It was a fortunate end to an uncomfortable

It was a fortunate end to an uncomfortable evening for the hosts, who were under pressure for much of the encounter which ended 1-0 to Stoke City after extra time.Liverpool's Firmino rattled the outside of the post shortly after the interval, but Stoke continued pile on the pressure with the hosts' defence looking increasingly erratic as the encounter wore on.It was a thrilling end for Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp who could not bear to watch as Allen's final penalty hit the net.For Stoke manager Mark Hughes, there was little consolation to be had other than his side's positive performance."I thought we merited a win," he said.."Wembley is a cool place to play football, but we go there to win.Stoke took the lead in first-half stoppage time when Marko Arnautovic swept the ball home from an offside position but the assistant's flag stayed down and the goal was allowed to stand..Stoke almost took the lead in extra time when substitute Marco van Ginkel bustled through and struck the outside of the post, but the most gripping drama was reserved for the shootout.The visitors got their reward for blunting Liverpool's attack with a stoppage-time goal that prompted an angry response from the hosts, with Arnautovic having strayed a metre offside when he stroked home Bojan's cross.Liverpool, the record eight-times League Cup winners, struggled to create any chance of note in the first 45 minutes with their forays into Stoke territory frequently ending with a misplaced pass or a timely Stoke tackle.

Liverpool struggled to breakdown a resolute Stoke defence and after neither side could add to the scoring for the remainder of the match, it went to penalties and Allen's effort gave the hosts a 6-5 win in the shootout."Liverpool will face either Everton or Manchester City in the final on February 28, with Roberto Martinez's side holding a 2-1 lead heading into Wednesday's second leg..Mignolet saved twice in the shootout, including a brilliant stop to deny Marc Muniesa in sudden death, which allowed Joe Allen to stroke home the decisive spotkick and send Liverpool to Wembley."Having not won at Anfield in any competition since 1959 with 36 fruitless visits in the interim, they were sharp, well-organised and the better team for the majority of Tuesday's tie.London: Keeper Simon Mignolet proved the shootout hero as Liverpool reached the League Cup final on penalties after a gripping last-four second leg tie at Anfield ended 1-1 on aggregate on Tuesday. It's not much fun to lose. "We got a win on paper -- goodness Wholesale hydraulic oil seals manufacturers china knows how long it's been since we won here -- but the objective was to get to a Wembley final which we didn't. "It was a good game for my side against a difficult side to play.Former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch had his effort saved by Mignolet and Emre Can struck the post for the hosts before Muniesa's effort was kept out and Allen stroked home to seal the tie."It was great, the atmosphere was special," the German told Sky Sports.

It was a race to the finish in the decider

Prannoy was visibly frustrated after the opening game ended 15-12 in his opponent’s favour, and he used the frustration to fuel a brilliant comeback.Faced with the task Wholesale rubber strip suppliers of restoring parity after the Rockets lost the opening mixed doubles match, Prannoy defeated Thailand’s Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk 12-15, 15-7, 15-9.The Rockets player was relentless in the second game, pushing Tanongsak into erring more often than not as he clinched the game 15-7 to force the match into the decider.There was very little to choose between the two sides in the opening game, which Kamilla-Vladimir pocketed 15-12. Not ones to lose heart, the tenacious Bodin-Christinna clawed their way back into contention when they clinched the second game 15-13. The Warriors’ Christinna Pedersen and Bodin Issara fought back valiantly from a game down to defeat Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Vladimir Ivanov 12-15, 15-13, 15-14.

It was a race to the finish in the decider, which was a see-saw affair from the start.Both teams gave back as good as they got and, with the scores posed at 14-14. Prannoy shrugged off a one-game deficit to pull Mumbai Rockets level on points with Awadhe Warriors after two matches in the second semifinal of the Premier Badminton League played at the GMC Balayogi Indoor Stadium here, on Friday. Both teams gave back as good as they got and, with the scores posed at 14-14, the Rockets hit the shuttle long to spark wild celebrations from the Lucknow-based outfit..Earlier, it was a fight to the finish between the Awadhe Warriors and Mumbai Rockets in the opening mixed doubles match.The final game saw both players up the tempo initially before Prannoy ran away with the game 15-9 to seal a well-earned victory. Hyderabad: A defiant H.The Thai southpaw was very calm in the opening set, finding winners with ease.

The custodian though could have done better

Afghanistan hammered the Maldives 4-1 to finish on top of Group B and set up a semi-final clash with Sri Lanka in the SAFF Cup football tournament at Wholesale o-ring supplier the Greenfield Stadium here on Monday.But the lead was shortlived as the Maldives struck back from Anoush Dastiger’s defensive error. Ten minutes later, Nashid Ahmed fluffed an open chance much to the dismay of a handful of the Maldives supporters in the stands. Maldives forward Fasir Ali robbed the ball from Dastgir from just outside of the penalty box and dribbled past advancing Afghanistan goalkeeper Ovays Azizi to slot home the ball to make it 1-1. Earlier, in an inconsequential Group B match, Bangladesh routed a 10-man Bhutan 3-0. Amid the challenge from two Maldives defenders, Zubayr Amiri headed the ball into the path of Afghanistan captain Faysal Shayesteh, who sent the ball through the legs of the Maldives goalkeeper Mohamed Imran. Afghanistan scored the opener against the run of play, in their first shot on the goal. After several off-target attempts, Ahmad Hatifie scored their third goal as he sent a perfect volley to the top corner of the post as the Maldives goalkeeper Mohammed Imran could only watch.

