The Fiji Times

After year of shame, stars align for Australia’s title defence

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Following one of Australian cricket’s most humbling years, the stars have aligned for the World Cup champions and Aaron Finch’s team head to England with the form and personnel to mount a successful title defence. After having lost every one-day series in a woeful two-year period dating back to January 2017, Australia...

England dream of ending 44 years of World Cup hurt

New Delhi (Reuters) – England’s relationship with the Cricket World Cup has been one of frustration, disappointment and even embarrassment but they host this year’s tournament as the top-ranked 50-over team and favourites to lift the trophy for the first time. From hosting the first three tournaments and reaching the final in 1979, 1987 and...

Tokyo 2020 organisers welcome IOC boxing decision

TOKYO (Reuters) – Tokyo 2020 organisers welcomed on Thursday the International Olympic Committee’s recommendation to include boxing at next year’s Games. The IOC executive board recommended on Wednesday that boxing should keep its place at the Tokyo Games but recognition of AIBA, the governing body of the sport’s amateur version, should be suspended. The recommendations...

World Cup will be won and lost in middle overs – Bichel

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – With quality bowling attacks, Australia and India may have the edge at the World Cup in England where fortunes are likely to be made or marred in the middle overs, former Australia paceman Andy Bichel has said. England’s home series against Pakistan provided a glimpse of what to expect, with the...

Team Chandra rules Ba Ambrose event

TEAM Chandra with the combination of Jamie and Vikrant took out the Property Destinations (Fiji)-sponsored the 18 holes two-player Ambrose event at the Fiji Sugar Corporation Rarawai course in Ba. The Chandra’s scored seven under par. Abdul Jalal and Asish Kumar were second with six under par while Rajen Singh and Darshal Kumar finished third...

Battle for World Cup spot

THE Fiji Cricket under-19 boys team left the country early this morning in their bid to qualify for the U19 Cricket World Cup. The 14-member team will be training in Hong Kong before they head to Japan for the East Asia Pacific U19 World Cup Qualifier. Team head coach Rhys Morgan said he was expecting...

LDS baby swim team ready for championship

THE Lattter Days Saint Primary School swim team is ready to compete in the Fiji National School Swimming Championship next weekend. Teacher Josai Volavola said since this was their first time taking part in the tournament, they hoped to win a medal. “This is a three-year program and our third year trying out the swimming...

Cikamatana is not “just any athlete”: Rodan Jr

EILEEN Cikamatana’s success last weekend at the interstate weightlifting tournament between ACT and New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, has stirred up reactions on how her case was handled along with some elite weightlifters during the Fiji weightlifting saga. Her record-breaking performance last weekend has awakened calls to re-look at how Fijian authorities handled the...

Tavua College celebrates Yeshnil’s Coke Games achievements

TAVUA College celebrated Yeshnil Karan’s double gold medal victory in the long distance races at the 2019 Coca-Coca Games during a special function yesterday. Karan surprised many to finish first in the open boy’s 1500metre and 3000m events at the ANZ Stadium in Suva. Minister for Youth and Sports Parveen Kumar, who was the chief...

Uprising Beach Resort ground given thumbs up

THE Uprising Beach Resort Ground in Pacific Harbour has been given a thumbs up by players and officials who tested the ground yesterday. Three rugby teams played in a short tournament in the afternoon. England-based Scot Guards, Deuba and host Dubai took part in the three-match round-robin tournament. Scot Guards captain Charlie Longstaff was impressed...

Wish World Cup started tomorrow, says England’s Morgan

LONDON (Reuters) – Confidence levels are soaring so high in the England team that captain Eosin Morgan wishes the World Cup was starting tomorrow. England named their 15-man squad on Tuesday in the wake of a 4-0 hammering of Pakistan that underlined their place as favourites for the tournament which starts on home soil next...

Archer’s rapid rise earns him England World Cup spot

LONDON (Reuters) – Fast bowler Jofra Archer’s whirlwind rise continued when he was named in hosts England’s 15-man World Cup squad on Tuesday having appeared in only three one-day internationals. The 24-year-old, born in Barbados and who represented West Indies at Under-19 level, was not in England’s provisional squad and only made his ODI debut...

French prosecutors lay out allegations against former IAAF chief Diack

PARIS (Reuters) – French prosecutors have described a web of corruption once rife in world athletics, including bribes paid to cover up athletes’ positive drugs tests, in an indictment recommending that Lamine Diack, the Senegalese former head of the IAAF, and his son stand trial. The indictment handed to judges by France’s financial prosecutors’ office...

Designed by committee, Toyota’s Japan Taxi becomes an expensive Olympic symbol

TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor’s Japan Taxi, born in a government committee and designed to be an all-things-to-all-people cab, has become a high-priced icon of Tokyo’s budget-busting 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Launched in 2017, the indigo car is the realisation of a government project to put a taxi on Japan’s roads that could carry...

