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 orga
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
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 riv
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 b
On Sunday, Fabio Quartararo, the reigning world champion, won the German MotoGP despite feeling unwell despite leading the standings. At a scorching Sachsenring, Yamaha rider Max Verstappen led from Johann Zarco, who finished second, and Jack Miller, from Australia, finished third. In the opening corner, Quartararo snatched the lead from Bagnaia, who started pole and never looked back. However, he revealed that he had been ill all weekend. He said, “I am tired, I was sick most of the weekend and was coughing during the race, but I am super happy”. Quartararo now has back-to-back vic
Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra created history on Saturday after winning the gold medal at the ongoing Kuortane Games in Finland. The athlete claimed the first position with his personal best throw of 86.69m putting behind Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago in the second position and world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada in the third. Despite the harsh weather in Finland, Neeraj threw an unmatched 86.9m in his first attempt, followed by a foul in his second. In his third attempt, he ended up slipping on the wet track, though luckily, he wasn’t injured. After this, he
In a historic event, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday flagged off the first-ever torch relay for the Chess Olympiad, which is to be held in Mahabalipuram, from July 28 to August 10. The international chess body, FIDE, introduced the torch relay for the first time, which has been a part of the Olympic tradition but was never practiced in the Chess Olympiad. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich gave the torch to the prime minister, who handed it over to the famed Chess master Viswanathan Anand. The torch will arrive at Mahabalipuram, after being taken to 75 cities in 40 days, whe
Rwanda's Salima Mukansanga's name will be etched in the history books of world football as the first-ever woman referee to officiate at the 2022 FIFA World Cup that will begin on November 21 in Qatar. Mukansanga along with Japan's Yamashita Yoshimi and France's Stephanie Frappart form the female trio referee selected for the first time for a men's FIFA World Cup. Mukansanga was born on July 25, 1988, and hails from the Rusizi district in the Western Region of Rwanda.From early on, she wished to officiate in football matches but faced rejection by the Rwandan Football Federation (RFF) to jo
On Tuesday, the Indian men’s football team qualified for the Asian Cup Finals after the Philippines was defeated by Palestine in a group B match in Ulaanbaatar. As a result, the Palestinians qualified directly for the 24-team finals by winning their group, while the Philippines, who finished second, were eliminated despite finishing second. Six groups of four teams each were formed from the 24 teams in the third qualification round. With six points, India (two behind Hong Kong on goal difference) has qualified ahead of their final group D match. India has qualified for the Asian Cup in t
Danish badminton genius Viktor Axelsen pulled off a stunning victory defeating Taiwan's Chou Tien-Chen in straight sets to secure the men's singles title at the Indonesia Masters on Sunday, June 12. The world No. 1 beat Chou 21-10, 21-12 in a 41-minute match held at Jakarta’s Istora Senayan sporting arena. Axelsen defeated home favorite Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the semi-finals to enter the finals. The 28-year-old Axelsen told reporters that he loved playing in Istora and had always dreamt of winning a tournament at this legendary venue, and to have done that was something special to h