Alive News

Liverpool’s Georginio Wijnaldum celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates. Photo: Reuters

MANCHESTER: Liverpool’s run to the Champions League final and their impressive three wins over Manchester City in the last campaign have raised hopes on Merseyside that they could be the closest challengers to Pep Guardiola’s side this season.

Their work in the transfer market has also added to the positivity around the club after German manager Juergen Klopp made some major moves that have clearly strengthened his squad.

The most glaring weakness in last year’s team was in goal, where Loris Karius’s nightmare performance in the Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid exposed their lack of a reliable top-class keeper.

Klopp responded by signing 25-year-old Brazil international Alisson Becker from AS Roma, smashing the world record for a goalkeeper in a deal worth up to 72.5 million euros ($84 million).

The departure of Emre Can to Juventus and the long-term injury absence of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain left Klopp short of options in the centre of midfield.

Yet the arrivals of Brazilian Fabinho from AS Monaco and Guinea international Naby Keita from RB Leipzig have provided plenty of additional quality.

Liverpool’s strength last season was their attack, which remains unchanged, with Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane a potent trident that will trouble any defence in the Premier League.

The surprise purchase of Swiss international Xherdan Shaqiri from Stoke City offers some cover and flexibility, rounding out what has been an impressive transfer window for Klopp.

As well as the close-season signings, the arrival in January of Virgil van Dijk brought much-needed solidity and stability to the centre of defence and with Joe Gomez and Nathianel Clyne back to fitness, there are increased options at fullback.

While City start as title favourites, Liverpool know they are capable of outgunning Guardiola’s side — they beat them 4-3 in the league at Anfield in January before a 3-0 victory in the Champions League quarter-final, first leg.

Klopp is well aware that Liverpool need to eliminate some of the sloppy performances, which left them trailing City in the league last season, and while he is not promising silverware, he expects to see progress.

“Improvement, development, using our football last season as a basis and make the next steps. More consistency – we were not inconsistent, but we can be more consistent,” he said.

“The mood in the club at the moment is really good and we want to build on that, we want to come even closer.”

File: Usain Bolt before the match in England. Photo: Reuters

SYDNEY: Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt will train with Australia’s Central Coast Mariners as he continues his quest to become a professional soccer player, the A-League team said on Tuesday.

Bolt won eight Olympic golds and since retiring from athletics has trained with Germany’s Borussia Dortmund, South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns and Norway’s Stromsgodset.

He will link up with the Australian side later this month.

“I am very excited about coming to Australia and would like to thank the owner and management of the Central Coast Mariners for giving me this opportunity,” the 31-year-old Jamaican said.

“It has been my dream to play professional football and I know it will involve a lot of hard work and training to get to the level required to play and make an impact in the A-League.”

Mariners said the deal did not guarantee a professional playing contract with them.

“Having Usain Bolt come to the club to train and hopefully develop into a professional football player is perfectly aligned to this part of the club’s philosophy,” Mariners CEO Shaun Mielekamp said.

“It is important that we don’t get too caught up in the hype of possibilities, but the reality is that Usain Bolt has placed his faith in the Central Coast Mariners to accelerate his football journey.”

Manchester United fan Bolt has previously stated his desire to play for the Premier League champions.

KATHMANDU: Nepali judokas Indra Bahadur Shrestha and Manita Shrestha Pradhan won gold medals in the North Bangkok University Judo Championship in Thailand on Sunday.

Indra won the gold medal in men’s below-66kg weight category after winning four bouts against Thailand, UAE and Japanese players, while Manita defeated players from Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand on her way to winning the gold in women’s below-57kg section.

Also, Poonam Shrestha won silver in women’s below-78kg section, whereas Devika Khadka bagged bronze in women’s below-52kg weight category.

Indra and Umesh Magar had win bronze medals in the previous edition of the tournament.

LALITPUR: Dr Nabees Man Singh Pradhan has been nominated by the organising committee of the 18th Asian Games as the Doping Control Officer.

