1. England beat Spain 5-2 to Win First-ever U-17 Title.
A historic evening unfolded at the Salt Lake Stadium in the first ever all European final at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup as the `Young Lions` roared back from two goals down and beat Spain 5-2 to clinch their maiden title at this level.
England skipper Phil Foden chose the perfect platform to score a brace, while Rhian Brewster, Morgan White-Gibbs and Marc Guehi also got onto the score-sheet to help Steve Cooper`s bunch cancel out the early brace of Sergio Gomez.
As soon as the whistle blew, Kolkata knew it was in for a special evening and they welcomed it with tumultuous applause. England had played most of their games at this stadium in the tournament and were keen on keeping their most ardent Indian fans impressed.
They began in their usual hustle bustle style with Morgan Gibbs-White and Steven Sessegnon seeing their right footed shots blocked.
Soon, the Spanish Armada settled down, and in a matter of minutes they gave the Young Lions a taste of their own medicine. A cross from the left found captain Abel Ruiz, who brought it down with a deft touch for Sergio Gomez (10th minute) to beat England keeper Curtis Anderson, to silence the majority of the crowd. The Spanish bench celebrated as England trailed for the first time at this World Cup.
England with Phil Foden’s trickery down the right went in search of the equaliser, but it was Spain`s Mohammed Moukhliss who stole the ball at the centre circle and went through on goal before a heavy touch allowed Anderson to close him down.
The European champions were painting the Salt Lake Stadium red and as expected they doubled their advantage soon when a ferocious left footed volley from Sergio Gomez (31st minute) was too much to deal for the diving Anderson.
Spain’s famed passing game was in full flow, and captain Ruiz’s deft touches made them more menacing.
Steve Cooper was busy giving instructions to his boys, who were far from being down and out. Foden, Rhian Brewster and Hudson-Odoi were pulling out all the stops to put one past Hugo Guillamon and company in the Spanish defence as half time approached.
>
/* Calculate the width of available ad space */
ad = document.getElementById(`google-ads-1`);
if (ad.getBoundingClientRect().width) {
adWidth = ad.getBoundingClientRect().width; // for modern browsers
} else {
adWidth = ad.offsetWidth; // for old IE
}
/* Replace ca-pub-XXX with your AdSense Publisher ID */
google_ad_client = "ca-pub-2551325655874098";
/* Replace 1234567890 with the AdSense Ad Slot ID */
google_ad_slot = "6713161600";
/* Do not change anything after this line */
if ( adWidth >= 728 )
google_ad_size = ["300", "250"]; /* Leaderboard 728x90 */
else if ( adWidth >= 468 )
google_ad_size = ["468", "60"]; /* Banner (468 x 60) */
else if ( adWidth >= 336 )
google_ad_size = ["336", "300"]; /* Large Rectangle (336 x 280) */
else if ( adWidth >= 300 )
google_ad_size = ["300", "300"]; /* Medium Rectangle (300 x 250) */
else if ( adWidth >= 250 )
google_ad_size = ["250", "250"]; /* Square (250 x 250) */
else if ( adWidth >= 200 )
google_ad_size = ["200", "200"]; /* Small Square (200 x 200) */
else if ( adWidth >= 180 )
google_ad_size = ["180", "150"]; /* Small Rectangle (180 x 150) */
else
google_ad_size = ["125", "250"]; /* Button (125 x 125) */
document.write (
``
);
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
The pacy Hudson-Odoi cut in from the left, as he likes to do, but was denied by the post. Minutes later, Brewster’s attempt was denied by Spanish goal-keeper.
The Lions were knocking on the door and Steven Sessegnon crossed it in perfectly for the tournament`s top goal scorer Brewster (44th minute), who finished it perfectly to score his 8th goal of the competition.
Steve Cooper’s side pressed relentlessly and successfully broke down Spain’s passing game – an equaliser was imminent.
Foden played in Sessegnon, who cut it back perfectly and Morgan Gibbs-White (58th minute) did not need a second invitation to bring the Young Lions back on level terms and add more fuel to what was already a fiery contest.
