Category: Sports

On Wednesday, India’s teenage chess sensation, R Praggnanandhaa, defeated world number one Magnus Carlsen in the Norway Chess Tournament. This victory pushed Carlsen to sixth place in the points ranking. Praggnanandhaa has previously beaten Carlsen in rapid and exhibition games.

Notably, this is Carlsen’s home tournament. Praggnanandhaa told the Indian Express that he was unaffected by Carlsen’s “provocative opening.”

Praggnanandhaa received applause on social media following his win. Many people asked about the match’s re-telecast. One of the X users said, “Not an unexpected game by Pragg.” Another person emphasised Praggnanandhaa’s confidence, writing, “Pragg felt confident and knew his time had arrived to beat the world’s number one Magnus in traditional chess. “Well done.”

Praggnanandhaa used white pieces and won, moving Carlsen up to fifth place in the points table. One person said, “India’s future in chess is bright. I can’t wait to see two Indians compete for the global title—Pragg, Nihal, Gukesh, Arjun, and others. “The future is bright. Another person expressed excitement over Praggnanandhaa facing Ding Liren in the World Championship. A user also commented, “Not to forget his sister Vaishali leading in the women’s segment.”

Olympiakos made history by winning Greece’s first European club title, defeating Fiorentina 1-0 in the Europa Conference League final. Ayoub El Kaabi scored the game-winning goal in the 116th minute of extra time, prompting wild celebrations in Athens after a tight VAR check confirmed it. Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Radamel Falcao previously held the knockout record, but El Kaabi, the competition’s top scorer, broke it with 11 goals.

The victory, gained under coach Jose Luis Mendilibar, consigned Fiorentina to their second consecutive Europa Conference League final defeat. “We created chances and had the opportunity to win the cup, but it didn’t happen,” Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Italiano remarked.

Olympiakos supporters rejoiced throughout Athens, with tens of thousands attending viewing parties and lighting fireworks in Piraeus. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis praised the team as “a true legend” and emphasised the importance of the triumph for Greek football.

Due to concerns about major events across Europe, fights between Fiorentina supporters and riot police temporarily interrupted the game. Despite Fiorentina’s strong start, Olympiakos goalkeeper Pietro Terracciano’s saves and El Kaabi’s goal sealed a historic victory.

Olympiakos players celebrated alongside 15,000 fans, including defender Panagiotis Retsos, who was overjoyed. “It’s the best emotion I’ve felt so far in my career,” he stated.

On Wednesday, PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy reached the second round of the 2024 Singapore Open Super 750 competition. Viktor Axelsen defeated Lakshya Sen. Sindhu, who last won a BWF title in Singapore two years ago, recently finished second at the Malaysia Masters. She overcame Denmark’s Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt 21-12, 22-20 in 44 minutes to advance to the second round, where she will face Carolina Marin of Spain, who has an 11-5 record against her.

Prannoy, the world number ten, defeated Belgium’s Julien Carraggi 21-9, 18-21, 21-9, and will next face Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto. Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, who won bronze at the Commonwealth Games, defeated Cheng Yu-Pei and Sun Yu Hsing of Chinese Taipei 21-7, 21-14 in the women’s doubles event.

World No. 14 Lakshya Sen, who was scheduled to make his Olympic debut in Paris, lost against Axelsen 13-21, 21-16, 13-21 in 62 minutes. Kidambi Srikanth retired from his opening-round match against Japan’s fifth seed, Kodai Naraoka, with a knee injury after trailing 14-21, 3-11.

The Olympic-bound women’s pair Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa, the men’s pair Krishna Prasad Garage and Sai Pratheek K, and mixed doubles combo B Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy all suffered defeats.

Jannik Sinner had a convincing performance to advance to the second round of the French Open, while Iga Swiatek defeated qualifier Leolia Jeanjean to face Naomi Osaka. Sinner overcame previous injury struggles to defeat American Christopher Eubanks 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in the tournament’s first round on Monday.

Sinner, who won the Australian Open earlier this year, was forced to withdraw from the Madrid Open and miss the Rome Masters owing to a hip injury. However, he demonstrated his prowess on Roland Garros’ clay courts, forcing Eubanks to withdraw at the first hurdle for the second straight year.

Sinner grabbed two vital breaks in the first set, taking a commanding 4-1 lead. Though Eubanks managed to break back, Sinner kept his cool and sealed the set with another break. Sinner maintained his dominance in the ensuing sets, needing only one break to go to the second round. Sinner’s next matchup will be with French wildcard Richard Gasquet.

Swiatek began her championship defence on Monday, May 27, with an easy victory over Jeanjean. The match lasted just over an hour, and the Polish star dominated, defeating Jeanjean 6-1, 6-2. Swiatek will now take on former World No. 1 Osaka. Both performers will face a battle on Wednesday, May 29.

On Sunday, the Kolkata Knight Riders won their third IPL title with an eight-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai. Kolkata dominated the group stage, having already defeated Hyderabad in the first qualifier, and they replicated their dominance in the final, which lasted only 29 overs.

Pat Cummins, the skipper of Hyderabad, questioned his decision to bat first as his team crumbled for 113 runs in 18.3 overs. Mitchell Starc, the match’s MVP, struck twice early, while Vaibhav Arora removed Travis Head for a duck on the first ball, frightening Hyderabad. Andre Russell took three key wickets, including those of Aiden Markram and Cummins, throwing Hyderabad into disarray.

Cummins briefly revived hopes by dismissing Sunil Narine in the second over, but Kolkata’s chase remained unstoppable. Venkatesh Iyer’s unbroken 52 off 26 balls and Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s consistent batting enabled Kolkata to reach the mark in just 10.3 overs.

