SportsMaddy

Conquering the much hyped English Channel has always been every swimmer's grail. Many successful and even more unsuccessful attempts have been made to subjugate the channel that separates southern England from northern France, and links the southern part of the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. UK's Matthew Wade in 1875 was the first recorded person to swim across the English Channel. Bangladesh's Brojen Das was the first Asian to do so. Mihir Sen and Arati Saha were the first Indians to achieve the feat. Come June 2018 and another Indian will try to overpower the mighty English Channel. Assam's Elvis Ali Hazarika is no new name in the sporting landscape of India. Every 90's kid in Assam must have grown hearing his accolades and aspiring to be like Elvis. 'Jalkonwar' , as he was fondly called had started showing glimpses of his brilliance at a very early age. He had crossed the Joysagar lake in Sibsagar at a tender age of 5. He had started swimming at t...

On Friday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) finally declared that they have decided to extend the term of former India captain Rahul Dravid as the head coach of India Under-19 and India A for 2 years. Under his guidance, the India Under-19 team achieved great success and went to the Under-19 World Cup finals in 2016. He has worked with the likes of Ishan Kishan, Rishab Pant and Sarfaraz Khan who are being touted as future India senior team prospects. He also took the India A team to victory in his first assignment as a coach in the triangular series held in Australia. Over the last two years, Rahul Dravid has been instrumental in getting young talents into the mix who have proved their worth on the big stage. We are glad to continue his services for the next two years and we are sure that this a bright sign for the Indian cricket which will see many more young talents coming up in the future," BCCI Acting President CK Khanna said in the release. BCCI ac...

Global Football Superstar Cristiano Ronaldo might have scored many hattricks on the field but he has now scored the most memorable hattrick of his life. He is now the proud father of 3. After the loss against Chile in the Confederations Cup semi finals, Ronaldo revealed the news of the birth of his twins.  It is believed that the twins were born before the start of the Confederations Cup. "I was in the service of the national team ... even though my two sons were born," Ronaldo wrote in Portuguese on Facebook. He added that he was headed to be with his "children for the first time" and will miss the third-place game. Sunday's game in Moscow will be against either Germany or Mexico. Ronaldo says he "will not forget" the understanding shown by Portugal team management. He is currently dating model Georgina Rodríguez, though the twins were born via a surrogate mother. He already has one son, Cristiano Ronaldo Jnr.

A brave effort by Claudio Bravo as Chile advances through to the Confederations Cup final after winning 3-0 on penalties against Portugal. Now, they will either face Germany or Mexico in the finals. After a goal less match, Quaresma, Moutinho and Nani missed their respective penalties in the shootouts to give Chile a well deserved victory.

Afghanistan's 18 year old spin wizard Rashid Khan has had a very eventful year. After being signed for a lucrative multi-crore deal in the World's post mopular T20 league, IPL it has been no looking back for him. He had a very successful IPL and was one of the most impactful bowlers in the season. He picked up 17 wickets from 14 matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad. His international career is also steadily moving ahead with he being currently in the Top 10 ICC Bowlers Ranking in both ODIs and T20Is. With such a successful last few months, there should be no element of shock that county teams are vouching for him. According to reports, atleast 2 of them  are trying to sign Rashid. However, the laws of the game have come in the way. According to county laws which were changed 8 years back, every foreign player must be from the ‘elite level’. This, in cricket would entail any player from a Test-playing nation. Though Afghanistan and Ireland have been given 'Test' status ...

India's top singles player, World No 222 Ramkumar Ramanathan defeated World No 8 Dominic Thiem in straight sets in the pre-quarter finals of the Antalya Open. Ramkumar took just 59 minutes to make it to the last eight of the USD 439,000 prize-money tournament. This was his first-ever victory over a top-10 player in the ATP rankings. "I worked really hard for this win," Ramanathan said after the match. He will now face tennis superstar Marcos Baghdatis. This is some great experience for this Indian newbie.

