Sania Mirza won the Wimbledon doubles championship partnering Martina Hingis
Indian tennis star Sania Mirza will be conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, Deccan Chronicle reports. Sania’s name has reportedly been chosen for India’s top-most sporting honour ahead of squash star Deepika Pallikal and discus thrower Vikas Gowda.
Other candidates for this year’s Khel Ratna included Tintu Luka (800m), Devendra Jhajhariya (paralympic javelin), Sardar Singh hockey) and Abhishek Verma (archery). The Awards Committee is headed by former cricketer Kapil Dev and former billiards player Michael Ferreira, and although an official confirmation on the matter is still pending, most reports are suggesting that Sania is a shoo-in for the award.
“It is a great honour to be nominated for the Khel Ratna award. This is surely going to inspire her to earn more laurels for the country,” Sania’s father Imran Mirza was quoted saying after she was nominated for the award.
If the reports are indeed true, it will cap off what has been a brilliant year so far for India’s tennis queen. The 28-year-old, who has already been conferred with the Arjuna award in 2004 and the Padma Shri in 2006, has been in stunning form of late.
Since opting to partner Swiss former World No. 1 Martina Hingis, Sania has climbed to the top of the WTA doubles ranking. The crowning glory came with the pair’s triumph at Wimbledon in June.
That victory, however, could not be considered as it came after the cut-off date for performances to be considered for the award. But in the relevant period Sania won the mixed doubles gold with Saketh Myneni and bronze in women’s doubles with Prarthana Thombare at the Incheon Asian Games. She also won the US Open mixed doubles title with Bruno Soares in 2014.
After her string of impressive performances, Sania was considered a front-runner for the award, especially considering India’s tennis association went out of their way to nominate her under a special clause in spite of missing the deadline for submission by two months.
“We had got a late recommendation from AITA, but the Minister accepted that and recommended the same to the Awards Committee,” Sports secretary Ajit Sharan said. “But the final decision to give the honour rests with the Awards Committee,” he clarified.

Colombo, Jun 28 (AFP) Seamer Dhammika Prasad skittled Pakistan with a four-wicket haul to put Sri Lanka on top in the second Test in Colombo on Sunday despite a defiant century from Azhar Ali.

Pakistan, who trailed by 177 runs in the first innings, were bowled out for 329 in their second knock by tea on the fourth day to leave the hosts a target of 153 runs to level the three-match series.

Pakistan won the first Test in Galle by 10 wickets.

Azhar anchored the Pakistan innings with a defiant 117, his ninth Test innings, but found little support at the other end as the last six wickets tumbled for 55 runs.

Wicket-keeper Dinesh Chandimal pouched five catches and also effected a stumping, while debutant fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera claimed three wickets in an impressive Sri Lankan display at the P. Sara Oval.

Azhar was reprieved twice during his marathon vigil that lasted eight hours and 33 minutes, in which he faced 308 deliveries and hit just six boundaries.

Azhar had added four runs to his overnight score of 64 when he was dropped by a diving Kumar Sangakkara at first slip off Prasad, a catch that Chandimal could have attempted.

When he moved to 114, Azhar was saved by a television review after umpire Sundaram Ravi had declared him leg-before off Prasad.

But the Pakistan number three was stumped soon after when he tried to hit left-arm spinner Rangana Herath out of the stadium.

Pakistan, who started the day at 171-2, lost two important wickets in the morning session to go to lunch at 244-4.

The president of Fifa, Sepp Blatter, is to press ahead with his bid for a fifth term as the head of football’s scandal-hit world governing body, rebuffing a personal plea for him to quit from the head of the game in Europe.

Uefa, European football’s governing body, ruled out seeking a postponement of Friday’s election and will instead back Blatter’s challenger, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan.

Blatter made his decision to stay after a series crisis meetings at Fifa HQ with representatives of the six regional football confederations. He rejected a face-to-face demand from the president of Uefa, Michel Platini, for his resignation.

