Panel Members Asked to Meet Norton de Matos by AIFF

Despite courting controversy after bypassing the committee tasked with recommending a coach for the Indian Under-17 team, the All India Football Federation on Friday asked all members of the panel to meet Portuguese Luis Norton de Matos, deemed by the national governing body as the “number one choice” for the job, PTI reported.“All the advisory committee members have now been told to meet Luis Norton,” AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das said on Friday. The Portuguese is expected to be in India on February 28.The advisory committee was constituted to recommend the Indian team’s head coach for the 2017 Fifa U-17 World Cup, which will be held in India in October.Indian football legends Baichung Bhutia and IM Vijayan, former India international Abhishek Yadav, who is also the chief operating officer of the U-17 team, and AIFF Technical Director Savio Madiera were among the members of the special committee to shortlist the coach. Other members are Das and Kishore Taid, Head of Operations and Strategy of the AIFF.Norton De Matos, a former Portugal international and ex-coach of Benfica’s reserve side, as well of the Guinea-Bissau national team, was declared by the AIFF as its “number one choice” from among the shortlisted candidates. He is expected to meet Sports Secretary Injeti Srinivas and AIFF President Praful Patel on February 28 to chalk out his contract details, the report stated.A member of the advisory committee had alleged that the AIFF did not consult the panel before naming de Matos as the number-one choice. Defending the AIFF’s decision, Das said, “It’s an advisory committee, not a selection committee. We identified 7-8 candidates and we were asked to do Skype interviews. The interviews were done by me, Kishore and Abhishek. After the interviews, we identified Luis Norton de Matos as the most suitable candidate to come for the interview in India with the sports secretary and the AIFF president.”The AIFF had parted ways with previous coach Nicolai Adam after members of the U-17 team complained about the German’s abusive 

Wozniacki Remains on Course to Win the Malaysian Open

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki powered into the final of the Malaysian Open on Saturday with a dominant 6-2 6-2 win over Hsieh Su-Wei. Wozniacki needed just an hour and 17 minutes to see off wildcard Hsieh, although it was not all plain sailing for the world number five. The Dane cruised into a 3-0 lead in the first, only for Hsieh to briefly put matters back on serve at 3-2 before Wozniacki won three straight games to take the set. Hsieh threatened a comeback by breaking Wozniacki immediately at the start of the second. But Wozniacki instantly broke back and her quality then shone through as she claimed five of the next six games to stay on course for a 23rd WTA singles title. After the match Wozniacki posted on Twitter: "In to my second finals of the year! Thank you for the support everyone! Finals tomorrow 6pm!!" And the former world number one will be expected to make similarly short work of Alexandra Dulgheru in the final. Dulgheru will head into the showpiece having come through a gruelling clash with fourth seed Jarmila Gajdosova 5-7 7-5 7-6 (7-4). The Romanian won the tie-break at the end of a deciding set in which Gajdosova had spurned 14 break-point opportunities to triumph after three hours and 14 minutes. 

SANIA & BARBORA FALL SHORT

Everything Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova did, Olypic champs- Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina- did better in the 76-minute semi-finals . The second-seeded Russians came through 6-4, 6-3.

Wozniacki Remains on Course to Win the Malaysian Open

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki powered into the final of the Malaysian Open on Saturday with a dominant 6-2 6-2 win over Hsieh Su-Wei. Wozniacki needed just an hour and 17 minutes to see off wildcard Hsieh, although it was not all plain sailing for the world number five. The Dane cruised into a 3-0 lead in the first, only for Hsieh to briefly put matters back on serve at 3-2 before Wozniacki won three straight games to take the set. Hsieh threatened a comeback by breaking Wozniacki immediately at the start of the second. But Wozniacki instantly broke back and her quality then shone through as she claimed five of the next six games to stay on course for a 23rd WTA singles title. After the match Wozniacki posted on Twitter: "In to my second finals of the year! Thank you for the support everyone! Finals tomorrow 6pm!!" And the former world number one will be expected to make similarly short work of Alexandra Dulgheru in the final. Dulgheru will head into the showpiece having come through a gruelling clash with fourth seed Jarmila Gajdosova 5-7 7-5 7-6 (7-4). The Romanian won the tie-break at the end of a deciding set in which Gajdosova had spurned 14 break-point opportunities to triumph after three hours and 14 minutes. 

