SportsMaddy

The price of Success is H ardwork, D etermination and a few S acrifices. Sadly, the tale of Rupandi Munda is obscure .If you have the patience, the strength and the passion to achieve your dreams , all you need to do now, is try and try till you earn it. Rupanti Munda is one such Indian who has certainly set an example for the millions across the world. The story of the 21-year old is an ideal template of what hardwork and determination can help you achieve in spite of facing piles of atrocious times when life look to be unfair and giving up seems to be the only option going forward in life. RUPANDI – the Proud Daughter from Jharkhand Born in a small village named Dhoti in Latehar district of Jharkhand, Rupanti fell in love with the beautiful game of football as early as in the third standard. She would wake up at 4.30 am , complete all her household work and rush to practice at 7.30 am , where she trained harder than anyone for 2 hours, came back hom...

It’s Groundhog Day as Arsenal disappointed yet again at the beginning of a new season as did the boss, Arsene Wenger with some questionable decision making. The Gunners extended their ignominious record of losing one of the two opening league games for the 8 th season in a row. After securing a record 7 th F.A Cup with Arsenal as manager, Arsene Wenger signed on for two more years, despite much publicised calls from the Gooner fan-base for his sacking (including flying banners by plane). The Gunners broke the bank for securing Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon for an estimated € 53m, making him the club’s record signing. Arsenal also added to its roster, Bosnian international Sead Kolasinac on a free transfer from Schalke Arsenal embarked on a pre-season tour of Asia and Oceania where they played against Bayern Munich and English Champions Chelsea. Back home the Gunners took part in the Emirates Cup, where other participating teams were Sevilla, Benfica and RB Leipzig. Arse...

It has been a good start to life at Manchester United this season. With a decent pre-season in the United States, Mourinho and his Red Devils are definitely eyeing to win the Premier League and  give the confidence back to the ever loyal fans of the greatest club in England. The arrival of Romelu Lukaku, Victor Lindelof and Nemanja Matic has already bolstered the squad in their respective departments. Meanwhile, the return of Zlatan Ibrahimovic looks eminent as picture leaked from Adidas outlets revealed that he will be donning the famous "Number 10" shirt that had been vacated by Wayne Rooney. After losing 2-1 to Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup match at Macedonia, Mourinho was of the view that his club is yet to reach the level of Zidane's Real Madrid. Back to playing the Champions League after winning the Europa League, United fans believe that the squad will develop into a force to reckon with, and dare to challenge the other European giants. Premier L...

The official winner’s trophy for FIFA U-17 World Cup was launched on saturday at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi. Hundreds of children gathered and took part in the Mission XI Million Festival held on that day to have a glance of the Official Trophy . Participant Navdeep Singh from St. Mark’s School became the first Indian to pose with the prestigious Trophy. On Sunday the trophy was located at the iconic location of India Gate , a popular tourist spot in the capital, allowing fans from all over the city to take a glimpse of the beautiful piece of silverware and take photographs with it. The Winner’s Trophy is all set to tour all six tournament host cities over the next few weeks. The idea behind the same is to give all the Indians an once-in-a-lifetime experience to see the FIFA U-17 World Cup Winner’s Trophy up-close . As Project Director of Local Organising Committee Joy Bhattacharjya said," This is a start of an incredible jou...

Unknown to many, Oinam Bembem Devi  is a woman Indian Professional footballer , representing India for the past two decades. She finally gets her hand on the prestigious Arjuna Award announced on 18 th August, thus becoming only the second Indian woman footballer to win the award after former National team captain Shanti Mullick in 1983. Bembem was nominated by the AIFF alongside the stars like Jeje Lalpekhlua and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu for the coveted award, consisting of a cash prize of INR 500,000 , a bronze statue of Arjuna and a scroll . “ This is an Award for Indian women’s football. I hope this award will help remove the mental block and inspire all girls in the society to take up the sport ” , she quoted. “ It gives me immense satisfaction to see my name in the same list as the greatest Indian sportsperson across all fields. My sacrifice over the past two decades has not gone waste. I need to thank all teammates, my coaches, AIFF and the entire footbal...

Chelsea FC manager  Antonio Conte celebrated his 48th birthday on 31st July'2017. He won the all important Premier League in his first venture with the club. He helped the team dominate EPL 2016-17 with utmost ease. The very first season, and already a crowd favourite. 5 facts probably you didnt know about the Italian manager : #5 Conte made his while he was in Juventus with over 320 appearances during which he won 5 Serie A titles, a Champions League medal apart from various other cups. Though, he started his playing career at Lecce . #4 However, his managerial hanker ended in disappointed as his first job as a manager of Serie B side Arezzo ended in ignominy as he was sacked just three months later after continuous poor results. #3 Conte went back to school to get ready for Chelsea . His took his first steps towards learning English just before the start of the last season. #2 In 2012 , Conte was suspended for 10 months for his ...