Santiago Denia’s boys were unable to keep up with the likes Foden and Hudson-Odoi as they wore their heart on their sleeves and ran the defenders ragged.
The efforts bore fruit very soon as Hudson-Odoi’s ball across the face of goal, was perfectly weighted for Foden (69th minute) – Alvaro Fernandez was beaten for a third time.
The young Spaniards found it hard to respond to the Lions and the roaring Salt Lake Stadium.
Spain’s early dominance seemed to be well in the past. Hudson-Odoi and Foden had the Spanish Armada at their mercy, not something any English team would have thought is possible in the recent past.
The Chelsea youngster Hudson-Odoi had saved his best for the last and once he was brought down by Jaume on the edge of the box, his mates knew the routine. He floated it in to Latibeaudiere, who knocked it down for Marc Guehi (84th minute) who landed the killer blow to put the result of the contest beyond all doubt.
Hudson-Odoi, one of the most crucial factors of this fairytale comeback was not done exacting revenge for the night in Croatia as yet; next he invited Foden (89th minute) to add to the tally and make it a five star performance.
Spain had been outplayed, out-thought and outclassed as England scripted history by winning their first ever FIFA U-17 World Cup, and handed Spain a lesson they were not expecting.
2. Patna Pirates won Third Pro Kabaddi Successive Title.
Patna Pirates romped to its third straight triumph in the Pro Kabbadi League Season Five, outclassing debutants Gujarat Fortunegiants 55-38 in the final at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium here tonight.
After a close first half, Pardeep Narwal’s Patna Pirates stepped up the pace and cruised to victory.
Narwal was the star for the Patna team, as has been the case right through the tournament. He topped with 19 raid points and capped a memorable PKL-Season 5 by guiding the team to a hat-trick.
The Pirates, which was the best raiding team in the tournament, kept up the pressure on the FortuneGiants, with some superb work, to win 32 raid points.
Monu Goyat began the night with a stellar raid to pick up the first points for Patna.
FortuneGiants bounced back almost immediately and kept pace with the Pirates and trailed 18-21 at the end of the first half.
The second half was in contrast to the first as the formidable Pirates riding on Narwal’s brilliance broke down the resolute Gujarat defence and pulled away, inflicting an all out in the 23rd minute to lead 27-21.
Fortunegiants scored three successive points in the next three minutes as they trailed 25-29. Vijay scored with a crucial do-or-die raid in the 30th minute as Patna Pirates led 30-26 and got Narwal back on the mat.
>
/* Calculate the width of available ad space */
ad = document.getElementById(`google-ads-1`);
if (ad.getBoundingClientRect().width) {
adWidth = ad.getBoundingClientRect().width; // for modern browsers
} else {
adWidth = ad.offsetWidth; // for old IE
}
/* Replace ca-pub-XXX with your AdSense Publisher ID */
google_ad_client = "ca-pub-2551325655874098";
/* Replace 1234567890 with the AdSense Ad Slot ID */
google_ad_slot = "6713161600";
/* Do not change anything after this line */
if ( adWidth >= 728 )
google_ad_size = ["300", "250"]; /* Leaderboard 728x90 */
else if ( adWidth >= 468 )
google_ad_size = ["468", "60"]; /* Banner (468 x 60) */
else if ( adWidth >= 336 )
google_ad_size = ["336", "300"]; /* Large Rectangle (336 x 280) */
else if ( adWidth >= 300 )
google_ad_size = ["300", "300"]; /* Medium Rectangle (300 x 250) */
else if ( adWidth >= 250 )
google_ad_size = ["250", "250"]; /* Square (250 x 250) */
else if ( adWidth >= 200 )
google_ad_size = ["200", "200"]; /* Small Square (200 x 200) */
else if ( adWidth >= 180 )
google_ad_size = ["180", "150"]; /* Small Rectangle (180 x 150) */
else
google_ad_size = ["125", "250"]; /* Button (125 x 125) */
document.write (
``
);
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Narwal came up with a super raid as Patna inflicted another all out in the 32nd minute to lead 38-26.
