Category: Sports

Fans attending the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar must show proof of a negative COVID-19 before being allowed to enter the venue. The test report is mandatory even for those who are fully vaccinated, the organisers said in a statement on Thursday.

All visitors aged six and over will have to present a negative result from a PCR test taken within 48 hours before their departure or from a rapid antigen test taken in the 24 hours before arriving, the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy said.

But that is not all. Results of the rapid antigen tests will only be accepted if they are from official medical centres and not self-administered. In addition to that, visitors who are 18 years of age and above will need to download a government-run contact tracing phone application called Ehteraz.

“A green Ehteraz status (showing the user does not have a confirmed case of COVID-19) is required to enter any public closed indoor spaces,” the statement added. “Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 while in Qatar will be required to isolate in accordance with Ministry of Public Health guidelines,” the statement added.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup – the 22nd edition of the mega event – is scheduled to take place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022. This is also the last FIFA World Cup which will be played by 32 teams. From the next edition onwards, the number of teams will be increased to 48.

The first match will be contested between Qatar and Ecuador at Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor. The final will be played o 18 December 2022. France are the reigning World Cup champions and will look to defend the title. 

The Indian trio of Shardul Vihan, Shapath Bharadwaj, and Arya Vansh Tyagi won the trap team junior men’s gold, defeating Italy 6-4 in the shotgun World Championship in Osijek, Croatia, on Saturday.

It was an aggressive performance by the Indian team, as it came through to the gold contest by winning a shoot-off against the USA 2-0 after both teams stood tied with 205 in the qualification round.

Contrastingly, Italy had topped the qualification field, scoring 206, one point ahead of India.

It was the Italian team of Emanuele Iezzi, Gianmarco Barletta, and Edoardo Antonioli that had a great beginning after taking a 4-0 lead in the gold medal match. The Indian team made special efforts to take the challenge and won the next three rounds 13-12, 15-14, and 14-12 to win the gold.

The team with a better score in each round of five shots by the three shooters gets two points. Arya Vansh was the topper as he missed only one bird out of 25. Shardul shot 22 and Shapath 21.

The Indian junior women’s team of Sabeera Haris, Preeti Rajak, and Aadya Tripathi shot 172 and stood seventh.

The results:

Trap: Men’s team: 1. India (Arya Vansh Tyagi, Shapath Bharadwaj, Shardul Vihan) 6 (205)2; 2. Italy Emanuele Iezzi, Gianmarco Barletta, Edoardo Antonioli) 4 (206); 3. USA 6 (205)0; 4. Spain 0 (204).

On Sunday, Kenyan marathoner Eliud Kipchoge shattered his own world record at the Berlin Marathon by running 2:01:09, 30 seconds faster than his previous record set in 2018.

In a sanctioned world marathon, Kipchoge, who won gold medals at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, is getting close to breaking the 2-hour barrier. During the Ineos 1:59 Challenge in 2019, he became the first person to ever run a marathon in under two hours, but the IAAF did not recognize it as a world record.

After covering the first ten kilometres in 28:23, the 37-year-old runner clocked 42:32 at 15K, hinting at a sub-two-hour finish. Guye Adola and Ethiopian Andamlak Belihu kept pace, but Kipchoge eventually took the lead.

As of now, Kipchoge has won 15 out of 17 official marathons he’s entered, including a silver medal in the 2008 Olympics at 5,000 meters. Kipchoge was left alone at the 25K mark after the last pacemaker dropped off.

It is now the eighth time in a row that the men’s record has been set in Berlin, which is favoured by runners for its flat course. Women’s race winner Tigist Assefa set a course record of 2:15:37 – 18 minutes faster than her previous best.

Indian women’s cricket team start batter Smriti Mandhana on Wednesday completed 3000 runs in the One-Day International format, becoming the third Indian player to cross the milestone.

Mandhana achieved the feat in her 76th ODI innings, surpassing India legend Mithali Raj, who reached 3000 runs in 88 innings.

Mandhana got through this milestone during the second ODI match of the three-match series against England in Canterbury. She completed 3,000 runs in ODI cricket at an average of 43+ and a strike rate of almost 85.

The current India- England series is the second series in the ICC Women’s Championship for India. The contest decides the qualification for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in 2025.

Mandhana had a great start to the series after scoring 91 off 99 balls in Hove, giving India a seven-wicket win on Sunday.

The left-handed opener, who played her maiden ODI in 2013, has five hundred and 24 fifties in the format and is the third Indian women’s player to reach the 3000-run mark in the ODI after Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur.

22 women’s players have crossed the 3000 ODI run mark, but only two have reached the landmark quicker than Mandhana — Belinda Clark (62 innings) and Meg Lanning (64 innings).

Ethan Nwaneri, aged 15 years and 181 days, created Premier League history on Sunday by becoming the youngest ever player in the English top flight. He beat the record previously held by Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott, who was 16 years and 30 days when he represented Fulham in 2019.

Nwaneri came off the bench in stoppage time as Arsenal’s clinched a 3-0 victory at Brentford on Sunday.

It was expected that Nwaneri would spend the season with Arsenal Under-18s, but he was quickly promoted to the Under-21s following his brilliant performances.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was falling short of midfield options as Captain Martin Odegaard and senior player Oleksandr Zinchenko were injured. “We are pretty short and opportunities come when issues arise,” said Arteta. “We have the opportunities to bring young players on.”

Mikel Arteta said it was “pure gut feeling” during training that let him offer a Premier League debut to Ethan Nwaneri and added that he knew the schoolboy was ready to take on the challenge from the moment he looked in his eyes.