India cleaned up Sri Lanka's top order after posting a mammoth 600 on board with centuries from 2 batsmen and as many half centuries in the 2nd day of the 1st Test. Sri Lankan top order looked completely at sea against the Indian bowlers. It is going to be a test of survival for the Sr Lankan batsmen tomorrow. However, it was a strange run-out that grabbed eye balls today. Watch the video below -

Popular T20 venture Caribbean Premier League (CPL) has signed popular Pakistan fast bowler and hero of their recent Champions Trophy triumph Hasan Ali. Hasan will be playing in the CPL for franchise St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, where his teammates will be the likes of Faf du Plessis, Samuel Badree, Carlos Brathwaite, Lendl Simmons and Brad Hodge. Hasan Ali’s latest signing comes after his agreement with Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) earlier this month, under which he will also be playing for Comilla Victorians in the upcoming season later this year. The 23-year-old is currently waiting for his US visa, which will enable him to play for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in some matches which are scheduled to be held in Florida in early August. Hasan Ali is confident of performing his best in his CPL stint and is looking forward to playing cricket during the off-season – an opportunity that would help him stay fit for when national duty calls, the sources said. The pacer, who b...

There is huge pressure on Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers Association to strike an agreement, with Australian players selected for next month’s tour of Bangladesh voting to abandon the tour in the ­absence of a new pay deal and federal Sports Minister Greg Hunt intervening in the dispute. Australia captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner met with ACA chief executive Alastair Nicholson in an undisclosed meeting to consider their options after a breakdown in the talks with CA last week. The dispute has now entered nearly its fourth week with the players going out of contract – and officially unemployed – since June 30. The squad did agree to undergo a training camp in Darwin on August 10 after a vote but will not leave for Bangladesh a week later unless an agreement is reached, the report went on to add. The first Test, in the two Test series, begins 10 days later.

There would be hardly any cricket fan who does not remember Yuvraj Singh's brutal assault against Staurt Broad of England in the ICC T20 World Cup in 2007. Worcestershire‘s Ross Whiteley repeated the feat when he hit six sixes in an over on Sunday to join a select group who’ve performed the feat in senior cricket. Whiteley struck Yorkshire left-arm spinner Karl Carver for six sixes – a total of 36 runs – during the 16th over of Worcestershire’s innings in an English T20 match at Headingley. But he fell for 65 off 26 balls as Worcestershire finished on 196 for seven in a 37-run defeat. Yorkshire’s David Willey, the England all-rounder, earlier made 118 that included 34 runs off one over from Australia paceman John Hastings.

The Indian Women Cricket Team has put in splendid performances throughout the tournament to qualify for the Finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup. Cricketers, ac tors and even politicians took to twitter to wish the girls luck ahead of their final clash. Here are a few of them-

In an interview to CNN, current Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho revealed some interesting titbit about the controversial Italian footballer Mario Balotelli. CASE 1: Mourinho is quoted as saying, "Mario was good fun. I could write a book of 200 pages of my two years in Inter with Mario, but the book would not be a drama. The book would be a comedy! I remember one in Kazan. We went to play Kazan in the Champions League. In that match, I had all my strikers injured. No Milito, no Eto'o. I was really in trouble and Mario was the only one." "Mario got a yellow card in the 42nd minute, so when I got to the dressing room at half-time I spent 14 minutes of the 15 available speaking only to Mario." "I said to him: 'Mario, I cannot change you, I have no strikers on the bench, so don't touch anybody and play only with the ball. If we lose the ball, no reaction; if someone provokes you, no reaction; if the referee makes a mistake, no reaction....

Today, a group of 5 unknown men who reportedly belong to Ghanghola village of Greater Noida attacked India and Kings XI Punjab cricketer Parvinder Awana. According to reports, Awana was returning from Haridwar and while passing Greater Noida, five unknown people, who were travelling by car along with a girl, attacked him. The group of people, who was running away after having a fight in ice factory, thought that Awana was chasing them and, therefore, they overtook his car before assaulting the cricketer.                                                                                                                                         ...

