Page 4 - World Cup

Magnus is not invincible: the 18-year-old chess prodigy Praggnanandhaa

India's latest chess sensation R Praggnanandhaa may have fallen short of his World Cup title dreams, going down to Magnus Carlsen in the final, but the 18-year-old prodigy on Sunday asserted that the five-time world champion Norwegian was "far from invincible". Praggnanandhaa had a dream World Cup run in Baku last month when he became the youngest ever finalist and in the process qualified for the Candidates tournament in 2024 where the winner will face China's Ding Liren in the World Championship. The Indian teenager is the third youngest player after Bobby Fischer and Carlsen to qualify for the Candidates tournament. "It's not like he (Carlsen) is invincible," Praggnanandhaa said of Carlsen in an exclusive interview with PTI. As a matter of fact, the Chennai boy has won over Carlsen five times, but all of them came in online matches. He has never beaten the Norwegian world number one in a board match. "He's definitely strong. But, he does lose games. It's just I think he's ...

Nike, Adidas bet big on women's World Cup football shirts, merchandise

Merchandise companies often flood market with easily stockpiled items that only require a little final printing work or other touches, such as novelty championship hats, T-shirts, other collectibles

Pakistan board mulls sending psychologist with team to India for WC 2023

Ahead of the ICC World Cup 2023, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is exploring the possibility of sending a psychologist with the squad to India to cope with the pressures of the high-profile tournament. However, a final decision in this regard will be taken only after PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf's meeting the captain Babar Azam. Azam is currently playing for Colombo Strikers in the Lanka Premier League (LPL). Zaka is a big believer that having a psychologist with the players will help them, especially when they are not performing well or feeling external pressures of a tour to India, said a PCB official. He said the presence of a psychologist is imperative for Pakistan since they are visiting India for the first time since 2016. When Zaka Ashraf was Chairman (of PCB) he had got a well-known psychologist Maqbool Babri to work with the players and he also went with them to India in 2012/13, said the official. The official said the Pakistan players had sessions with a sports psycholog

Pakistan PM forms high-level committee to decide on participation in ODI WC

Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has formed a high-level committee, headed by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto, to decide on the national cricket team's participation in the 2023 ODI World Cup in India. The committee will explore and discuss all aspects of Pakistan and India relations, the government's policy of keeping sports and policy apart, and the situation in India for the players, officials, fans, and media before submitting its recommendations to Sharif. The Prime Minister is also the patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Cricket Board. Both the International Cricket Council and host BCCI have already announced the World Cup schedule and expect Pakistan to travel to India for the 50-over showpiece beginning October 5. The PCB, however, has conveyed to them that the national team's participation in the premier event is subject to government clearance due to the tense relations between the two countries. Other committee members include Sports Minister Ahsan Mazari, Maryam ...

OYO to add 500 hotels in host cities of upcoming cricket world cup

Hospitality technology platform OYO on Friday said it will add 500 new hotels in the next three months in host cities of the upcoming men's cricket world cup in India, to meet the anticipated increase in booking demand. The new hotels will be strategically located near the stadiums, ensuring ease of access for cricket fans traveling from around the world to witness their favourite teams in action, OYO said in a statement. Travel demand automatically goes up whenever the dates for a marquee cricket tournament are announced, a company spokesperson said. "OYO will add 500 hotels in host cities in the next three months to meet demand for the Cricket World Cup. We want to ensure that everyone who is travelling from far away to watch their favourite teams has access to a comfortable and affordable accommodation," the spokesperson added. Hotel tariffs have already increased due to heightened demand across host cities three months ahead, OYO said, adding it has also witnessed a significant

Pakistan to send security delegation to India for inspecting ODI WC venues

Pakistan is set to send a security delegation to India for inspecting the venues before giving clearance for the national team's travel to the neighbouring country for this year's ICC ODI World Cup. An official source in the Inter-Provincial Coordination (Sports) Ministry said that the government, including the foreign and interior ministry would decide when to send the security delegation to India once the new chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board was elected after the Eid holidays. "The security delegation will go with representation from the PCB to inspect the venues where Pakistan will play and also the security and other arrangements made for them in the World Cup," he said. He said the delegation would visit Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Ahmedabad, the venue for the marque India-Pakistan match on October 15. "Before any tour to India it is standard practice for the cricket board to seek permission from the government which normally sends a delegation to India,"

CWC 2023 venues to get upgrades: Red soil pitches, new outfield, and more

Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium will be refurbishing its seating and washrooms along with upgrading the ticketing software