The custodian though could have done better as he let a weak shot by Omid Popalzay beat him poorly. Omid scored from a beautiful curler free kick to restore the lead for the Afghans in the first half and he completed his brace in the second half to seal the match.However, Omid Popalzay put Afghanistan ahead again as he curled in beautifully a 20-yard free kick to end the first half in the defending champions’ favour.It were the islanders who came close to taking the lead but the Maldives forwards failed to connect a well taken Hassan Naiz free kick in the seventh minute of play.The Maldives goalie almost gifted the opponents another goal in the 66th minute but was lucky this time as a weak long-ranger taken by Mustafa Zazai slid through the ’keeper’s gloves only to hit the post..Contrary to the scoreline, the Maldives began the match on high intensity but midfielder Omid Popalzay turned the tide twice for Afghanistan to give them their third consecutive victory in the tourney. The result means India will face the Maldives in the first semi-final on December 31.Afghanistan dictated terms in the second half as a defensive reshuffle helped them to gain more momentum.

After being given a lifeline

The Varun Aaron-led young side, which had a fine run in the league stages, will look to keep up the performance for a semifinal berth.. On paper, Delhi are stronger than Jharkhand. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Dhoni will hope to help his team seal a win.With defending champions Karnataka crashing out of the tournament, the spotlight will turn to the Indian heavyweights who will square off against each other at the domestic level.With Jharkhand facing off Delhi in the quarter-final at the M.The hopes of the Gautam Gambhir-led Delhi side will rest on the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Ishant Sharma and Unmukt Chand, with India Test skipper Virat Kohli giving it a miss. Most of all, India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni will hope to strike with the willow after failing in the league stages.

After being given a lifeline the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra will look to make the most of the tournament ahead of the Australia series.With the Australia series around the corner and the World T20 breathing down their necks, it will be a golden opportunity for the players to brush up their skills and make a lasting impression, as the Vijay Hazare Trophy knockouts get under way, here on Wednesday. With Kohli skipping the match, the fans will be denied a mouth-watering clash between Dhoni and Kohli. Donning the Jharkhand colours for the first time since 2007, MSD has failed to get going with the bat, except for one match where he managed to Rubber Gasket Sheet score 40-odd runs.

An overwhelming majority

Some 85 per cent of the respondents said they oppose opening the special operations jobs to women, and 70 per cent oppose having women in their individual units.More than 80 per cent said women aren't strong enough and can't handle the demands of the job. I expect every person on my team to be able to drag any member of my team out of a firefight.A 130 pound (60 kilogramme) female could not do it, I don't care how much time she spends in the gym.In blunt and, at times, profanity-laced answers to a voluntary survey conducted Rubber gasket seal strip by the Rand Corp, more than 7,600 of America's special operations forces spoke with nearly one voice.Only the Marine Corps asked to exempt women from certain infantry and frontline positions, but Carter denied that request. When they are fighting in the shadows or bleeding on the battlefield, women have no place on their teams. "I could list hundreds of reasons why women cannot do the job that a Green Beret is required to do, but as I only have 1,000 characters, I will choose the one that I think is the most important," said one respondent. "Gender equality is not an option when the bullets are flying," he said. And they have a message for their political leadership.Washington: The men in the US military's most dangerous jobs care little about political correctness or gender equality. Half the men who got the 46-question survey responded to it, and Rand did not identify any of them. And 64 per cent said they aren't mentally tough enough. Do we expect wounded men to bleed out because a female soldier could not drag him to cover "Another said politicians don't win the covert wars.

That decision was based on recommendations by the military service secretaries and the leaders of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Special Operations Command. In some cases people who feel most strongly about an issue are more inclined to answer surveys.Some of the broader conclusions of the survey, taken from May through July 2014, were disclosed by The Associated Press earlier this year, but the detailed results and comments written by respondents had not been released.An overwhelming majority of those who agreed to respond to the RAND survey said they believe women don't have the physical strength or mental toughness to do the grueling jobs.Allowing women to serve in Navy SEAL, Army Delta or other commando units could hurt their effectiveness and lower the standards, and it may drive men away from the dangerous posts."I weigh 225 pounds (102 kilogrammes), and 280 pounds (127 kilograms)in full kit, as did most of the members of my ODA (a 12-man Army Green Beret unit).The Pentagon released the summer survey and other documents when Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced last week that he was opening all combat jobs to women.