“I asked him to resign: enough is enough, Sepp. He listened to me but he told me it is too late,” Platini told a news conference in Zurich. Platini said he was “disgusted” and “sickened” by the scandal gripping the organisation.
Live Fifa: Michel Platini asked Sepp Blatter to step down over corruption arrests – live
The latest news and updates on the crisis at Fifa, where Sepp Blatter is under increasing pressure to step down
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Blatter’s determination to press ahead with the vote comes despite pressure from major sponsors. The British government called on Blatter to quit, but the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, denounced the US-led investigation that led to the arrest of Fifa officials in a dawn raid on their hotel in Zurich on Wednesday.

In total nine serving and former officials and five sports media and promotions executives were charged over alleged bribes totalling more than $150m (£100m) made over 24 years. A separate Swiss investigation has been launched into the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments.

Following a meeting of all 54 Uefa members on Thursday, it emerged that former Manchester United chief executive David Gill has vowed to relinquish his seat as vice-president of Fifa if Blatter wins Friday’s election.

Gill, a board member of Uefa and and the English Football Association (FA), was applauded when he said he would not take up the seat he was due to inherit from Jim Boyce after Friday’s Fifa Congress.

Platini told the Uefa delegates the confederation needed to unite in support of Blatter’s challenger, Prince Ali.

Most of Uefa’s members will back Ali in Friday’s election, though some, including Russia and Spain, will remain staunch backers of the incumbent.
Fifa crisis: Visa sponsorship threat compounds calls for Blatter to resign
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Prince Ali is understood to have told the Uefa delegates that he believed he had the support of more than 60 associations outside Europe, which would give him more than enough backing to take the contest to a second round. Ali or Blatter would need a two-thirds majority of the 209 votes to win in the first round and a simple majority thereafter.

One Uefa source said that when Platini, a former supporter of Blatter, personally asked the president to stand down he told him he would not but that he might have considered it if he had been asked earlier.

Michael van Praag, the Dutch FA president who stood down from the race to succeed Blatter last week before Wednesday’s arrests, said Uefa had decided against a boycott of the vote on Friday because that would guarantee Blatter a victory.

John Delaney, chief executive of the Football Association of Ireland, said: “David Gill stood up and said he won’t take up his seat – that was the big thing. I think it was very brave and very honest of him and there was a good round of applause. People thought: ‘That’s a man of honour.’

“From his own personal perspective he doesn’t want to serve under Blatter and you have to respect that position. There wasn’t a vote taken but Michel Platini will tell you Uefa is unified. Whether all 53 transfer their votes over I don’t know – I think one or two will be lost along the way.”

In London, the British government’s sports minister called on Blatter to quit Fifa. John Whittingdale, the culture, media and sport secretary, said the “deeply flawed and corrupt organisation” needed a change of leadership. A spokesman for the prime minister, David Cameron, said he “associated himself fully” with the comments.

Mumabi bowlers complimented the good work of the batsmen as they took the fizz out of the Chennai’s chase with a very disciplined effort.

They straitjacketed the Chennai batsmen, restricting them to 161 for eight as seasoned spinner Harbhajan Singh took key wickets of Dwayne Smith (57) and Suresh Raina (28) in two overs.

Kiwi paceman Mitchell McClenaghan (3/25) took three wickets while his Lankan pace colleague Lasaith Malinga (2/25) scalped two batsmen.

Mumbai had won their first title in 2013 at this very venue, defeating the same rivals. Chennai have now lost four finals (2008, 2012, 2013, 2015) in six appearances.

Chasing the huge target, CSK opted to have it easy and concetrated on building a platform after losing Michael Hussey (4) early.

Smith and Raina bided their time and looked to consolidate but it meant that they managed only 31 runs from the first six overs. The required run-rate kept on going up and shot past 13 at the midway mark.