Pradhan, who attended the DCO training in Sri Lanka in 2013 and had previously represented the country in Nanjing Youth Asian Games, is the lone officer to be picked up from South Asia for the Asiad slated for Indonesia from August 18 to September 2, informed the Nepal Olympic Committee in a release.

NOC President Jeevan Ram Shrestha on Sunday bade farewell to Pradhan, who will be leaving for Indonesia on August 9.

KATHMANDU: Rising Cricket for Women Club is organising the Women Supper Indoor Cricket Tournament here at the Ultimate Indoor Cricket on Tuesday.

A total of five teams — RCW, Gautam Group, Thunder Birds, KCTC Girls and Sri Sri Yoddha — will take part in the tournament, informed RCW President Arati Bidari.

Each team will have six players and the matches will be played under indoor cricket rules.

The winners will get Rs 35,000 along with trophy, while the runners-up will bag Rs 15,000.

KATHMANDU: Nepal Squash Rackets Association is organising the third Dhana Laxmi Maharjan Memorial National Squash Tournament from August 7-11 at the National Squash Academy in Lalitpur.

The tournament, which is sponsored by NSRA President Kishore Maharjan, features seven categories — men’s open, women’s open, above-50 masters’ open, U-19 boys’, U-15 boys’, U-15 girls’ and plate, informed the organisers at a press meet on Sunday.

Around 100 players are expected to participate in the tournament which carries a total cash purse of Rs 106,000.

The tournament is also supported by WaterAid, Ideashop, GG Machan and Khajurico.

LALITPUR: The one-day marathon workshop was held here at the Nepali Army Sports Complex on Saturday.

Japanese Olympian athlete Yurika Nakamura conducted the workshop for Nepali long-distance runners, coaches and officials. The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games participant, Nakamura conducted the workshop on two parts — theoretical and practical. The 90-minute theory session was held at the Nepal Olympic Committee, while the practical part was held at the Army facilities in Lagankhel.

Deputy Mayor of Tamura City Naoyuki Kawagoishi, Secretary General of Athletes Society Dr Soko Aoki and Member of NOC Nilendra Shrestha were also present on the occasion. The workshop was part of the three-party agreement to help Nepali athletes prepare for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

The NOC had signed the agreements with Tamura City and Athlete Society of Tokyo on Friday. As per the agreement, Tamura City and Athlete Society will provide Nepali athletes with training and other facilities until Tokyo Games.

KATHMANDU: Kathmandu Khel Mandal, the ‘A’ division football club popularly known as New Road Team (NRT), on Saturday organised a blood donation camp on the club premises.

A total of 79 players and officials donated blood in the camp organised by the club under its social activities, informed NRT President Deepak Harsha Bajracharya. According to Bajracharya, NRT Member Sahim Shah donated blood for the 109th time.

KATHMANDU: Navodit College won the title of the e-planet Inter-college Futsal Tournament here at the Dhuku Futsal Hub on Saturday.

Navodit defeated hosts National College 3-2 in the final. Champions Navodit received Rs 35,000 and gift hampers, while National got a total of Rs 20,000 along with gift hampers. Bikrant Narshing Rana and Anish Basnet of National bagged the best player and highest scorer awards respectively, while Navodit’s Nishan Ramjali was named the best goalkeeper.

A total of 40 teams took part in the tournament. National College Principal Madhav Neupane and Executive Director of e-planet Naren Aryal among others handed over the prizes to the winners.

KATHMANDU: Nepali basketball team on Saturday left for Sri Lanka to participate in the FIBA 3X3 SABA Quest Stop slated for August 4-6 in Colombo.

Mabindra Bhandari will lead the men’s team that includes Ashok Kushwaha, Nischal Maharjan and Anish Basnet, while Anusha Malla is the captain of women’s team of Bhawana Lama, Shreya Khadka and Alina Gurung.

Officials Bikash Shahi and Sadina Shrestha accompanied the players to Colombo. National Sports Council Member Secretary Keshab Kumar Bista bade farewell to the team.