He attained a super 10 while Jaideep got a high five as Patna Pirates led 39-28.
Gujarat Fortunegiants came back strongly as they scored five points in two raids to trail 33-39. Narwal came up with another super raid in the 36th minute as Patna Pirates led 43-34. The Pirates forced a super tackle in the same minute to extend their lead to 45-34.
Sachin was the top scorer for the Gujarat team with 11 points but Narwal’s brilliance carried the day for Patna Pirates.
Monu Goyat scored nine points whereas Jaideep chipped in with five tackle points.
It was a disappointing night for Gujarat as theirfamed defence failed miserably on a night when it mattered the most.
Gujarat managed just five tackle points and couldn’t contain Narwal and Goyat.
Narwal ended the season as highest raid point scorer with 369 and fittingly lifted the trophy besides taking the ‘Most Valuable Player’ award.
3. ISSF World Cup Final: Sangram Wins Silver in Double Trap.
India`s Sangram Dahiya clinched a silver medal in the men`s double trap after scoring 76 points in the final round at the ongoing ISSF World Cup Final in New Delhi on Friday. Earlier in the day, Amanpreet Singh won bronze in the 50m pistol event.
With this, 27-year-old Dahiya secured his first World Cup medal, increasing India`s medal tally to three in the tournament so far.
Dahiya, appearing in his maiden World Cup Final, gave tough competition to China`s Hu Binyuan in the final round. Binyuan eventually finished first, scoring 79 points -- in the process, setting a new world record. Italy`s Davide Gasparini secured bronze after scoring 56 points.
>
/* Calculate the width of available ad space */
ad = document.getElementById(`google-ads-1`);
if (ad.getBoundingClientRect().width) {
adWidth = ad.getBoundingClientRect().width; // for modern browsers
} else {
adWidth = ad.offsetWidth; // for old IE
}
/* Replace ca-pub-XXX with your AdSense Publisher ID */
google_ad_client = "ca-pub-2551325655874098";
/* Replace 1234567890 with the AdSense Ad Slot ID */
google_ad_slot = "6713161600";
/* Do not change anything after this line */
if ( adWidth >= 728 )
google_ad_size = ["300", "250"]; /* Leaderboard 728x90 */
else if ( adWidth >= 468 )
google_ad_size = ["468", "60"]; /* Banner (468 x 60) */
else if ( adWidth >= 336 )
google_ad_size = ["336", "300"]; /* Large Rectangle (336 x 280) */
else if ( adWidth >= 300 )
google_ad_size = ["300", "300"]; /* Medium Rectangle (300 x 250) */
else if ( adWidth >= 250 )
google_ad_size = ["250", "250"]; /* Square (250 x 250) */
else if ( adWidth >= 200 )
google_ad_size = ["200", "200"]; /* Small Square (200 x 200) */
else if ( adWidth >= 180 )
google_ad_size = ["180", "150"]; /* Small Rectangle (180 x 150) */
else
google_ad_size = ["125", "250"]; /* Button (125 x 125) */
document.write (
``
);
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Dahiya had previously scored 144 points, finishing first in the qualification round to advance to the final along with World No. 1 Ankur Mittal, who scored 139 points to finish second. The latter finished fourth in the final with a score of 45 points.
In the 50m pistol event, Amanpreet shot a score of 202.2 in the final to finish behind Serbia`s Damir Mikec (229.3) and Ukraine`s Oleh Omelchuk (228.0). Singh was also making his first appearance in a World Cup Final.
Jitu Rai finished last in a seven-man field after scoring 123.2.
Earlier, all the seven shooters in the qualification round progressed to the final. Omelchuk led the field in qualification with a score of 571. Mikec was third with a score of 561, while Rai (561) and Singh (545) were fourth and seventh, respectively.
Singh had won silver in the same event at the World Cup Stage One in New Delhi earlier this year, while Rai had won gold.
