Kerala Blasters will look to set their house in order when they take on Jamshedpur FC in an Indian Super League game here on Tuesday.

The two-time finalists were expected to turn around their fortunes after failure to qualify for the play-offs last season. But since their opening round win against ATK, they have only gone downhill.

David James’ side can still qualify for the play-offs as one of the four-best teams but they must first start winning, starting with a home clash against Jamshedpur at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

This is Kerala’s worst winless run (8 matches) in ISL history and much of it has been their own doing. James’ men have lost seven points from winning positions this season after conceding late goals.

“We have been very close in a lot of games. Early on in the season, there were a few decisions that didn’t go our way. Perhaps we could have created more chances.

“As a head coach, I want to win every game and want the fans to be entertained. The way we recruited, we weren’t expecting to reach the finals in year one. The first game versus ATK proved that we could win. All we can do as coaching staff and players is give our 100 per cent,” said James.

If Kerala fall to yet another loss on Tuesday, the task of reaching the play-offs could become hard, given that the cut-off last season was 30 points and Kerala would have only eight points with just eight games left to be played.

James would be encouraged by the news that Courage Pekuson and Slavisa Stojanovic have returned to training.

They will be up against Jamshedpur FC, who too aren’t in the best of form coming into this tie. They have lost only one game but have played out six draws in 10 games, which has held them back.

The Men of Steel failed to score for the first time this season in their last game against NorthEast United which finished goalless.

Clearly, they are missing the services of attacking midfielder Sergio Cidoncha, who has scored and assisted three times.

“I think Kerala could play very well. They didn’t deserve to draw their matches. They have a good team and have a good coach. They are playing in front of their supporters. But we are ready to play,” said coach Cesar Ferrando.

The Spaniard hasn’t afforded much game-time to star Tim Cahill who is yet to play 90 minutes this season. The Australian striker has scored a single goal in 329 minutes with the strike coming against Blasters in the reverse fixture.

“Tim is playing very well. He has come from Australia only 10 days ago. I think he’ll be ready for tomorrow. We need his help,” said the coach.

As Blasters will go for jugular in order to revive their flailing season, Jamshedpur FC will look to come unscathed from this battle.

IANS

Mumbai The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on Monday announced that it will visit India in search of the next generation of WWE Superstars by holding the first-ever talent tryout here in March 2019.

The four-day tryout will give up to 40 athletes from the country the opportunity to showcase their abilities with the goal of being selected to begin training at the state-of-the-art WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, U.S.

The talent pool will comprise elite performers with a diverse background in sports and athletics including kushti, kabaddi, wrestling, American Football, basketball, combat sports, cricket and bodybuilding.

“India has an extremely large and passionate fanbase and remains a top priority for WWE as we continue to localise content globally,” said Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events & Creative.

“I am confident this latest talent tryout will result in a world-class pool of athletes ready to pursue their dream of becoming the next WWE Superstar from India,” he added.

From Monday, the official WWE recruitment website at www.wweperformancecenter.com is available in Hindi.

Tailored to athletes who are interested in pursuing a career in sports-entertainment, the website features information about the WWE recruitment process and provides a detailed look at what day-to-day life is like for NXT Superstars and members of the WWE Performance Center roster.

The online hub includes step-by-step instructions on how to apply for a tryout, as well as access to the official application form.

(IANS)

New Delhi Mumbai City FC turned the match on its head in the second session and consigned Delhi Dynamos to their sixth defeat in the Indian Super League (ISL) season with a 4-2 victory at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium here on Monday.

Last year, this fixture had produced six goals, with Delhi winning 5-1. It produced six goals again but Mumbai had the last laugh this time around.

A Souvik Chakraborty’s own-goal (3′) had given Delhi the lead before Mumbai turned it around in the second-half through a Rafael Bastos penalty (49′) and an own goal from Marti Crespi (61′). Gianni Zuiverloon (64′) restored parity for Delhi but Raynier Fernandes (69′) and Paulo Machado (80′) put the result beyond any doubt for the visitors.

The victory sees Mumbai climb the fourth spot in the table, while Delhi Dynamos are rooted to the bottom without a win to their name.

It took an own goal from Souvik to put Delhi ahead when a cross from Lallianzuala Chhangte was deflected into the back of the net. They could have doubled the lead in the 17th minute when Chhangte crossed from the left for Nandhakumar but the winger’s shot was aimed skywards.

Delhi were lucky to survive midway into the first-half when Rafael Bastos’ right footed goal-bound effort was fisted away by goalkeeper Albino Gomes.