“I told him yesterday that he was going to be with us and that I wanted him to experience how it is to be in the hotel, to prepare for the game, to be around the boys, and [told him] that he had to be ready. If you are going to be on that bench, you have to be ready. The boy just looks into your eyes and he is ready.” Said Arteta.

In an effort to ease fears raised by LGBTQ activists, Qatar’s ruler said all fans will be welcome at the World Cup “without discrimination.”

Organizers have worked to assure rights groups that same-sex couples will not face discrimination at the tournament, which begins on November 20. However, the organizing committee and government officials expect that the World Cup’s million-plus attendees will respect local cultural norms.

At the UN General Assembly, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani said that Qatar will open its doors to all without any discrimination and enjoy football and its amazing atmosphere. During the World Cup buildup, Qatar has focused on the rights of women and the LGBT community, including lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgenders, and queers.

The emir said, “The world will see that one of the small and medium-sized countries is able to host global events with exceptional success, in addition to its ability to provide a spacious ambience for diversity and constructive interaction between people.”

Post this comment, FIFA reaffirmed that LGBTQ rainbow flags will be allowed in and around the stadium. Meanwhile, the organising committee chief Hassan Al-Thawadi said at a conference in New York, “We don’t believe in public displays of affection but we are also ingrained towards welcoming everyone from all backgrounds.”

Ace wrestler Bajrang Punia became the first Indian to win four medals at the World Wrestling Championships by clinching a bronze in the current edition, in Belgrade, Serbia, on Sunday.

Bajrang, who claimed a bronze in last year’s Tokyo Olympics, put in a great effort to reach to 11-9 win on points over Sebastian C. Rivera of Puerto Rico in the contest for the bronze medal in the 65 kg category.

Bajrang had lost in the quarter-final to John Michael Diakomihalis of the U. S, but qualified for the bronze medal bout through the repechage round where he beat Vazgen Tevanyan of Armenia 7-6 by points.

 The famed Indian wrestler had earlier won a bronze in 2013, silver in 2018, and bronze in 2019. With the medal win in Belgrade, his tally of bronze becomes three.

India had sent out a 30-member team for the ongoing World Championships but produced a dismal performance, winning only two medals.

Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Ravi Kumar Dahiya was defeated early on and could not achieve a podium finish.

Other than Bajrang, Vinesh Phogat secured her second World Championship bronze medal in the women’s 53kg category by defeating Emma Malmgren of Sweden 8-0.

Vinesh Phogat today earned the distinction of becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to win two medals at the World Championships as she won a bronze in the 53kg category by defeating Emma Jonna Malmgren of Sweden.

The 28-year-old Vinesh had also won a bronze in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, in the 2019 edition. It was an extraordinary comeback for Vinesh after she was surprisingly defeated in the qualification round to beat Malmgren 8-0 in the bronze medal playoff.

She had faced defeat in the hands of Khulan Batkhuyag of Mongolia on Tuesday. She got to the bronze playoff through the repechage round after Batkhuyag entered the final.

In the repechage round, Vinesh first defeated Zhuldyz Eshimova of Kazakhstan by a fall decision. She moved further to the bronze medal round after Leyla Gurbanova could not compete due to injury.

In the 57kg category, 2021 world bronze medalist Sarita Mor won her opening match 4-2 against world U-23 bronze medalist Hannah Taylor of Canada. Sarita then lost against Anhelina Lysak of Poland 0-7. In the 68kg category, Nisha Dahiya will battle it out for bronze tomorrow. She reached the semifinals after defeating Sofiya Georgieva of Bulgaria 11-0 but later lost 4-5 to reigning junior world champion Ami Ishii of Japan.

Indian driver Jehan Daruvala, 23, claimed his fourth win in Formula 2 as he stood on the highest step of the podium for the Feature race at the Temple of Speed, Autodromo Nazionale Monza, and Italy.

This was Daruvala’s first win this season and his second consecutive win at the venue, having won the sprint race here in the previous season. The Italian race weekend proved a successful one for Daruvala as he finished third in Saturday’s sprint race.

An excited Daruvala commented, “What a weekend. It’s been a long time coming. We’ve had the win taken away from us for one reason or another on more than one occasion this year. But we’ve kept our heads down, kept believing, kept pushing and we’ve finally done it. And what a venue to do it at too! Monza is up there with one of my all-time favorite tracks and standing on the top step of this incredible podium, out over the main straight with the Indian national anthem playing out, feels so, so special.”

Now the Formula 2 championship will move on to Abu Dhabi for the season finale. “This weekend’s result couldn’t have come at a better time as we now head to Abu Dhabi for the season finale. The Yas Marina track is another venue I like, and I won there last year. So going there on the back of a weekend like this one gives us a major boost, ” said Daruvala

Indian women cricket team opener Smriti Mandhana hit a match-winning unbeaten fifty after off-spinner Sneh Rana claimed three wickets to hand the team a comprehensive eight-wicket victory over England in the second T20 International and level the series 1-1. England’s decision to bat first on Tuesday night went wrong as Indian bowlers performed brilliantly to reduce the hosts to 54 for five in less than 10 overs.

England found it difficult to play in the starting overs, losing wickets regularly before teenager Freya Kemp (51 not out of 37 balls) and Maia Bouchier (34 off 26) scored a 65-run partnership to build their innings.

But then Rana took the wicket of Bouchier in the 18^th over, breaking the dangerous-looking partnership, and almost finishing the game for England. Kemp and Sophie Ecclestone tried hard and took England to 142 for six and gave their bowlers a reasonable score to defend.

Rana was a show stealer for India finishing her spell with 3 for 24 from her four overs, while Renuka Singh (1/30) and Deepti Sharma (1/21) picked up one wicket each. India strongly began their chase with Mandhana (79 not out of 53) and Shafali Verma (20) adding 55 runs in the first six overs.