Rai and Heena Sidhu had won gold in the 10m air pistol mixed team event on Tuesday to open India`s medal account at the tournament.
4. Kidambi Srikanth Wins French Open to Clinch 4th Super Series Title of 2017.
Riding the crest of his sparkling form Kidambi Srikanth dished out a blemish less performance to collect his fourth Super Series title of the year. The 25-year-old dazzled in the `City of Love` to become the first Indian French Open champion on Sunday.
Srikanth took just 34 minutes to ease past Japanese qualifier Kento Nishimoto in the Super Series final 21-14, 21-13 at the Stade Pierre De Coubertin. In the process Srikanth surpassed Saina Nehwal as the only Indian to win four Super Series titles in a year. Saina won three in 2010.
"I feel good winning two titles in two weeks. I am lucky to pull off some close matches this week. I thank everyone who helped me doing this," an elated Srikanth said after the win.
With his outstanding feats in 2017, Srikanth has entered the league of Indian legends like Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand. The Guntur-lad is also the only Indian to win back-to-back titles i.e two titles in two consecutive weeks in a season. He is the fourth in the world behind legends like Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei and Chen Long to four men`s singles titles.
>
/* Calculate the width of available ad space */
ad = document.getElementById(`google-ads-1`);
if (ad.getBoundingClientRect().width) {
adWidth = ad.getBoundingClientRect().width; // for modern browsers
} else {
adWidth = ad.offsetWidth; // for old IE
}
/* Replace ca-pub-XXX with your AdSense Publisher ID */
google_ad_client = "ca-pub-2551325655874098";
/* Replace 1234567890 with the AdSense Ad Slot ID */
google_ad_slot = "6713161600";
/* Do not change anything after this line */
if ( adWidth >= 728 )
google_ad_size = ["300", "250"]; /* Leaderboard 728x90 */
else if ( adWidth >= 468 )
google_ad_size = ["468", "60"]; /* Banner (468 x 60) */
else if ( adWidth >= 336 )
google_ad_size = ["336", "300"]; /* Large Rectangle (336 x 280) */
else if ( adWidth >= 300 )
google_ad_size = ["300", "300"]; /* Medium Rectangle (300 x 250) */
else if ( adWidth >= 250 )
google_ad_size = ["250", "250"]; /* Square (250 x 250) */
else if ( adWidth >= 200 )
google_ad_size = ["200", "200"]; /* Small Square (200 x 200) */
else if ( adWidth >= 180 )
google_ad_size = ["180", "150"]; /* Small Rectangle (180 x 150) */
else
google_ad_size = ["125", "250"]; /* Button (125 x 125) */
document.write (
``
);
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Such an outstanding feat came with an easy effort in the final. The title clash on Sunday resembled last week`s demolition act, where he mowed down Lee Hyun Il of Korea for the Denmark Open title.
The world No.4 crushed the Japanese qualifier with an aggressive power play. Trailing 5-9 in the first game, Srikanth suddenly changed gears by finishing off the rallies with ferocious overhead smashes. A couple pierced the rival`s court with breakneck speed of 392 and 377 km/h.
The firecracker shots made holes in Nishimoto`s defence. Unable to return them or even reach them, Nishimoto lost momentum and with that confidence as Srikanth raced ahead to 11-9 and then to 15-11 in no time.
The Hyderabadi shuttler, who switched from doubles to singles at the behest of his coach Gopichand, was on a different altitude from then on. Relying entirely on his attacking prowess Srikanth closed out the first game at 21-14 in just 16 minutes.
5. Mithali Raj and Virat Kohli Tops ICC Ranking.
Indians are on top of the world with both Virat Kohli and Mithali Raj climbing to the No.1 spots in their respective ODI batting rankings in the latest charts.
Kohli hit two hundreds in the series against New Zealand, which helped the Indian captain overtake AB de Villiers, who had taken over the top spot just 10 days ago.
Mithali, who led India to a runners-up finish at the Women’s World Cup earlier this year, became No.1 after Australian batting star Meg Lanning missed the recent ODI series against England due to injury.