Mumbai struggled to get a foothold into the game especially in the middle of the park and coach Jorge Costa replaced Milan Singh to bring on Raynier Fernandes.

For all of Delhi’s possession, they only had one shot on target which was through an own goal.

Mumbai started the second-half well, though. In the 49th minute, Delhi captain Pritam Kotal was guilty of handling a shot from Bastos. The Brazilian made no mistake from the spot and helped Mumbai equalize to make it 1-1.

Just at the hour mark, Bastos played a brilliant through-ball for Sougou, but Crespi just about managed to clear the danger.

Mumbai took the lead in the 61st minute as Crespi scored an own goal. This was after Paulo Machado’s cross was looped into the far corner by Crespi as a desperate Gomes tried to keep the ball out but to no avail.

Three minutes later, Delhi restored parity. Rene Mihelic’s free-kick was expertly headed into the net by Zuiverloon. But it all went downhill for Delhi from then on.

Paulo Machado was the tormentor-in-chief as his square ball into the box was brilliantly steered in by Raynier to put Mumbai ahead again in the 69th minute.

Mumbai continued their ascendancy and got another in the 80th minute. Arnold Issoko broke forward on the right wing before picking out Machado’s lung-bursting run into the box. The Portuguese midfielder turned it in from close-range to put the game to bed.

(IANS)

 India recovered from a slow start to produce a superb second half performance and hold title contenders Belgium to a 2-2 draw in a crucial Pool C match of the FIH World Cup here on Sunday.

India have thus given themselves a very good chance to earn direct qualification to the quarter-finals. The Belgians were the favourites to win this encounter, but the Indians did well to stage a spirited comeback and earn a well-deserved point.

The hosts are now at the top of Pool C, edging Belgium to the second spot on goal difference. Both teams have four points after winning their respective campaign openers in contrasting fashion.

Alexander Hendrickx drew first blood for Belgium when he fired a penalty corner through the legs of Indian goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh in the eighth minute.

Harmanpreet Singh scored the equaliser for India off a penalty stroke in the 39th minute before Simranjeet Singh put them in the lead in the 47th.

But Florent van Aubel earned a point for the 2016 Rio Olympics silver medallists when he scored Belgium’s second goal in the 56th minute.

Earlier in the day, Canada and South Africa played out a 1-1 draw in another Pool C match.

Nqobile Ntuli gave South Africa the lead in the 43rd minute before Scott Tupper (45th minute) restored parity just two minutes later.

Belgium started in explosive fashion and dominated the first half. But the Indians gradually found their rhythm and put in a much improved performance after half-time.

Belgium were challenging the Indian defence right from the start. At the other end of the pitch, the Indian forwards were finding it difficult to even penetrate into the Belgium penalty circle.

The best chance for the hosts in the opening quarter came just before the first break when an excellent pass to Mandeep Singh at the goalmouth was blocked out by Belgian goalkeeper Loic van Doren.

Most of the Indian attacks were coming down the right flank with the experienced Chinglensana Singh at the heart of many of the moves.

The Belgium defenders were hardly allowing any space to the Indians. As a result, the hosts were finding it difficult to maintain possession around the Europeans’ penalty area.

The Indian defence also were good with their man marking, but they were being stretched by the intelligent off the ball movement of the Belgian players.

The first penalty corner for the hosts came around five minutes into the third quarter after one of the rare occasions when an Indian counter-attack caught the Belgian defence off guard.

The second Indian penalty corner a short while later hit a Belgian defender on his foot right on the goal line and the umpire had no hesitation in awarding a penalty stroke to the hosts.

Harmanpreet stepped forward to coolly slot the ball past van Doren as the crowd erupted in a frenzy of wild celebration.

Lalit Upadhyay missed an excellent chance in the 45th minute when Varun Kumar snatched the ball from a Belgian player and executed an accurate loft to him just in front of the Europeans’ goal. But Lalit, who was totally unmarked with only van Doren to beat, failed to trap the ball.

If the rather noisy crowd were disappointed by that miss, they found reason for yet another round of wild celebrations only a short while later when the Indians scored their second goal.

Kothajit Singh made a run into the Belgian penalty circle from the right and fired a pass across the face of the goal. The ball evaded a host of sticks — both Indian and Belgian — before an unmarked Simranjeet tapped it in at the far post.

Despite trailing, Belgium did well to maintain pressure on the Indian defence and were eventually rewarded for their persistence.

With just four minutes to go, Florent van Aubel silenced the crowd when he beat Sreejesh with a powerful shot from just inside the Indian penalty circle.