Soccer Football – French Super Cup Trophee des Champions – Paris St Germain v AS Monaco – Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre, Shenzhen, China – August 4, 2018 Paris St Germain’s Thiago Silva celebrates with the trophy and team mates after winning the French Super Cup Photo: REUTERS

HONG KONG – Thomas Tuchel made a winning start to life as coach of Paris St Germain on Saturday with a comprehensive 4-0 win over AS Monaco in the French Super Cup at Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre.

Cricket – England v India – First Test – Edgbaston, Birmingham, Britain – August 4, 2018 England’s Ben Stokes celebrates the wicket of India’s Hardik Pandya. Photo: Reuters

BIRMINGHAM– England’s Ben Stokes grabbed three wickets on Saturday including the prized scalp of India captain Virat Kohli to give the hosts a stunning victory by 31 runs on the fourth day of the first test match at Edgbaston.

Chasing 194 runs, India resumed their second innings at 110 for the loss of five wickets with Kohli and wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik needing 84 for victory.

But the hosts, playing their 1,000th test match, made an early breakthrough with strike bowler James Anderson removing Karthik with the final delivery of the first over.

That brought all-rounder Hardik Pandya to the crease and at one stage the visitors seemed to have found their way back into a gripping contest that has swung with every session over the last three days.

The duo put on 29 runs for the seventh wicket with Pandya looking the more aggressive of the two, hitting Stuart Broad for two consecutive boundaries in one over.

Cricket – England v India – First Test – Edgbaston, Birmingham, Britain – August 4, 2018 India’s Virat Kohli in action. Photo: Reuters

STOKES STRIKES

But the introduction of Stokes in the eleventh over of the day dragged the momentum back in England’s favour.

First he trapped Kohli, who was looking dangerous after scoring a fluent half century, with a beautiful delivery that rapped him on the pads and followed that up by dismissing bowler Mohammed Shami for a duck.

Pandya offered some resistance to the English bowlers but the task turned out to be too big for him at the end.

For the visitors, this would have been the biggest run chase against the hosts in England if successful.

He was the last man out for the visitors and gave Stokes his fourth wicket of the innings.

England captain Joe Root said the determination his team mates showed will prove vital going forward.

“Whenever you play games like this you want to end up on the right side for different reasons,” he said. “It gives us a great deal of confidence going into the rest of the series.”

The win gave England a 1-0 lead in the five match series. The second test begins at Lord’s on Aug. 9

Root’s side won the one-day international series between the teams 2-1 and lost the Twenty20 competition by the same margin last month.

KATHMANDU: Wilson Academy won the inaugural match of the 19th Wilson Hoops Inter-school Basketball Tournament here on Friday.

Wilson defeated Kathmandu Xavier 53-30 in the senior boys’ section match riding on 18 points from Binod Sen. In girls’ section, Simran Gurung scored 12 points as Wilson beat SCIBS 40-25, and Reliance Academy defeated Heartland School 20-4 in which Bipana Giri top scored for the winning team with seven points. In boys’ category, Amrit Bhattarai scored 10 points in Greenfield’s 27-12 victory over Heartland School.

A total of 46 teams — 24 in senior boys, 14 in girls, 12 in junior boys and six in staff categories — are taking part in the 19th edition of the tournament organised annually by Wilson Academy. The final is slated for August 12. Earlier, Mayor of Nagarjun Municipality Mohan Bahadur Basnet inaugurated the tournament.

KATHMANDU: Little Dolphins Swim School won the title of the first Dhanyentari Cup Swimming Championship here on Friday.

Little Dolphins accumulated 64 points to win the championship at the Dhanyentari Swimming Pool. Nisarga Batika School came second with 59 points, while National Sports Centre came third with 27 points. A total of 117 swimmers from 29 schools and six clubs took part in the one-day tournament that featured three age categories — U-8, U-10 and U-12 — in both girls and boys sections.

Deputy PM and Minister for Defense Ishwor Pokharel and Member of Parliament Narayan Silwal handed over the prizes to the winners. Dhanyentari Society President Madan Koirala said the objective of the championship was to produce healthy citizen and players for national and international tournament with the involvement of private sector.

Meanwhile, Minister Pokharel felicitated Olympian swimmer Sirish Gurung — who is set to participate in the 18th Asian Games later this month in Indonesia — on the occasion.

