Football:
ISL- A late goal from Amine Chermiti saw Mumbai City FC edge Kerala Blasters FC in a closely-fought Indian Super League clash at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Thursday. The teams had several half-chances to break the deadlock but lacked an end product for most of the game until Chermiti’s smart 82nd-minute finish settled the contest. While the result meant Mumbai start their season with a win, it was also their first-ever win over Kerala Blasters in Kochi. Kerala Blasters struggled to test Amrinder Singh early on while Mumbai resorted to aerial balls and floating crosses into the box at the other end. A Diego Carlos cross into the box from the right flank in the 10th minute had the home defence under pressure but Mohamed Larbi’s weak header fell straight into the hands of goalkeeper Bilal Khan. In a last-gasp attempt to get back into the game, Ogbeche latched on to a chip by Sahal Abdul Samad inside the box but the Nigerian’s swivelling strike from close-range was miraculously saved by Amrinder as Mumbai returned home with three points

Sheikh Kamal Cup- I-League champions Chennai City FC have lodged an official complaint about one of their players being subjected to racial abuse by the referee during their match against Bashundhara Kings in the Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup in Bangladesh. The alleged incident happened in the 23rd minute of the match when CCFC’s Charles Anandraj was fouled by Bashundhara’s Emon Mahmud. Their Japanese midfielder Katsumi Yusa then tried to convince the Sri Lankan referee Lakmal Weerakkody to book Mahmud and was snubbed by the official. I-League champions Chennai City FC have lodged an official complaint about one of their players being subjected to racial abuse by the referee during their match against Bashundhara Kings in the Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup in Bangladesh. “Katsumi simply asked the referee whether the foul was a yellow card offence or not. Weerakkody lost his cool and told him ‘Mind your own business you Chinese. Do you know your origins or where you come from? This isn’t China, this is Bangladesh. You don’t know or make the rules here.’ That’s when Katsumi lost it,” CCFC chief operations officer Ingulab Ranganathan was quoted as saying by The Times of India. This led to a heated exchange between the player and the referee, who gave Yusa marching orders and the game started after a 14 minute delay.

CCFC could, however, dash the chances of Gokulam Kerala whom they face next in their last Group B encounter. Gokulam held Malaysia’s Terengganu FC to a 0-0 draw in the day’s other match to stay in the second position in the group. The I-League team had defeated Bangladesh Premier League champions Bashundhara 3-1 in their opening match. In Group A, Mohun Bagan registered a comfortable 2-0 win over Maldives’ TC Sports Club thanks to goals from defender Daneil Cyrus and forward Salva Chamorro.

Motorsports:
Formula One- Lewis Hamilton on Thursday said there “is a lot going on in my life” as he responded to critics of his recent emotional social media postings by conceding that he is only human after all. However, he added that his growing concerns over the environment have seen him sell his private plane and introduce a complete ban on plastics in his daily life. The five-time world champion, who is on the brink of possibly claiming a sixth title at this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix, revealed a fleeting despair at the state of the world when he used Instagram to declare that the world was “a messed-up place” and he felt he wanted “to give up”. That commentary, including revelations about his vegan lifestyle, led to him being accused of hypocrisy and, during a news conference at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, faced a series of questions on his mental condition ahead of Sunday’s potential title showdown. “I’m only human,” he replied. “Like everyone, we have up and down days. That’s what I’ve been really trying to convey.

Tennis:
Swiss Indoors- Stan Wawrinka was forced to withdraw from Friday’s Basel quarter-final showdown against best friend Roger Federer with a back injury, just an hour after struggling past America’s Frances Tiafoe in a gruelling second round clash. “The bad news is that I will have to retire,” the 34-year-old three-time Grand Slam winner said after his 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 win. “I had some trouble with my back in the last game. I’m sure I cannot make it for Friday. I will pull out.” Top seed Federer, chasing a 10th title at his hometown event, will receive a walkover into Saturday’s semi-finals. It would have been the 27th meeting between the two Swiss teammates and Federer would have been the comfortable favourite boasting a 23-3 record over their 14-year rivalry. Wawrinka stands in provisional 14th place in the points race to the year-end ATP Finals and his chances of qualifying now look slim with just next week’s Paris Masters to play on the regular schedule.

Badminton:
French Open- Thailand Open champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty registered one of the biggest wins of their career yet as they stunned world champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan at the French Open Super 750 tournament in Paris on Thursday. The emerging doubles pair, ranked No 11 in the world currently, overcame the No 2 pair from Indonesia 21-18, 18-21, 21-13 in 53 minutes to reach the quarter-finals. This was the second meeting between the two pairs after Satwik / Chirag had run the Indonesians close during China Open last year as well. The Indian pair’s reward for the win over the three-time world champs is a quarter-final clash against Denmark’s Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen. London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal and reigning world champion PV Sindhu also stormed into the women’s singles quarter-finals of the $750,000 tournament. Nehwal moved ahead with a straight-game win over Denmark’s Line Hjmark Kjaersfeldt. The eighth-seeded Indian, who had won the Indonesia Masters early in the year before going through a rough patch, dispatched Line 21-10, 21-11 in 27 minutes. Later Shubankar Dey’s campaign comes to an end in the round of 16. Indonesia’s Shesar Rhustavito overcame the Indian 21-6, 21-13 in just 30 minutes. Dey was the last Indian shuttler standing in men’s singles. Sindhu is likely to take on the world No 1 Tai Tzu Ying in the last-eight match. The Chinese Taipei shuttler faces Kim Ga Eun from South Korea later on Thursday.

