Zimbabwe coach critical of decision to play on in wet conditions; Boucher says South Africa ‘hard done by’

Hobart

Zimbabwe coach Dave Houghton criticised the umpires’ decision to continue their T20 World Cup match against South Africa despite heavy rain on Monday, with one of his bowlers left nursing an ankle injury after slipping in the wet outfield. South Africa were on the verge of victory when the Super 12 contest was called off due to the weather. South Africa coach Mark Boucher said they too had to bowl in difficult conditions. “We were in a very good position. You walk away from this game thinking we were hard done by,” he said. Reuters

Paris

Rankireddy-Chirag in pre-quarters, others lose

Commonwealth Games gold medallists Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty rallied to beat France’s Christo Popov and Toma Junior Popov and enter the men’s doubles pre-quarterfinals of the French Open Super 750 badminton tournament here today. The Indian duo lost the first game 19-21, but recovered strongly to win the next two 21-9 21-13. CWG bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand lost 21-23 20-22 to the sixth-seeded Thai pair of Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai in their opening women’s doubles match. In mixed doubles, Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto lost 13-21 16-21 to Japan’s Kyohei Yamashita and Naru Shinoya.

Bengaluru

Inamdar hands Paltan victory over Panthers

Puneri Paltan produced an exemplary performance to beat Jaipur Pink Panthers 32-24 in their Pro Kabaddi League match. Aslam Inamdar’s 13 points proved to be the difference. Despite the loss, Jaipur still lead the points table. In the day’s second match, Haryana Steelers beat Telugu Titans 43-24.

New Delhi

Sindhu back in top-5, Prannoy moves to 12th

PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy gained a spot each in the world rankings. Sindhu, who has not played any tournament since winning gold in the Commonwealth Games in August, climbed to 5th in the women’s singles rankings. Prannoy climbed to 12th in the men’s singles rankings. Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth are static at 8th and 11th, respectively. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty too held on to their No. 8 ranking in the men’s doubles.

St John’s (Antigua and Barbuda)

WI coach Simmons to quit following T20 WC debacle

West Indies head coach Phil Simmons will step down from his role at the end of this year, following the Caribbean side’s debacle at the ongoing T20 World Cup where they failed to reach the Super 12 stage. West Indies, the T20 World Cup’s most successful team with triumphs in 2012 and 2016, crashed out of the showpiece event in the group stage, after losses to Scotland and Ireland. This was the first time West Indies failed to advance further from the group stage since the inaugural tournament in South Africa in 2007.

London

Emery leaves Villarreal to take charge of Aston Villa

Unai Emery has left his position as Villarreal coach to take charge of Aston Villa, replacing the fired Steven Gerrard. It will be Emery’s second spell in the Premier League, having coached Arsenal in 2018-19. He had turned down the opportunity to become Newcastle manager in October last year.

Manchester

Ronaldo returns to training with United squad

Cristiano Ronaldo returned to first-team training with Manchester United today after being omitted from the squad ahead of the team’s Premier League match at Chelsea at the weekend. — Agencies