LIVE: Supertech promotor RK Arora arrested by ED in money laundering case

Catch all the latest updates from across the globe here

WTC Final 2023: Australia set India a mammoth 444-run target to win

Australia declared their second innings at 270 for 8 on day four, setting India a mammoth 444-run target to the win the World Test Championship final here on Saturday. Australia had taken a massive first-innings lead of 173. Resuming at 123 for 4 on Saturday, they added 147 runs before skipper Pat Cummins declared the innings an hour into the post-lunch session on the fourth day. Alex Carey was the top-scorer for Australia in the second innings, scoring an unbeaten 66. Mohammed Shami (2/39), Ravindra Jadeja (3/58), Umesh Yadav (2/54) and picked up the four wickets for India on day four. Ajinkya Rahane (89) and Shardul Thakur (51) had guided India to 296 in the first innings after the top order collapsed. Brief Scores: Australia: 469 and 270 for 8 declared in 84.3 overs (Alex Carey 66 not out, Mitchell Starc 41, Ravindra Jadeja 3/58). India 1st Innings: 296.

Disney+Hotstar to let users stream World Cup 2023, Asia Cup free on mobile

More than 540 million smartphone users in India will be able to watch the Asia Cup and ICC Men's Cricket World Cup for free

Disturbed by manhandling of wrestlers, says 1983 World Cup winning team

Concerned that the protesting wrestlers can take the extreme step of immersing their medals into holy river Ganga, members of the 1983 World Cup winning cricket team on Friday urged the elite athletes not to take a hasty decision and hoped their grievances will be heard and resolved. Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, who have been demanding the arrest of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Birj Bhushan Sharan Singh for alleged sexual exploitation of women wrestlers, took their protest to Haridwar on May 30 but did not carry out the threat of immersing their medals into Ganga. On May 28, the Delhi Police had detained the wrestlers for violation of law and order when they marched towards the new Parliament building without permission. The Police also cleared the protest site and made it clear that the wrestlers will not be allowed back at Jantar Mantar. The police action against the wrestlers had invited criticism from different quarters. "We are distressed and ..

Rahane back in Indian team for WTC final, Suryakumar, Kuldeep dropped

Ajinkya Rahane, who has added a dash of aggression to his batting style, made a comeback to the Indian team on Tuesday for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia as the BCCI announced a 15-man squad for the one-off contest. The WTC final will be played in London at the Oval from June 7 to 11. Aggressive batter Suryakumar Yadav, spinner Kuldeep Yadav and young stumper-batter Ishan Kishan, who were all part of the home series against Australia, have been dropped for the contest. BCCI's five-man selection panel, secretary Jay Shah along with skipper Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid met on Monday evening to decide on the squad. Rahane's comeback after 15 months was on predictable lines following Shreyas Iyer's back injury that ruled him out of the grand finale. Iyer recently underwent a surgery in the UK to treat stress fractures in his lower back. That Rahane was in contention was reported by PTI in its report on April 10. Rahane last played a Test in January, 2022 .

Suryakumar is the sort of player that can win you a World Cup: Ponting

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting feels India should back Suryakumar Yadav, saying the right-handed batter is a kind of a player who can win the side a major event like the World Cup

LIVE: Odisha minister shot in the chest by cop dies hours later at hospital

Catch all the latest news and updates from around the world here

France captain Hugo Lloris ends int'l career, to focus on Tottenham club

World Cup winner Hugo Lloris retired from playing for France after a record 145 appearances. Lloris won the 2018 World Cup and was captain of the squad that lost to Argentina in the final in Qatar last month. The 36-year-old goalkeeper told L'Equipe newspaper he will focus on his Tottenham club career in the English Premier League. I want to continue to perform, to live this sport as I have always done, and maybe this decision will give me more physical freshness with my club," Lloris said. In the next four or five months, with Tottenham, I want to live strong things, to finish in the top 4 of the Premier League, to do something strong in the Champions League, in the FA Cup too." France coach Didier Deschamps paid tribute to a great servant of the French team" and a remarkable human being" who decided to retire at the top of his game." He was captain when I became coach in 2012, I kept the armband for him and I have never regretted it," Deschamps said in a statement relayed by th

And the World Cup goes to Louis Vuitton

As the World Cup gathered momentum, Louis Vuitton launched a campaign starring football icons Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, photographed playing chess together

Data-giant Google's revenues from APAC growing faster than elsewhere

The company's profits in India have multiplied three-fold in the last five years

Fifa World Cup final: Prize money for winning team, runner-up revealed

Fifa World Cup 2022 final: What is the prize money for the winning team? Check all the details here

'Al Hilm' replaces 'Al Rihla' as the official ball for Fifa World Cup 2022

Al Hilm uses the same 'connected ball' technology as Al Rihla, which assists the match officials in determining offsides and other decisions

Fifa WC Highlights: Morocoo beat Spain on penalties, enter last 8 1st time

Fifa World Cup Round of 16, Morocco vs Spain Highlights: Morocco created history as they became the fourth African nation to qualify for World Cup quarterfinals after they beat Spain 3-0 in shoot-out