South Africa has not had a very good time in the last few months. They crashed out of the Champions Trophy in the group stage, and lost the ODI series as well as the T20I series against England by a margin of 2-1. However, the upcoming four-match Test series against England is important but it had been decided earlier that De Villiers would be taking a break. AB de Villiers will meet with Cricket South Africa in August to chart his future in international cricket. De Villiers said they were going to "make a final decision about what happens for the next few years." "We will see what works for both parties,We are not going to pick and choose games, but we are going to make a final decision about what happens for the next few years", de Villiers said. 

Indian Football is currently on a roll. Ranked 100th as per the latest FIFA rankings, Indian Football can only think of climbing up the ladder from here.

Mr. Satyendra verma (Retd. Lt. Col-Indian Army) today created history by performing India’s highest BASE (building, antenna, span (bridge) and earth) jump from India’s highest building- Supernova in Noida. Mr. Verma took one minute and thirty seconds to successfully complete the BASE jump from 600 feet above the ground level. Mr.Verma, with over 2400 sky dives, 350 Wingsuit Jumps and 54 BASE Jumps to his credit, is an experienced BASE jumper and had earlier achieved the feats of jumping sky scrapers like 450 feet Doordarshan TV Tower in India, a telecom tower at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and the Perrine Bridge in the US. For his accomplishments, Mr. Verma has received three mentions in Limca book of records and has also been felicitated with the Tenzing Norgay Adventure Award (Equivalent to Arjuna Award) by Hon’ble President of India in 2015 “I was in Indian Army for a period of 23 years and there adventure is not an option-it is a way of life and through there I ventured into th...

India's Srikanth Kidambi is on a roll. After winning the Indonesia Open last week, he delivered another scintillating today to defeat the reigning Olympic Champion Chen Long to win the Australian Open Super Series Title. It was a straight set victory for the Indian 22-20, 21-16 in the men's singles final.

India's Srikanth Kidambi has continued his splendid form in the Australian Open Super Series by reaching the final of the event with a dominating 21-10, 21-14 win over fourth-seeded Shi Yuqi of China. Such was his dominance that the match didn't even last 40 minutes. In the process, the 24-year-old Indian became only the sixth male badminton player and 1st Indian to have entered three consecutive finals of Superseries tournaments. Wishing him all the luck for his finals

24th  June,2017   is Lionel   Messi's  30 th birthday  and to celebrate   it we have   prepared  some special content .  E njoy   Messi 's birthday  by  reliving   his Top 10 moments. 1. First goal for FC Barcelona:  Born and raised in central Argentina, Messi was diagnosed with a  growth hormone deficienc y  as a child. At age 13, he relocated to Spain to join Barcelona, who agreed to pay for his medical treatment. After a fast progression through Barcelona's youth academy, Messi made his competitive debut aged 17 in October 2004. But  Messi had to wait till May 1, 2005to get his first goal for the Ctalan Club. He had  put himself in the record books  as the youngest player ever to score a goal for the Catalan Club and assisted by none other than his mentor Ronaldinho. Lionel Messi's First Goal For Barcelona 2. U-20 World Cup 2005:  On 2 July 2005, in Utrecht, Leo Messi led...

The 2nd major setback of the day has hit Indian Badminton. After 2016 Rio Olympics Medalist PV Sindhu failed to clear the quarter finals in the Australian Open Super Series earlier in the day, Saina Nehwal has followed suit. Saina lost 17-21, 21-10, 17-21 in the quarters against World No. 6 China's Sun Yu. The match lasted 78 minutes.  Nehwal’s defeat meant that K Srikanth is the only Indian shuttler still alive in the tournament. Srikanth will fight fourth seed Shi Yuqi of China on Saturday in the semi-finals.

