Indian sports News- November 19th
November 19, 2019
Bytes: Syed Mushtaq ALi Trophy, Davis Cup- IndiavsPak in Nur Sultan, Russia and Italy wins in Davis Cup, Korea Masters, Indian Super League-match shifted, Euro2020 Qualifiers, FIFA WC 2022- Qatar, Pro League Volleyball, Olympics-Airbnb as a leading partner, Vijender Singh set for next bout
YoGems makes sure that you won’t miss a thing in the field of sports, so here is a quick recap to all the happenings from the last 24 hours:
Football:
ISL- The Indian Super League fixture involving Jamshedpur FC and Chennaiyin FC has been moved to December 9 due to elections in Jharkhand, reported PTI on Tuesday. The tie was originally scheduled to be held on December 6 at the JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur. The rescheduling is done in conjunction with the city authorities and administration in view of the Jharkhand state assembly polling on 7 December. The match between the two clubs that have had vastly different seasons so far is scheduled for gameweek seven of the league. Jamshedpur FC have enjoyed a good start to the sixth edition of ISL, currently placed fourth in the table with seven points from four matches. In contrast, Chennaiyin FC are on course for another shambolic season. The two-time champions are placed bottom of the table after four rounds of matches, losing three and drawing one match. The southern club is yet to score a goal this season. The league is currently on a break due to the international window, where India are involved in World Cup qualifiers action.
2022 WC Qatar- Football fans prone to seasickness may need to consider alternatives, but supporters with sealegs will be able to stay on one of two giant cruiseliners during the 2022 Qatar World Cup. Organisers said Monday they had agreed with Swiss-based MSC Cruises for two of its 16 ships with a combined total of 4,000 cabins to be berthed in Doha Port during the tournament. The vessels “will give fans a spectacular view of [Doha’s] West Bay skyline”, Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery said in a statement. British tabloids have speculated that alcohol could be permitted onboard despite Qatar’s strict Islamic rules governing alcohol consumption, leading to headlines encouraging “booze cruise for fans”. Under the agreement, the value of which was not given, the MSC Europa and MSC Poesia will be used to accommodate fans. The MSC Europa will be delivered in 2022 and is due to be powered by liquefied natural gas, the statement said. The MSC Poesia features three swimming pools, 14 bars and a waterfall, according to the ship map.
Euro2020 Qualifiers- Denmark and Switzerland secured spots at Euro 2020 at the expense of the Republic of Ireland on Monday as Roberto Mancini’s Italy completed a perfect qualifying campaign by scoring nine. Ireland needed to beat Denmark in Dublin to clinch qualification for next year’s 24-team European Championship finals, but Matt Doherty’s late header was only enough to earn Mick McCarthy’s men a 1-1 draw at the Aviva Stadium. A closely-fought contest, low on technical quality, swung the visitors’ way when the unmarked Martin Braithwaite stuck out a boot to divert a Henrik Dalsgaard cross into the net on 73 minutes. However, Ireland scored a late equaliser to draw 1-1 in Copenhagen in June and they repeated the feat here as Wolverhampton Wanderers right-back Doherty headed in an Enda Stevens cross with five minutes left. Needing to win, the home side then threw everything at their opponents in the dying moments, but Denmark held on to clinch second place in Group D behind Switzerland.
Volleyball:
Pro League Volleyball- The second of Pro Volleyball League is in doubt after the Volleyball Federation of India terminated the contract with PVL co-owner Baseline Ventures. The decision was taken at the VFI’s annual general body meeting on Monday and it said that the termination comes after a breach of agreement. “The house unanimously decided to conduct the season two as Indian Volley League or National Volleyball League and conduct it from February 25, 2020,” VFI said. VFI added that the venues, broadcaster and franchisees would be ‘communicated in due course’ and six to eight teams will be participating. The meeting was attended by VFI president S Vasudevan, executive vice-president Raj Kumar, secretary Ramavtar Singh Jakhar, senior vice-president Rathin Roy Chaudhary and treasurer Shekhar Bose along with 30 affiliated units. The decision comes two weeks after it was announced that the season of the PVL will begin from February 7, 2020. Baseline Ventures, however, are going ahead with the preparations of the second season until anything is conveyed to them in writing by VFI.
Tennis:
Davis Cup- India will travel to Nur-Sultan to take on Pakistan in the upcoming Davis Cup tie as the International Tennis Federation has nominated the Kazakhstan capital to host the matches, ending days of uncertainty over the venue. The Independent Tribunal of the ITF endorsed the decision taken by the Davis Cup Committee on November 4 that the tie should be shifted to a neutral venue, keeping in mind safety and security of players and officials. Pakistan Tennis Federation had filed an appeal contesting the decision. It argued that if Indian pilgrims can visit Pakistan without any security threat, why can’t the Indian team play matches in Islamabad. “The ITF has communicated to us that the tie will be held in Nur-Sultan. We can’t say if they rejected the PTF appeal,” AITA CEO Akhuori Bishwadeep. “In a late-night communication, they just mentioned the new venue.” The tie was scheduled to be held in September but was pushed to November 29-30 after India expressed concerns about the safety of their players due to the prevailing diplomatic tensions between the two nations following the revocation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. India have named a full-strength squad for the tie as all the top players, who had refused to travel to Islamabad, agreed to play on a neutral venue.
