Category: Sports

94-year-old Haryana sprinter Bhagwani Devi Dagar won a gold and two bronze for India at the Tampere World Masters Athletics championships 2022 in Finland.

She won the gold medal in the 100-meter sprint with an excellent timing of 24.74 seconds.

The World Masters Athletics Championships were held between June 29 – July 10 in Tamper. It is a world championship-caliber event for track and field athletic events for male and female athletes aged 35 and above.

Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday congratulated 94-year-old Bhagwani Devi for bringing laurels to the country and proving that age is just a number.

In a tweet, the Union Sports Department said “She won a gold medal at the #WorldMastersAthleticsChampionships in Tampere in the 100m sprint event with a timing of 24.74 seconds. She also bagged a Bronze in shot put. Truly commendable effort!” it said.

Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur also congratulated Devi on her achievement. “Age is no bar! Very inspiring!” said Thakur in a tweet. The internet is in awe of Bhagwani’s determination, and fans from all over the country and outside the country have poured in congratulatory messages for the old yet young Indian athlete.

Novak Djokovic claimed his seventh Wimbledon men’s singles title by beating Australia’s Nick Kyrgios 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Centre Court on Sunday.

This was also the Serbian star’s 21st Grand Slam singles title. Djokovic took charge of the match late in the third set, then used his signature mix of relentless steeliness and hardcore discipline to keep the 40th-ranked Kyrgios, who found it challenging to keep up the pace, at bay to win the match in 3 hours 1 minute.

 Djokovic stated after the match, “This tournament has a special place in my heart because it’s always been my childhood dream tournament.” Only Roger Federer’s 8 Wimbledon men’s titles surpass Djokovic’s seven.

 “He’s a bit of a god,” said the powerful Kyrgios. “I played a Slam final against one of the greatest of all time, and I was right there,” he said. Kyrgios hardly slept for two nights due to anxiety after his semifinal against Nadal was called off due to the latter’s abdominal tear. “I thought I dealt with the pressure pretty well.” Said Kyrgios, who had never played a significant semifinal before this tournament.

At age 23-year-old Elena Rybakia from Kazakhstan became the first player representing the Central Asian nation to win a Grand Slam singles title. She defeated Ons Jabeur from Tunisia by 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the Wimbledon finals on July 9.

Born in Moscow, Rybakina is the youngest woman to win the Wimbledon title since 2011, when Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic broke the record first. Rybakina would not have been permitted to play at this year’s Wimbledon if she hadn’t switched allegiances from Russia to Kazakhstan four years ago. Her win at Wimbledon was the first by a woman ranked outside of the WTA’s top 20 since Venus Williams in 2007. She is currently ranked No. 23.

Due to conflicts between Ukraine and Russia, players from Russia and Belarus are banned from taking part in the Wimbledon tournament this year.

Her appointment, Jabeur, also created history by becoming the first Arab woman to be selected in the Grand Slam tournament finals. In the one-hour, forty-three-minute match, No. 3 seed Jabeur defeated Maria by a score of 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. Rybakina defeated Simona Halep of Romania in the semi-finals of the tournament.

At Wimbledon, Ons Jabeur became the first Arab or North African woman to reach a Grand Slam singles semifinal by rallying from a set down to defeat Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.

Jabeur, who lost both of her previous Grand Slam quarterfinal matches in straight sets, was slow to start against Bouzkova. Third-seeded player Jennifer Capriati lost her opening set in the tournament against a motivated Czech opponent

In recent years, Jabeur has set record after record for Arab players. It was her first Grand Slam quarterfinals at the Australian Open in 2020. She became the first Arab woman to break into the top 10 of the men’s and women’s rankings in 2021, she won a WTA title, and she advanced to the Wimbledon quarterfinals with a record run.

The 27-year-old was ranked  No.2 in the work and said, “It means a lot. I was hoping that I could get to this stage for a long time already. I was talking a little bit to Hicham Arazu and he told me ‘Arabs always lose in the quarterfinals and we are sick of it. Please break this’. I was like, I’ll try, my friend”.

Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra secured his first top-3 finish at the celebrated Diamond League Meeting with a national record-breaking effort but narrowly missed the 90m mark on Thursday. World champion Anderson Peters of Grenada won the contest with a best throw of 90.3 in his third attempt.

The 24-year-old Chopra’s opening throw of 89.94m, just 6cm short of the 90m mark, the gold level in the world of javelin throw and that attempt resulted in his best as he finished second. His other throws measured 84.37m, 87.46m, 84.77m, 86.67, and 86.84m. Chopra had finished second in the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland, on June 14 with his previous national record of 89.30m.

After the event, Chopra said, “Today, I feel good and after the first throw, I thought I could throw even over 90m today. But it is OK as I have more competitions coming this year”. “I am close to 90m now and I can throw it this year. Despite the fact that I did not win tonight, I feel very good because I did my best.”

Chopra has defeated Peters twice this month — in Turku where the Grenada athlete stood third and in the Kuortane Games, where the Indian champion had won gold with a best throw of 86.69m under unfavorable climatic conditions.

P.V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, two stalwarts of Indian badminton, faced different fates at the Malaysia Open Super 750 tournament, with the former advancing to the second round and the latter crashing out after losing her opener.

