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Australia’s disappointing first innings in Mirpur and their failure to learn from previous mistakes were to blame for a first lost toss against, says Steve Smith.Smith’s side were always behind the curve after being bowled out for 217 in the first innings, a total that gave Bangladesh a 43-run lead that proved crucial in the end. The Tigers had never tasted victory in four previous meetings with Australia, but continued their impressive home form to record a 20-run win on day four. Australia’s skipper acknowledged the lack of a warm-up match due to rain in Mirpur was far from ideal, but chose to blame their inability to learn from previous errors as the key to their downfall.“We made a few errors, a few guys getting out in ways they’ve got out before and not learning from their mistakes, which was a bit disappointing,” Smith told a media conference.  “ You’ve got to keep trying to learn and keep trying to get better in these conditions.

Indian boxer Vijender Singh continued his winning streak in won his ninth bout in the professional boxing ring after beating Zulpikar Maimaitiali of China in a unanimous decision at the NSCI Complex in Worli, Mumbai. Vijender won the bout that was adjudged 96-93, 95-94 and 95-94 by the three judges. After the bout an emotional Vijender said, “I want to dedicate this win to India-China friendship! There is some tension at the border, need peace. I don’t want the title, for peace and harmony at the border between India-China I will give it back to Maimaitial.”

Yuki Bhambri stunned the tennis world when he defeated ATP Citi Open champion Gael Monfils 6-3, 4-6, 7-5. Yuki Bhambri had set up the second round clash with world number 22 and defending champion Gael Monfils after his first round opponent had to retire. With this win, Bhambri, who is ranked at 200, has qualified for the pre-quarterfinals. It may be recalled here that before facing Monfils, Bhambri had said while speaking to the PTI, “It’s a good test. We fight and work to play these kinds of matches and compete against the best, so it’s a good opportunity,” and added, “He is the defending champion and a class player. I have nothing to lose,” said the 25-year-old Delhi lad. Bhambri has had a lot of ups and down in his career but this win certainly ranks among the highest. However, one of his main issues has been injury concerns. Earlier, addressing the concern, Bhambri had said, “It hasn’t been ideal, yes. It’s difficult to sit on the sidelines, but I am in recovery, working wit

Neymar has agreed a five-year deal with Paris Saint-Germain and is due in Paris within the next two days to finalise the most expensive transfer in world football history, according to sources. Sources understands that Neymar decided to leave Barcelona following talks on holiday near Rio de Janeiro in early July, before he joined the club's pre-season tour of the United States. He is expected to arrive in the French capital by Friday at the latest to complete his move. It is understood the total value of the deal is worth nearly £450m (€500m), which includes wages, bonuses and a buyout clause of £198m (€222m). Neymar has been offered a basic salary of £26.8m-a-year (€30m) after tax, around £515,000-a-week. Barcelona confirmed the buyout clause will have to be" deposited in its entirety". Sources has been told that a key meeting took place in Brazil earlier last month involving Neymar, his father and super-agent Pini Zahavi, who has brokered the deal. Zahavi h

Indian cricketers have never had the reputation of being funny individuals or with a particularly vibrant sense of humour but over the years there have been certain incidents (both on and off the field) that would live on forever for being inordinately funny. In this article we present 4 of them. B. S. Chandrashekhar Stumps the Umpire In the 1970s the umpires in New Zealand were notorious for being biased towards the home team and almost all team complained about it whenever they toured the country. It was India’s turn to experience it when they toured New Zealand in 1976 and since India used to depend a lot on their spinners, it became harder as most close in catches or lbw decisions went against them. The bowlers were pretty much exasperated at the treatment and so when India’s premier bowler B S Chandrashekhar wrapped up the New Zealand innings in the second Test by getting the batsman clean bowled, he did something that triggers a laugh even now among those who were present

