Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale were both rested and Real Madrid hardly broke sweat as they beat Malaga 2-1 on Sunday to climb to third in La Liga. Isco scored one and set up another at La Rosaleda in a comfortable victory for a much-changed Real side, following Wednesday's last-gasp Champions League win over Juventus. Diego Rolan grabbed a consolation for Malaga with the last kick of the game but the result was never in doubt. "Today I can be happy with a job well done," Real coach Zinedine...

Dipa Karmakar on Sunday created history by becoming the first ever Indian gymnast to qualify for the Olympic Games. Karmakar produced a strong show, finishing ninth in the first of the four subdivisions of the women's artistic category, at the Final Qualifier and Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro. She garnered a total score of 52.698 points. Her final rankings will be known only after completion of the event with competition in three other subdivisions going on currently. Her first vault,...

The Badminton Association of India (BAI) on Tuesday announced a cash award of five lakh rupees each to World number two Saina Nehwal and Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap for their impressive performances at the international stage. Both Saina and Kashyap had won the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold in Lucknow in January and Saina also became the first Indian woman to reach the All England Open Super Series Premier finals earlier this month. “It has been my policy to reward players who...

 Shattered after the close 1-2 loss against arch-rivals Pakistan, Indian men’s hockey team will have to regroup themselves quickly and eye atleast a draw in their last crucial Pool B fixture against China in Incheon on Saturday, to qualify for the semifinals of the 17th Asian Games. After dishing out an insipid display, both in attack and defence, against Pakistan on Thursday, The Sardar Singh-led side will need to tighten their belt and come up with a much more convincing display against...

The honour to carry India's flag in the opening ceremony of 17th Asian Games couldn't have come at a better time for hockey team skipper Sardar Singh, who feels it will not only spur him but the entire squad to break their 16-year gold jinx in the continental event. Sardar was on Thursday named as the flag bearer of Indian contingent for Friday's opening ceremony in Incheon, and the star midfielder said he is already getting goose bumps. "It is definitely a big moment for me. It is a big honour...

Defeat is never a pleasant experience and quite predictably blame games have begun after India's humiliation in the five-Test series against England. In a swift move a couple of days ago, the BCCI appointed Ravi Shastri as the Team Director for the remainder of the tour and sent the fielding and bowling coaches on leave. This decision has virtually put chief coach Duncan Fletcher on notice. Thereafter, the focus has now shifted to players and all those, who accompanied them during the series. It...

When you play the Game of Stones, you freak out or you die. Earlier this month, caka Gregor Clegane in "Game of Thrones," officially became Europe's Strongest Man, and he totally lost it. The Mountain completely sliced through the competition by taking first in three different events, according to Gawker, but the greatest highlight came when he completed a stone lifting challenge. After placing the final stone, the 6'9'' Icelander ripped off his shirt and went on to yell, "I am the future of...

Former boxing promoter Frank Maloney is undergoing a sex change, according to a newspaper interview published Sunday. The 61-year-old Maloney, who guided Lennox Lewis to the world heavyweight title in the 1990s, is now living as a woman by the name of Kellie, Britain's Sunday Mirror reported. The twice-married Maloney ended an illustrious career last October and told the paper about undergoing hormone treatment for two years in preparation for a sex change operation. "I was born in the wrong...

Maria Sharapova has warned her Wimbledon title rivals she is peaking just in time to take advantage of Serena Williams' stunning exit. Sharapova, who has yet to drop a set after routing Alison Riske 6-3, 6-0 in the third round, heads into the second week as the newly-installed favourite following Alize Cornet's shock 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over world number one Williams on Saturday. Serena's defeat is a huge boost for French Open champion Sharapova, who had been scheduled to meet the American...

Popular Indian cricketer Suresh Raina, who is playing for Chennai Super Kings in latest season of IPL, has denied his love affair with South Indian actress Shruti Hassan. His clarification is coming following the rumours that he is dating the actress. It was reported that Shruti often spotted cheering for CSK and Suresh considered her as a lucky mascot. There was said to be a mature relationship developing between the two. Suresh Raina Denies His Love Affair With Shruti Hassan  Suresh...

