence in Dist Coochbehar 

Mumbai: Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma admitted that a lot of things did not go his way with the bat, but he won’t lose sleep over his "disappointing" season as he is just a "minor adjustment" away from regaining form. Rohit endured his worst IPL season, failing to score a single half-century for the first time since his debut in the inaugural edition in 2008. The swashbuckling opener aggregated just 248 runs, at an average of 19.14 and a strike rate of 120.17, in 14 outings. "A lot of things that I wanted to do didn't happen. I am very disappointed with my season. But this has happened with me earlier as well, so it's not something I am going through for the first time," said Rohit, after Mumbai Indians ended their campaign in IPL 2022 with a five-wicket win over Delhi Capitals in Mumbai on Saturday."I know cricket doesn't end here; there is a lot of cricket ahead, so I need to take care of the mental aspect and think about how I can return to form and perform."It's only a minor adjustment and I will try to work on that whenever there is some time off," he added.The most successful team in the IPL, Mumbai Indians ended up last in the 10-team league this year. After starting their campaign with eight consecutive losses, they scored four wins in the second half of the season."It was a bit of a disappointing season for us as we couldn't execute our plans at the start of the tournament. And we know that in tournaments like the IPL you have to build that momentum."Initially, when we kept losing games one after another, that was a difficult time. For us what was important was to make sure that whatever we had planned; we came out and tried those things. It didn't happen exactly the way we wanted to."The India skipper said the players, perhaps, struggled to adjust to the new team dynamics."But it happens sometimes when you have a new team as some players take some time to understand their roles. Certain guys were playing for the first time for this franchise. "And they play different roles when they play for their country, for their state, or in different leagues. And when they come here, they get different roles. So it takes a little time to get adjusted."—PTI

Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma admitted that a lot of things did not go his way with the bat, but he won’t lose sleep over his "disappointing" season as he is just a "minor adjustment" away from regaining form.

Rohit a 'minor adjustment' away from regaining form

New Delhi (The Hawk): The Prime Minister interacted with Thomas Cup and Uber Cup team of the badminton champions, who shared their experiences from the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup. The players talked about different aspects of their game, life beyond badminton and more.Kidambi Srikanth talked about the great feeling among the player about being recognized by the Prime Minister in such a proud way. The Prime Minister asked the team captain about his leadership style and challenges. Srikanth told that individually, everyone was performing great and the task was to bring out their best as a team. He also expressed his happiness over the privilege of playing the crucial deciding match. On being asked by the Prime Minister about his world number 1 ranking and Gold in Thomas Cup, the ace shuttler said that both the milestones were his dreams and he is delighted to have achieved them. The Prime Minister said that due to not so great performance in earlier years, Thomas cup was not very much talked about and he said it took sometime in the country to sink in the enormity of the achievement of this team. The Prime Minister said “On behalf of the entire country I congratulate you and your entire team as after decades, Indian flag has been firmly planted. This not a small feat…Keeping the nerve and team together under the tremendous pressure is something that I can understand very well. I congratulated you on phone but now I am feeling the joy of complimenting you in person”.Satwiksairaj Rankireddy conveyed the elation and tribulation of the last ten days. He recalled the memorable support that he got from the team and support staff. He said that the team is still re-living the moments of victory. The Prime Minister shared their happiness and recalled the tweets of the team members who slept with their medal on them, totally sleepless with joy. Rankireddy also explained the review of performance with his coaches. The Prime Minister complimented his adaptability according to the situation. The Prime Minister wished him well for future goals.Chirag Shetty also narrated his journey of the tournament and recalled coming to PM residence with Olympic Contingent. The Prime Minister said that he noted the disappointment among few players when some of them could not win a medal at the Olympics. However, he also recalled that the players were determined and now they have proved all the expectation correct. “One defeat is not the end, one needs determination and passion in life. Victory is natural outcome for such people, you have shown that”, he said. The Prime Minister told the team that they will win many more medals in the course of time. The have to play a lot and bloom (khelna bhi hai khilna bhi hai) and have to take the country into the world of sports. “Now India can’t lag behind. Your victories are inspiring the generations for sports”, The Prime Minister added.The Prime Minister thanked Lakshya Sen for bringing ‘Bal Mithai’ as promised during the telephone call immediately after the victory. Lakshya recalled that he earlier met the Prime Minister after winning in Youth Olympics and now after Thomas Cup wins. He said that players feel deeply motivated after such meetings. “I want to keep winning medals for India and keep meeting you like this”, said the young badminton ace. The Prime Minister inquired about the bout of food poisoning that Lakshya faced during the tournament.&nbsp;When asked about his advice for young children who are taking up the sport, Lakshya asked them to devote their full attention to training. The Prime Minister asked Lakshya to recall his strength and balance that he deployed when faced with the trauma of food poisoning and remember the lessons learnt for harnessing his strength and resolve.HS Prannoy said that this is even a more proud moment as the team could win the prestigious tournament in the 75th&nbsp;year of India’s independence. He said that pressure was immense in the quarter final and semi-final and he was happy that that could be overcome due to the support of the team.&nbsp;The Prime Minister recognized the warrior in Prannoy and said that his attitude for victory is his great strength. Prime Minister greeted the youngest of the lot, Unnati Hooda who complimented the Prime Minister for never discriminating between medallists and non-medallists. The Prime Minister praised her determination and asked about the special quality of Haryana soil that produces so many quality athletes. Unnati replied that diet of ‘Doodh Dhai’ is the main factor to the delight of everyone present. The Prime Minister told her that he firmly believes that Unnati will shine as&nbsp;her name indicates. He told her that she has a long way to go and she should never allow victories to make her feel complacent.Treesa Jolly told about the excellent family support she received for her sporting quest. The Prime Minister said that the country is proud of the way that our women team played in the Uber Cup.In conclusion, the Prime Minister said that this team has infused tremendous energy in the country by winning the Thomas cup. A long wait of seven decades finally came to an end. ‘Whosoever understands Badminton, must have dreamt about this, a dream that has been fulfilled by you’ “Such successes inject great energy and confidence in the entire sporting ecosystem of the country. Your victory has done something that cannot be accomplished by greatest of the coaches or the oratory of the leaders”, Shri Modi said.Referring to Uber Cup, the Prime Minister said while we wait for victory we will also make arrangement for that. He expressed the belief that the quality athletes of the present team will soon get better results. “Our women team has shown their time and again their class. It is just a matter of time, if not this time, next time we will surely win”, he added.In the 75th&nbsp;year of Independence, these victories and reaching the peak of success fills every Indian with great pride. He said ‘I can do it’ is the mood of New India. More than bothering about the competition, it is important to focus on one’s own performance, he said. He said now pressure of expectation will increase which is alright and they should not cave under the pressure of the expectations of the country. “We need to convert pressure into energy. We should treat it as encouragement”, he saidIn the last 7-8 years, the Prime Minister pointed out, our players have created new records. He noted the sterling performances in Olympics, Paralympics and Deaflympics. Today, mindset is changing with regard to sports, he said. A new atmosphere is coming up. “This is like a golden chapter in India’s sporting history and champions like you and players of your generation are the authors of this. We need to keep this momentum going”, The Prime Minister assured the athletes of the country all the support.

The Prime Minister interacted with Thomas Cup and Uber Cup team of the badminton champions, who shared their experiences from the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup. The players talked about different aspects of their game, life beyond badminton and more.