India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan stunned French Open 2017 semi-finalist Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-2 at the Antalya Open in Turkey. In a match that lasted just a minute under an hour, Ramanathan managed to clinch 10 aces to Thiem’s four. Ramanathan is ranked 222 in the ATP rankings while Thiem is no. 8. Ramanathan was dominant in the first set and sailed to a 6-3 win. He wasted three break points in the second set before breaking the world no. 8 in the fifth game. “I worked really hard for this,” he said after the match, “Thank you to the crowd for coming out and cheering. I like the grass. Courts are fast. I took my chances and it worked out. I’m having a great time here and thanks to all the organisers.” Ramanathan will now face 79-ranked Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in the quarter final. It is his best result since reaching the quarter final of the Chennai Open last year. Ramanathan had entered the tournament through the qualifiers, as opposed to Thiem who was the top seed. Ramanathan had ea

Manchester United are "prepared to offer up to £40m" to sign 29-year-old Roma and Belgium midfielder Radja Nainggolan. (Gazzetta via Daily Mail) Lyon's president has confirmed that Arsenal target Alexandre Lacazette still wants to leave the club, but insisted the 26-year-old France forward will not be sold until a suitable replacement is found. (Independent) Chelsea have switched their focus to Southampton and Netherlands defender Virgil van Dijk, 25, after Juventus closed the door on a move for 30-year-old Italy centre-back Leonardo Bonucci. (Standard) Burnley have made a £3m bid for Stoke and Republic of Ireland forward Jon Walters, 33, who is thought to be frustrated by his lack of playing time. (Daily Mail) Lazio are close to agreeing a deal for Sunderland's 26-year-old Italy forward Fabio Borini. (Sunderland Echo) Liverpool winger Ryan Kent is wanted by Birmingham City with Harry Redknapp keen to acquire the 20-year-old on a season-long loan dea

The 25th of March this year marked 25 years since the completion of the 1992 World Cup. Nearly three months later, the tournament’s victor, Pakistan, stunned the international cricketing community by winning the Champions Trophy. The same day, a 15-year-old Pakistani became the victim of celebratory gunfire. Unpredictable cricketing excellence on the field, predictable violence on the streets — these two factors have dominated the Weltanschauung of the Pakistani nation state. And nearly 70 years since its independence, its cricketing prowess continues to inspire appreciation and awe in the minds of an average cricket fan. Peter Oborne’s Wounded Tiger is an excellent primer to the cricketing history of India’s conjoined twin to the west. Pakistan, whose creation was premised on the purported need for a separate homeland for British India’s Muslims, was without a foundational document — a Constitution — for more than a decade. However, this ran parallel to its progress on the

Sydney: India shuttler Kidambi Srikanth defeated Olympic champion Chen Long in a dominating fashion to win the Australia Open Super Series men's singles title on Sunday. Srikanth won in straight games 22-20, 21-16 to win his career's fourth Super Series title. "Srikanth has made the nation proud - Modi" This is world no 11 Srikanth's second straight title victory in a week after he won the Indonesian Open Super Series Premier last Sunday. Srikanth had reached the final of the Singapore Open in April and Indonesia Open before this tournament and has thus become only the fifth player in the world and the first Indian male shuttler to reach three consecutive Super Series finals. The opening game was an evenly contested affair with the two opponents exchanging the lead. At the start, the rallies were a bit long but both resorted to an attacking game from thereon. However, aided by his deceptive shots and searing smashes, Srikanth took 11-9 lead at the break

It started with money, and it has ended with money. The "Big Three" financial model drawn up by the boards of India, England and Australia unveiled amid much consternation three years ago is no more, replaced by a plan to vastly reduce the BCCI's share of ICC revenue and offer identical amounts to seven of the game's Full Member nations. After a week of intense negotiations that saw the BCCI's opposition to change outmaneuvered by the collective will of the rest, the amount of ICC revenue to be handed out to each nation is now as follows. The BCCI will receive US$293m across the eight-year cycle, the ECB US$143m, Zimbabwe Cricket US$94m and the remaining seven Full Members US$132m each. Associate Members will receive total funding of US$280m. While this distribution is not a complete rollback to the equal funding from ICC events that Full Members used to receive, it is a considerable distance from the US$440 million the BCCI stood to earn under the Big Thr

