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RIO DE JANEIRO: Argentina's Lionel Messi scored one of his trademark free-kicks in the first half but Eduardo Vargas equalized for Chile to leave honors even at 1-1 in their Copa America opener in Rio de Janeiro on Monday. Messi curled a superb free-kick into the corner of Claudio Bravo's net from 25 meters after 33 minutes. Chile equalized 13 minutes into the second half when Vargas followed up to head home the rebound after Arturo Vidal's penalty was tipped onto the bar

New Zealand on Tuesday named a 15-man squad for the World Test Championship final against India, to be played at The Ageas Bowl in Southampton from June 18. Kane Williamson, who missed the second Test of the recently-concluded series against England, returns to lead the squad as does wicket-keeper batsman BJ Watling. Colin de Grandhomme has been included as a specialist all-rounder while Ajaz Patel is the specialist spinner. All of Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Ross Taylor, and Devon Conway have kept their

After Djokovic beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in five gripping sets on Sunday, the World No. 1 handed his racquet to a young fan in the stands, who erupted into a fit of disbelief. Indian billionaire Harsh Mariwala was full of praises for Novak Djokovic's act for a young fan after his French Open triumph on Sunday. The chairman of Marico commended the goodwill gesture when Djokovic explained the reason he gave his winning racquet as a souvenir. "Someone just shared this with me on

Stefanos Tsitsipas has learnt the hard way over the last two months that Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal will take some shifting from the top of the men's game. The Greek led world number one Djokovic by two sets in the French Open final on Sunday, but still ended up losing and it has become a familiar feeling to be so close and yet so far. Tsitsipas led Djokovic in the Rome Masters quarter-finals this year, but lost. He also pushed 13-time French

Chesson Hadley was on the cusp of his first PGA Tour win in seven years on Sunday until a disastrous finish at the Palmetto Championship at Congaree where he bogeyed the final three holes to finish one shot back. Hadley, who missed the cut in 10 of his last 12 events, started the final round with a four-shot lead but fell apart in spectacular fashion as he carded a four-over-par 75 at Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, South Carolina. That left Hadley, who

BRASILIA: Star forward Neymar netted a penalty and created a second as hosts Brazil eased to a 3-0 victory over a coronavirus-depleted Venezuela on Sunday (Jun 13) in the opening match of the 2021 Copa America. Centre-back Marquinhos opened the scored midway through the first half and Gabriel Barbosa sealed the Group B win a minute from time. In a tournament already delayed a year and moved from its original hosts Argentina and Colombia due to the pandemic, it was fitting that the

LONDON: Raheem Sterling finally found his tournament touch when his 61st-minute goal gave England a deserved 1-0 win over Croatia at Wembley on Sunday (Jun 13) as they began a European Championship with a victory for the first time in nine attempts. Sterling, something of a surprise starter after a flat end to the domestic season but a favourite of manager Gareth Southgate, slid home after great work by Kalvin Phillips to end an individual drought that had run through England’s three previous

The Qatari runner Ahmed Al Shahrani has created a new record in the history by becoming the first ever disabled person to ‘run’ the whole distance of the country from the south to the north in a wheelchair. Surpassing a distance of 204 km in 41 hours, 55 minutes, running through the safe track designated for the purpose, Al Shahrani has managed to become the first rider with special needs to set this new record by covering this huge distance. A French resident

For the second time in six years Novak Djokovic is halfway to a calendar year sweep of all four Grand Slam titles after winning the French Open for a second time on Sunday. The 34-year-old dug deep into his reserves of resilience to hit back from two sets down against Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas to win 6-7(6) 2-6 6-3 6-2 6-4 and increase his Grand Slam tally to 19. That takes him only one behind the men's record 20 held by Rafa Nadal and

Premier League stars James Milner and Adam Lallana will be following golf's US Open and European Tour results just as closely as football's European Championship over the next month. The former Liverpool team-mates have plenty of fascination for the Euros, but both footballers share significant interest in professional golf through their directorships of a company shaping the future of one Britain's brightest golfing talents. The firm, Cheshire-based White Rose Sports Management Limited, has signed highly promising youngster Ben Schmidt following the completion of

Kawhi Leonard and Paul George combined for 65 points as the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Utah Jazz to give themselves hope in the NBA play-offs. The Clippers were under pressure, having lost the opening two games of the Western Conference semi-finals series. But they recovered for a 132-106 home win with game four to come on Monday. "I need my two best players to be able to do that," said Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue. "They set the table for everyone else."

