Brazilian winger Neymar has joined Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in a two-year contract that reports say could earn him 160 million euros ($174 million). With the move, the 31-year-old forward ends a six-year stay in the French capital and follows in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Sadio Mane in swapping Europe for the Middle East. The soccer star on August 19 received a rapturous welcome from a multitude of devoted fans at Al-Hilal, marking his entry into the ranks of high-profile footballers who have joined the Saudi Pro League.
Novak Djokovic surpassed Rafael Nadal to create the record for biggest undefeated head-to-head run against a single rival in the Open Era, by marking his 19th straight victory against Gael Monfils on August 18 at the Cincinnati Masters. The Serbian tennis star beat the previous record of Nadal against Richard Gasquet, which stood at 18-0. Djokovic took one hour and eight minutes to outdo Monfils 6-3, 6-2 in the third round. Roger Federer claims the third position on the list, boasting an impressive 17-0 record against former player David Ferrer. Federer also maintains the same record again
India won the men’s Asian Champions Trophy hockey defeating Malaysia 4-3 in the final at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai on August 12. The win was a historic fourth title win for India. With the victory, the team has soared to third place in the latest FIH rankings. The Asians hockey champions made a remarkable comeback in 11 minutes, overturning a 1-3 score in the first half to a thrilling 4-3 victory over Malaysia. From the Indian side, Jugraj Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh and Akashdeep Singh scored the goals. Kamal Abu Arzai, Razie Rahim, and Aminudin
Cristiano Ronaldo led nine-man Al Nassr Football Club to its first Arab Club Champions Cup title after scoring twice in a 2-1 extra-time win over Al-Hilal at the King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on August 12. Al-Hilal scored the first goal in the 51st-minute in the final match, with Brazilian footballer, Michael opening the score. Ronaldo equalised the goal in the 74th-minute for Al-Nassr, and later scored the second goal in extra-time. The Al-Nassr team was also reduced to nine men, with Abdulelah Al-Amri and Nawaf Boushal receiving red cards. The Arab Club Champions Cup is p
India’s Jyothi Yarraji clinched a bronze medal at the 100 m hurdles event at the World University Games in Chengdu, China on August 4. The hurdler clocked 12.78 seconds to better her own women’s 100m hurdles national record in the race. The reigning Asian champion had earlier clocked 13.12 seconds and 13.05 seconds in the heats and semifinals, respectively, to enter the eight-woman final. Yarraji, the only woman from India to record a sub 13-second 100 m hurdles, broke the national record for the ninth time, and was just a whisker away from matching the Paris 2024 Olympics qualifyin
Chess prodigy and Grandmaster Dommaraju Gukesh has now become India’s top-ranked chess player, overtaking India’s first GM Viswanathan Anand in live ratings. Gukesh’s ranking improved after he qualified for the third round of the FIDE Chess World Cup, a major single-elimination tournament going on in Baku, Azerbaijan. The 17-year-old GM beat the home turf’s GM Misratdin Iskandaro to secure a live rating of 2755.9, narrowly beating Anand’s 2754.0. Anand has been India’s top chess player in the published rankings for the last 36 years. That is also expected to change when FIDE
Saudi Arabia has been drawn in Group G of the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027 alongside Jordan, Tajikistan, and the winners of the Round 1 clash between Cambodia and Pakistan. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held the draw for the Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 of the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 27. The draw saw 36 national teams divided into nine groups of four, competing against each other in home-and-away matches. Round 1 will see each team playing
Indian men’s and women’s football teams can now compete at Asian Games, as the government has relaxed rules to facilitate participation. The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports had earlier mandated that only teams that have been in the top eight in Asia in its sport can represent India in Hangzhou, People's Republic of China, from September 23 to October 8. The previous rule, which was relayed to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and other national sports federations by the ministry, said that “for team events, only those sports teams which have achieved a ranking up to eig
The Indian badminton pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty upstaged Indonesia’s world No.1 pair of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto in the final of men's doubles Korea Open final at the Jinnam Stadium in Yeosu, South Korea on July 23. The Indian pair won 17-21 21-13 21-14 in 62 minutes to claim the BWF World Tour Super 500 event. Former world champion PV Sindhu is the only other Indian to clinch the Korea Open title, clinching the title in 2017. The win on Sunday was the fourth title for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in 2023, three on the BWF World Tour
World number one Carlos Alcaraz defeated world number two Novak Djokovic 1-6, 7-6(8-6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in the Wimbledon 2023 men’s singles final on July 16. The 20-year-old Spaniard won his maiden Wimbledon title and his second Grand Slam title. The match lasted four hours and 42 minutes. Djokovic had won the previous four editions of the tournament. In women’s doubles, 2019 champions Su-Wei Hsieh of Chinese Taipei and Czech Republic’s Barbora Strycova beat the third-seeded Belgian-Australian pair of Elise Mertens and Storm Hunter 7-5, 6-4 in the final. In the women’s final on Ju