Indian sports News- November 22th
November 22, 2019
Bytes: INDvsWI team announced, KPL, AUSvsPAK, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, NZvsENG, Boxing in Tokyo2020, Davis Cup, European Tour, Shotgun Nationals, RSM Classic, Chanel VAS Championship, Korean Masters, Tata Steel Chess Tour
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:
Cricket:
IndvsWI Team- India’s spin bowling duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, who had played a part in many a win between 2017 and 2019 ICC World Cup, will be reunited in the limited-overs series against West Indies at home next month. The Indian squad bears a full-strength look with skipper Virat Kohli back at the helm and his deputy Rohit Sharma also not opting for a break. Pacers Mohammad Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are also getting a nod. Both bowlers have had a long break from Twenty20 Internationals. All-rounder Hardik Pandya and pace ace Jasprit Bumrah continue to recover from injuries as Shivam Dube and Deepak Chahar get an extended run in national colours. All-rounder Shivam Dube was rewarded with a maiden call-up in the 50-over format. India is scheduled to play three Twenty 20 Internationals against the West Indies with the series-opener in Mumbai on December 6 followed by matches in Thiruvananthapuram (December 8) and Hyderabad (December 11). The three ODIs will be played in Chennai (December 15), Visakhapatnam (December 18) and Cuttack (December 22).
India’s squad for 3 ODIs: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar India’s squad for 3 T20Is: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Syed Mushtaq Ali- Opener Shikhar Dhawan’s lean patch continued but Delhi still managed to register a comfortable 77-run win over Maharashtra in their opening Super League match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament in Surat on Thursday. Delhi made 167 for five after being invited to bat and produced a disciplined bowling effort to bundle out Maharashtra for 90 in 17.2 overs. Part-time off-spinner Nitish Rana stole the show with the ball with figures of four for 17. But the spotlight was clearly on Dhawan (24 off 22 balls) after Delhi were put into bat at the C B Patel Ground, and the left-handed opener started well in the company of Hiten Dalal (16 off 13 balls) as the duo put on 44 for the opening stand in 5.3 overs. Dhawan looked in good touch, hammering two fours and a six during his brief stay but yet again he threw away his wicket. Dhawan was dismissed by off-break bowler Shamshuzama Kazi in the seventh over as Delhi lost two quick wickets to slump to 44 for two. One down Anuj Rawat (10) too fell cheaply but skipper Dhruv Shorey (48 not out in 37 balls) resurrected the innings first in the company of Rana (21) and then Himmat Singh (32). Brief Scores: Delhi 167/5 (Dhruv Shorey 48 not out, Himmat Singh 32; Shamshuzama Kazi 2-20) beat Maharashtra 90 all out (Ruturaj Gaikwad 42, Digvijay Deshmukh 9; Nitish Rana 4-17) by 77 runs.
AUSvsPAK- Pakistan were left to rue a basic error from 16-year-old debutant Naseem Shah as Australia opener David Warner plundered the visitors’ attack with a brilliant 151 not out on the second day of the first Test at the Gabba on Friday. Australia finished the day on 312 for the loss of just one wicket, 72 runs ahead of Pakistan’s first innings total of 240 and already in the driving seat. Marnus Labuschagne was alongside Warner on 55, with the only wicket to fall that of Joe Burns, who made 97 before sweeping a Yasir Shah (1-101) delivery onto his stumps. Warner scored his first Test century since a year-long ban for ball-tampering, but only after a huge let-off when he was caught behind off a Naseem no-ball. The mercurial opener was on 56 at the time, and he then survived a near run-out on 93 before ending a century drought stretching back nearly two years. The 33-year-old, who managed just 95 runs in 10 innings during this year’s Ashes series against England, reached his 22nd Test ton when he turned Yasir around the corner for a single in the second over after tea.