IANS

Jamshedpur NorthEast United FC (NEUFC) continued with their slow but steady progress in the Indian Super League (ISL) despite a frustrating goalless draw against Jamshedpur FC at the JRD Tata Sports Complex, here on Saturday.

The defences proved to be too sturdy to break down as the teams cancelled out each other at the end of 90 minutes. The hard-earned point also consolidated Jamshedpur’s fourth spot and preserved their unbeaten run at home this season.

Both side’s defences stayed compact and made it hard for the opposing strikers to make runs in behind the backline. Clear-cut chances were few and far between in the first half.

In the second half, Federico Gallego and Provat Lakra combined well on the right flank and caused a nervy moment for the hosts inside the box in the 57th minute. The former teased a ball towards the far post and Tiri produced an overhead kick to clear the ball away from danger.

A minute later, Gallego surged into the box and sent a powerful shot at goal that forced the game’s first save, off Jamshedpur custodian Subrata Paul.

At the other end, Memo was treated to a fine chance inside the box from a corner kick in the 61st minute. The delivery into the box found Memo in the centre but Gallego’s sliding block denied the midfielder a goal.

In the 70th minute, Farukh Choudhary sprinted down the right flank and fed the ball to Mobashir Rahman who was positioned at the edge of the box. The young midfielder hit a dipping volley that flew inches over the crossbar.

Ogbeche had a late chance to get a winner after Tiri lost the ball in a dangerous area but the Nigerian’s weak attempt was blocked away as the teams settled for a point each.

(IANS)

New Delhi Maintaining his superb form, Siddharth Desai collected 19 raid points and guided U Mumba to a fantastic 41-34 victory over Dabang Delhi in a zone A contest of the ongoing Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) at the Thyagraj stadium here on Saturday.

U Mumba trailed by nine points in the first half but produced a solid performance in the second half. Hosts Dabang Delhi led for most of the match but their defence failed to contain Desai in the second half.

Naveen Kumar scored 12 points for Delhi but just like his team he had a quiet second half.

Delhi’s raiders got into the act early to give their team a 4-1 lead after four minutes. Vinod Kumar got a two-point raid as U Mumba reduced the deficit and trailed 3-4. Naveen and Chandran Ranjit put in successful raids as Dabang Delhi looked the better team and inflicted an all out in the 7th minute to lead 10-5.

U Mumba’s famed defence was having trouble to put in tackles as Naveen was in fine form. Rohit Baliyan put in excellent raids as U Mumba fought back to level the match at 11-11 after 13 minutes.

Naveen had different ideas though as he scored four raid points in five minutes as Delhi inflicted another all out to lead 21-13. At the end of the first half Delhi enjoyed a nine-point lead with the score reading 22-13.

U Mumba could score just two tackle points in the first half with skipper Fazel Atrachali having a really quiet game.

Siddharth got a super raid in at the start of the second half as the visitors started to mount a comeback. Fazel put in a strong tackle on Ranjit as U Mumba trailed 17-22.

Joginder Narwal’s strong tackle on Siddharth got Delhi two more points as it was a super tackle. Delhi led 26-19 after 27 minutes but were down to four men.

Desai made a brilliant super raid in the 30th minute, which got five points for U Mumba as they trailed 25-26. Naveen got his super 10 in the 33rd minute as Dabang Delhi held a slender 29-28 lead.

It was all square at 30-30 with less than four minutes to play as both teams continued to exchange points. U Mumba however, inflicted an all out in the 38th minute to lead 36-32 and that all out confirmed their victory.

A four-point raid by Siddharth in the 39th minute just added gloss to the scoreline as U Mumba asserted their supremacy in style.

(IANS)

 India opener Murali Vijay feels his game will flourish on the bouncy pitches in Australia after scoring a fine 129 on the fourth and final day of the only warm-up tie against Cricket Australia XI here on Saturday.

Vijay, who struggled in the Test series against England before being dropped from the India squad, hit 16 fours and five sixes enroute to his hundred.

“It was good to get some practice hitting over the boundary. I just took the chances which came my way. I wanted to be in a positive frame of mind since I knew that opportunities will be there. I have been working hard on my game and fitness, and am hoping to contribute in this series,” Vijay told reporters.

Vijay posted a 109-run stand with fellow opener Lokesh Rahul, who returned to form with a 62. The duo gave the Indian think tank something to cheer about after first-choice opener Prithvi Shaw got ruled out of the first Test in Adelaide due to an ankle injury.

“I am ready (after playing county cricket, tour matches in New Zealand and Australia). I just want to go out there, contribute and give a good start to my team. I have always been aiming for that and nothing is different this time,” Vijay said.