In 37 minutes, Sindhu defeated Thailand’s world number 10 Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-13 21-17, but London Olympic bronze medalist Saina lost to the 33rd-ranked American Iris Wang 11-21 17-21. In the next round, Sindhu will face Phittayaporn Chaiwan, a 21-year-old from Thailand who ranked number one in the world junior rankings and participated in the Uber Cup team.

Parupalli Kashyap, a former Commonwealth Games champion, advanced to the second round of singles after defeating Korea’s Heo Kwang Hee 21-12 21-17. In March, Kashyap won the German Open Super 300, a tournament in Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn, ranked 39 in the world.

Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa, who will lead India at the Commonwealth Games, couldn’t beat Robin Tabeling and Selena Piek, ranked in world numbers 21 and 22 respectively. A 5-3 head-to-head record exists between Sindhu and Chochuwong, with the Indian winning their last meeting at the 2021 World Championship.

After 52 minutes, the Indian duo lost 15-21 21-19 17-21.

Tamil Nadu Government and the All India Chess Federation on Saturday signed an agreement for hosting the 44th Chess Olympiad in the ancient coastal town of Mamallapuram, to be held from July 28 to August 10. The agreement was signed in the presence of Chief Minister M K Stalin. A day before, the government set up 18 Working Committees headed by senior officials and Director General of Police Sylendra Babu to look after the preparations for the mega event.

The committees include transport, hospitality, food, electricity, sponsorship, media and publicity, security, medical services, and organizing school chess events. Since this is the first time that India will host a chess event of such a magnitude, the Tamil Nadu Government is trying its best to ensure that event is successful.

The event was earlier going to be held in Russia but because of its ongoing war on Ukraine; it was shifted to India.

More than 2,000 chess players from 180 countries will participate in the World championships. Over 2,600 rooms, most of which are sea-facing, in luxury resorts that line the beautiful East Coast Road (ECR) linking Chennai with Mamallapuram, have been booked for the Chess Olympiad.

The event venue is at Four Points by Sheraton – a huge luxurious resort on the ECR just outside Mamallapuram. The players and delegates will get accomodation at plush hotels like Taj Fisherman’s Cove, Sheraton Grand, Radisson, and Intercontinental among others, sources told DH.

P. V. Sindhu and HS Prannoy will lead the Indian challenge at the Malaysian Open Super 750 tournament starting on Tuesday. Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, got ousted in the first round at the Indonesia Open Super 1000 earlier this month and will have to recover soon from this defeat before she begins her crusade against the mighty Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand.

While Sindhu boasts a 5-3 head-to-head count against Chochuwong, the Indian has been defeated by the Thai world number 10 three times in their last five encounters, making their contest highly exciting. If she can overcome the initial obstacles and show a consistent run, Sindhu might face a clash against Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei of China.

In men’s singles, the 29-year-old Prannoy has been consistently performing well since the world championships last year. He played a key role in India’s epic win in the Thomas Cup and then produced some brilliant performances to reach the semi-finals in Jakarta.

Prannoy, who hasn’t won a title in five years, will play against Malaysian veteran Daren Liew, who got the better of him at the Thailand Open in May this year.

Among others, Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneeth will be pitted against sixth-seeded Indonesian Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, while Sameer Verma will be up against another Indonesian Jonata Christie.

India’s Karman Kaur Thandi claimed the crown at the final of the ITF women’s 25K Tournament at the Tennis Project in Baliawas on Sunday, beating World no.3 junior Belgium’s Sofia Costoulas 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 in a majestic clash that lasted three hours.

In the first set, Karman showed grit and determination as she bounced back from 2-4 down and moved on to win four games in a row to take the set at 6-4. Sofia, who reached the singles final at the Australian Open 2022, attacked well and leveled the match, winning the second set 2-6.

Karman was most powerful in the third set, destroying her rival’s serve in the fourth game to make it 3-1 and finished the match by winning three straight games. This win makes it the 24-year-old Kaur’s second career ITF singles title after the first one in Hong Kong in 2018.

After the victory, she said, “It’s a special feeling to win this tournament, especially this being just my third one after returning from injury. After the final point, my mind immediately flashed back to the roller-coaster ride we had over the last few months. I would like to thank everyone who supported me — Adi (Aditya Sachdeva) sir, my physio Diksha, my family, my entire team, and especially RoundGlass for putting their trust in me and giving me this opportunity.”

Australia’s former cricketer Lisa Sthalekar became the first female president of FICA. The executive committee of the organization appointed her during a meeting in Switzerland, the first in-person meeting since the outbreak began. For the post of the FICA president, she was shortlisted with other four former cricketers Barry Richard, Jimmy Adams, and Vikram Solanki.

In her career, she played 8 Tests, 125 ODIs, and 54 T20Is for the country between 2001 to 2013. She ended her cricket career with a World Cup win. She was inducted into the Australian cricket hall of fame last year and has been involved in broadcasting media around the world. Her experience with player welfare comes from her work with the Australian Cricketers’ Association.

FICA’s executive chairman Heath Mills commented on the appointment of Sthalekar and said, “Lisa was the best candidate and her credentials are unparalleled as both a former player and broadcaster.”

Sthalekar said, “I am extremely honored and excited to be FICA’s new president. We are entering a new phase of the game which covers more cricket than ever before for our male and female players, more countries are playing the game which demonstrates that cricket is certainly becoming a  global game”.