The big story: Bagan defeated Colombo FC 4-2 on aggregate

Mohun Bagan beat Colombo FC 2-1 in Kolkata on Tuesday to register a 4-2 aggregate win and advance to the play-off stage of the 2017 AFC Cup qualifiers.

The Kolkata outfit went into the game following a 2-1 win in the first leg in Colombo. The hosts made most of the home advantage and took the lead in the 27th minute as Sony Norde found the back of the net.

Darry Duffy made it 2-0 in the 54th minute to hand the side a comfortable 4-1 aggregate lead.

Mohun Bagan had chance to further extend their lead with a penalty in the 86th minute. Balwant Singh, however, missed from the spot.

Colombo pulled one back two minutes from time through Yapo. But it was too little too late as Bagan held on to close out a win.

They will meet Maldives’ Valencia in the second round of AFC Cup qualifiers on February 21 and 28.

Other top stories

Football

  • Nicolai Adam on Tuesday officially vacated his position as coach of the U-17 national football team following weeks of uncertainty after reports that a few members of the team had accused the German of abusive behaviour.
  • Leicester City on Tuesday gave their “unwavering support” to manager Claudio Ranieri despite the reigning Premier League champions tottering above the relegation zone.
  • Barcelona will be without Neymar when they take on Atletico Madrid at the Nou Camp for a place in the Copa del Rey final. Barcelona won the first leg 2-1 at the Vicente Calderon, with Neymar shown his third yellow card of the competition and in the process getting banned for the second-leg of the competition.  
  • Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann’s image consultant Sebastien Bellencontre has urged his former client to follow in the footsteps of the Frenchman’s role model David Beckham and join Manchester United in the summer.
  • Inter Milan captain Mauro Icardi and winger Ivan Perisic have landed two-match bans for insulting officials during their side’s 0-1 defeat in the Derby d’Italia to league-leaders Juventus.
  • Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo opined that English Premier League table-toppers Chelsea will not allow star striker Diego Costa to move in the summer. Cerezo also hoped that the 28-year-old would make a return to his old club, “It has been a while since I spoke to him [Costa]. He is at a great club. They [media] say he will go to China, but Chelsea will not allow him to leave,” Cerezo said.

Cricket

  • Indian spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will tussle for the top spot in the International Cricket Council’s Test bowlers rankings when India take on Bangladesh for the one-off Test in Hyderabad starting on Thursday, reported PTI on Tuesday.
  • Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav was picked in the Indian squad as a replacement for the injured Amit Mishra for the one-off Test against Bangladesh to be played from February 9 in Hyderabad.
  • The Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday appointed BCCI game development manager Ratnakar Shetty as observer for the one-off Test match between India and Bangladesh, scheduled to be held in the city from Thursday.
  • Delhi’s Mohit Ahlawat on Tuesday became the first batsman to score a triple century in a T20 match at any level, ABP news reported.
  • India’s Women team steamrolled Sri Lanka by 114 runs at Colombo’s P Sara Oval on Tuesday to get their ICC World Cup 2017 qualifying campaign off to a flying start.
  • India registered their fifth consecutive win in the Blind World Twenty20 with a comfortable nine-wicket victory over New Zealand in Bhubaneshwar on Tuesday.
  • Faf du Plessis posted the second highest score by a South African batsman as his side posted a mammoth 367/5 against Sri Lanka in the fourth ODI in Cape Town on Tuesday. Du Plessis’ effort of 185 saw him eclipse Quinton de Kock’s unbeaten 178 against Australia in 2016. He however fell four runs short of Gary Kirsten’s unbeaten 188 against UAE in the 1996 World Cup.

Badminton

  • Sourabh Verma defeated Lakshya Sen 21-13, 21-12 to lift the men’s singles crown at the Senior National Championships in Patna on Tuesday. In the women’s singles final, second seed Rituparna Das prevailed over Reshma Karthik 21-12, 21-14 to clinch the championship.

Tennis

  • Rafael Nadal stated that he will join Wimbledon champion Andy Murray at the Queen’s Club Championships in June to gear up for the Wimbledon. “I am very happy to be coming back to Queen’s in June. Winning the title in 2008 is a great memory for me and it is the best way for me to be ready for Wimbledon,” said Nadal.

Hockey

  • Delhi Waveriders lost 2-3 to defending champions Punjab Warriors to slump to their third defeat in the fifth edition of the Hockey India League on Tuesday.

Cycling

  • India added another bronze through Aleena Reji, who won her second medal in a national record time on the second day of the Asian Track Cycling Championships on Tuesday.
  • Three cyclists suffered nasty injuries after they got involved in a mid-race crash on the second day of Asian Track Cycling Championships during the junior men’s six-lap keirin event finals at the Indian Gandhi Indoor Stadium velodrome in New Delhi on Tuesday, reported PTI.