P.V Sindhu was knocked out of the Australian Open Super Series in the quarter-final by World No.1 Tai-Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei. Sindhu won the first game before Tai staged a strong comeback to register a 10-21, 22-20, 21-16 win.Top seeded Tai now has a head to head record against World No.4 Sindhu at 7-3.  Later today, Saina will face China's Sun Yu in the last quarterfinal match.

More than 10,000 youth joined Hon’ble MP Sh. Anurag Thakur, wrestling icon The Great Khali and India’s Olympic pride Vijay Kumar for the Olympic torch run in Hamirpur, the venue of the Himachal Pradesh State Olympic Games. In a bid to promote sports in the state, the “State Olympics” will run from June 22 to 25. Giving the slogan of “Khelega Yuva, Jeetega Himachal”, Sh. Anurag Thakur, the visionary president of the Himachal Pradesh Olympic Association has once again lit the fire to play and win the hearts of the youth in Himachal. Expressing his sentiments on the inauguration day of the Himachal Pradesh State Olympic Games, Sh. Anurag Thakur, President, HPOA said, “We have launched the HP Olympic games to herald in a sporting culture at state level which is unparalleled. I am passionate about sports and I want the next Olympian to be from Himachal. The sole objective of these games is to make the state’s youth aware of the endless possibilities that sports offer ...

They were just given 90 days to prepare but the Government of Odisha and the Athletics Federation of India pulled off an incredible story by putting together the 22nd Asian Athletics Championship in record time. In a glittering curtain raiser a special film highlighting the planning, monitoring and supervision of the Asian Athletics Championship was showcased. The 22nd Asian Athletics Championship is Asia’s biggest athletics event, being hosted by Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Odisha from July 6-9. This is the third time the premier track and field event of the continent is being held in India after New Delhi (1989) and Pune (2013), and is a qualifying event for the IAAF World Athletics Championships to be held in London later this year. Legendary Olympians Anju Bobby George, PT Usha and Shiny Wilson were also present at the press conference along with AFI President Mr AdilleSumariwalla, celebrating the occasion of Bhubaneswar’s makeover to gear up for the premier track and ...

Amidst all the crisis going on in the Indian Cricket Camp, what has come as a shocker is the resignation of Chief Coach Anil Kumble. Though a tussle has been going on for sometime now, there were speculations that Kumble's term would be extended till the 2019 World Cup. Kumble did not accompany the Indian team to the West Indies for a limited-overs series starting June 23, citing his commitment to an ICC meeting. According to a certain section, BCCI was in favour of extending Kumble's contract earlier, but Kohli was not comfortable with the idea of working with Kumble on a long term basis and preferred Shastri instead.

Shah Rukh Khan  expanded his established Knight Riders Brand with the purchase of the Cape Town franchise to add to the teams he already owns in Kolkata and Trinidad.   Apart from Khan, IPL’s Delhi Franchise owner GMR Sports has also picked up Johannesburg franchise in the T20 Global League.  Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced the eight team owners at The Bvlgari in London today.  "We are thrilled by the international mix of owners and the passion and excitement that was clearly demonstrated during the bidding process by them and the marquee players," said Cricket South Africa chief executive Haroon Lorgat.  The South Africa marquee players are Hashim Amla (Durban), Quinton de Kock (Benoni), AB de Villiers (Pretoria), Faf du Plessis (Stellenbosch), JP Duminy (Cape Town), David Miller (Bloemfontein), Kagiso Rabada (Johannesburg) and Imran Tahir (Port Elizabeth).  However, no Indian player is expected to be a part of this league

Guntur's Srikanth Nammalwar Kidambi just like Olympic medalists PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal is a product of the Pullela Gopichand Academy. He first rose to fame in 2013 when he beat reigning champion and Olympian Parupalli Kashyap in the All India Senior National Championships in Delhi to claim his first senior national title. A year later, in 2014 he grabbed international headlines when he created a major upset in the final of the 2014 China Open Super Series Premier by beating 5 times World Champion and 2 times Olympic Champion Lin Dan in straight sets (21–19 21–17) and in the process became the first Indian to win a Super Series Premier Men's title. In the 2016 Rio Olympics, Kidambi reached till the quarter finals. On Sunday, he won his third Super Series title, lifting the Indonesia Open men's singles trophy with a straight-game victory over Japanese Kazumasa Sakai to win the USD 1,000,000 prize money. This is Kidambi's 8th world title who is currently ra...