Smith completed his half-century in 45 balls but only to be trapped lbw by Harbhajan in his penultimate over. Having made a grand comeback into the Bangladesh-bound Test side, Harbhajan completed his spell in style dismissing Raina.

Looking to step out, Raina was brilliantly deceived by the veteran off-spinner who bowled a wide ball and Parthiv Patel did the rest behind the stumps.

With Hussey, Smith and Raina back in pavillion, and skipper Dhoni not looking in his usual elements it looked as good as over for the yellow brigade who choked in an IPL final for a fourth time.

Talk about Sharma and his sizzling love-affair at Eden Gardens, and he has done nothing wrong here. A stunning 177 on Test debut, an ODI world record of mindboggling 264, an IPL century (60-ball 109) against Kolkata Knight Riders and an unbeaten 98 in the opening match of this season.

Today was no different. Sharma had come at a time when Dhoni and Co. once again looked ominous with a eye-popping run-out by Faf du Plessis to make MI 1/1 in first over.

The South African dived, got hold of the ball and flicked it while being air-borne and the magical throw was enough to clip the bails off to bring an end to Patel’s fine run as an opener.

In came Sharma and after two dot balls, he went in counter-attacking mode hitting Mohit Sharma over third man with an elegant uppercut.

He survived a brief scare when he in inside edged one but the ball missed the stumps by a whisker as he blasted 16 runs in the second over that almost derailed CSK.

He not only timed the shots to perfection but the placements were clinical too. Sharma raced to 25 runs from 10 balls and Windies big-hitter Simmons at one point looked a mute spectator at the other end.

The MI duo raced to 50 in 28 balls and the powerplay yielded a handsome 61/1 as they complemented each other nicely.

With Simmons starting to take charge, Sharma slowed down a bit and rotated the strike cleverly giving his partner maximum opportunity. The Windies big hitter targeted Dhoni’s spin duo of Ashwin and Negi with massive sixes.

Nothing going in their way, Simmons was dropped by Negi on 48 as he raced to fifty ahead of Sharma in 35 balls.

Sharma drove Dwayne Bravo for a boundary to notch his 50 from 25 balls but only to be dismissed softly in the next ball hitting straight to Jadeja at long-on.

Such agonising was the partnership for CSK that Dhoni and Co huddled soon after Sharma’s dismissal and skipper opted part-timer Dwyane Smith to bowl the next over.

Dhoni’s magic worked straightway as Simmons followed suit after being bowled in Smith’s first ball — a slow yorker that he misjudged — to make them 120/3 in 12.1 overs.

The twin blow however proved to be too little too late as Rayudu and Pollard propelled to a winning total.
PTI

Rangers moved closer to a return to the Scottish Premiership with a 2-1 aggregate win over Hibs in the playoff semi-final match at Easter Road on Saturday.

The Glasgow giants, who lost their place in the top flight in 2012 after a financial meltdown, had won the first leg 2-0 at Ibrox on Wednesday.

A 0-1 loss on Saturday was enough to ease them through to a final playoff showdown with Motherwell who finished second from bottom of the Premier League.

Hibs, who were relegated through the playoffs last year, had most of the early pressure with Rangers Cammy Bell by far the busiest of the two goalkeepers

Veteran striker Kenny Miller — who scored one of their goals in the first leg — came closest for the Glasgow side after 25 minutes as the game started to even out, but Hibs should have gone ahead 10 minutes later.

Impressive midfielder Scott Allen burst through the middle and sent Congolese striker Dominique Malonga clear on the left but he could only shoot weakly straight at a relieved Bell.

Malonga went close again as the second-half got underway with a shot that fizzled just inches wide, but Rangers were in general managing to keep the game low-key which was just what they wanted.

Hibs piled forward in search of the goal that would get them back in the contest and they had a succession of desperate appeals for a penalty turned down.

The home side finally broke their goal drought with a superb strike from Jason Cummings deep into extra-time but it came too late in the day as Rangers moved to within two games of playing once again in the Scottish top flight.