From left Soko Aoki General Secretary of Athelet Society, Naoyuki Kawagoishi Deputy Mayor of Tamura City and Jeevan Ram Shrestha President of Nepal Olympic Committee show Memorandum of Understading after tri-party signing ceremony at Nepal Olympic Committee in Satdobato, Lalitpur on Friday, August 3, 2018. Photo: THT

Lalitpur, August 3

Nepal Olympic Committee today signed the agreements with Tamura City Government and Athlete Society of Tokyo with an aim of preparing for the 2020 Olympic Games.

NOC President Jeevan Ram Shrestha, Deputy Mayor of Tamura City Fukushima Naoyuki Kawagoishi and Secretary General of Athlete Society Soko Aoki exchanged the memorandum of understanding amidst a programme which was also attended by Japanese Ambassador to Nepal Masamichi Saigo.

As per the agreement, Tamura City Fukushima and Athlete Society will provide Nepali athletes with proper training and logistics to prepare for the Olympic Games to be held in Tokyo in 2020. To begin with, Yurika Nakamura of Athlete Society — the long distance runner who participated in the 2008 Beijing Olympics — will conduct a workshop for marathon runners and officials on Saturday. At least 10 marathon athletes will travel to Japan to prepare for the Olympics.

“This is a long-term deal which will help Nepali athletes perform better in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games,” said NOC President Shrestha. “Tamura City Fukushima will look after the funding part and Athlete Society will be taking care of the technical aspects of the training,” said Shrestha. “Apart from athletics, the two parties will also help other players to prepare for the Olympics,” he added. “Nepal and Japan have good relationship and we can strengthen it through this programme. The government of Japan has been always supportive towards Nepali sports and we would like to thank them for their generous support,” added Shrestha.

Deputy Mayor of Tamura City Fukushima Kawagoishi was happy to get the opportunity to work together with the NOC. As per the agreement, the three parties agreed to carry out Nepal’s track and field training camp in Tamura City, which will take care of the training facilities, accommodations and local transportation of the athletes.

The three parties agreed to mutually cooperate to enhance and support endeavor to support athletics in Nepal, endeavor to support participation in Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games by many Nepal athletes, continuously have close consultation and conclude agreement on how to support other athletic events in Nepal, and have sports and cultural exchange after 2018.

Kathmandu, August 3

Skipper Paras Khadka scored a half century and conceded just four runs in the last over as Nepal defeated the Netherlands by one run to register their maiden One Day International victory and levelled the two-match series 1-1 at the VRA Grounds in Amstelveen today.

Electing to bat first, Nepal were bowled out for 216 runs in 48.5 overs before packing the Dutchmen to 215 all out in the last ball of the match. Nepal, playing their first-ever ODI series, had faced a 55-run defeat at the hands of the Netherlands in their debut match on Wednesday.

The Netherlands needed six runs from the last over to win the match and Nepal skipper Paras Khadka decided to deliver the last six deliveries. After conceding four runs in the first five balls, Khadka ran Klaassen out in the last ball of the innings igniting a wild celebration.

Nepal posted the fighting total riding on half centuries from skipper Paras Khadka and Sompal Kami.

The team was heading towards a low total after being reduced to 88-5 inside 20 overs but the duo saved the team, especially Kami, batting at No 8, who not only revived the innings but also helped the team cross 200-run mark with his quick fire 61 off 46 balls that included five boundaries and three sixes.

Openers Gyanendra Malla (13) and Subash Khakurel failed to give a desired start with the bat and the former was the first to depart with 29 runs on the board. Anil Kumar Sah departed soon making it 34-2 and Khakurel was the next to go. Khakurel, who made his ODI debut along with Rohit Kumar Paudel and Lalit Singh Bhandari, struck three fours in his 33-ball 19.

Khadka and Dipendra Singh Airee added 25 runs for the fourth wicket before the latter fell for 19 off 17 balls that included three fours. Paudel (six) was dismissed cheaply in his ODI debut, while Khadka became the fifth wicket to fall but not before completing his half century. Khadka struck six fours and two sixes in his 69-ball 51 and became the second Nepal cricketer to scored a half century in ODI after his deputy Malla, who was the first-ever batsman to achieve the feat in Nepal’s debut match against the same team on Wednesday.