The entire nation is pinning hopes on a miraculous turnaround of events for an Indian win over the Pakistanis. Well, that has happened but not at The Oval but an hour north at Milton Keynes. India has defeated Pakistan and rather convincingly 7-1 at the Hockey World League semi final in London. This is India's 56th win against arch rivals Pakistan. Pakistan has got the better of them 82 times.  Well, now let us hope for an Indian win at The Oval as well

Riyan Parag, a promising young talent from Assam has made it to the India Under 19 Team for the upcoming England tour. He had a terrific last season and was the third highest run-getter (682 runs and 12 wickets) in the Cooch Behar Trophy for the 2016-17 season when Assam made it to the semi-finals. Riyan is the son of former Assam Ranji Captain Parag Das and International Swimmer Mithoo Barooah. Mumbai's Prithvi Shaw who made headlines when he hit 546 in a Harris Shield elite division match is also in the squad. Here's wishing Riyan and the Indian team all the luck for the tour. Squads: Team for four-day matches: Himanshu Rana (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill, Manjot Kalra, Riyan Parag Das, S. Radhakrishnan, Harvik Desai, Het Patel, Harsh Tyagi, Ashok Sandhu, Rahul Chahar, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Darshan Nalkande, Vivekanand Tiwari. Team for one-day matches: Prithvi Shaw (Captain), Shubman Gill, Himanshu Rana, S Radhakrishnan, Salman Khan, Abhishek Sha...

Expectations from the Indian Football  Team are at an all time high post breaking into the FIFA Top 100 for the first time in 21 years. The Indian fans would be expecting nothing less than a victory when they lock horns with 32 ranks below Kyrgyzstan at Bengaluru's Kanteerava stadium. Here is all you need to know about today's encounter - India and Kyrgyzstan  are currently ranked at 100 and 132 respectively Both teams had won their previous matches of their AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers. While India defeated Myanmar 1-0, Kyrgyzstan beat Macau 1-0 Macau and Myanmar are the other two teams in Group A. Whoever wins today brightens their prospects of qualifying for the AFC Asian Cup 2019 to be held in the United Arab Emirates. AFC Asian Cup is an international association football tournament run by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and is the second oldest continental football championship in the world after Copa América. Both these teams have pla...

Catches Win Matches!!! This phrase definitely holds true for the Sri Lankan cricket team after they lost out on their second straight Champions Trophy semi-finals after some poor fielding. 236 was never going to be a power total in this ground. However, they were right in the game after some marvelous bowling from their speedsters, Nuwan Pradeep in particular. Pakistan at one stage were 162-7 with a certain defeat looming over them. However, Sarfraz Ahmed played a Captain's knock of 61 from 79 balls and was well supported by Mohammad Amir who  chipped in with a 28. Their valiant knocks were helped by some very sloppy Sri Lankan fielding who dropped a couple of  catches and also leaked some very crucial runs. Sri lanka's most experienced death bowler Lasith Malinga looked a shadow of  his past and this didn't help matters either. However, Pakistan played a really good game of cricket and didn't let the pressure get to them for which they are known for. Pakistan wil...

Rohan Bopanna and his Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski beat Colombia’s Robert Farah and Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld to clinch the French Open 2017 mixed doubles title.  Seeded seventh, Bopanna and Dabrowski took an hour and six minutes to defeat the unseeded Groenefeld and Farah 2-6, 6-2, 12-10 on Philippe-Chatrier Court. He is the 4th Indian to claim a Grand Slam Trophy after Sania Mirza, Leander Paes, and Mahesh Bhupati. (Photo:AP)