The lineup for the 2018-19 Champions League has been set as Benfica, PSV Eindhoven and Red Star Belgrade have qualified for Europe’s elite club competition.

After managing only a 1-1 draw at home in the first leg, Benfica were far from assured of advancing against PAOK Salonika, who opened the scoring Wednesday night with a goal by Aleksandar Prijovic in the 13th minute, reports Efe news.

Jardel responded for the visitors seven minutes later, heading-in a corner, and Benfica surged ahead in the 26th minute on a penalty.

Eduardo Salvio converted from the line after PAOK goalkeeper Alexandros Paschalakis brought down an attacker in the box in desperation after failing to gather in the ball.

Pizzi increased Benfica’s advantage to 3-1 with a goal in the 39th minute and Salvio completed the brace four minutes into the second half, again from the penalty spot.

PAOK tried to get back on terms, but whatever chance they had disappeared with the expulsion of Leo Matos in the 76th minute, clearing the way for Benfica to advance 5-2 on aggregate.

In Eindhoven, PSV began with a 3-2 edge over BATE Borisov after winning the first leg in Belarus and added to their advantage just 14 minutes into the contest, as Steven Bergwijn redirected a ball from Luuk de Jong, who went on to score himself in the 36th.

Hirving Lozano got a goal in the 61st minute to seal the 6-2 aggregate victory.

The day’s most exciting contest unfolded in Salzburg, where Red Bull hosted Red Star Belgrade with everything to play for following the 0-0 first leg in the Serbian capital.

The hosts had the better of the chances in the first half and took the lead right before the break on a goal by Moanes Dabour, who converted from the penalty spot three minutes into the second period to give Salzburg a 2-0 advantage.

But Red Star’s Ben Nabouhane turned the game on its head, scoring in the 65th and 66th minutes to make it 2-2, and the Serbian side qualified by virtue of the away goals.

(Ians)

India’s Sandeep Kumar was disqualified during the men’s 50 kilometre race walk at the 18th Asian Games here on Thursday.

Sandeep received three official warnings during the race which led to his disqualification.

Hayato Katsuki of Japan won gold with a time of four hours, three minutes and 30 seconds. Wang Qin of China took silver with a time of 4:06:48 while South Korea’s Joo Hyunmyeong clocked 4:10:21 to bag the bronze medal.

Katsuki was trailing during the initial stages of the race before taking the lead at the 45km mark which he held till the end.

(Ians)

Serena Williams, former world No. 1 and seeded 17th in the tournament, maintained her good performance at the US Open to advance to the third round by winning 6-2, 6-2 against German Carina Witthoeft.

The youngest of the Williams sisters needed only 67 minutes to seal the victory on Wednesday as she attacked her German rival with 13 aces, 30 total winners and 15 unforced errors in the second match she ever had against Witthoeft, the world No. 101, with a score of 2-0 in the series, reports Efe news.

The next rival of the six-time champion of the US Open will be her older sister Venus, 16th-seeded and two-time winner of the last Grand Slam of the year, where she beat the Italian Camila Giorgi 6-4 and 7-5.

Venus went to the third round in the US Open for the 17th time in her career and for the fifth consecutive year.

The duel between the two sisters, who share in total 30 Grand Slam titles, 23 by Serena and seven by Venus, will become the great attraction of the third round.

The Williams sisters will meet for the 30th time as professionals in the two decades they have been competing, including five times before on the Flushing Meadows court.

But the next round will be the second time in which they face each other as rivals in the third round of a Grand Slam, following the match at the 1998 Australian Open, their first professional match they played

Mouma Das crashed out of the women’s singles table tennis competition at the 2018 Asian Games here on Thursday.

The 34-year-old Indian paddler suffered a 0-4 defeat against Taiwan’s Szuyu Chen in a Round of 32 affair.

Chen outclassed Mouma 11-6, 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 to advance to the pre-quarters of the competition.

India’s Manika Batra will be up against Thailand’s Nanthana Komwong in another Round of 32 match later on Thursday.

India’s Dutee Chand grabbed the silver medal in the women’s 200 metres race at the 18th Asian Games here on Wednesday.

Dutee clocked 23.20 seconds to finish behind Bahrain’s Edidiong Odiong, who claimed the gold medal in 22.96 seconds.

Wei Yongli won the bronze medal with a timing of 23.27 seconds.

Indian boxers Amit Panghal and Vikas Krishan notched up contrasting victories to enter the semi-finals of their respective weight categories at the 18th Asian Games here on Wednesday.

Both of them thus ensured a spot on the podium for themselves as the losers in the last four stage are awarded bronze medals.

In the quarter-finals, Amit overpowered Kim Jang Ryong of North Korea by a unanimous 5-0 decision in the men’s light flyweight (49 kilogram) category.

Vikas faced a much tougher challenge against Tuoheta Erbieke Tanglatihan of China in the men’s middleweight (75kg) division. The Indian was stretched to the limit by his agile and technically strong opponent before eking out a narrow 3-2 win.

In the semi-finals, Amit will take on Paalam Carlo of the Philippines while Vikas will face Kazakhstan’s Amankul Abilkhan.

But there was bad news for Indian fans in the women’s section as Sarjubala Devi lost 0-5 to Chang Yuan of China in the 51kg quarter-finals.

Amit was far superior for his opponent and dominated all the three rounds. The bout saw a fast opening round with both boxers coming up with repeated barrage of punches.

Amit repeatedly used a low guard in an attempt to draw the Korean in and create gaps in his defence. At the same time, the Indian’s quickness and superior technique allowed him to maintain a strong defence.