A superb header by Silvestre Varela deep into extra time saved world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal from crashing out of the World Cup finals on Sunday as it secured a 2-2 draw with the United States. The Americans had looked to be safely into the last 16 after second-half goals by Jermaine Jones and Clint Dempsey saw them come back from 1-0 down -- a goal by Nani -- to gallop into the lead. However, with only seconds remaining, one sublime cross from a pretty anonymous Ronaldo...

Guillermo Ochoa. Remember this name because you will hear it for some time to come in football World Cup season. The Mexico goalkeeper turned an overnight sensation after throwing up an impenetrable shield around his post against Brazil. Mexico frustrated World Cup hosts and five-time champions Brazil and held them to a 0-0 draw at the Estadio Castelao on Tuesday. Brazil had no answers to the brilliance of Ochoa, nicknamed Memo. He pulled off an incredible diving stop from a Neymar header and...

Stunning goals from Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben fired the Netherlands to a 5-1 demolition of Spain who endured a miserable start to their World Cup defence in a pulsating Group B game on Friday. In complete contrast to the tetchy World Cup final between the sides in 2010 which Spain won 1-0, the Dutch took sweet revenge with a vibrant display capped off by two goals each for Van Persie and Robben and one by defender Stefan de Vrij. "I certainly didn't expect this result but I did expect...

Wriddhiman Saha and Manan Vohra got Kings XI Punjab back on track after they lost early wickets, and got the team to 111/2 in 14 overs against Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 7 final at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Sunday. Virender Sehwag (7) was the first to fall when he tried to pull an Umesh Yadav delivery that was not short enough. He got a thick edge which was easily take by Gautam Gambhir at mid-off. One over later, George Bailey (1) departed when Gambhir brought on Sunil Naraine....

The Superfight: it’s a term used so often these days that it’s become a novelty. In theory, it identifies a bout that is designed to bring two fantastic fighters together in a clash that speaks to the best aspects of their relative skills and styles. In boxing, it has often been used to identify bouts that could never happen: Muhammad Ali versus Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray Robinson versus Floyd Mayweather Jr., Roberto Duran versus Manny Pacquiao. But in the sport of MMA, it is used to describe the...

Last week, I followed TJ Dillashaw as he prepared for his UFC 173 bout against Renan Barao. He was one of the biggest underdogs ever to participate in a championship bout, and few gave him a chance of making it out of the first round, much less pulling off the historic upset. In my time spent with Dillashaw, I saw a man completely unfazed by the task ahead of him, as though he had no idea what the fans and oddsmakers were saying. He was relaxed, loose and absolutely confident that he’d be taking...

China said on Saturday it had a new satellite image of what could be wreckage from a missing Malaysian airliner, as more planes and ships headed to join an international search operation scouring some of the remotest seas on Earth. The latest possible lead came as the search for Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 entered its third week, with still no confirmed trace found of the Boeing 777 or the 239 people on board. The new potential sighting was dramatically announced by Malaysia's acting transport...

A day after India vs Pakistan ICC World Twenty20 championship match ended, West Indies captain Darren Sammy took umbrage at the fact that a big-talking Suresh Raina, fresh off a smashing innings against arch rival neighbours, dubbed Windies batsmen as "six hitters". Sammy then threw an open challenge and dared the Indian bowlers to stop them from hitting the maximums when they clash in the ICC World Twenty20 here tomorrow. "We don't care much about what Suresh Raina thinks. If he thinks we are...

Chasing a solid 254-run target, Afghanistan got off to bad start as they lost Mohammad Shahzad early in their Asia Cup tie at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. Scorecard | Match in Pics Pacer Suranga Lakmal gave Sri Lanka the first breakthrough when the breached the defences of Shahzad (7) to get the better of his stumps. Earlier, Kumar Sangakkara continued his impressive run of form with a fine half-century before a late flourish powered Sri Lanka to a challenging 253 for six. Electing...

India's stand-in skipper Virat Kohli will be under pressure to produce good results in the Asia Cup in Bangladesh, according to former captain Sunil Gavaskar. Gavaskar also said senior player and permanent captain MS Dhoni will be sorely missed during the course of the five-nation tournament. Dhoni was ruled out of the Asia Cup tournament with a left side-strain injury last week, as the Board of Control for Cricket in India confirmed it in a release, along with naming Dinesh Karthik as his replacement....