Arsenal FC came from a goal down to beat German Champions FC Bayern Munich in Shanghai. Munich took the lead as early as in the 9th minute of the match with the help of a penalty by Robert Lewandowski to put some early pressure on the Gunners. Memories of the 10-2 hammering in the recent UEFA Champions League must have come back to haunt the Gunners. While  James Rodriguez was seen on the pitch in a Bayern jersey but couldn't help the team to extend their lead. No goals were scored in the remaining 81 minutes, but Arsenal somehow managed to put one inside in the injury time, thanks to Nigerian Alex Iwobi . The match had to be decided through penalty-shootout after the final whistle blew with the score reading 1-1 . Arsenal substitute keeper Emiliano Martinez made two saves from David Alaba and Juan Bernat to save the day for Arsene Wenger . Alex Iwobi, Aaron Ramsey , and Nacho Monreal made no mistake in putting the ball in the back of the net . ...

Alexis Sanchez yearning to play in the UEFA Champions League next season will depart from Arsenal F.C. by the end of this month with Clubs offering him good pay . Arsenal failed to qualify for the Champions League , thus, disappointing the fans around the world. Meanwhile, with Sanchez leaving, manager Arsene Wenger is showing interest in signing Real Madrid CF star Karim Benzema . The Frenchman didn't look at his usual best last season and Real is willing to offer him for a reasonable price, with Zidane having ample young strikers on the bench. However, his poor form has not dispirited Wenger to sign him this season hoping he will come good this season in the Premier League . For that, we have to wait for the EPL to be underway. As of now, a deal is happening in the next few days. Stay tuned .

After Antonio Conte clearly declared star striker Diego Costa would not be part of  Chelsea 's starting XI next season, it is quite clear that Costa will make a move to Atletico Madrid soon as his former team seems interested in him. Ultimately, the Blues ' manager will have a huge responsibility of signing a striker that would fit in the team. An inside source has made it official that Chelsea is very much interested in signing Manchester City 's Sergio Aguero . After missing out on Romelu Lukaku and Alvaro Morata , Chelsea would not like to miss out on Aguero this time. The Argentine has been one of the best players for Manchester City for years, scoring 169 goals in six seasons and winning two Premier League titles in between. Confirmation report coming in the next few days. Stay tuned .

Indian Women's Cricket Team has been playing exceptionally well in the ongoing ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2017 making all the Indians proud with their performance. One player to have emerged in this tournament is 20-year old left-handed Smriti Mandhana . After recovering from a serious injury just before the mega-event, the team wanted her to be at her best and certainly, she has not disappointed . She has also scored a match winning century in the ongoing World Cup. The whole of India is crushing on her beautiful smile and would want her to score more and more in the remaining matches. With the Semi-final scheduled to be played on Thursday , i.e., 20 th of this month against heavy-weights Australia , the team would want her to come good once again. We wish her a very Happy Birthday . Make us proud , always !

Indian Super League is few months away and all the teams are busy upgrading their support staff along with recruiting new players from all around the world. NorthEast United FC has met with an agreement with Joao Carlos Pires de Deus , who will the new head coach of the young highlanders. The experienced 40-year old has been the Assistant coach of Portugal and also the coach of Sporting Clube de Portugal 'B'. He has immense experience working with young talents. NEUFC will smell something big this season, hopefully .

His International cricket career may not be in the best of health but he is definitely having a gala time in his personal life. The tallest International cricketer to play the game Pakistan's Mohammad Irfan became a proud father of a baby boy. On Saturday, he took to Twitter to announce the same and wrote, “Mera beta - another beautiful addition in my Aashyana. Please say a dua for his health, success and life.” The 35-year-old had two daughters and one son prior to the birth of fourth child. It has further been learnt that both the child and his mother are healthful. He is currently serving a suspension from all formats of cricket as he failed to timely report the bookies’ offers of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials during the second edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL), and was also fined $1,000.

The drama around the selection of the Team India Cricket Coach seems to be never-ending. After months of speculation, Ravi Shastri was appointed the Head Coach last week with Rahul Dravid and Zaheer Khan being appointed the batting and bowling coach respectively (only to travel when required). Post that, some sections of the media reported that Ravi is not happy with Zaheer's appointment and wants Bharath Arun as the bowling coach. Between all these, CAC's letter to the BCCI expressing disappointment went viral. Now, there is another twist in the tale. According to reports, Sehwag was Kohli's first choice before things tilted towards Shastri. Sehwag has been successful with Kings XI Punjab and with both being from  Delhi, there was good understanding between the two. However, Sehwag wanted to bring along with him a team of support staff that would include physiotherapist Amit Tyagi and Kings XI Punjab assistant coach Mithun Manhas and this is where Kohli didn't ag...