The Indian Army boxer continued to beat his opponent’s defence and land punches at regular intervals in the second round.

The third round followed a similar pattern as Amit emerged a deserving 5-0 winner.

Vikas’ middleweight quarter-final bout saw a slow start with both boxers reluctant to be too adventurous, preferring to sit back and size up their opponent instead.

Vikas managed to take the initial momentum when he landed a couple of scoring punches. The Chinese boxer tried to be more aggressive as the round neared its closing stages, but Vikas’ strong defence stood him in good stead.

Vikas however, suffered a cut above his left eye in the final minute of the opening round which seemed to affect his performance for the rest of the fight.

With Vikas struggling with the cut, Tuoheta dominated the second round. Needing a big comeback going into the third and final round, the Indian adopted a much aggressive approach. Both boxers ramped up the intensity and the fight saw an exciting finish.

After a morale-boosting win at Nottingham, India will be aiming to level the five-match rubber when they take on England in the fourth cricket Test starting at the Rose Bowl Ground here from Thursday.

After a narrow 31-run loss in the first Test at Edgbaston, the visitors suffered an innings defeat at Lord’s and were on the verge of losing the series. However, the Virat Kohli-led Indian team bounced back in the third Test to register an emphatic 203-run victory, keeping the series alive.

Kohli’s side still trail 1-2 in the series and will be eyeing to replicate their previous show to level the series before going to the decider.

On Thursday, the Indian skipper is most likely expected to stick with the winning combination.

Kohli currently leads the run charts with 440 runs, which includes two centuries and as many half-centuries and once again, the Indian batting will more or less depend on the 29-year-old.

Vice captain Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara scored 81 and 72 runs respectively in the third Test and both will need to repeat their performance here.

With Murali Vijay axed from the remainder of the series, Shikhar Dhawan and Lokesh Rahul would once again open India’s batting, while Hardik Pandya is likely to be retained in the playing XI after his all-round show in the third Test.

Hardik had bagged six wickets conceding 50 runs at Nottingham beside playing an unbeaten 52-run knock in the second innings.

In the bowling department, the visitors would in all likelihood opt for three pacers, keeping in mind the green-top laid out for the fourth Test.

The trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami returned a handful from the third Test, with Bumrah’s fifer ripping through the English batting order in the second essay.

Ravichandran Ashwin is expected to recover from his injury and will shoulder the responsibility as the lone spinner in the side, and in case of a forced change, left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja is already warming the bench for the first three Tests.

On the other hand, England will hope their misfiring opening combination of Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings to give them a decent start.

England’s batting so far, has revolved around the likes of skipper Joe Root, Jos Buttler and injured stumper Jonny Bairstow, who is expected to play as a specialist batsman in the fourth Test.

Batsman James Vince was called up to the England squad as cover for Bairstow, but there are growing calls for his inclusion into the playing eleven nevertheless.

The bowling unit will once again be on expected lines with the star pair of James Anderson and Stuart Broad leading the attack that comprises all-rounders Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes.

It will be interesting to see whether England will persist with leg-spinner Adil Rashid or bring in an additional batsman and part-time spinner in Moeen Ali to bolster their batting.

Squads:
India: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant (WK), Karun Nair, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Hanuma Vihari, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.

England: Joe Root (Captain), Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Jonny Bairstow (WK), Jos Buttler (WK), Oliver Pope, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Sam Curran, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes, Ben Stokes, James Vince.

The Indian women’s Sepaktakraw team lost to Vietnam 0-2 in their Group B Women’s Quadrant Preliminary round at the 18th Asian Games on Wednesday.

India were outplayed by their rivals 21-6, 21-12 in a lopsided encounter.

While they were brushed aside in the first set, the likes of Manisha Kumari impressed in the second dig with her blocks.

India were in the game till 13-8 but from there Vietnam started pulling away and had wasted three match points at 20-9 to eventually seal the tie 21-12.

India had lost to Malaysia 0-2 on Tuesday and succumbed to a 0-2 defeat at the hands of Japan as well.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday hailed the sportspersons on the occasion of the National Sports day and urged people to give priority to sports and fitness related activities.

Modi also paid tributes to Hockey legend Dhyan Chand, whose birth anniversary is commemorated as National Sports Day.

“Greetings to all sports enthusiasts on National Sports Day. Tributes to the phenomenal hockey player, Major Dhyan Chandji on his birth anniversary. I urge people to give priority to sports and fitness related activities, which will contribute towards a healthier India,” Modi said in a series of tweets.

“I salute all those who have represented India in various sporting events. Their hard work and resolve has led to several milestones. This year has been great for our sporting fraternity, with the Indian athletes excelling in various tournaments including Asian Games 2018 and Common Wealth Games,” he said.

(IANS)

The Indian mixed double teams advanced to the pre-quarters of the table tennis competition at the 2018 Asian Games here on Wednesday.

In the first Round of 32 match, Indian pair comprising Anthony Amalraj and Madhurika Patkar defeated Donny Aji and Lilis Indriani of Indonesia 3-1, at 11-4, 11-13, 11-8, 11-9.

In an another Round of 32 affair, India’s Sharath Kamal Achanta and Manika Batra hammered Malaysia’s Javen Choong and Karen Dick 3-0.

The Indian pair thrashed the Malaysians 11-2, 11-5, 11-8 to enter the pre-quarters.

The Indian teams’ pre-quarters will be held later on Wednesday.