KPL- The Karnataka State Cricket Association has decided not to conduct Karnataka Premier League matches until the probe into the fixing scandal involving players and team officials was completed. “As such, there are no KPL matches on the cards but we have decided not to announce any KPL matches till the investigations are over,” KSCA treasurer Vinay Mruthyunjaya told PTI on Thursday. He, however, said organising KPL matches is very much in KSCA’s agenda. The Central Crime Branch probing the matter has so far arrested seven people in connection with the case while a lookout circular has been issued for the Bellary Tuskers owner Arvind Venkatesh Reddy. The case of spot fixing came to light following a complaint by a player Bhavesh Gulecha. The first arrest made in this case was the owner of Belagavi Panthers Ali Asfaq Thara. An international bookie Sanyam from Haryana, Bellary Tuskers captain CM Gautam, and his teammate Abrar Qazi and an IPL drummer Bhavesh Bafna are also arrested. The bookies had honey trapped the players and others, police investigation revealed.
NZvsENG- England took the prized wicket of New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson to narrowly claim the honours on day two of the first Test as the hosts rued a missed review and were nearly made to pay for signing too many autographs. After New Zealand slumped to 106/3, Williamson had been leading New Zealand’s recovery when he was removed for 51. At stumps, the Black Caps were 144/4 in reply to England’s 353. Henry Nicholls was not out 26 with BJ Watling on six, still standing after a day when 10 wickets fell, some in contestable circumstances. New Zealand opener Tom Latham, given out leg before wicket on eight, walked without seeking a review and unaware of an inside edge that was detected by HotSpot.
Boxing:
Tokyo2020- The International Olympic Committee’s Boxing Task Force has decided that scores given by judges will be displayed after every round and the referees and judges who were part of the Rio Olympics would not be eligible to officiate in the Tokyo Olympics or the qualifiers, IOC said in a release. The above decisions were taken by the Task Force after interacting with various athletes and are aimed at ensuring transparency without impacting the preparation of the boxers ahead of the Olympic qualifiers. AIBA’s decision to not display scores after every round since 2013 had led to many allegations of corruption with fans also left wondering about the results of some important bouts. India’s Sarita Devi had also protested against the judging when she lost the semi-final bout in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon against a South Korean boxer. The IOC has been critical of the International Boxing Federation’s handling of corruption charges by judges during bouts and had decided to strip AIBA of the right to organise the event in Tokyo 2020. Relations between AIBA and the IOC had taken a sharp downward turn following the 2016 Rio Games when 36 officials and referees were suspended amid allegations of bout fixing. It had then formed a Task Force to decide the rules and regulations for the Olympic qualifiers and the Olympic Games. The continental level qualifiers will now be held in February and March and the final qualifying event will be held in Paris in May.
Tennis:
Davis Cup- Canada became the first team to make the semi-finals of the new Davis Cup on Thursday as they clinched a tense and decisive doubles rubber to defeat Australia in Madrid. Nick Kyrgios had declared Australia capable of winning the tournament earlier this week but he played no part against Canada, perhaps due to injury, and his country crashed out in the quarters. Canada’s Vasek Pospisil, ranked 150th in the world, was the star of the show as he beat John Millman 7-6 (9/7) 6-4 in the singles and then formed a winning team with Denis Shapovalov in the doubles, the pair beating Jordan Thompson and John Peers 6-4, 6-4. In between, Alex de Minaur had given Australia hope of a comeback as he battled from a set down to outlast Shapovalov 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. “We just went out there and from the first point, we were just going maximum intensity, energy, focus,” Pospisil said. “Denis and I played extremely well. I think we clicked perfectly.” A first victory in 10 meetings with Australia means Canada will face either Serbia and Novak Djokovic or Russia in the last four on Saturday, for a place in Sunday’s final.
Shooting:
Shotgun Nationals- Young Jungsher Virk joined Olympian Kynan Chenai at the top on the second day of qualification in the 63rd National Shooting Championship Competitions for Shotgun events in New Delhi on Thursday. Two perfect rounds of 25, put Virk right on top with one more round of qualification to go at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range on Friday. Hyderabad’s Kynan followed up his perfect score of 50 on day one with another round of 25, but ended with a 23 to be tied with Virk on 98. Former world champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu also had two perfect rounds on Thursday, which has put him well in contention to make another Nationals final – his four rounds yielding 96 out of 100 hits so far. Among other prominent names, Prithviraj Tondaiman and Zoravar Singh Sandhu were also in contention with 96. So was the National Rifle Association of India President Raninder Singh, who has a score of 93 so far for his efforts over two days. Virk is also leading in the junior men’s category.
