Category: Sports

India’s Lakshya Sen won the men’s badminton singles title of Canada Open 2023 on July 10. The 21-year-old shuttler defeated reigning All England Open champion Li Shi Feng of China 21-18, 22-20 in the final.

Sen’s victory in the tournament marks his second BWF World Tour title, following his previous win at the India Open in January 2022. Ranked 19th currently, he defeated Kunlavut Vitidsarn, the fourth-ranked player in the world, in the Round of 32.

In the semifinals, he overcame Japan’s Kento Nishimoto, to advance to his second Super 500 final and his first BWF summit clash in over a year. He won the match 21-17, 21-14.

After undergoing nose surgery for a deviated septum after the World Championships in August 2022, Sen required considerable time to recover from the treatment. His last appearance in a final was at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in August 2022. Following a series of early exits from tournaments, he displayed signs of improvement when he reached the semifinals of the Thailand Open.

The Canada Open win is significant for Sen, as it gives him vital ranking points to inch ahead of Kidambi Srikanth in the race for qualification to the Paris Olympics.

The Indian men’s football team beat Kuwait 5-4 in a penalty shootout to win the SAFF Championship 2023 title at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on July 4.

With the win, India has won its ninth SAFF Championship in 14 editions. This was India’s second silverware on the trot after winning the Intercontinental Cup in June. The Indian team is ranked 100th in the latest FIFA rankings.

In regulation time, the newly-crowned AIFF Player of the Year Lallianzuala Chhangte (39’) had equalised for India after Shabaib Al Khaldi (14’) had given the Kuwait football team the early lead. Regulation time ended with scores level at 1-1, forcing the match into extra time.

Both teams had several chances to clinch the match in the extra time, but neither could score the decisive goal, pushing the final towards a penalty shootout. Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu saved a crucial penalty kick in the summit clash to help India beat Kuwait 5-4 in the shootout. Kuwait’s captain Hajjeia missed the decisive spotkick in sudden death.

In previous matches, the Indian football team beat Lebanon in the semi-finals after finishing the group stage with wins over Pakistan and Nepal while drawing against Kuwait.

Olympic gold medal-winning javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has won the Lausanne Diamond League posting a throw of 87.66 metres. This was his second Diamond League title win of this year after the Doha Diamond League in May, when he registered a throw of 88.67 metres.

At the Lausanne Diamond League, Chopra opened his account with a throw of 83.52 m in his second attempt. The Indian ace player took the lead with a throw of 87.66 m in the fifth round. Germany’s Julian Weber clinched the second spot with a throw of 87.03 m and Tokyo Olympics Silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch took the third spot with a 86.13 m throw in his final attempt.

The 25-year-old Indian Olympic gold medalist came back from a muscle injury he had sustained during training. The injury forced him to withdraw from three events, namely FBK Games in the Netherlands, Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland and the Ostrava Golden Spike in Czech Republic, in June.

Chopra won his first Diamond League Trophy when he won the Lausanne leg in August 2022. He went on to win the Diamond League Trophy in the final later that year.

India defeated Iran in the final of the Asian Kabaddi Championship 2023 to win its eighth title in nine editions. In a stunning performance, India overcame Iran 42-32 at the Dong-Eui Institute of Technology Seokdang Cultural Center in Busan, Republic of Korea, on June 30.

India, the defending champions, allowed Iran a few easy bonus points, but caused a second all-out in the 19th minute. The Indian side quickly built on their lead with an impressive all-round display. Pawan Sehrawat led from the front with a super 10.

Earlier in the day, India had beaten Hong Kong 64-20 to end the league stage of the tournament undefeated.

India, Iran, Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong participated in this year’s Asian Kabaddi Championships. India won all the five matches in the league stage and topped the points table. Iran came second, only losing to India in the league stage, and made it to the final. India’s biggest win in the league stage – a 76-13 victory – came against Korea on the opening day of the tournament; the team’s narrowest victory of 33-28 came against Iran on June 29.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted to congratulate the Indian team following their eighth Asian Kabaddi Championship title win.

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first male footballer to play 200 international matches. The 38-year-old created history in Portugal’s UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying round match against Iceland at Reykjavik’s Laugardalsvollur stadium on June 20. His 89th-minute goal helped the team win 1-0. Ronaldo was also given a Guinness World Record certificate ahead of the match to mark his achievement.

Ronaldo made his international debut in 2003. The goal against Iceland was his 123rd goal for Portugal, extending his record as the all-time leading international goalscorer.

The Al-Nassr striker already held the record for most international appearances when he surpassed the record set by Bader Al-Mutawa of Kuwait, who held the record of 196 matches, during Portugal’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Liechtenstein in March. At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, he became the first male football player to score in five different World Cups.

A five-time Ballon d’Or winner, Ronaldo has two major honours with Portugal, as he led his country to success at Euro 2016 and the inaugural UEFA Nations League three years later.

While Ronaldo is the record holder when it comes to men’s internationals, the overall record is held by former USWNT player and 2015 U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame inductee Kristine Lilly with 354 international appearances.