After Aarif Sheikh was dismissed for 16 runs, Kami shared an important 31-run partnership with Sandeep Lamichhane (eight) to take the team past 200-run mark.

Fred Klaassen was the pick of the Netherlands bowlers taking 3-38, while Michael Rippon and skipper Pieter Seelaar took two wickets each. Paul van Meekeren and Shane Snater took one wicket each.

Chasing a modest target, the home team came under early pressure when Kami bowled Stephan Myburgh for a duck in the second ball of the innings. Lalit Singh Bhandari reduced the hosts to 30-2 when he had Ben Cooper caught by Rohit Kumar Paudel in the eighth over.

Daniel ter Braak and Wesley Barresi revived the innings and took the match away from Nepal with a 84-run partnership for the third wicket. Sandeep Lamichhane struck twice in the space of three balls in the 29th over to bring the team back into the game. The legspinner trapped ter Braak (39) leg before the wicket in the fourth ball and wicketkeeper Subash Khakurel stumped Bas de Leede (naught) two balls later.

After Basant Regmi dismissed Rippon (three) in the 32nd over, Dipendra Singh Airee removed the dangerman Barresi, trapping him leg before for 71 off 89 balls that included eight fours. Bhandari them claimed his second wicket, dismissing Scott Edwards (nine), while skipper Khadka removed his Netherlands counterpart Pieter Seelaar to reduce the hosts to 179-8 in 43 overs.

Nepal sniffed historic victory when Lamichane bowled Shane Snater (12) in the 44th over but the last pair of Klaassen and Paul van Meekeren made Nepal wait until the last ball of the innings sharing 30 runs for the last wicket. Lamichhane returned with the figures of 3-41, while Bhandari took 2-43. Kami, Khadka, Regmi and Airee took one wicket each.

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• Nepal beat the Netherlands by 1 run to claim first ever ODI win

Nepal’s lower order hard-hitting batsman Sompal Kami acknowledges the crowd after scoring half-century against Dutch. Courtesy: Raman Shiwakoti

KATHMANDU: Nepal have registered first ever ODI win in history books after restricting the Netherlands to 215 runs against narrow 217-run-target in their second ODI match at VRA ground in Amstelveen on Friday.

Nepal’s skipper Paras Khadka and lower order batsman Sompal Kami hit flamboyant half-centuries to post a challenging 216-run all out with seven balls to spare against the Dutch.

Paras smashed 51 runs while Sompal scored a quick-fire 61 runs off just 46 balls with three maximum clean hits and five swashbuckling fours to register a decent total on board against the formidable opponent.

Likewise, young spinner Sandeep Lamichhane gave Nepal a breakthrough after taking three wickets for Nepal while Lalit Singh Bhandari claimed two.

For the Dutch, Right-hand Batsman Wesley Barresi made 71 runs in 89 balls while Daniel James ter Braak took 39 runs.

In the dying embers of the match, Nepal’s Skipper Paras Khadka made the win possible after grabbing the last but most crucial wicket for Nepal.

Netherlands were short of a single run to tie their second ODI against Nepal.

Chelsea’s Pedro scores their first goal. Photo: Reuters

LONDON: Chelsea playmaker Pedro has signed a one-year contract extension to extend his stay at Stamford Bridge until 2020, the Premier League club has said.

The 31-year-old, a World Cup and European Championships winner with Spain, joined Chelsea in 2015 and has since made 131 appearances across all competitions, winning the league title in 2017 and the FA Cup last term.

“It’s important for me to continue with Chelsea, I am comfortable here and want to win new titles and trophies. I want to help the team, score goals, and I repeat, I am really happy,” Pedro told the club’s website https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2018/8/3/pedro-extends.

The Spaniard previously played for La Liga club Barcelona, where he made more than 300 appearances and collected around 20 titles, including three Champions League triumphs.

Chelsea play league champions Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday, six days before travelling to Huddersfield Town for their opening league fixture on Aug. 11.