Aussie all-rounder Ellyse Perry and Amy Satterthwaite of New Zealand are now ranked No. 2 and 3 respectively ahead of Lanning. Harmanpreet Kaur is the next highest-ranked Indian at No. 6, while veteran Jhulan Goswami is the No.2 in the bowling charts behind South African Marizanne Kappe.
In the men’s batting rankings, Rohit Sharma, who also hit a stunning hundred in the series-decider in Kanpur, is at seventh place. Former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni climbed one spot to be at 11th place in the latest charts. Jasprit Bumrah, whose nerveless bowling at the death resulted in India’s 2-1 series win, has climbed to third spot. The ODI bowling rankings are led by Pakistan pace bowler Hasan Ali, followed by South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir. Left-arm spinner Axar Patel, despite his sporadic outings, is ranked as high as eighth.
Kohli, who scored 263 runs in the New Zealand series at an average of 87.66, has reached 889 rating points, the best ever by an India batsman. “The previous highest points tally of 887 was managed by Sachin Tendulkar in 1998 and by Kohli earlier this year,” the ICC said in a statement.
Leading from the front
Captaincy seems to be bringing out the best in Kohli, at least in the shorter formats. The series against the Kiwis was a further validation, His tally of six centuries is a record by any captain in a calendar year in ODIs. Ricky Ponting had achieved the feat twice – in 2003 & in 2007. Sourav Ganguly (in 2000),
South Africa pair of Graeme Smith (in 2005) and de Villiers (in 2015) had scored five centuries each as captain in a calendar year in ODIs.Kohli’s tally of 1,460 runs, at an average of 76.84 in 26 matches this year is the highest by a captain in a calendar year in ODIs, surpassing Ponting’s tally of 1,424 in 27 matches in 2007.
>
/* Calculate the width of available ad space */
ad = document.getElementById(`google-ads-1`);
if (ad.getBoundingClientRect().width) {
adWidth = ad.getBoundingClientRect().width; // for modern browsers
} else {
adWidth = ad.offsetWidth; // for old IE
}
/* Replace ca-pub-XXX with your AdSense Publisher ID */
google_ad_client = "ca-pub-2551325655874098";
/* Replace 1234567890 with the AdSense Ad Slot ID */
google_ad_slot = "6713161600";
/* Do not change anything after this line */
if ( adWidth >= 728 )
google_ad_size = ["300", "250"]; /* Leaderboard 728x90 */
else if ( adWidth >= 468 )
google_ad_size = ["468", "60"]; /* Banner (468 x 60) */
else if ( adWidth >= 336 )
google_ad_size = ["336", "300"]; /* Large Rectangle (336 x 280) */
else if ( adWidth >= 300 )
google_ad_size = ["300", "300"]; /* Medium Rectangle (300 x 250) */
else if ( adWidth >= 250 )
google_ad_size = ["250", "250"]; /* Square (250 x 250) */
else if ( adWidth >= 200 )
google_ad_size = ["200", "200"]; /* Small Square (200 x 200) */
else if ( adWidth >= 180 )
google_ad_size = ["180", "150"]; /* Small Rectangle (180 x 150) */
else
google_ad_size = ["125", "250"]; /* Button (125 x 125) */
document.write (
``
);
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
With 32 ODI centuries, he is fast approaching Sachin Tendulkar’s record tally of 49. Remarkably, Kohli has taken just 194 innings to race to 9,000 runs in ODIs, a mark he reached in Kanpur on Sunday. It is the quickest in ODIs, surpassing the 205 innings taken by de Villiers. Kohli has taken just nine years and 72 days to reach this milestone—the least time taken by a batsman to complete 9,000 ODI runs.
However, the series victory was not enough for India to regain top spot in the team rankings. They are on 119 points, two behind South Africa who whitewashed Bangladesh 3-0 at home.