Before the IPL kickstarts its tenth edition teams losing players to injuries has become the trend. With less than four days to go for the tournament to begin, some of the biggest names of world cricket have already pulled out. Royal Challengers Bangalore are seemingly the worst-hit. Their skipper Virat Kohli is already nursing a shoulder injury and will be out for a couple of weeks. Again, yesterday it was confirmed that their other star batsman KL Rahul, too will miss the season as undergoes a surgery. Rahul was injured during the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy and as per reports he will soon be travelling to London to undergo surgery. Rahul had earlier given hints about his injury and how the injury was stopping him from playing extravagant strokes. After skipper Virat Kohli, KL Rahul is the second Indian batsman from RCB who has got injured. In Kohli’s absence AB de Villiers was supposed to lead the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) side. However, that seems to be

India’s PV Sindhu entered the India Open final after holding off South Korea’s Sung Ji-hyun to win 21-18, 14-21, 21-14 in New Delhi on Saturday. With the win, Sindhu set up a summit clash with Olympic gold-medallist, Spain’s Carolina Marin. The first game was a closely contested one but the Sindhu did a fine job to hold on to her lead. Sindhu’s ferocious jump-smashes fetched her a series of points as she pocketed the opening game. The 22-year-old made a fine start to the second game too, and led 5-3. Her opponent, however, staged a terrific comeback, picking up six points in a stretch to take the lead in the game. Despite Sindhu battling hard, the Korean won the second game with relative ease. Sindhu raced to a 4-0 lead in the deciding game and never allowed her opponent a way back in the contest. Sung Ji-hyun yet again made a spirited comeback but Sindhu breezed to a win.

India wrapped up the four-match series against Australia and their marathon Test season of 17 Tests in fine fashion, as their batsmen chased down the target of 106 with eight wickets to spare on the fourth day in Dharamsala on Tuesday (March 28). KL Rahul laid the base for the win with a finely-crafted fifty while Ajinkya Rahane, in his first Test as captain, gave India a finishing touch that they would've have wanted with a brutal 28-ball 37, completing a fine turnaround after their crushing loss in Pune in the first Test. As a result, India won the series 2-1, regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and ending the season as the top-ranked Test team in the world in a season that ended with 12 wins, four draws and a solitary defeat - an amazing phase that they will look back with immense pride. India had put in a splendid bowling effort on the third day to dismiss Australia for 137. Needing 106 to complete a series victory, Murali Vijay and Rahul held on to their wickets for mor

After congratulating Team India for winning the Test series 2-1 against Australia, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced cash awards for its players. The BCCI announced that each member of the Test side would receive Rs 50 lakh for the “historic Test series win” against Australia. Head coach Anil Kumble will get Rs 25 lakh while the other members of the support staff will also get richer by Rs 15 lakh each. The home side took a stranglehold on the 4th Test match by dismissing Australia for just 137 in their second innings, leaving them just 106 for victory. Apart from a few hiccups in the first hour of play on day four, India cruised to victory courtesy of a fine innings by KL Rahul and an aggressive batting display by captain Ajinkya Rahane. Courtesy of the win India retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Meanwhile, India have had a terrific home season and their domination in Test cricket in the past couple of years have led them to rise to number one spot in

India beat Myanmar 1-0 in their 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifier to start their campaign with a win and three points in the bag. A 90th-minute winner from Sunil Chhetri who started a counter-attack and finished it iff with a great run and assist from Udanta Singh saw the Blue Tigers top Group A which also includes Kyrgyzstan and Macau.