The night was particularly memorable for mentor Gautam Gambhir, who led Kolkata to IPL victories in 2012 and 2014. Despite Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s playoff exit, Virat Kohli earned the orange crown, while Harshal Patel of the Punjab Kings took the purple cap. Sunil Narine was selected as the season’s MVP.

Dipa Karmakar, a top gymnast, made history as the first Indian to win a gold medal at the Asian Senior Championships, winning the women’s vault. The 30-year-old, competing from Uzbekistan’s capital scored an average of 13.566 points in the vault final. North Korean gymnasts Kim Son Hyang and Jo Kyong Byol won silver and bronze medals, with scores of 13.466 and 12.966, respectively.

In 2015, Dipa won bronze in the same event at the Asian Championships after finishing fourth at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Ashish Kumar also earned a bronze medal in the individual floor exercise at the 2015 Asian Championships.

On Friday, she placed 16th in the all-around category in Tashkent with a score of 46.166, falling just short of qualifying India’s Olympic gymnastics quota for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Emma Malabuyo of the Philippines won the only Olympic quota available at the Tashkent tournament.

Dipa competed in three of the four qualification events: Cairo, Baku, and Doha, reaching the finals in all three but not making the podium. She finished fifth in Cairo and nearly missed the podium in Baku and Doha, finishing fourth each.

National champion Sachin Siwach (57kg) had an impressive start for India at the 2nd Boxing World Qualifiers for the Paris 2024 Olympics, defeating New Zealand’s Alex Mukuka. Siwach, a gold medalist at the Strandja Memorial, took command from the start, winning 5-0 and setting a great tone for India’s ten-member squad. Siwach used an aggressive offensive approach throughout the fight, leaving Mukuka with little room to manoeuvre.

With the first two rounds firmly in his favour, Siwach left no room for a comeback, effectively sealing the victory. India has sent seven men and three women to compete for a ticket to the Paris Olympics, with a semi-final finish being the minimum criteria.

Abhimanyu Loura is set to compete against Bulgaria’s Kristiyan Nikolov in the 80kg division, while Amit Panghal (51kg) and Narendra Berwal (+92kg) won byes in the first round. The Indian squad is eager to redeem itself after a dismal performance in the previous qualifiers, where only Nishant Dev advanced past the first round.

Notably, Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg), and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) have already clinched their tickets in Paris via the Asian Games, strengthening India’s boxing medal goals.

On Sunday, four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka overcame an early scare to defeat unseeded Italian Lucia Bronzetti 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 in the first round of the French Open. This victory was her first at Roland Garros in three years.

After a 15-month maternity leave, Osaka lost in the first round of the Australian Open in January. In Paris, she initially dominated, leading Bronzetti from the start. However, Osaka nearly collapsed in the last set, dropping a 4-0 lead before winning the two-hour match. If Swiatek defeats French qualifier Leolia Jeanjean on Monday, she might face champion Iga Swiatek in the second round.

“I’m quite excited. “I watched her (Swiatek) a lot when I was pregnant,” Osaka admitted. “It’s an honour to play her in the French Open.”

Osaka dominated the first set in 28 minutes but committed numerous unforced errors in the second, allowing Bronzetti to break and force a decision. In the final set, Osaka lost her 5-0 lead as Bronzetti came back, earning Osaka’s praise with some victories.

Osaka, regaining composure, broke in the eleventh game to seal the match. Reflecting on her perspective, she acknowledged focusing on her prior losses. However, she managed to refocus near the conclusion, hoping to avoid similar difficulties in the future.

The eight-time major champion and former World No. 1 Andre Agassi will lead Team World beginning with the 2025 Laver Cup in San Francisco. He takes over for John McEnroe, who has been captain of Team World since the competition’s launch in 2017. At this year’s competition in Berlin, Germany, from September 20–22, McEnroe will play his longtime opponent, Team Europe Captain Bjorn Borg, for the final time.

With his aggressive play and captivating flair, Agassi, one of only five men to achieve a career Grand Slam in the Open Era, revolutionised tennis in the 1990s. Throughout a 21-year career, he won eight major titles, an Olympic Gold Medal, and 60 ATP Tour trophies. He also held the top spot in the world rankings for 101 weeks.

Agassi said he was excited about his new position and emphasised how important it is to recognise and cater to players’ requirements as well as how competitive the Laver Cup is. He wants to increase the players’ chances of winning by developing a relationship based on mutual respect and trust.

Tony Godsick, Chairman of the Laver Cup, praised Agassi’s selection, pointing to his accomplishments and appeal. Agassi received support from McEnroe as well, who expressed faith in his successor’s ability.

On Wednesday, India’s Sachin Sarjerao Khilari broke India’s record by defending his gold medal in the men’s shot put F46 category at the World Para Athletics Championship with an Asian record. Sachin broke his previous Asian record of 16.21 metres achieved in Paris last year, heaving the iron ball to a height of 16.30 metres.

Dharambir placed third in the men’s club throw F51 final with a throw of 33.61 metres. The gold medalist from the Asian Games in Hangzhou was confident about his victory. Sachin said from Kobe, “I was expecting the gold here, and I am happy. I have also qualified for the Paris Olympics and hope to win gold there too.”

India still has three days to go, and head coach Satyanarayan is confident his team will win two more gold medals and strive for a total of 17 medals. India moved up to third place on Tuesday as Paralympic champion Sumit Antil successfully defended his F64 javelin throw world championship. Thangavelu Mariyappan and Ekta Bhyan both won gold.

With 12 medals in total—five of them gold—India is currently ranked third, behind China and Brazil. This exceeds their previous highest total of 10 medals from the Paris 2023 edition (3 gold, 4 silver, and 3 bronze).