Romelu Lukaku paid tribute to his Inter Milan team-mate Christian Eriksen after scoring against Russia to help world number one side Belgium start Euro 2020 with a win. Denmark midfielder Eriksen collapsed on the pitch earlier on Saturday in the Group B game with Finland and received emergency treatment on the field. There was some doubt as to whether Belgium's game with Russia - Denmark's group rivals - in St Petersburg would go ahead as scheduled because of events in Copenhagen before it

England's dismal second-Test defeat was confirmed inside an hour on the fourth morning at Edgbaston, giving New Zealand a 1-0 series win. The home side lost their last wicket to the first ball of the day, with Olly Stone edging behind off Trent Boult. That meant New Zealand had only 38 runs to chase, which they did inside 11 overs to win by eight wickets. It is England's first home series defeat since 2014, when Sri Lanka won a two-match series 1-0. And

Former Denmark goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel says it was "absolutely ridiculous" that Saturday's Euro 2020 match between Denmark and Finland carried on after Christian Eriksen's collapse. Eriksen, 29, is stable and awake in hospital after receiving emergency treatment on the pitch in Copenhagen. "It's a ridiculous decision by Uefa," said Schmeichel. "They should have tried to work out a different scenario and shown a little bit of compassion, and they didn't." The game was suspended before half-time after the 29-year-old former Spurs playmaker fell

Unseeded Czech Barbora Krejcikova sealed her rapid rise in the singles game by claiming a first Grand Slam title in an emotional French Open win. Krejcikova beat Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1 2-6 6-4 in only her fifth major singles draw appearance. The former doubles world number one paid tribute to mentor Jana Novotna, who died in 2017 at the age of 49, saying she owed her success to her. "She is looking after me from up there," said 25-year-old Krejcikova. Krejcikova has often

England face defeat in the series decider against New Zealand after another insipid batting performance on the third day of the second Test. Joe Root's side crumbled to 112-9 under glorious sunshine at Edgbaston, only 37 runs ahead. England had battled their way back into the contest on an entertaining day, taking the final seven New Zealand wickets for 96 runs to dismiss them for 388. Faced with a first-innings deficit of 85, the hosts had the opportunity to set a challenging fourth-innings

Twelve of Venezuela's players and coaching staff have tested positive for Covid-19 a day before their Copa America opener against hosts Brazil. All of those to test positive were asymptomatic and have been isolated in a hotel. The South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) is yet to confirm if Sunday's match will proceed. Venezuela arrived in Brazil, the last-minute hosts of the tournament, on Friday. Defenders Wilker Angel and Rolf Feltscher did not travel with the squad after they tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday. Venezuela's

Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen is "awake" in hospital after collapsing in the Euro 2020 match against Finland, said the Danish Football Association. The 29-year-old's condition has been "stabilised", according to tournament organisers Uefa. The game was suspended before half-time after the Inter Milan player fell to the ground and received emergency treatment on the field. The Group B match in Copenhagen restarted at 19:30 BST. Finland's players applauded their Danish counterparts as the players returned to the field to resume the match. Organisers

BUENOS AIRES: This year's Copa America gives Argentina another chance to break a 28-year trophy drought, which has been made even harder by a venue switch from home turf to that of arch-rivals Brazil. The Argentinians were supposed to stage the tournament this year, but with COVID-19 cases surging, it was moved at the last minute and Brazil are now hosting their second Copa America in succession, beginning on Sunday (Jun 13). The last time Argentina won the tournament was in 1993, their

TOKYO: The Japanese government is considering ending a state of emergency in Tokyo and several other prefectures as scheduled on Jun 20, but keeping some curbs such as on restaurant hours until the Olympics start in July, the Mainichi daily reported. New coronavirus infections in Olympics city Tokyo have inched down during the last month of emergency restrictions, though authorities remain concerned about the spread of variants and the continued strain on medical resources. On Friday, the head of Japan's main opposition Constitutional