Agnieszka Radwanska, a former Wimbledon finalist nicknamed “The Ninja” because of her trick shots, has struck a multi-year deal with Lotos, Poland’s biggest oil and gas producer. Agnieszka Radwanska, a former Wimbledon finalist nicknamed “The Ninja” because of her trick shots, has struck a multi-year deal with Lotos, Poland’s biggest oil and gas producer. Agnieszka Radwanska, seen here at this week's Miami Open, is one of Poland's most popular athletes. (Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) The world No. 8 from Krakow, Poland will become an official ambassador for Lotos and wear the company patch on her visor during events on the women’s WTA Tour, her management company IMG said in an emailed statement. It's the first tennis sponsorship for Lotos, which is also an endorser of the Polish national soccer team. Radwanska, 28, is a big star in her home country. Her vast array of unusual strokes have earned her nicknames including “The Professor” and “The Ninja.” S

Carolina Marin has achieved all her sporting ambitions as listed on her profile page on the Badminton World Federation website - "Get a medal at the Olympic Games, be a World Champion and European Champion, and to become world No. 1." Yet when asked if she has any other ambitions to seek, the 23-year-old's answer came without hesitation: "More." Speaking to The Straits Times yesterday on the sidelines of the Primera Liga's launch of their regional hub office here, the Spaniard said: "(I just want) to get more and more - more tournaments and titles." The world No. 4's pursuit of "more" will continue at next month's OUE Singapore Open at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. She was the top-ranked player at last year's edition, but fell to Japan's Akane Yamaguchi 13-21, 21-18, 21-18 in the quarter-finals. Marin will enter this year's tournament as an Olympic champion, following her triumph at the 2016 Rio Games, yet

Constantly in tennis there is talk about ways to speed up matches. This month, the ITF board approved an idea to make Davis Cup matches two-out-of-three sets long, a proposal that will be voted on at the organization’s annual meeting in August. A recent Sports Illustrated article proposed doing away with ball-bouncing before serves. And for years, there has been talk about playing let serves, a step already in place in Mylan World Team Tennis and the college game. Much as I love the traditions of tennis, I’m also a child of tennis boom, of tiebreakers, yellow balls, multi-colored clothing and further innovations. But I’ll admit to being uncertain about many of these proposed ideas. A few thoughts: When it comes to eliminating five-set matches – particularly in a one-off weekend such as Davis Cup – I’m torn. One of the most dramatic things in tennis is to watch a player try to finish off an opponent in five sets – only to see it then head to an even more dramatic fifth set. T

Australia skipper confident India can cover the potential loss of Kohli in the fourth Test Australia captain Steve Smith has no doubt Ajinkya Rahane will be able to adequately lead India in the final Test should captain Virat Kohli be ruled out through injury. Kohli will need to pass a fitness Test on his injured right shoulder in order to play in the series-decider in Dharamsala, with youngster Shreyas Iyer called in as cover. When Kohli left the field after falling heavily attempting to prevent a boundary midway through the opening day of the third Test in Ranchi, Rahane, as vice-captain, was instilled as the interim skipper for the next 89 overs.  Australia were bowled out for 451 under Rahane’s watch but Kohli returned in Australia’s second innings, barely fielding a ball at first slip during the visitors’ 100 overs at the crease. With Kohli racing against the clock to be fit for perhaps the biggest Test of his career, Smith expects Rahane to once again fill in as his counterpar

MANILA, Philippines — The Beach Volleyball Republic (BVR) takes its act to La Union for the fourth leg of its 2017 series. Sixteen teams will compete in the men's and women's divisions at Kahuna Beach Resort in San Juan municipality, La Union, on April 1 and 2. Two pairs composed of BVR founders University of Santo Tomas, PNP-Davao, Air Force, San Beda, and University of Perpetual Help-Delta will vie for supremacy in the women's division. Meanwhile, teams from UST, Far Eastern University, Cebu, Air Force, Navy, Bacolod, Perpetual Help, and Lyceum Philippines University will battle in the men's division. Read: Gervacio and Gormley win epic BVR Lakawon Island final BVR on Tour has already held tournaments in Cabugao, Ilocos Sur; Dagupan, Pangasinan; and Lakawon Island, Negros Occidental in the first three legs. After the La Union stop, BVR will head to the Visayas in May, then to Ilocos Norte before the culminating tournament in June. Winners of the first leg w

