Sandeep Singh scored from two penalty corners on Sunday as India beat fierce rivals Pakistan 4-1 at the men’s field hockey World Cup while European champions England earned an upset 3-2 win over Australia.
In another Pool B match on the opening day, Olympic silver medalists Spain recovered from a slow start to beat South Africa 4-2.
Shivendra Singh gave India the lead in the 25th minute after capitalizing on a penalty corner rebound, and Sandeep Singh made it 2-0 just before half-time with a low shot.
Prabhjot Singh struck in open play in the 37th after a pass from Arjun Halappa, and Sandeep Singh scored with a drag-flick in the 56th. Pakistan pulled one back through a penalty corner conversion by Sohail Abbas three minutes later.
It was India’s first victory against Pakistan at a World Cup since 1975.
“It’s just a normal win and three points for us, we must keep our feet on the ground,” India coach Jose Brasa said. “We dominated the first half, but we were not up to mark in second half and still managed to score two lucky goals.”
England recorded their first win over Australia at a World Cup since 1975, winning 3-2 after James Tindall scored twice for the European champions.
Tindall converted a penalty corner in the 34th minute and found the net in open play in the 45th. England’s first goal came from a rasping penalty corner drag-flick by Ashley Jackson in the 25th.
Jamie Dwyer scored in the 23rd and 66th minutes for Australia.
New Delhi’s Dhyan Chand Stadium was guarded by nearly 19,000 personnel to protect players, officials and spectators in a 3km radius of the venue and accommodation for the 12 competing nations.
Security fears were raised following reported threats by some terrorist organizations against athletes visiting India.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB