The Indian men’s team finished with a bronze medal at the Asian Table Tennis Championships 2023 following a semi-final defeat to Chinese Taipei in Pyeongchang, the Republic of Korea, on September 6. The team comprising Sharath Kamal, Harmeet Desai and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran lost 0-3 in their final four match. Commonwealth Games champion Sharath Kamal opened the proceedings for the Indian men’s team and lost 0-3 to Chuang Chih-Yuan, a former doubles world champion. In the second match, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran lost to Lin Yun-Ju 0-3. In the third match of the tie, India’s Harmeet Desai lo
Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen made history on September 3 with a tenth consecutive win in the season with a victory in the Italian Grand Prix. Driving for Red Bull Racing, the world champion broke a record of nine wins in a row set 10 years ago by Sebastian Vettel with a win at the F1 Grand Prix in Brazil on November 24, 2013. Verstappen, 25, who matched Vettel’s record by winning his home race in the Netherlands, is on course to win his third world championship this year. After Verstappen and Vettel, three Formula 1 drivers have won seven races in a row: Alberto Ascari, Michael Schuma
Delhi’s Raghav Chugh, a former No. 1 ranked Indian golf amateur and now entering his third year at Rice University, in Texas was named Golf Coaches Association of America All-America Scholar. This season, Chugh earned First Team All-Conference USA honours after leading the team with a 72.25 stroke average. His best tournament finish was a second place at the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational. To be eligible for Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar status, an individual must be in their second, third or fourth year of university, with a stroke-average under 76.0 and a cumulative car
Mohun Bagan Super Giant defeated East Bengal FC 1-0 to clinch the Durand Cup finals win at Kolkata's Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan on September 3. Mohun Bagan SG emerged as the winner for the first time in 23 years. Mohun Bagan were one-man down after Anirudh Thapa was sent off in the 62nd minute, but the team still scored the decisive goal through a brilliant solo effort from Dimitri Petratos in the 71st minute. The Australian player skilfully weaved past the East Bengal defence, before unleashing a powerful strike from 25 yards out. This was Mohun Bagan’s 17th Durand Cup title.
Women' team captain Harmanpreet Kaur is the only Indian player to get picked in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) overseas draft. She was retained by Melbourne Renegades on September 3. Harmanpreet made her WBBL debut with Sydney Thunder in 2016-17. A total of 18 Indian players, including Yastika Bhatia, Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma, among others figured in the inaugural WBBL overseas draft. Placed in the platinum category, Harmanpreet was retained by the Renegades along with Hayley Matthews of the West Indies. Indian women team captain Harmanpreet performed remarkably for the R
The 17-year-old Chennai Grandmaster, D Gukesh has replaced the legendary Viswanathan Anand as India’s top chess player after more than three decades. Anand has been India’s No.1 since July 1986. Gukesh broke into the top 10 of the FIDE rating list for the first time. He recently lost in the quarterfinals of the FIDE World Cup in Baku to Magnus Carlsen, but managed to move ahead of Anand to be ranked No.8 in the world. A five-time world champion, Anand is currently ranked No.9. As per the FIDE ratings effective September 1, Gukesh’s rating is 2758, while Anand’s is 2754. The teenage
Barely a week after becoming the new world champion, India’s Neeraj Chopra finished second in the men’s javelin throw event at the Zurich Diamond League 2023 at the Letzigrund Stadium in Switzerland on September 1. With a throw of 85.71 m, he finished behind Jakub Vadlejch with 85.86 m. India’s Murali Sreeshankar, meanwhile, finished fifth in the men’s long jump event at Zurich with a best effort of 7.99 m. This was his third Diamond League event of the year. The Indian long jumper finished third at the Paris leg and was fifth in Lausanne. The Indian javelin throw champion, Chop
India was crowned Asian Hockey 5s champions after beating Pakistan 6-4 after penalty shootouts in the final in Salalah, Oman on September 2. With the victory, the Indian men’s hockey team qualified for the FIH Men’s Hockey 5s World Cup Oman 2024 scheduled to take place from 24-31 January 2024. Pakistan led the game with 3-2 at half-time, but the men in blue managed to come back and level the score at 4-4 before the full-time whistle. Mohammed Raheel scored two goals, once in the 19th minute with the second in the 26th minute. Jugraj Singh (7’) and Maninder Singh (10’) were the
Max Verstappen has equalled Sebastian Vettel’s record of nine successive Formula 1 wins with victory at the Dutch Grand Prix on August 27. Fernando Alonso claimed the second spot for Aston Martin and Pierre Gasly took his first Alpine podium in the rain-hit race. Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez came fourth. Verstappen had claimed pole on August 26, but lost his lead as heavy rain during the first lap led to a major reshuffle of the order, with the track becoming more suited to intermediate tyres than the slicks the entire field had started on. Perez then took the lead, but a
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India sanctioned 634 athletes across 38 sporting disciplines for participation in the upcoming Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou, China, from September 23 to October 8. Out of the 850 athletes recommended by the Indian Olympic Association, 634 athletes met the set selection criteria, said the ministry in a release on August 25. The athletes include 320 men and 314 women. The number is up from 572 athletes in the 2018 Asian Games at Jakarta and Palembang where India won 70 medals, including 16 Golds. The return of cricket and India