Members of Utah's gymnastics team will get back to work in the coming days to prepare for the NCAA regionals on April 1 after a few days of rest and light work to let their bodies recover. The fourth-ranked Utes are the top seed in the Fayetteville, Ark., regional, where they will compete against No. 9 Denver, No. 16 Cal, No. 21 Auburn, No. 27 Arkansas and No. 28 Central Michigan. The Utes, who won the Pac-12 title with a season-high 197.925, continue to put their focus on clean landings, the one area in which they feel they can improve, Utah co-coach Megan Marsden said. The Utes are using practice competitions and other means to focus on the landings. "They enjoy competition among themselves, and it helps to have a reason and purpose at this point in the year to keep it fresh," Marsden said. The good news is the Utes feel they can focus on the details because their training has been solid throughout the season. If anything, the coaches are toeing the line bet

The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) signed a partnership agreement with ZA Sport by Moscow-based designer Anastasia Zadorina after ending its longtime cooperation with sports brand Bosco. The agreement makes Zadorina responsible for the Russian Olympic team's outfits for the next eight years, including for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea’s PyeongChang. "Thanks to the ROC’s wise marketing strategy, we are getting many serious partners. We are glad that ZA Group, which intends to develop simultaneously with the Russian Olymic team, is among them. They are set to create a uniform that will take into account to all requirements by our athletes," ROC chief Alexander Zhukov said during the ceremony. "I’m sure that it will play a major part in promoting the Olympic movement and in creating a positive image of the Russian sports," he added. From 2002 to 2016, sport uniforms for the Russian Olympic team were designed by Russian sports brand Bosco. &qu

A first-round tennis match at the Miami Open in Florida was delayed on Wednesday due to a surprise visitor. Jiri Vesely from the Czech Republic was playing against Tommy Haas of Germany when he noticed an iguana. The large lizard seemed to enjoy his view from the top of the scoreboard at courtside. Vesely asked the umpire to stop play and try to remove the iguana. The umpire told Vesely he would not stop the match unless the iguana ran onto the playing surface. He said “If it’s like that, on the scoreboard, I don’t think it’s going to bother you, Jiri.” Vesely disagreed. The umpire said: “forget about it, it’s not a dangerous animal.” During their conversation, Haas, a former second-ranked player in the world, went over to the iguana and took a selfie.

Imran Tahir, the world’s No.1 bowler in ODIs and T20Is, has been roped in to replace the injured Mitchell Marsh by the Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) for the upcoming edition of the IPL Tahir had been unsold in the auctions that took place last month.The 37-year old South African, who has taken 54 wickets from 31 T20Is, was part of the Delhi Daredevils side until last season. In 2015, Tahir was the highest wicket-taker for Delhi, joint with Nathan Coulter-Nile. He has picked a total of 29 wickets in 20 IPL games. His bowling average stands at 21.48, with one four-wicket haul in his kitty.

Ť India risk missing the inspiring presence of skipper Virat Kohli in the fourth and final test against Australia with the 28-year-old saying he would play only if he is 100 percent fit after sustaining a shoulder injury in the previous match in Ranchi. The feisty top-order batsman damaged his right shoulder when diving to save a boundary on the first day of the penultimate test in Ranchi and was off the field during most of Australia's first innings in the drawn game. Kohli did bat in the nets on Friday but looked downcast as he dwelled on the possibility of featuring in the winner-take-all match of the series which is all square at 1-1. "The physio wants to give it a bit more time till I can test myself and we'll probably take a call on it later tonight or tomorrow before the game," the Delhi player told reporters. "You want to be fit for the game 100 percent but sometimes you have to respect the fact that these things (injury) are part of your car