SANIA & BARBORA FALL SHORT

Everything Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova did, Olypic champs- Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina- did better in the 76-minute semi-finals . The second-seeded Russians came through 6-4, 6-3.

Eden Hazard warns Chelsea About Losing Focus

Eden Hazard fears that chelsea may be losing focus and thus warns them to stay focused for the runaway Premier League leaders approach the final furlong in the title race, while crisistorn champions Leicester face up to life without sacked boss Claudio Ranieri. Antonio Conte's side are eight points clear at the top with just 13 games remaining and they have a golden opportunity to extend that lead when they host lowly Swansea on Saturday. Second placed Manchester City are not in action this weekend because their derby against Manchester United was postponed due to their rivals' League Cup final showdown with Southampton on Sunday. That gives the Blues a chance to pull clear against a Swansea side who will be heavy underdogs despite their impressive rise out of the relegation zone under the management of former Chelsea assistant coach Paul Clement. However, Chelsea showed a rare sign of vulnerability in a 1-1 draw at Burnley in their previous league match and Belgium playmaker Hazard insists his team can take nothing for granted as they look to regain the title.

“We just need to keep the same concentration. It's more difficult to play away because of the fans, but we are ready, we are professional. We can deal with the pressure. Everything is going good,“ Hazard said. “We know if we want to be champions, in our home stadium we have to win most of our games.

“We can't say all 19 because we have already lost to Liverpool, but we have to win 16 to 17 because it is our place and we are ready to deliver.“

Liverpool can't afford any sympathy for Leicester's plight as they aim for a win that would take them back into the top four. Jurgen Klopp's fifth placed team ended a run of five games without a win by beating Tottenham and Reds midfielder Adam Lallana, who signed a new contract this week, is confident of a strong finish to the season.

Australia spinner Steve O’Keefe changes ends, turns India’s batting upside down

Fortress India has been sacked. Or should that be SOKed? Not since 2012 had India lost a Test at home, and rarely in that stretch of 20 matches had they even been held to a draw. Last time Australia toured India for Tests they were crushed 4-0. They entered this match having lost their past nine Tests in Asia. Not since 2004 and the days of Gilchrist, McGrath and Warne had Australia won a Test in India. Not even Nostradamus could have seen this result coming.

The 32-year-old left-arm spinner had been in the fringes of the Australia team, having played just four Tests coming into the series against India, but upstaged the higher rated off-spinner Nathan Lyon with a sensational haul of 6/35.

Tide turns for O’Keefe: “I was none of 30 off nine, probably didn’t bowl very well at all in my first, sort of, six overs. And then, it all just happened really quickly,” he told the media after leaving Australia in a position to push for victory.

“The first six overs were ordinary. Then I got a change of ends, and from there it spun a bit more. And (skipper) Steven Smith reassured me, helping me stay calm after an ordinary spell in the morning.

“I suppose I was just nervous, and I was trying to bowl the way I do in Australia. But I made some subtle changes, got a tap on the head from Boof (coach Darren Lehmann) in the dressing room, and I’m happy to turn things around.”

Australia’s brilliant catching

O’Keefe was modest about his haul, putting his success down to the spin-friendly pitch and Australia’s brilliant catching. “I guess that’s the sort of wicket it is. We played and missed a lot of balls, and fortunately for us, they nicked and we caught them. It’s always nice to see a spinning wicket. You don’t get to see it too often back in Australia.”