Golf:
European Tour- Indian golfer SSP Chawrasia, on Thursday, won back his European Tour card with a sterling performance over 108 holes to finish fourth at the six-round Q-School event played at two courses of the Lumine Golf Club in Tarragona, Spain. Chawrasia, a four-time winner on the Tour, will be the third Indian player alongside Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar on the European Tour in 2020. Shubhankar got the playing rights on account of his two wins in 2018 season, while Bhullar won a European Tour title in 2017 and was the last man to keep his card at 115th place. Shubhankar finished in 65th position on the Race to Dubai, while Chawrasia was 173rd. Playing all six rounds under par and five of them in 60s, Chawrasia had rounds of 69, 66, 71, 67, 69 and 69 to be 17-under 411 to finish sole fourth. Top 25 finishers and ties – 28 in all – won the card for the Tour. Chawrasia, who won his first European Tour title in 2008, added three more in 2011, 2016 and 2017. All his wins have come in India and the events were co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour. He has won two other titles on the Asian Tour.
RSM Classic- Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri, who had to go through the Korn Ferry Final Series to get back his PGA Tour card, will tee off against Peter Malnati and Ben Martin in the opening round of The RSM Classic at Sea Island Resort in Georgia. Lahiri will get his last chance to take advantage of a massive fall segment of the season end with the 11th event of the week. A mix of injury and lack of form has witnessed three missed cuts and one withdrawal from Lahiri in five starts. This week at the The RSM Classic at Sea Island Resort in Georgia, Lahiri plays with Malnati and Martin in the opening round at the Plantation course.
Squash:
Channel VAS Championship- Indian squash player Saurav Ghosal reach the quarter-finals of the Channel VAS Championship, a PSA world tour gold event on Thursday, after beating Tom Richards of England 11-3, 11-5, 11-5. Ghosal looked in good touch as he opened his campaign with a win in the second round at the St George’s Hill Lawn Tennis Club. The seventh seeded Indian is again pitted to face top seed Mohamed El Shorbagy of Egypt next. The two had only a few days ago met in the World Championship where El Shorbagy won after staving off a stiff resistance from the Indian.
Badminton:
Korea Masters- India’s challenge at the 2019 Korea Masters ended after Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma bowed out in the second round of the Gwangju event on Thursday. Srikanth lost to Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama 21-14 21-19 in 37 minutes while Verma was beaten by South Korea’s Kim Donghun 21-19 21-12. The Korean, ranked 112th in the world, had knocked out Sourabh Verma in the earlier round in three games to set up an encounter with his brother Sameer who had sealed his place into the next round after his Japanese opponent Kazumasa Sakai retired during the first game. In the first round, Srikanth has eased to win over Wing Ki Vincent Wong of Hong Kong but couldn’t keep up the same level of performance in the second round as his disappointing run continued in Korea.
Chess:
Tata steel chess Tour- Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand will have London on mind when he starts his campaign in the second edition of the Tata Steel Chess tournament, part of this year’s Grand Chess Tour, in Kolkata on Friday. While the organisers missed the presence of reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen last year as the Norwegian was busy preparing for his world championship match, this time things have turned out to be better thanks to the association with the Grand Chess tour. The tour, a brainchild of the legendary Garry Kasparov, has grown from strength to strength and the Tata Steel tournament is already the sixth edition. The grand finale will be held in London in under a week after the conclusion of this event. Good news for Anand is that he is not under any pressure to win in order to qualify for the Grand finale. If the Indian ace is in the top six of the overall standings of this 10-player rapid and blitz event, there is almost a certainty that Anand will make it to London.