Yuki Bhambri beat Tatsuma Ito of Japan 7-6(2), 6-2 in the first round of the $50,000 Challenger tennis tournament in China on Tuesday. In the pre-quarterfinals, the 24-year-old Yuki will play fourth seed Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia. Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan joined hands with Christopher Rungkat of Indonesia to beat the Chinese wild cards Di Wu and Zhizhen Zhang in two tie-break sets. Davis Cupper Ramkumar Ramanathan lost in the third and final qualifying round of a similar Challenger in Mexico, in three tough sets to Alex De Minaur of Australia. In the ITF men’s Futures in Bahrain, Shahbaaz Khan capitalised on his lucky loser entry to make the pre-quarterfinals by outplaying a local wild card entrant for the loss of one game. In the $15,000 ITF women’s event in Greece, seventh seed Karman Kaur Thandi was beaten 6-4, 7-5 by qualifier Michaela Boev of Belgium. The results $50,000 Challenger men, Quanzhou, China Singles (first round): Yuki Bhambri bt Tatsuma Ito (Jpn) 7-6(2),

Veteran football player Sharda Parvin has joined Lim Kia Tong's team as the female candidate who will contest at the upcoming Football Association of Singapore (FAS) election on April 29. Parvin, 32, will run for the individual female member position in the FAS council. At least one female has to be in the elected 15-member council, but she does not have to join the nine-member slate. Lim's counterpart Bill Ng has not unveiled his female candidate yet, even though Singapore National Olympic Council vice-president Annabel Pennefather and 2015 SEA Games' chief medical officer Dr Teoh Chin Sim have joined Ng's slate. While Parvin is not as high profile as Pennefather or Teoh, she believes she knows local women's football at the ground level. She said: "I know the scene because I've been in this sport since 2001. I know the complaints, the issues, the struggles because I'm from the ground and I'm in their shoes. "This is the first tim

India take on Cambodia in Phnom Penh on Wednesday, and ahead of the encounter, head coach Stephen Constantine was quizzed upon various aspects leading up to the game. He made it clear why the friendly against the Cambodian side was important, given that India visit Myanmar next week to play their first 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifier. “For us it is an important friendly. We have a difficult game after this with Myanmar. Coming to Cambodia means similar conditions, similar weather. I think it will be an interesting game for us. I wish Cambodia's new coach (Leonardo Vitorino) all the very best and good luck except not so much good luck tomorrow. We are taking this game very seriously and we are trying to give our best performance,” he opined. He was made to reiterate his choice of opponents for the international friendly, and he elaborated on how the choice was a no-brainer for the Blue Tigers. “My first views to play Cambodia was that it is very close to Myanmar and the con

India overcame a spirited Cambodia side 3-2 at Phnom Penh as goals from Sunil Chhetri, Jeje Lalpekhlua and Sandesh Jhingan sealed the deal for Stephen Constantine’s men. The Blue Tigers were lucky to go into halftime all square even after being thoroughly outplayed in the as a howler from the Cambodian keeper helped Suni Chhetri open the scoring against the run of player.The hosts were, however, back on level terms within seconds. The second half saw Indian make changes which ultimately proved to be the key to the visitors turning the screws as it opened the floodgates. Cambodia and especially Chan Vathanaka weren’t going away tamely as they looked to find their way back into the game. However, his goal turned out to be just too little as India ran out winners on the night by a goal.1 - This was India’s first win in an international friendly away from home in 12 years. This also comes in good time as they prepare to face Myanmar on the 28th of March in their opener of the AFC A

