Sports

Nevsehir, Turkey, June 17 - Turkey will host a hot-air balloon festival for the first time in Cappadocia, the otherworldly touristic hub famed for its fairy chimneys.

The Cappadocia International Hot-Air Balloon Festival, set for July 3-7, will be organized by the Urgup Municipality in the central Nevsehir province.

During the event, some 150 hot air balloons will take six different flights and 20 balloons of various shapes from nearly a dozen countries will take to the skies.

17 June 2019; AFP: Rohit Sharma scored his second hundred in three innings as India maintained their unbeaten record against Pakistan at the World Cup with an 89-run win under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method on Sunday.

Sharma's 140 was the centrepiece of a total of 336-5 that also featured captain Virat Kohli's 77.

Victory in this rain-curtailed clash saw India, who have now won all seven of their World Cup matches against Pakistan, remain unbeaten after four pool games at this year's edition.

NIZHNY NOVGOROD, June 11. /TASS/: The Russian national football team has defeated Cyprus 1:0 in a home qualifying match for UEFA European Championship 2020. The match was held in Nizhny Novgorod, with over 42,000 spectators.

The only goal in the match was delivered by Alexey Ionov (38th minute). This is Ionov's first goal for the Russian national team in official matches.

Russia is currently in the second place in the Group I standings with nine points. Cyprus is in the fifth place with three points. Belgium is in the first place with nine points.

Dubai, Jun 7 (PTI) A first of its kind 'Gandhi cycle rally for peace' was organised by the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia on Friday as part of the celebrations to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Over 150 participants from all walks of life, cultural and ethnic identities participated in the cycle rally organised in the Saudi capital Riyadh and remembered Mahatma Gandhi and relevance of his message of peace on the occasion, the Indian Embassy tweeted.

New Delhi, Jun 7 (PTI) The sports fraternity Friday came out in support of Mahendra Singh Dhoni for wearing the dagger insignia on his wicket-keeping gloves during India's World Cup game against South Africa, with Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju urging the BCCI to resolve the issue.

During the match in Southampton on Wednesday, Dhoni's green keeping gloves had a dagger logo embossed, which looked more like an Army insignia.

6 June 2019; AFP: Portugal manager Fernando Santos hailed Cristiano Ronaldo a "football genius" after his 53rd career hat-trick sent Portugal into the final of the Nations League on home soil in Porto with a 3-1 win over Switzerland.

The hosts had to withstand a huge moment of VAR controversy as after Ronaldo's free-kick opened the scoring, Portugal thought they had the chance to double their lead from the penalty spot.

Southampton, Jun 5 (PTI) Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal grabbed four wickets, helping India restrict South Africa to a sub-par 227 for 9 in their opening encounter of the World Cup here Wednesday.

South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis' decision to bat under overcast conditions backfired with Jasprit Bumrah (10-1-35-2) setting the tone with twin blows in his opening spell.

PARIS, June 3. /TASS/: The Council of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) on Monday will discuss the preparation of Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, and determine the countries that will host the 2019 and 2020 World Club Championships.

The meeting of the FIFA Council will be held in Paris on June 3. It precedes the congress of the international federation, the main event of which will be electing the organization’s president. The Congress will be held on June 5, the only contender for the post is the current head of FIFA Gianni Infantino.

New Delhi, May 31 (PTI) Vijender Singh is "scared" of me, bragged celebrated boxer Amir Khan, who is set to take on India's Neeraj Goyat in a WBC Pearl World championship bout in Jeddah on July 12.

Khan, the British boxer of Pakistan origin, has expressed desire to lock horns with Olympic bronze medallist Vijender a number of times but the bout has not materialised as yet.

Keen to fight an Indian, the 32-year-old two-time World Champion has agreed to switch category to clash with Goyat.

TORONTO (AP) — The NBA is closely monitoring the ongoing trade dispute and tariff rift between the U.S. and China, though the league is not yet worried that it will interfere with any business happening with the world’s most populous nation.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver even went as far Thursday night to suggest that the sport could provide a reprise of sorts to the phenomenon known as “pingpong diplomacy” — when table tennis players from the U.S. and China played in the early 1970s and essentially began a major mending of relations between the two countries.