Category: Sports

Indian men’s hockey team beat Japan 1-0 in the Asia Cup’s third-place play-off match to bag bronze on Wednesday in Jakarta. The young team, put up a lively performance with a bright start and a solid defense. On Tuesday, India failed to reach the final of the Asia cup 2022 following an exciting 4-4 draw against South Korea at the GBK Sports Complex Hockey Stadium.

In the seventh minute of the game Rajkumar Pal scored a field goal, smartly pushing it past the Japanese goalkeeper Takashi Yoshikawa. After a good early start, the Indian attack lost momentum as soon as they were out inside the opposition D. japan toiled hard in the last five minutes of the first quarter to get the equalizer and increased raids but India put up a firm defense to keep their lead intact.

In the second quarter, both teams had a few more chances but faltered in the final third. In the 48th minute, Japan gained three successive penalty corners but couldn’t break through the Indian backline. In the remaining minutes, India successfully defended their one-goal lead and claimed a podium position.

Indian men and women’s hockey teams leave for Lausanne to play in the inaugural FIH Hockey5s contest.

The Indian para badminton team performed excellently at the recently concluded Bahrain Para Badminton International Championships in Manama bagging a good tally of 23 medals, including seven golds. The centre of attraction was the promising doubles shuttler Manisha Ramdass who won two gold medals, while Pramod Bhagat and Tarun Dhillon also secured twin gold medals each.

 Manisha  and Bhagat got the better of Thailand’s Siripong Teamarrom and Nipada Saensupa 21-14, 21-11 to win the gold in mixed doubles. Manisha paired with Mandeep Kaur to claim another gold in girls’ doubles SL3-SU5 finals beating the Paralympian pair of Palak Kohli and Parul Dalsukhbhai Parmar 21-11, 21-11 in just 23 minutes.

Gaurav Khanna, the chief nationwide coach lauded the athletes and expressed his happiness with the way the players performed so well in successive events. He said there was still some work left to be done with the prime focus being on the players’ fitness. He added that many players have delivered excellent performances in recent tournaments. Expectations are high from athletes like Manisha Ramdass and others. The Indian contingent is all set to play  at the 4th Fazza Dubai 2022 Para Badminton International which will start on Tuesday.

On Friday, Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggananandhaa stuns the World Champion Magnus Carlsen again at the Chessable Masters online rapid chess tournament.

A 16-year-old Indian teenager won 12 points crushing Gawain Jones from England in the seventh round, he finished 6th after drawing with his compatriot P Harikrishna, who was 11th, and Vidit Gujrathi, who finished 14th. The Indian sensation precedent the one-move blunder from Carlsen and kept his odds alive till the knockout stage.

With the 40th move from Pragganandhaa, the match took a stunning twist by misplacing Carlsen’s knight on his previous move as Praggananandhaa checked with an attack on his back.

He said, “I am so thrilled about my game quality. I am missing some stuff, some tricks, and some tactics so I need to be sharper”. After the match, in an interview, Pragganandha revealed he was taking a school exam during the event

Praggananandhaa won again after defeating the Norwegian in February at the Airthings Masters. In the eighth round of the Airthings Master, he stunned World No 1, Magnus Carlsen, in an online rapid chess tournament.

On Monday, the teenager won with black pieces in 39 moves in a Tarrasch variation game to halt Carlsen’s run of three straight wins.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday congratulated the athletes of the Indian contingent that performed brilliantly at the recently concluded Deaflympics and said he would host the entire delegation at his residence on May 21. Prime Minister added that every athlete of the contingent is an inspiration for fellow Indians.

Deaflympics 2021 was held between May 1-May 15 at Festa Da Uva Main Pavilion in Southern Brazils city of Caxias do Sul. Around 2,100 athletes from 72 countries took part in the quadrennial event. The Indian contingent comprised 65 athletes, the largest ever sent by India in a Deaflympic event that competed in 11 sports, winning eight gold medals, one silver, and seven bronze. This was India’s highest medal tally at the Deaflympics. The most number of medals were picked by the shooting team-three gold and two bronze. India claimed the 9^th position in the medal table. The previous richest medal haul for India came in 1993 when they bagged five gold and two bronze at Sofia.

Five out of the eleven sports that India won medals in were shooting, badminton, tennis, golf, and wrestling. The remaining six sports that India took part in were athletics, golf, judo, karate, table tennis, and taekwondo. Jerlin Jayaratchagan won three gold medals at the event, making her the fiercest competitor from India.

Novak Djokovic, the No. 1-ranked men’s tennis player in the world, became the fifth man in history to reach 1,000 Tour wins after winning the Italian Open Semi-final against Norway’s Casper Ruud.

The other 4 men to have reached the historic milestone are Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Jimmy Connors, and Ivan Lendl. The 34-year-old Tennis champ had won his first tour-level match in 2004 and since then has emerged as one of Tennis’s all-time greats. The 20-time grand slam winner celebrated the occasion by cutting a cake that was presented to him by the tournament organizers. Djokovic won his 1,000th contest in 1,203 matches, making him the fourth-fastest to reach the milestone.

In his on-court interview with ATP, Djokovic thanked the tournament and the crowd for celebrating his achievement. He added that in the last couple of years he witnessed the celebration of the same milestone by Roger and Rafa and that he was eager to get to the milestone as well.