If successful they will join Hearts – runaway winners of the Championship who were automatically promoted to replace bottom dogs St Mirren.

Margao, May 22 (PTI) With two successive draws, Dempo FC will have to go all out against Bengaluru tomorrow in their attempt to avoid relegation in the Hero I-League football tournament.

A win is important for both as Dempo FC are fighting to save relegation while Bengaluru FC, who are at the top of the table with 35 points are fighting for the title with Bagan.

Dempo FC who were tipped one of the strong contenders for the title but injuries to the likes of main striker Tolgay Ozbey saw them drawing nine matches out of 18 matches.

They had ample of scoring chances against Salgaocar but failed to score and now their are in a precarious situation to win their next two matches to come out of the relegation.

Dempo’s assistant coach Aaron Symons said “It?s definitely a challenge at hand for us from the position to get

points against a side who has been consistent throughout the tournament and on verge of retaining the title. For us this game counts, we are expecting a tough match and we should be self motivated and the coach have made it sure that we are well prep rared to collect full points.

“The boys have played well during the tournament inspite of injuries to key players but somehow failed to convert chances after dominating several matches which resulted us to be in this position. We had a strong Federation Cup, but non availability of all four foreign players and injuries to key Indian players at some point of time during the tournament has affected our performance.

Mumbai, May 17 (PTI) A total of 41 Indian players have been rewarded with retention contracts by their respective Hero Indian Super League franchises, while 23 players have been signed from open market ahead of the second edition of the tournament.

Chennaiyin FC, FC Goa, FC Pune City and Kerala Blasters FC have exercised the maximum allowed retention clause by retaining six Indian players each from their previous squad, while Delhi Dynamos and NorthEast United FC have retained five each, Atletico de Kolkata have four players retained and Mumbai City FC have opted for three.

Each franchise is allowed to have a squad of 22, comprising 13 Indian and nine international players including one marquee. Additionally, a franchise can sign three more players from the open market which can include maximum of two international players.

Football Sports Development Limited — the promoting body with a joint venture between IMG, Reliance Industries and Star India — in its Governing Council meeting in March had announced a retention quota of minimum of one and maximum six Indian players, thus encouraging franchises to reward their best domestic players with retention contracts and continuity with the club.

Interestingly, FC Goa has already registered 11 out of the 13 Indian players’ quota in the squad with five signings from open market apart from the six retained from the inaugural year of ISL. As of date, Atletico de Kolkata and Kerala Blasters FC each have nine Indian players on their roster, followed by Chennaiyin FC with eight, Delhi Dynamos, FC Pune City and NorthEast United with seven each, and Mumbai City FC having six domestic players.

Indian player signings will be completed in July through an auction followed by draft of unsigned players. The list for auction as well as draft will also include the names of players who missed out on the first season.

New Delhi, May 11 (PTI) India’s Rohan Bopanna gained three places to be world number 21, following his stupendous title win at the Madrid Open with Romanian partner Florin Mergea.

Bopanna gained 1000 points for his efforts and is now country’s top ranked player in the ATP doubles chart. Leander Paes lost a place to be at number 24. Bopanna and Paes are the only players from India in doubles top-100.

Bopanna was ranked number three in the world in July 2013 when he partnered Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi.

In the singes, Somdev Devvarman continues to be top singles player at number 173 but he is now closely followed by Yuki Bhambri, who gained six places to be placed at 180. Yuki had reached the singles quarterfinals at the Karshi Challenger event.

Saketh Myneni, who has played in Indian Davis Cup team, is next best at number 229 after going up the ladder by 10 places.

In the WTA charts, Sania Mirza maintained her world number one rank in the individual doubles chart. But in the teams’ table, Sania and Martina Hingis have conceded their top spot to Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova.

In the singles, Anikta Raina improved her ranking by six places. She is now placed 229.