World chess C'ship: Harika loses first game; faces ouster threat

Indian Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli lost to Tan Zhongyi of China in the first semi-final game of the World Women’s Chess Championship on Friday, PTI reported. It was a tough day at work for Harika as nothing worked right for the Indian who is making her third straight appearance in the semi-final of a knockout world championship. Zhongyi gave no chances in this nearly one-sided encounter. Harika will now have to win at all costs to stay in the match. A win in the return game of the two-games mini-match will bring the Indian back in contention while a draw or a loss would mean the end of the road for her in the championship. The other semifinal match witnessed a huge drama as Russian Alexandra Kosteniuk not only blundered away a won position but went on to lose the game against Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine. Muzychuk, who won with black, must be thanking her stars as she is now just a draw away from reaching the final of the championship. Harika was outdone in a Nimzo Indian defence game. The opening choice by Zhongyi was not really intimidating and Harika was close to equal after initial phase. The Chinese, however, showed better understanding of the hanging pawns structure while Harika went for a passive defense in the middle game. This proved a huge difference as white's pieces got an entry through the king side and Harika could do little.

Methodical display by Zhongyi resulted in a complete domination on the king side with all her pieces joining hands for the final blow. The game lasted 46 moves. Kosteniuk did most of the hard work right but fell at the crucial juncture. The middle game arising out of a French Tarrasch proved an easy ride for the Russian as she picked up one pawn to reach a complete winning position. Just when the victory looked in sight, Kosteniuk could not find the right path and a lapse in concentration led to a winning attack for Muzychuk.

The Ukrainian did not give a second chance and won in 64 moves.

Results game 1 Semis: Tan Zhongyi (Chn) beat D Harika (Ind); Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus) lostto Anna Muzychuk (Ukr).

Sevilla maintain pressure on Madrid, Griezmann saves Atletico

Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar were all on target as Barcelona shrugged off the loss of the injured Sergio Busquets to remain just two points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid with a 4-0 win at Eibar on Sunday. Sevilla separate the giants of Spanish football in second, just a point behind Madrid, after twice coming from behind to edge a seven-goal thriller 4-3 at rock-bottom Osasuna. However, Real Madrid also have a game in hand over their title rivals.Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar were all on target as Barcelona shrugged off the loss of the injured Sergio Busquets to remain just two points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid with a 4-0 win at Eibar on Sunday. Sevilla separate the giants of Spanish football in second, just a point behind Madrid, after twice coming from behind to edge a seven-goal thriller 4-3 at rock-bottom Osasuna. However, Real Madrid also have a game in hand over their title rivals. However, Messi doubled their lead just six minutes into the second-half when he swept home Luis Suarez's cross for his 28th goal in 26 games this season. And Luis Suarez matched his strike partner as La Liga's top scorer this season with 15 when he robbed Florian Lejeune before slotting home at the near post 22 minutes from time. Neymar hadn't scored from open play since October, but brought that run to an end by slotting home Aleix Vidal's low cross in stoppage time. Sevilla scored twice in the final five minutes to end Real Madrid's 40-game unbeaten run in all competitions last weekend and have now won five of the seven La Liga games when they have conceded first this season. "The team did some good things and made mistakes, but from start to finish looked to win the game," said Sevilla boss Jorge Sampaoli. Sergio Leon gave Osasuna a shock early lead before an unusual hat-trick from Sevilla captain Vicente Iborra levelled at 2-2 as he twice equalised either side of an own goal to restore Osasuna's lead. Osasuna were infuriated Franco Vazquez's vital third goal for Sevilla was allowed to stand despite a push on Oriol Riera 10 minutes from time. Pablo Sarabia's fine left-footed shot from outside the area sealed the points, but there was still time for Osasuna to pull another goal back when Kenan Kodro headed in from close range. Diego Simeone's men are now eight points back on Real Madrid. The visitors got off to the perfect start when Koke's cross towards Griezmann evaded everyone and flew into the far corner after just three minutes. However, Atletico were punished for trying to sit on their lead when Inigo Lekue smashed home an equaliser three minutes before half-time. Griezmann had already had one spectacular finish ruled out by the offside flag, but the French international continued his fine form with a rasping low drive from 25 yards to at least salvage a point for Atletico. Real Sociedad move level on points with Atletico in fourth as Juanmi's towering header 18 minutes from time handed them a 1-0 win over Celta Vigo.