Vijay said he was excited about playing Test cricket on Australian soil again and is aiming to reproduce the good form he had displayed during the series here in 2014.

Asserting that he share a good co-ordination with Rahul since both of them hail from the same part of India, Vijay hoped that the duo will be able to carry their current momentum into the first Test.

“I like to play on the backfoot so Australian conditions suit my game. You get good bounce in Australia, so you can play your shots,” he said.

IANS

Bengaluru Bengaluru FC saw their winning run in the Indian Super League extend to six games after a pulsating clash against FC Pune City that finished 2-1 at the Sree Kanteerava stadium here on Friday.

Udanta Singh gave the hosts the early lead in the 11th minute but his sumptuous strike was cancelled out by an own goal by Rahul Bheke (15th minute). The Bengaluru right-back, however, slammed in a late winner (89th) to redeem himself and render a heroic defensive effort from Pune City void.

The win sends Bengaluru five points clear at the top of the table, while Pune remain ninth.

It were the hosts who took the early lead against the run of play in the 10th minute. Winger Udanta Singh sold Chhuantea Fanai a dummy with a step-over before cutting on to his left foot and unleashing an unstoppable shot past Kamaljit Singh.

That goal spurred Bengaluru to life with Sunil Chhetri and Chencho Gyeltshen coming close before Pune sneaked in an equaliser through a Rahul Bheke’s own goal. The Bengaluru defender could only turn the ball into his own net as he attempted to stop Marko Stankovic’s cross from the right flank from reaching an unmarked Robin Singh.

A quick Bengaluru breakaway initiated by Erik Paartalu almost saw Chhetri put the hosts back in front but he was denied by a combination of Kamaljit and Matt Mills as Pune breathed a sigh of relief.

The Blues assumed ascendancy in the game as the half progressed but Chencho and Chhetri were unable to break the deadlock, while Paartalu rattled the crossbar with a venomous strike as the first period drew to a close with the two teams level.

Bengaluru continued to search for the winner in the second period with Pune threatening too at the other end with efforts from Mills and Kuruniyan.

Cuadrat introduced Thongkhosiem Haokip for Chencho Gyeltshen in the last quarter as he looked to shake things up in attack. The Bengaluru coach was left scratching his head in frustration as Udanta got the better of Sahil Panwar before striking the near post with a fierce shot.

The hosts poured forward in search of a goal but were left increasingly frustrated as Pune’s defence stood tall in the second period with Chhetri and Co. continuing to be denied. Kamaljit pulled off a couple of good saves, including a vital one off Haokip’s close-range effort.

In the end, Bengaluru’s blushes were saved by Bheke in the dying minutes. Harmanjot Khabra did well to keep a long ball in play from the right flank. Khabra’s hopeful volley-back towards the goal saw Bheke ghost in unmarked and slam the ball into an empty net to spark joyous scenes in Bengaluru.

(IANS)

Sydney In a major blow to the Test series preparations, India’s promising opening batsman Prithvi Shaw suffered an injury in the warm up game against Cricket Australia (CA) XI at the Sydney Cricket Ground here on Friday.

Prithvi suffered a left ankle injury while attempting a catch at the boundary ropes during the third day of the warm up game.

“(Prithvi) Shaw underwent scans this morning and the reports revealed a lateral ligament injury. Shaw will be unavailable for the First Test against Australia in Adelaide,” BCCI said in a statement.

“He will undergo an intensive rehabilitation program to hasten the recovery and be available for selection at the earliest,” it added.

India is set to play its first Test match against Australia from December 6 in Adelaide.

(IANS)

Ireland and Afghanistan are all set to play three Twenty20 Internationals, five One-Day Internationals and a one-off Test in February-March next year in Dehradun, India, the ICC announced on Friday.

It will be Ireland’s first overseas Test match, and the second Test match for the two newest teams at the highest level. Earlier in 2018, Ireland started out at home against Pakistan, losing by five wickets, while Afghanistan took on India in Bengaluru and went down by an innings and 262 runs, according to the International Cricket Council’s website.

The matches will be played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.

“The Afghanistan series is a major step forward for Irish cricket as the tour is our first major tour as a Full Member. It will no doubt be a test for the entire squad – taking on Afghanistan in subcontinent conditions will require a level of adjustment by both our batting and bowling units,” Ireland batsman Andrew Balbirnie said after the itinerary was finalised.

“As we saw here at home in the summer, Afghanistan is a quality side with some world class players, and will be a great challenge in their ‘home’ conditions,” he added.

(IANS)