Vonu Lighthouse surf challenge ready for the weekend

THE VONU Lighthouse Surf Challenge event at Suva Lighthouse is on this Saturday, May 25, which will be hosted by the Suva Reef Boardriders. The Fiji Surfing Association event is for Open surfers, male and female, and is a qualification event for this year’s Fiji Open Team. According to a statement by organisers, points will...

Ligairi laments Mr South Pacific’s demise

VETERAN bodybuilder Inoke Ligairi will surely miss his fellow mate and reigning Mr South Pacific, Jekesoni Yanuyanudrua who passed away over the weekend in Australia. Ligairi who confirmed receiving the news of Yanuyanudrua’s demise said he still couldn’t believe what had transpired. “I am still coming in to terms on his sudden death; he was...

Jikoiono raises the bar, eyes gold

AFTER an outstanding performance at the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) State Championship over the weekend, Waisea Ilaisa Jikoiono is confident of reaching greater heights as he prepares for the 2019 Samoa Pacific Games. Jikoiono, 20, grabbed a gold medal for his Santa Rosa Junior College athletics team after jumping a height of 2.00...

Jikoiono wins gold

WAISEA Jikoiono continued his buildup towards the Pacific Games in Samoa with an outstanding performance at the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) State Championship over the weekend. Jikoiono jumped a height of 2.00 metres to win gold for his Santa Rosa Junior College in the competition. The 20-year-old said he was impressed and surprised...

Over 2000 medals to be awarded at the Pacific Games

APIA, 21 MAY 2019 (NEWSLINE SAMOA) – Team Samoa is determined to win most of the medals up for grabs in the upcoming Pacific Games in Apia in July. This is the dream of the Minister for Sports and Chairman of the Pacific Games Committee Loau Keneti Sio. Sio said Team Samoa is training hard...

Weightlifting to be ‘global event’ at Games

APIA, 21 MAY 2019 (SAMOA GOVT) – Weightlifters from around the world will be in Samoa to compete during the XVI Pacific Games, as the event also doubles as Oceania and Commonwealth championships, as well as being a qualifier for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The Director-General of the International Weightlifting Federation, Attila Adamif, said he hoped the...

Hazlewood World Cup snub the right decision, says Langer

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australia coach Justin Langer has defended the decision to leave Josh Hazlewood out of the World Cup squad, saying the paceman lacked match fitness as he recovers from a back injury. Hazlewood, who partnered left-arm quicks Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson during Australia’s 2015 World Cup triumph, expressed his frustration last week...

Imperious Nadal blows away Djokovic to land ninth Rome title

ROME (Reuters) – Rafael Nadal proved that he would still be the man to beat when the French Open begins later this month after he humbled Novak Djokovic 6-0 4-6 6-1 in the Italian Open final on Sunday to win a record 34th ATP Masters 1000 title. The Spaniard, who had shared the record of...

Koepka survives to win PGA Championship and fourth major

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (Reuters) – A coronation almost turned into a calamity but Brooks Koepka survived to win the PGA Championship for a second consecutive year on Sunday and establish himself as golf’s new big dog. He triumphed at Bethpage Black to secure his fourth major title in less than two years and take over the...

Pliskova ends Konta run to win Italian Open

ROME (Reuters) – Karolina Pliskova ended Johanna Konta’s hopes of landing a first claycourt title with a 6-3 6-4 victory in the Italian Open final on Sunday. The Czech world number seven did not drop a single service game as she secured the third clay title of her career and her first in Rome in...

Australia’s Smith, Warner ready for hostile crowds at World Cup – Langer

(Reuters) – Australia’s returning duo of Steve Smith and David Warner could face hostility from English crowds during the World Cup but can rely on their team mates to cope, coach Justin Langer has said. The pair have returned from year-long bans following a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa and are expected to play vital...

Kaloucava eyes third Pacific Games

AFTER competing in the past two Pacific Games, national elite athlete Ana Kaloucava is confident she is ready for her third outing and grabbing a gold medal from Samoa in July. Kaloucava will be representing the country in the 400m hurdles, 400m sprints and the 4 by 400 metres relay. “Going into my third Pacific...

Sports and health: Level II accreditation for medical officers

THE Fiji Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee (FASANOC) in partnership with Oceania Rugby and World Rugby hosted a two-day workshop for pre-hospital immediate care in sports which was held over the weekend in Suva. The workshop which was led by Hong Kong Rugby Union head of player welfare and medical, Lucy Clarke hosted...

Koepka has record seven-stroke advantage after third round at PGA

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (Reuters) – Brooks Koepka said his “tunnel-vision focus” was key to his success in major tournaments as he held onto his record seven-stroke lead going into Sunday’s final round of the PGA Championship. Koepka ended the third round on Saturday with the same lead as he started it, combining the strength of tungsten...

Not-so-smooth Jazz exceeds expectations at PGA Championship

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (Reuters) – Jazz Janewattananond thought he would struggle to break 80 at Bethpage Black when he saw the course on Monday but has exceeded expectations with three rounds no worse than par that has lifted him into a tie for second behind runaway leader Brooks Koepka. In his second major appearance after last...

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