Olympian C A Bhavani Devi on June 19 created history by progressing to the semifinal of the women’s sabre event at the Asian Fencing Championships in Wuxi, China, bringing India its maiden medal at the event. She won a historic bronze medal at the championship.

Bhavani stunned reigning world champion Misaki Emura of Japan 15-10 in the quarterfinals to script history. Misaki had won the women’s sabre gold medal at the 2022 World Fencing Championships held in Cairo. Bhavani had never beaten the Japanese fencer in their past three meetings on the piste.

In the semifinal, Bhavani was up against Uzbekistan’s Zaynab Dayibekova. The 29-year-old fencer received a bye in the round of 64 before beating Dospay Karina of Kazakhstan in the next round. She then upset third seed Ozaki Seri of Japan 15-11 in the pre-quarterfinals.

Bhavani Devi, who became the first Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympics, exited in the round of 32 at the Tokyo Games. She has moved to France to train under sabre master Christian Bauer, who has coached many athletes to Olympic medals. The list includes individual fencers such as Aldo Montano and Zhong Man, to the Chinese women’s sabre team and Russian sabre fencers.

India’s top shot putter Tajinder Pal Toor broke his own Asian record with a throw of 21.77m on the final day of the National Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar on June 19, qualifying for the World Championships.

Representing Punjab, the 28-year-old sportsperson bettered his own Asian record of 21.49 m set in 2021 at Patiala. His third-round throw of 21.77m at the Kalinga Stadium was the ninth-longest distance in the world this season.

Toor qualified for the World Championships with a qualifying mark of 21.40 m. He also made it to the Asian Games that has 19 m as the qualifying mark.

Toor, the reigning Asian Games gold medallist, began with a triumph, as he crossed the 20m mark with his opening throw of 21.09 m. His second throw was a foul before he produced the Asian record-breaking effort. He then had two fouls before passing the final attempt.

Punjab’s Karanveer Singh also qualified for the Asian Games as he finished second with a throw of 19.78 m. Jyothi Yarraji, who won gold medals in 100 m and 100 m hurdles, was named the best female athlete at the National Inter-State Championships.

Indian men’s football team captain Sunil Chhetri on June 21 became the third active male footballer after icons Ronaldo and Messi to score 90 goals in international football. The 38-year-old scored a hat-trick, including two goals from penalties, against Pakistan in the 2023 SAFF Championship match, to make the feat. Ronaldo has scored 123 international goals, while Messi has netted 103 goals.

The Indian senior men’s football team started its SAFF Championship title defence by defeating Pakistan 4-0 in Group A match at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday. It was a big victory for India against Pakistan. In the 1999 SAF Games, the Blue Tigers had defeated their neighbour 5-2 with IM Vijayan scoring a hat-trick.

Chhetri is the third Indian to register a hat-trick against Pakistan after Puran Bahadur and IM Vijayan. This was Chhetri’s fourth international hat-trick that took his tally to 90 goals. Substitute Udanta Singh scored the fourth goal of the match.

In another match, Kuwait beat Nepal 3-1 in the tournament opener earlier in the day. India was on the top of the Group A standings on goal difference after match day 1.

The PGA Tour has agreed to merge with Saudi-backed competitor LIV Golf in a deal to move ahead as one golf enterprise.

Putting aside their pending litigation, the two sides have signed an agreement to combine their commercial businesses and rights into a new for-profit company. The agreement also covers the DP World Tour or the PGA European Tour.

LIV Golf is backed by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF), a unit controlled by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and has been involved in antitrust lawsuits with the PGA Tour in 2022. The new deal announced on June 6 would end all pending litigation.

The agreement is the second outstanding sports deal in recent months after World Wrestling Entertainment’s merger with Endeavor Group’s UFC. The PGA Tour and LIV Golf deal requires the approval of the PGA Tour policy board, said its Commissioner Jay Monahan in a message to players.

PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan said in an interview that after the finalization of the merger – expected in a few weeks, the new board will evaluate every proposal that is presented. Al-Rumayyan will serve as the chairman of the board.

India’s Sunil Kumar created history by bagging the country’s first-ever gold medal in men’s decathlon. The 19-year-old won the gold medal with 7,003 points at the Asian Under-20 Athletics Championships in Yecheon, Republic of Korea on June 6.

Kumar suffered a setback when a South Korean airline and Air India barred him from carrying his pole vault due to technical issues due to its five-metre length. He then borrowed the pole vault from the contest organisers and won the 10-event competition with a personal best tally of 7,003 points on the penultimate day of the competition. He won 100m hurdles, discus throw and javelin throw to compensate for the below-par show in the other events, and acquire the gold medal in the competition completed over two days.

In women’s high jump, Pooja won a silver after clearing 1.82 m. Bushra Khan also won a silver in the women’s 3000 m race, clocking 9:41.47s. The Indian women’s 4×100 m relay team took bronze with a time of 45.36 s.

On the opening day of the championship, Rezoana Mallick Heena and Bharatpreet Singh won a gold medal each in women’s 400 m and men’s discus throw, respectively. Shot putter Siddharth Choudhary also won gold on June 5 with a personal best throw of 19.52 m.