And in another setback for Pak, Pakistan’s top doubles player Aisam ul Haq Qureshi on Monday refused to compete in the upcoming Davis Cup tie against India, protesting against International Tennis Federation’s decision to shift the tie from Islamabad to a neutral venue. Aisam, one of the best tennis players coming out of Pakistan, took to Instagram to reason out his decision and made it clear that he won’t play unless the tie is hosted in Islamabad. His post indicated that the ITF is set to reject Pakistan Tennis Federation’s appeal against the shifting of tie to a yet-to-be-announced neutral venue. Addressing PTF President Salim Saifullah Khan in his post, Aisam criticised India and the ITF.
Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev helped Russia open the inaugural Davis Cup Finals with a 3-0 victory over defending champions Croatia in Madrid on Monday. World number 17 Khachanov clinched the point for Russia by fighting back to beat Croatian number one Borna Coric 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-4, after Rublev had earlier seen off Borna Gojo 6-3, 6-3. Russia, who are without US Open runner-up Daniil Medvedev due to exhaustion, can wrap up a place in the quarter-finals with victory over Rafael Nadal’s Spain in their second Group B tie on Tuesday. The 18 nations have been split into six groups of three at the Caja Magica, with the pool winners and two best runners-up to play in the last eight of the first edition of the revamped tournament. The teams face off in two best-of-three-set singles matches and one doubles rubber in each tie. Khachanov and Rublev completed the clean sweep later on Monday with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 doubles win over Ivan Dodig and Nikola Mektic. Canada claimed a 2-1 victory over well-fancied Italy to strike first in Group F. World number 12 Fabio Fognini slumped to a 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 defeat by Vasek Pospisil, ranked 150th, before rising star Denis Shapovalov edged out Matteo Berrettini 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/5).
Cricket:
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy- All-rounder Lalit Yadav claimed three wickets with his off-breaks as Delhi notched up a comprehensive 20-run win over Odisha in their final Group ‘E’ match to qualify for the Super League of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Surat on Monday. Electing to bat, Delhi posted 149/6 and then returned to dismiss Odisha for 129 in 18.1 overs to complete the win and top Group E with 22 points from seven matches. Going through a rough patch, Shikhar Dhawan top-scored with a 33-ball 35 which comprised three fours and a six. However, his struggle was apparent against an unfancied Odisha attack. Earlier, Delhi batsmen, including opener Hiten Dalal (20) and first-down Dhruv Shorey (26), got starts but none could convert them into big scores but they did enough to help the team post a decent score on board. For Odisha, Abhishek Raut (2/21) took two wickets, while Govinda Poddar (1/18), Suryakant Pradhan (1/31), Pappu Roy (1/35) and Subham Nayak (1/29) accounted for one wicket each. Defending the total, Yadav returned with impressive figures of 3.1-1-10-3 and he was ably supported by Pawan Negi (2/38) and Nitish Rana (2/6) as the trio derailed Odisha’s chase. Odisha had a disastrous start and were looking down the barrel at 36 for 5 in 7.2 overs.
Badminton:
Korea Masters- Finding some form after a string of below-par performances, sixth seed Srikanth Kidambi will look for another good outing at the Korea Masters Super 300 tournament, while Saina Nehwal pulled out of the event which starts with the qualifiers in Gwangju on Tuesday. After going through a tough phase since his final finish at the India Open this year, Srikanth boosted his confidence with a semi-final run at the Hong Kong Open last week, even with a dash of fortune to get there (he received an opening round bye against Kento Momota). Incidentally, a spate of withdrawals at the tournament sees Srikanth as the second highest seed remaining in the first round, with the top four seeds not featuring in the round of 32. It was his first appearance at the last four stage since the India Open and the 26-year-old will be keen to continue the good run when he opens against Hong Kong’s Wong Wing Ki Vincent (world No 36) in the men’s singles. No Indian is taking part in any of the doubles categories.
Olympics:
Airbnb- Airbnb became a leading partner of the Olympics in a nine-year deal announced Monday that drew strong criticism from Paris, host of the 2024 summer Games. In the deal unveiled in London, the home rental platform became a “Top” International Olympic Committee partner, joining titans including Coca Cola and Visa on the highest sponsorship level. But in a letter sent last week and seen by AFP on Monday, the mayor of Paris warned IOC head Thomas Bach about the “risks” of the deal. The Socialist Anne Hidalgo, who is up for re-election in 2020, vowed her “total determination” to tighten rules on tourist rentals in the French capital, which is also one of Airbnb’s biggest markets. Later on Monday, Hidalgo’s deputy said the mayor promised “to organise immediately after the elections a referendum” so that Parisians can decide “the conditions for usage by Airbnb” in the French capital. Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia said on Monday that the IOC partnership “will ensure that the Games are the most inclusive, accessible and sustainable yet”. He confirmed recently announced verification improvements to ensure customers’ safety after a deadly shooting at one of its Californian-listed homes.
Boxing:
Vijender next bout- Indian boxing star Vijender Singh will square off against two-time former Commonwealth super-middleweight champion Charles Adamu of Ghana in his next professional bout in Dubai on November 22. Vijender, managed by the legendary Bob Arum’s Top Rank Promotions and IOS Boxing, made his US debut earlier this year in July, recording an 11th successive win, beating Mike Snider. WBO Asia Pacific and Oriental super middleweight champion, who is 34, will take on the 42-year-old Adamu, hailing from Ghana, in a 10-round fight. Adamu is a veteran of 47 fights with a record of 33-14-0, including 26 knockouts. He competed most recently in February this year, winning via a Technical Knockout to end a four-bout losing streak. Adamu said he is confident of ending Vijender’s winning run.
