Category: Sports

Ibi Lollen won two bronze medals at the 21st Asian Armwrestling Championship, which concluded in Ajman, UAE, on May 3. The young sportsperson from Arunachal Pradesh won the medals in both left hand and right hand categories in the senior women’s 65 kg weight category, said All Arunachal Pradesh Arm Wrestling Association (AAPAWA) President Pakjar Taipodia.

Lollen was the lone player from the northeast Indian state to represent the country in the championship. It was after 20 years that an arm wrestler from Arunachal Pradesh has won a medal at the Asian championship. In 2003, the present AAPAWA president and coach Pakjar Taipodia had won one silver and one bronze medal in right hand and left hand categories, respectively. The coach said there are many more players in Arunachal Pradesh, who can win medals at international level.

Over 500 athletes from 16 countries were in the fray at the Asian Armwrestling Championship. The contest, comprising the 21st edition of the Asian Armwrestling Championship and the Asian Para-Armwrestling Championship, was organised by the Asian Armwrestling Federation in cooperation with the UAE Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation at the Bahi Ajman Place hotel.

Indian men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won gold after beating the Malaysian pair of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi 16-21, 21-17, 21-19 in the final of the Badminton Asia Championships in Dubai on April 30. The World No. 6 Indian pair defeated the 8th-ranked Malaysian pair in a stunning three-game battle at Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall, Al Nasr Club.

The Sunday’s match was interesting throughout, as both the pairs balanced the scores. From 1-1 to 10-10, the pairs moved neck and neck. Rankireddy and Shetty conceded the opening game, but fought back from 7-13 in the second game to complete a dramatic win in an hour and 7 minutes.

The pair won India its only second gold medal at the Badminton Asia Championships after Dinesh Khanna’s men’s singles Gold medal in 1965. This is another big win for the Indian duo, whose performance last year helped India win the Thomas Cup for the first time. In 2022, the pair also won gold in men’s doubles at the Commonwealth Games and a bronze at the World Championships in Tokyo.

Since 1962, India has won two gold and 16 bronze medals at the continental Championships in various events.

In a first, Paris 2024 Olympics will see an opening ceremony outside of a stadium and in the heart of the city, as its organisers unveiled their plan to open the ceremony on the River Seine, with at least 6,00,000 spectators expected to attend the grand party.

A total of 116 Parisian and regional boats from 42 river companies have been identified to sail on the river on July 26, 2024. The boats mostly will come from Paris, with a Strasbourg-based provider Batorama too sending its boats to participate in the opening ceremony.

The boats will transport the athletes, sailing six kilometers from Pont d’Austerlitz to the Pont d’Iena, with the river and Paris’ iconic monuments such as Notre Dame, the Louvre, and the Eiffel Tower as backdrop. The cruising route is also one of the classic tourist attractions of the French capital.

The Olympics Games will see the sale of an estimated 100,000 tickets for the opening ceremony, ranging from 90 euros to 2,700 euros.

Paris has hosted the Olympics twice before, in 1900 and 1924. Next year, it will become the second city after London to host the games for the third time when athletes around the world gather from July 26 to August 11.

The Portuguese-language Michaelis dictionary, one of the most popular in Brazil, added “pelé” as a new adjective for someone who is “exceptional, incomparable, unique”. The inclusion came after a campaign by the Pelé Foundation to honour the football star gathered more than 1,25,000 signatures.

The entry reads: “pe.lé adj. That or someone who is out of the ordinary, who or who by virtue of their quality, value or superiority cannot be equalled to anything or anyone, just like Pelé, nickname of Edson Arantes do Nascimento (1940-2022), who is considered the greatest athlete of all time; exceptional, incomparable, unique.”

The publishers behind Michaelis dictionaries announced on April 26 that the word would be included in the digital edition of their Portuguese-language dictionary immediately and in the printed version once the next edition was published.

The Brazilian soccer legend passed away on 29 December 2022 at the age of 82. He had been battling cancer in the hospital since November. FIFA famously titled him ‘The Greatest’ to recognise his pioneering work in football and influence both on and off the field.

Pelé is the only player to have won the World Cup three times. He is widely considered to be the best footballer in history. During his playing career spanning two decades, he scored a record 1,281 goals with Brazilian club Santos, Brazil’s national team, and the New York Cosmos.

Kolkata Knight Riders’ batter Rinku Singh is spending ₹50 lakh to build hostel for underprivileged cricketers in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. The hostel will house more than 50 children and provide them with the necessary facilities.

Born in a humble family in Aligarh to a father who worked for an LPG company as a cylinder-delivery executive, Rinku Singh spent his childhood in a dilapidated, tin-roofed house, alongside his nine-member family. He has committed to providing the poor youth with the facilities he never had. He persevered as a budding cricketer and now wishes to provide opportunities for young cricketers who face similar financial struggles.

The hostel will have 14 rooms and each one can accommodate four trainees. A shed and a pavilion, and separate toilets are being constructed. These trainees can have food at the canteen being run at the place. The facility will cost around Rs 50 lakh, and the whole expenditure is being borne by the cricketer.

Rinku Singh has been outstanding in the Indian Premier League 2023 season. He smashed five consecutive sixes on the last five deliveries of a match against the Gujarat Titans, securing a win for the Kolkata Knight Riders. So far, he has scored 174 runs in five matches at an impressive strike rate of 162.62 in this IPL.

Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma completed 6,000 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Hyderabad on April 18. It took him 232 matches (227 innings) to accomplish the feat, and has scored 41 fifties and one hundred in the IPL.

Rohit was at 5986 runs before the start of the match and needed 14 runs to reach the milestone. On the second ball of the third over, he hit the second of his three consecutive fours to complete 6,000 runs in IPL history.  He scored 28 runs in the innings, but became just the fourth player to score 6,000 IPL runs after Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner.

The current captain of India men’s cricket team in all formats has enjoyed a stellar career in the IPL, having won the cup six times. Rohit is also the most successful captain in the history of the tournament with five titles. He began his IPL stint in 2008 with Deccan Chargers and won his first IPL title in 2009 when the competition was played in South Africa. He left Deccan Chargers for Mumbai Indians in 2011.

Liverpool ended its five-game winless run in all competitions with a 6-1 victory against struggling Leeds United in the Premier League on Monday, April 17 at Elland Road, England. Liverpool had not tasted victory in the Premier League in more than six weeks, since routing Manchester United 7-0.

To Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp, it was the “best game” his side has produced in a topsy-turvy 2022-23 campaign. After a not up to scratch run of form, Liverpool looked dedicated to show the rest of the Premier League that it is still in with a chance of securing a place in the Champions League next season and the Reds kept their foot on the gas in search of another goal.

Alexander-Arnold shone in a new hybrid midfield role and had 153 touches in the game, becoming the second-most of any player in a Premier League match this season.

Leeds United now has to avoid relegation. Its head coach Javi Gracia said that his players must improve their levels, as the club stands at the 16th place and with just two points above the relegation and facing a tough run-in to the season.

On the other hand, Klopp was pleased and said, “It was a really good game, sensational goals. Counter-pressing-wise, the best game for decades.”

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will spend at least ₹502.92 crore to renovate five major stadiums in India for the ODI World Cup in October-November in India.

Out of the amount, ₹100 crore will be used to revamp Delhi stadium, ₹117.17 crore for Hyderabad stadium, ₹127.47 crore for Kolkata’s Eden Gardens, ₹79.46 crore for Mohali stadium, and ₹78.82 crore for Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Mohali, though, is not a World Cup venue this year.

The five venues underwent a gap assessment from the BCCI. The gap assessment outlines the gaps between the current and ideal future state of an organisation. The renovation work includes landscape work, interior work, development of media centre (in Delhi and Kolkata), setting up of digital and entertainment kiosks, upgradation of stadium chairs (foldable) and light fixtures, wifi-system installation apart from developing stadium apps, and toilet renovation with waterproofing and lighting. The costs for renovation will increase drastically if roof work is involved.

Twelve venues have been shortlisted to host World Cup games, including Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Dharamsala, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore, Rajkot, Mumbai and Ahmedabad, the likely venue for the final. The 46-day ICC event will see 48 games. India last hosted the ODI World Cup in 2011 when the national team lifted the trophy.

Delhi Capitals (DC) stand-in captain David Warner on April 11 became the first-ever overseas player to smash 600 fours in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The 36-year-old Australian accomplished this milestone during the match against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the home arena of Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Only Shikhar Dhawan has hit more fours in IPL than Warner, with 728 fours in 208 IPL innings.

In Tuesday’s match, Warner scored 51 in 47 balls. His knock consisted of six fours. This took Warner’s four-tally in IPL to 604. The highest number of fours in IPL history belongs to the current Punjab Kings skipper Shikhar Dhawan, who has hit a total of 728 fours in 209 matches. Warner is in the second position when it comes to hitting fours in IPL. Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Virat Kohli, with 591 fours, is at number three. At number four and number five are MI skipper Rohit Sharma (528 fours) and Chennai Super Kings’ legend Suresh Raina (506 fours).

In the match, Warner scored 51 in 47 balls. His knock consisted of six fours. This took Warner’s four-tally in IPL to 604. After being put to bat first by MI, DC was bundled out for 172 in 19.4 overs.

Cricket Australia (CA) and Australia Cricketers’ Association (ACA) have signed a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) which will boost the pay scale of contracted women’s cricketers. The MoU signed in Melbourne on April 3 announced an increase in payments for all centrally contracted cricketers, with female players getting a boost of almost 66 percent.

Keeping in mind the success and popularity of women’s cricket leagues all over the world, and with the successful opening edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) in India, the competition has increased. To ensure that the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) remain competitive, ACA has doubled the salary cap of WBBL to AUD$ 732,000 per team.

Earlier this year, Australia’s Women’s team won a record-breaking sixth ICC Women’s T20 World Cup title in South Africa. The team led by Meg Lanning was also successful in 2022 when they won the ICC Women’s World Cup trophy for the seventh time with a victory over England in the final in New Zealand.

After the new MoU, many Australian Female Cricketers will come under the million-dollar bracket considering they are earning well in overseas countries as well. The players who are centrally contracted can now earn AUD $800,000 by combining national and WBBL deals. Australian Female cricketers’ 75 per cent earning comes from WBBL and domestic tournaments, i.e. The Women’s National Cricket League, now will be AUD$ 151,000.

The Australia Cricketers’ Association CEO, said, “Some of our girls who are playing in India earn significant amounts of money in the WPL, and on top of this deal now, they will become million-dollar athletes. And so they should because they are the best in the world at what they do.”