With the spot-fixing scandal gripping Pakistan cricket once again, this time in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), women's team skipper Sana Mir on Tuesday said those found guilty must not be allowed to represent the country again at any cost. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has provisionally suspended five cricketers -- Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif, Shahzaib Khan, Nasir Jamshed and paceman Mohammad Irfan -- on suspicion of alleged spot-fixing in the recently-held PSL T20 tournament. Reacting to the PSL spot-fixing scandal, Sana said such incidents, which mar the reputation of the game in the country must be dealt with seriously. "Whoever disrespects the green-shirt should be banned and punished without any mercy," the Dawn newspaper quoted Sana as saying at the National Stadium on Monday. "Match-fixing and spot-fixing had brutally damaged the image of Pakistan cricket as well as that of Pakistan." "This is a very serious issue and should be

Ravindra Jadeja, India all-rounder, who returned figures of 5 for 124 and 4 for 52 in respective innings of the recently-concluded Ranchi Test against Australia, has cemented his place at the top in the latest ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers. Earlier, the top spot was jointly held by Jadeja and his spin partner Ravichandran Aswhin. With 862 rating points to his name, Ashwin, who could only manage two wickets in the Test, has fallen 37 points behind Jadeja. The left arm spinner, on the other hand, has 899 rating points and is on the brink of becoming only the second bowler after Aswhin to touch the 900-point mark. He is also only the third Indian bowler after Ashwin and Bishan Singh Bedi to have topped the ICC Test rankings for the bowlers. The latest rankings include the Colombo Test, which saw Bangladesh register a historic win against Sri Lanka, and the Wellington Test where South Africa thwarted New Zealand to go 1-0 up in the series. South Africa spinner Keshav Maharaj,

CANADIAN duo Julie Gordon and Camille Saxton have continued their red-hot form on the sand, winning the women’s beach volleyball World Tour event at Manly on Sunday. It followed their gold medal success at a tournament in Shepparton, Victoria, last month. Manly Rio Olympian Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Queensland rising star Jessyka Ngauamo kept them honest, with Gordon and Saxton eventually securing the silverware in straight sets, 21-14, 21-16. Triple Olympian Louise Grice and another 2016 Olympian, Manly junior Nikki Laird, snared bronze. Action was frenetic for the women’s finals on Sunday. Picture: Adam Yip Artacho del Solar and Ngauamo have been playing with different partners over the Australian summer, making their silver medal even more impressive. “We’re super happy to come away with a medal,” del Solar said. “Obviously a gold was what we were going for but, to be standing on the podium in our home country is just a very special feeling you don’t get oft

Puerto Rico have hired a new women's national team director - former Haitian National Team Head Coach Shek Borkowski On March 11, 2017, the Puerto Rican Football Federation (FPF) announced the appointment of Shek Borkowski as the technical director for all the women's national teams. Labrador Rosa, the FPF President said: “For the first time in history we are designating a national coach specifically and permanently for our women's teams, which highlights the importance we are giving to women's football, understanding that we have a great chance of achieving a significant and rapid progress at an international level. We understand that with the arrival of Borkowski we give a big boost to the growth of that process of female advancement." Borkowski, who was the women's national team coach for Haiti for the past five years, has to hit the ground running in order to organize and prepare a team as 2019 Women's World Cup qualifying in the Caribbean reg

Jean Kadil scored twice, including a late-game conversion that proved to be the difference-maker as the FEU Lady Tamaraws secured a 3-2 win over the Ateneo Lady Eagles in UAAP Season 79 women's football action, Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium. A 21st minute conversion from Kadil set the tone for the match, as the Lady Tamaraws, hungry for a win, never looked back in the match. Lady Tamaraws skipper Jovelle Sudaria added what appeared to be a game-securing goal, pushing the FEU advantage to two goals in the 54th minute. With less than ten minutes to go in regulation, the Lady Eagles decided to make the match more interesting, as Ateneo skipper Cam Rodriguez managed to pull one back and cut the FEU lead to just one goal. It didn't take long for Kadil to respond, as she hit again in the 90th minute, seemingly closing the doors on an Ateneo comeback. With one final push, the Lady Eagles managed to find the back of the net once again, pulling to within a