Djokovic, who is eyeing his first title of the season and what could be his 1001st win, will take on Greek world No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Italian Open final on Sunday.

India created history in badminton by winning India’s first-ever Thomas Cup title. The ream secures a 3-0 win after 73 years.

The teammates mobbed Kidambi Srikant seconds after securing the win by beating Jonathan Christie 22-15, 23-21. In addition to Lakshya Sen and Chirag Shetty, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty played two back-to-back gritty performances to help India earn their first title. ​​In the first match of the tie, Sen defeated Anthony Ginting to give India the lead. Chirag and Satwik saved their team four match points in their 8-21, 21-17, 21-16 victory.

To give India a 2-0 lead in the finals, the Indian doubles pair defeated the Indonesian pair of Muhammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 18-21, 23-21, and 21-19.

Mr PM Modi congratulated through his Twitter account, “The Indian badminton team has scripted history! The entire nation is elated by India winning the Thomas Cup! Congratulations to our accomplished team and best wishes to them for their future endeavours. This win will motivate so many upcoming sportspersons”.

The team was also awarded Rs 1 crore cash by Sports Minister Anurag Thakur and twitted that it’s an extraordinary feat with successive victories over Malaysia, Denmark and Indonesia.

After 14 years, Singapore will host the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Gamesa) in its 2029 edition. The country last hosted the SEA Games in 2015.

The Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) and Sport Singapore (SportSG) released a joint statement stating that the members of the SEA Games Federation accepted the country’s interest in hosting the biennial event at a meeting held in Hanoi.

SNOC president Tan Chuan-Jin said, “We are pleased to host the prestigious regional sporting event in Singapore again. The SEA Games holds special memories and experiences for Singapore and our Southeast Asian neighbours”.

He further added that the camaraderie and rivalry they share are distinct and the country is once again happy to organise the 35th SEA Games to relive it.

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong said, “Hosting the SEA Games will once again give our Team Singapore athletes an opportunity to compete against some of the best in the region, with strong home ground support. The spirit of the SEA Games can also bring Singaporeans from all walks of life together, to cheer and rally behind our athletes, and strengthen our national unity”.

On Thursday, Malaysia was also given hosting rights for the 34th edition in 2027 and the 33rd and 32nd editions will take place in Thailand and Cambodia respectively.

Indian women’s badminton team on Tuesday defeated USA 4-1, in their Group D match, sealing a spot for the quarter-finals of the Uber Cup.

Earlier India had defeated Canada 4-1 in their opening match. The successive win over the USA confirms India a position in the top two spots in their group to enter the quarterfinals.

P. V. Sindhu, Tokyo Olympics Bronze medallist, once again took charge of the game with a 21-10 21-11 win over Jennie Gai, finishing the match in about 26 minutes. In the second game, the doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Treesa Jolly easily defeated Francesca Corbett and Allison Lee 21-19 21-10 before the youngster Aakashi Kashyap gave India a secure 3-0 beating Esther Shi with a 21-18 21-11 win.

The USA managed to rescue itself from a complete failure when Lauren Lam and Kodi Tang won over the young double pair of Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker

In the final match, Ashmita Chaliha triumphed over Natalie Chi to give India its 4-1 scoreline.

The next encounter for the Indian women’s team will be against Korea on Wednesday in their final group match. Expectations soar high from the Indian women’s team, which has won two bronze medals in the past.

On Sunday, Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz raced to the Madrid Open title brushing aside German Alexan Zverev with 6-3, 6-1 in 62 minutes. After winning in Barcelona last month, the 19-year-old’s winning streak now stands at 10 matches and secured his second consecutive title.

Alcaraz is on his way to being on No.6 by Monday as he beats Rafael Nadal and world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. He is first in a clay-court tournament. Alcaraz turned 19 on Thursday in Miami and won his first ATP Masters 1000 level title. Nadal was the only player younger than him to achieve that milestone when he won in Monte Carlo and Rome as a teenager.

Alcaraz said, “This tournament is special for me because it’s a tournament I came and watched when I was seven or eight”. The first set was won by Alcaraz after he broke in the sixth game and held his serve effortlessly.

To which Zveren said, “Right now you are the best player in the world. Even though you are still five years older than you, you are still beating us all. This is tennis, you cannot be perfect every day. Even though I lost quite badly today this is still my favourite court in the world”. Zverev was a champion in the Spanish capital in 2018 and 2021.

On Monday, Ronnie O’Sullivan stopped Judd Trump’s rally by winning 18-13 in the final. He equalled Stephen Hendry’s modern-day record of seventh snooker World Championship titles.

O’Sullivan started the session by leading at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre in the best 35-frame contest until world champion Trump bounced back from 12-5 down overnight. Despite losing his first session, 46-year-old O’Sullivan- the oldest World Championship finalist since mentor Ray Reardon in 1982, surged ahead before sealing victory with a break of 85.

He said in an interview, “I’ve never bothered about the record- when you get them, it’s kind of nice, I’ve never performed well if going for that, I’ve just tried to enjoy my game. I don’t have a target. I like to win but it’s not the be-all and end-all”.

He is nicknamed ‘Rocket’ for his speed around the table and is known as the most naturally talented snooker player in history. In a tribute to Trump, he said his opponent was already an “all-time great” because of his attacking style. To which Trump modestly said, “It’s been a pleasure to share a table with him. It’s an amazing achievement and he is the best player of all time and I was just glad to make a match out of it.