Indian sports News- November 4th
November 4, 2019
Bytes: Lakshay wins SaarLorLux Open, Bermuda Championship-Golf, Table Tennis ranking, Real Kashmir FC, Indian Super League, Seria A racism, Novak Djokovic eye ATP Finals, Hockey-Tokyo Olympics, India win against WI, India loses against Bangladesh
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:
Badminton:
SaarLorLux Open- Lakshya Sen on Sunday clinched his second consecutive Super 100 title after beating Chinese shuttler Weng Hong Yang 17-21, 21-18, 21-16 in the final of SaarLorLuxOpen title in Saarbrucken, Germany. Sen, seeded eighth in the Super 100 level tournament, secured a comeback victory against his opponent in a contest that lasted 59 minutes. The teenager, who had beaten compatriot Kiran George to reach the final, endured a nervy start as he lost the first game. However, Sen fought back to take it to the decider where he won eight straight points while trailing 13-16 to emerge victorious, thus continuing his impressive run in the senior circuit. This is Lakshya’s third straight title victory this year after the Belgian International Challenge and Dutch Open Super 100 events. Besides that, the teenager had also bagged silver at the Polish Open. The 18-year-old from Uttarakhand had come into the final with a 1-2 head-to-head record against the Chinese but it didn’t matter as he rallied his way after squandering the first game to complete a thrilling win here. After this win, Lakshyaa is set to break into the top 50 when the BWF rankings are released on Tuesday.
Football:
Real Kashmir FC- A documentary on Real Kashmir FC has bagged the prestigious British Academy of Film and Television Awards Scotland Awards 2019 at a glittering ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland.
The documentary narrates the journey of former Rangers ace David Robertson as the coach of Real Kashmir FC, which in its first season finished third in the I-League, which is currently India’s second tier football league. The hour-long film, which was aired by BBC Scotland earlier this year, won in the ‘Single Documentary’ category. The director of the show, Greg Clark was also nominated in the ‘Director Factual’ category but he missed out of the award to Matt Pinder, who was adjudged winner for his film ‘Murder Case’. Real Kashmir had a fairytale journey in their debut I-League season in 2018-’19 as the team scripted some memorable wins against top sides including East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. The Snow Leopards finished with 36 points from 19 games.
ISL- Jamshedpur FC dropped points for the first time in the sixth season of the Indian Super League after a goalless yet action-packed stalemate against Bengaluru FC at the JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur on Sunday. There were chances created at both ends with Bengaluru dominating the proceedings, but both goalkeepers’ excellence came to the fore and the attackers were denied goals. Despite dropped points, Jamshedpur are top of the standings with seven points from three matches. Bengaluru remain winless this season and are seventh, having registered three consecutive draws. The defences were tested within minutes from kick-off. Sunil Chhetri’s piledriver, which swerved in the air as it travelled towards the goal, was punched away by goalkeeper Subrata Paul. Seconds later, a counter-attack resulted in Sergio Castel having space and time on the ball at the edge of the box, but the striker’s low strike ricocheted off the woodwork. Bengaluru attempted to put the hosts under pressure with efforts from Juanan and Raphael Augusto helping them test the Jamshedpur defence. In the 20th minute, a Dimas Delgado corner was flicked across goal by Juanan. The ball fell perfectly for Harmanjot Khabra who was denied by Pal with a spectacular reflex save from close range.
Serie A racism- Mario Balotelli on Sunday thanked his fellow players and supporters for their support after he was racially abused by Hellas Verona fans, the latest in a series of ugly incidents that have blighted the early weeks of the Serie A season. Brescia striker Balotelli scored in a 1-2 Serie A defeat at Verona that leaves his hometown side in the relegation zone, but his performance was overshadowed by his fury at Verona’s notorious supporters, who have a long track record of far-right politics and open racism. Despite denials of abuse from Verona, a video published on Twitter by a fan showed a number of supporters clearly directing monkey chants at Balotelli before the Italy international booted the ball at them in the stands. The 29-year-old, who was born in Palermo to Ghanaian parents but was raised just outside Brescia, then had to be held back by players from both teams to stop him from leaving the field of play. The match was suspended for a few minutes around the hour mark as Balotelli tried to force himself from the field before a message was read out on the stadium loudspeaker threatening that both teams would leave the field if there was a repeat of any abuse, a message that was whistled loudly by a large number of the home fans.
Tennis:
ATP Tour Finals- Novak Djokovic says he is ready for the “big task” of trying to win the ATP Tour Finals in London and claim the year-end world number one spot for a record-equalling sixth time. The 16-time Grand Slam champion sealed his fifth Paris Masters title on Sunday with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Canadian Denis Shapovalov, but will be usurped by the injured Rafael Nadal at the top of the rankings on Monday. Nadal said he will fight until it is “impossible” to be fit for the start of the season-ending championships on November 10. If the Spaniard does not play or fails to win a round-robin match at the Finals, Djokovic must claim two group-stage victories and make the final to pass him. Djokovic would also be sure of the year-end top ranking should he win the tournament and Nadal does not reach the semis.
