Sports

New Delhi, Jun 29: India's Ankita Raina hammered compatriot Eetee Maheta 6-3, 6-2 to lift the USD 10,000 ITF women's singles tennis tournament, here today. Second seed Ankita, who was playing in her fifth consecutive USD 10,000 ITF singles' final, was hardly troubled by the unseeded Maheta in the battle of baseliners. The world number 364 was the first to get off the block and raced to a 4-1 lead

Kingston (Jamaica), Jun 29: West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo is undaunted by the threat posed by a new-look Indian team and said Sunday's game between the two sides would be a "cracker of a contest". "I know it is going to be a cracker of a game. We know India are a very good team; it is going to be a very good game. Both teams are very strong in bowling and batting. Let us see how Sunday comes

Karachi: Jun 29: Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt for the first time has publicly admitted that he indulged in spot-fixing during the Test series against England back in 2010 and has aplogised to his fans for his act. Butt along with Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Aamer were banned by the ICC after it was proved that they were guilty of spot-fixing during a Test match against England at Lord's in

Kingston (Jamaica), Jun 29: Opener Chris Gayle was at his attacking best as he smashed a 100-ball 109 to fashion an easy six-wicket victory for the West Indies against Sri Lanka in the opening match of the Tri-nation One-Day series here. The big-hitting Gayle blasted nine fours and seven sixes in front of his home crowd to make an easy work of the 209-run target at the Sabina Park. This was Gayle

Paris, Jun 28: Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong, who cheated his way to seven Tour de France victories from 1999-2005, claims it would have been impossible to win the world's greatest race without doping. Asked if riders won races drugs-free in the era when he competed, a bullish Armstrong told French daily Le Monde on Friday: "It depends on the races. The Tour de France? No. Impossible to win

Kingston (Jamaica), Jun 28: It has not even been a week since India won the Champions Trophy but captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the team is done with the celebrations and firmly focussed on the tri-series against West Indies and Sri Lanka starting here today. "The demands remain the same. The expectation when it comes to the Indian cricket team has always been the same," Dhoni said at the

London, Jun 27: Defending champion Roger Federer's remarkable run of reaching 36 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals or better was ended in a shock second-round Wimbledon defeat by unheralded Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky on Wednesday. Federer's 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-5, 7-6(5) loss in exactly three hours rocked Wimbledon to its core on a day that already seemed surreal after seven players withdrew or

London, Jun 26: Pakistan's Asad Rauf, who is being investigated in the IPL spot-fixing scandal, and long-serving New Zealander Billy Bowden were today dropped from the ICC Elite Panel of Umpires after an annual review of their performance. Rauf, who is being probed for allegedly taking expensive gifts from suspected bookies, and Bowden have been replaced by former Test cricketers Richard

Bristol, Jun 25: In a sudden move, Cricket Australia (CA) on Monday sacked Mickey Arthur and appointed Darren Lehmann as the new coach of the Australian team just weeks ahead of the Ashes series. The 45-year-old Arthur, who was appointed as coach in November 2011, came in for sharp criticism following Australia’s poor performances and disciplinary issues within the camp. Cricket Australia chief

New Delhi, Jun 24: Former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi on Monday hailed the brilliant performance of the Indian team in the Champions Trophy and said the "nucleus" of the squad that will represent India in the 2015 World Cup is ready. "This tournament has given us an idea about what will be Indian team's nucleus during 2015 World Cup. Shikhar (Dhawan), Virat (Kohli), Jadeja (Ravindra) and