However, there is no Indian in the top 10 of the ODI all-rounders’ charts, but the way he is performing, Hardik Pandya could soon be a lot higher than No. 16, his current ranking. He has been making quite an impact with the bat and ball since his debut last year against New Zealand. Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who has not featured in ODIs for some time now and whose place had been usurped by Axar, is at No. 20 among all-rounders.
The Indian women’s team has not played an international fixture since the World Cup final in June, which has prevented the likes of Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur and Jhulan to improve on their ratings. India is fourth in the ODI team rankings with 116 points – behind leaders Australia (129), England (127) and New Zealand (118).
6. Johor Cup Hockey Indian Junior Team Win Bronze Medal.
Indian Junior Men’s Hockey team beat hosts Malaysia 4-0 in the Bronze medal match of the 7th Sultan of Johor Cup 2017 at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium here today.
Goals from Vishal Antil (15’, 25’), Vivek Prasad (11’) and Shilanand Lakra (21’) were enough for India to finish their tournament with the Bronze medal.
India had earlier finished third in the points table with 9 points after winning three and losing two of the round robin matches. The team started the match on a bright note as they attacked the Malaysian defense in the initial stages of the first quarter.
The Indian team seemed to have put aside the disappointment of failing to qualify for the final, as they produced some marvellous skills to stamp their authority on the match. It was in the 11th minute when that captain Vivek Prasad scored when Maninder Singh provided him with the assist from the right flank.
India extended their lead four minutes later when a precise long pass from Dilpreet Singh was picked up by Shilanand Lakra inside the circle, and the forward made a turn and passed the ball to Vishal Antil who then scored with a cool finish to make it 2-0 in India’ favour at the end of first quarter.
>
/* Calculate the width of available ad space */
ad = document.getElementById(`google-ads-1`);
if (ad.getBoundingClientRect().width) {
adWidth = ad.getBoundingClientRect().width; // for modern browsers
} else {
adWidth = ad.offsetWidth; // for old IE
}
/* Replace ca-pub-XXX with your AdSense Publisher ID */
google_ad_client = "ca-pub-2551325655874098";
/* Replace 1234567890 with the AdSense Ad Slot ID */
google_ad_slot = "6713161600";
/* Do not change anything after this line */
if ( adWidth >= 728 )
google_ad_size = ["300", "250"]; /* Leaderboard 728x90 */
else if ( adWidth >= 468 )
google_ad_size = ["468", "60"]; /* Banner (468 x 60) */
else if ( adWidth >= 336 )
google_ad_size = ["336", "300"]; /* Large Rectangle (336 x 280) */
else if ( adWidth >= 300 )
google_ad_size = ["300", "300"]; /* Medium Rectangle (300 x 250) */
else if ( adWidth >= 250 )
google_ad_size = ["250", "250"]; /* Square (250 x 250) */
else if ( adWidth >= 200 )
google_ad_size = ["200", "200"]; /* Small Square (200 x 200) */
else if ( adWidth >= 180 )
google_ad_size = ["180", "150"]; /* Small Rectangle (180 x 150) */
else
google_ad_size = ["125", "250"]; /* Button (125 x 125) */
document.write (
``
);
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
The second quarter had a similar story for the Indians as they dominated the possession and were rewarded for their spirited display when they scored a third goal through Shilanand Lakra, who tapped in a pass by captain Vivek Prasad in the 21st minute. India’s attacking force was in prime form as they struck yet again in the 25th minute when Dilpreet Singh got his second assist of the match as he found Vishal Antil inside the circle with a calculated through ball, which was put into the back of the net by the latter to give their team an impressive 4-0 lead going into half-time.
Malaysia had to step up in the last two quarters if they were to make a comeback into the match, but India’s defence was resolute and did not allow the hosts to get a route back into the match. India’s Goalkeeper Senthamizh Shankar was in fine form as he made several saves to deny the Malaysians. In the end, it was a complete performance from the Indian side who dominated in every aspect of their game in the Bronze medal match to win by 4-0.
Please find attached match schedule and photos from the match between India and Malaysia in the 7th Sultan of Johor Cup 2017.