Hockey:
Olympics- Two days, four matches, one nation, one dream.
Almost everyone expected the India men’s team to crush Russia and take their rightful spot in the Tokyo 2020 line-up. For the women, things were not as certain. The skill gap that was apparent between the men’s team and Russia (evidenced by a 10-0 win earlier this year in June) was not as clear between the women and USA. This was going to be tight, this was going to go down to the wire and it did, just not in the way everyone thought it would.
India women 6-5 USA women (aggregate)
Game 1: India 5-1 USA Game 2: India 1-4 USA
India men 11-3 Russia men (aggregate)
Game 1: Ind 4-2 Russia Game 2: Ind 7-1 Russia
Cricket:
IndvsWI- After a tame middle-order collapse in the first One-day International, India levelled the three-match series in Antigua with a commanding 53-run set up by their spin trio and senior batters. After setting a modest target of 192, West Indies’s chase went off the rails as soon as India’s spinners were brought on. Poonam Yadav (2/26), Rajeshwari Gayakwad (2/27) and Deepti Sharma (2/25) heaped pressure on the West Indies middle-order, which folded rather cheaply under lights at the Sir Vivian Richards stadium. The hosts lost four wickets in the space of 28 deliveries as they struggled with the bounce and turn that was on offer from the wicket. The procession continued before Jhulan Goswami wrapped up the innings. After Mithali Raj won the toss and elected to bat first, it was West Indies who grabbed momentum early in the game. Jemimah Rodrigues was dismissed for a duck and Priya Punia laboured her way to a 28-ball five before nicking a Shabika Gajnabi delivery that rose on her to the ‘keeper. The scoring rate was less than two an over when Raj (40) came to the crease courtesy of some top-notch seam bowling from Aaliyah Alleyne and Stacy-Ann King. Brief scores:
India 191/6 in 50 overs (Punam Raut 77, Harmanpreet Kaur 46, Mithali Raj 40; Afy Fletcher 2/32, Aaliyah Alleyne 2/38) beat West Indies 138 in 47.2 overs (Shemaine Campbelle 39, Stafanie Taylor 20; Deepti Sharma 2/25, Poonam Yadav 2/26, Rajeshwari Gayakwad 2/27) by 53 runs.
IndvsBan- Mushfiqur Rahim hit an unbeaten half-century to power Bangladesh to their first-ever Twenty20 international victory over India as the match went ahead as planned in pollution-hit New Delhi on Sunday. Mushfiqur made 60 to anchor Bangladesh’s chase of 149 as the tourists achieved their target with three balls to spare. They won by seven wickets to lead the three-match series 1-0. Bowlers Shafiul Islam and Aminul Islam claimed two wickets each to play a key part in Bangladesh winning their first T20 against India in what was their ninth attempt. There were calls for the match to be cancelled from many quarters with the Indian capital experiencing the worst of the pollution on Sunday. Delhi has been blanketed by smog with authorities saying air pollution had reached “emergency” levels, with schools closed and other restrictions imposed. Pollution levels turned hazardous during the past week, putting the match in danger of being called off, but India’s cricket board felt it was too late to change the venue. Concentrations of particles measuring less than 2.5 microns hit the highest level of this season, exacerbated by light rains late Saturday, India’s state-run System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research said.
Golf:
Bermuda Championship- A side-strain sustained during the second round forced Anirban Lahiri to withdraw before the start of the third round of the inaugural Bermuda Championship. Lahiri, who had made the cut despite the strain, decided to withdraw ahead of the third round. “I will be back for Mayakoba Classic,” said Lahiri, who shot rounds of 66 and 73 in the first two rounds to be tied 50th. Meanwhile, Arjun Atwal, the only Indian to have ever won on the PGA Tour, shot a third straight two-under 69 to get to six-under 210 and was lying tied 34th after three rounds. Atwal had a roller-coaster of a round with six birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey in his 69.
Table Tennis:
World Rankings- The Indian men’s table tennis team entered the top 10 in the latest International Table Tennis Federation rankings list that was released on Monday. India were placed above Austria (ranked 10th) despite being level on 272 points while China continued to top the standings with 290 points. Japan remains second with 288 points followed by Germany who occupy the third spot with 286 points. This comes after the Indian men’s team logged their best ever result at ITTF Asian Table Tennis Championships, finishing fifth after beating Hong Kong 3-0 in the classification match of the tournament. The Indian men had also secured a quarter-final spot in the Champions Division this year, ensuring they continue at the top as the top-six finishers gain direct entry in the next Championships, two years hence. Meanwhile, the Indian women’s team are ranked 21 with 206 points and remain 42 points behind table-toppers China.
