Ghana beat Equatorial Guinea to reach African Cup final

Malabo (Equatorial Guinea): Four-time champions Ghana reached their ninth Africa Cup of Nations final by beating hosts Equatorial Guinea 3-0 in a game that was disrupted by fans violence.

Ghana will play the final showdown against Cote d’Ivoire in port city Bata Sunday, which will be a repeat of the 1992 final won 11-10 on penalties by Cote d’Ivoire after 120 goalless minutes in Dakar, reported Xinhua.

The semifinal Thursday descended into chaos after the third goal, and Gabonese referee Eric Otogo-Castane soon halted the match in the 82nd minute. It resumed after about a 40-minute delay, and finished soon after.

Bolt to start his season at Camperdown Classic

Kingston (Jamaica): Jamaica’s six-time Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt is expected to make an eagerly anticipated appearance at the Camperdown Classic to open his 2015 season.

Organisers of the meet, scheduled for next Saturday at the national stadium, have announced that the star sprinter and his clubmates will be competing, barring injuries or unavoidable engagements, reports CMC.

Bolt is a member of Racers Track Club, home of some of the world’s top international athletes and coached by the legendary Glen Mills.

New sports for 2020 Olympics to be decided prior to Rio Games

Tokyo: New sports for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be determined in August next year ahead of the Rio de Janeiro Games.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice president John Coates said here Thursday that new sports will be approved at the IOC session in August just prior to the 2016 Rio Olympics, reports Xinhua. 

US win Basketball World Cup

Madrid: The US retained their title as world basketball champions Sunday with a crushing 129-92 win over Serbia in the final held in Madrid’s Palacio de Deportes, Xinhua reported.

The Americans may have ended eight points short of the world record score of 137 in the 1994 World Championship final and the Serbs can also be proud of a display which could possibly have given them the title against any other team in the world, but nobody can question the merit of the win.

Many have said this American side is not as good as other ‘Dream Teams’ of recent years and the US came to Spain missing some star names such as Kevin Durant, but the fact is they have rarely looked in any trouble en-route to their title, winning all nine of the games they have played over the past fortnight and with almost insulting margins of victory in the knockout stages.

Asian Games: Gowda bags silver, Sarita forced to settle for bronze

Incheon: Discus thrower Vikas Gowda won the silver but his compatriot and boxer Sarita Devi was robbed of what could have been at least a silver, if not a possible gold, as India won four medals, including three bronze medals, on day 11 of the 17th Asian Games here Tuesday.

Sarita, a former world champion, endured a controversial loss in the controversial 57-60 kg category semi-final bout and settled for the bronze medal while the other two came from her fellow boxer Pooja Rani and from the sailors, Varsha Gautham and Aishwarya Nedunchezhiyan, who won the bronze medal in the 29er – women’s two person dinghy.

But there could be good news for India as Olympic bronze medal winning boxer M.C. Mary Kom secured a berth in the women’s 48-51 kg final while Satish Kumar and Vikas Krishan assured India of two more medals from the discipline after they reached the men’s semi-finals in their respective categories.

The men’s hockey team also made it to the final after 12 years and will be up against arch-rivals and defending champions Pakistan in Thursday’s title clash. 

Messi, Aguero in Argentine squad for friendlies in China

Buenos Aires: Lionel Messi will captain the Argentina national football team, which also includes prolific striker Sergio Aguero, for friendlies in China against Brazil and Hong Kong.

Head coach Gerardo Martino called on goalkeeper Agustin Marchesin and midfielders Leonel Vangioni and Fernando Gago, all of whom play for Argentine clubs, to round-off the 22-man lineup, reports Xinhua.

Argentina will play Brazil at Beijing’s National Stadium Oct 11 and Hong Kong Oct 14.