      Image Source: Getty Images The ongoing ICC Women's World Cup 2017 has reached its business end and the teams are now vying for a place in the semi finals. Although hosts England, defending champions Australia and South Africa have already booked their spots in the last four but they will primarily play to better their positions on the points table. Meanwhile, the fourth and final spot is still up for grabs as India confront New Zealand in a do-or-die battle at the County Ground, Derby on 15th July(Saturday).     Image Source: ICC Mithali Raj-led India got their World Cup campaign off to a flyer as they beat England, West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in their first four games. However, things did not fall into place after that as the Indian eves suffered heavy defeats against South Africa and Australia in their last two matches.  The Indian side will definitely like to work on a few things in their gameplay, be it batting, bowl...

India Football Tour is back to pick the team that will represent India at the Football Fives World Cup 2018, Beijing. IFT 2016 saw Kalina Rangers from Mumbai representing India at the world's biggest stage for amateur football. They were placed in a group that had the likes of Spain, Ireland and Egypt. Despite scoring the fastest goal in F5WC history and draws against footballing giants, Spain & Ireland they fell short on qualifying to the knock-out stages by just 1 point. IFT 2017 edition is a quest to find will India go a step further this time. It is India’s largest 5-A-Side football tournament for amateurs above the age of 16. The winning teams from the regional qualifiers will compete in the National Finals in Bengaluru. The national champions will get a chance to represent India at the Football Fives World Cup 2018 in Beijing, China. The event will be held in 6 cities namely: Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kochi and Kolkata and one can visit http://www.india...

      (Image courtesy: Reuters) Undoubtedly, Ander Herrera is a fan favorite at Old Trafford. The Spanish mid-fielder has been well received by the Manchester United fans since his arrival, back in the summer of 2014. Interestingly, United had already made a bid for him the previous summer but Athletic Bilbao rejected that offer and made it quite public. Herrera himself, then, activated his buy-out clause so that he could force a move to Manchester. And evidently, if a player himself, forces a move to a certain club then the fans of that particular club have an extra liking towards that player. In addition to that, his expressive passion and love for the club didn’t do any harm to his popularity among the Old Trafford faithfuls. But Old Trafford often have an extra liking for some players even if they do not go on to achieve anything great with the club, Diego Forlan being a prime example. So is Herrera going to become a United great or is he going to be just anot...

Manchester City FC suffered a huge blow on Tuesday's transfer window . Their main target Dani Alves has decided to join PSG instead. Well, his ex-manager Pep Guardiola won't be pleased with his decision, though. But now the things have cleared up and he is ready to join PSG this summer. Juventus have let go Dani after just one season . Speculations were that he might even consider his former club FC Barcelona , but his feud with the Club's President Bartomeu stopped all such rumors. A loss for City ?! Have to see.

The past few months have been quite eventful for Afghanistan cricket. After the dream debut for Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi in the recently concluded Indian Premier League, their national team performed exceptionally well in their series against West Indies. Their constant good performance over the years have been rewarded by the ICC with a Test Membership status. Adding another highpoint, yesterday wicketkeeper batsman Shafiqullah Shafaq scored a quickfire 214 in just 71 balls. In his breathtaking knock, he hit 21 maximums and 16 boundaries. The match was played in a local tournament (Paragon Nangarhar Champion Trophy). With the help of his 214, his team Khateez Cricket Academy scored a massive 351 and in the process handsomely defeated Kabul Star Cricket Club who scored only 107 in reply. Shafaq has made a total of 35 T20I and 20 ODI appearances for his national side, making his T20I debut for Afghanistan against Ireland in 2010. A regular member of the team, he wa...

Football is the most followed sport in the world with more than 3.5 billion fans. The obvious explanation being its aggression, tough competition, heart-pumping excitements, heart-warming moments and much more. One obscure reason to follow the sport is found to be the good looking footballers . Here is the list of TOP 11 Handsome Footballers of the 21st century- #11  Rui Patrico , Portugal He is the Goalkeeper of Portugal National Team . He was one of the 30 players nominated for the 2016 FIFA Ballon d'Or . Aged 29 , he is counted among the hot footballers of the current lot and thus, makes it to our list. #10  David Villa , Spain He created havoc with a stunning left-footed goal in the 2010 FIFA World Cup . When he retired from Spain National Team in 2014, he broke the hearts of all young women fans. He can now only be seen in the MLS . #9  Adam Lallana , England Lallana, an attacking midfielder , plays for England National Team . He is als...