Cricket:
U19 WC- International Cricket Council on Thursday announced the schedule for the Under-19 World Cup which will be held next year from January 17 to February 9 in South Africa. Defending champions India have been grouped in Group A alongside Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Japan. India will open their campaign on January 19 when they face Sri Lanka at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein. Japan are making their debut at an ICC global event. Hosts South Africa, champions in 2014, will play in Afghanistan in the first match of the tournament at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley. The United Arab Emirates and Canada are the two other teams in Group B. Group C has Pakistan with Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Scotland as the three other teams. Nigeria are also making their ICC event debut and will face Australia in Kimberley on January 20 for their opening game. Group B’s other two teams are England and West Indies. After the group stages, the tournament will be played with teams divided into Super League and Plate tournaments. The top two teams from each of the four groups advance to the Super League while the remaining teams feature in the Plate championship. India have won the title four times, Australia have won three times, Pakistan have won it twice while England, South Africa and the West Indies have won once each.

T20 WC Qualifiers- Netherlands and Canada saw their unbeaten runs at the 2020 T20 World Cup qualifier come to an end on Thursday as they were beaten by Papua New Guinea and Hong Kong respectively. PNG stunned the Dutch with a five-wicket victory. A half-century from Kinchit Shah (59 not out) and a three-wicket haul by Nasrulla Rana helped Hong Kong to a 32-run victory over Canada. Elsewhere, UAE beat Nigeria by five wickets. In the final game of the day, Scotland put on 204 for four against Bermuda who in reply fell 46 runs short as they finished on 158 for eight.

Deodhar Trophy- Hanuma Vihari, Parthiv Patel and Shubman Gill were on Thursday named captains of India A, India B and India C teams respectively for this year’s Deodhar Trophy. The teams were picked during the senior selection committee in Mumbai. The Deodhar Trophy will be played at Ranchi from October 31 to November 4. The India A team will also feature experienced off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan and Jaydev Unadkat, among others. Out-of-favour India all-rounders Kedar Jadhav and Vijay Shankar feature in the India B squad, to be led by Parthiv Patel. In-form Test opener Mayank Agarwal and senior wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik are part of the India C squad. Squads: India A: Hanuma Vihari (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Vishnu Vinod, Amandeep Khare, Abhishek Raman, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jaydev Unadkat, Sandeep Warrier, Siddarth Kaul, Bhargav Merai.

India B: Parthiv Patel (c & wk), Priyank Panchal, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Baba Aparajith, Kedar Jadhav, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Shahbaz Nadeem, Anukul Roy, K Gowtham, Vijay Shankar, Mohammed Siraj, Rush Kalaria, Yarra Prithviraj, Nitish Rana.

India C: Shubman Gill (c), Mayank Agarwal, Anmolpreet Singh, Suryakumar Yadav, Priyam Garg, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Axar Patel, Mayank Markande, Jalaj Saxena, Avesh Khan, Dhawal Kulkarni, Ishan Porel, DG Pathania, Virat Singh.

Table Tennis:
East Zone Nationals- Delhi’s Yashansh Malik defeated Jeet Chandra of Haryana 4-2 to claim the youth boys singles trophy while the youth girls’ crown went to Prapti Sen of West Bengal, who beat Moumita Datta of Railways 4-1 in the UTT National Ranking (East Zone) Table Tennis Championships at the Howrah Indoor Stadium in Howrah. It was a well-earned title for the Delhi paddler – he won a marathon 22-20 fourth game to level scores. The gutsy Yashansh fought hard in the fourth after squandering nearly half a dozen game points to gain control in the final. The 22-20 victory provided him the spark and necessary confidence to take the next two games, thus shutting out whatever chances that Jeet had prior to it. Despite the dice rolling in favour of Yashansh, the Haryana boy must attacked at will. In youth girls final, Prapti disposed off her opponent from Railways with ease.

Results: Youth Boys Singles: Final: Yashansh Malik (Del) bt Jeet Chandra (Har) 11-7, 5-11, 8-11, 22-20, 11-7, 11-9. Youth Girls Singles: Final: Prapti Sen (WB) bt Moumita Datta (Rlys) 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6.

Men Singles: Pre-Quarterfinals: Soumyajit Ghosh (Har) bt Anthony Amalraj (PSPB) 7-11, 17-15, 12-10, 11-7, 9-11, 8-11, 11-6; Anukram Jain (Raj) bt Wesely Do Rosaio (Har) 11-5, 7-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5; Sanil Shetty (PSPB) bt Jubin Kumar (Har) 9-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-5, 11-7, 14-12; Manav Thakkar (PSPB) bt Ronit Bhanja (WB) 1-8, 11-4, 4-11, 11-6, 11-9; Manush Shah (Guj) bt Akash Pal (WB) 9-11, 11-5, 10-12, 18-16, 11-3; Sushmit Sriram (TN) bt Aman Balgu (Telg) 8-11, 11-2, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9; Arjun Ghosh (WB) bt Sourav Saha (Har) 911, 11-8, 8-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-8; Harmeet Desai (PSPB) bt Abhishek Yadav (UP) 11-5, 10-12, 7-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-5. Women Singles: Pre-Quarterfinals: Sutirtha Mukherjee (Har) bt Mousumi Paul (PSPB) 11-6, 1-7, 9-11, 12-14, 11-8, 11-13, 11-3; Srushti Haleangadi (Mah) bt Mamata Prabhu (BBSCB) 13-11, 11-9, 11-9, 21-19; Ayhika Mukherjee (RBI) bt Seraha Jacob (TN) 11-7, 11-9, 11-4, 11-6; Yashini Sivasankar (TN) bt Shruti Amrute (Rlys) 5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 12-10, 11-13, 8-11, 11-9; Prapti Sen (WB) bt Madhurika Patkar (PSPB) 11-5, 7-11, 11-9, 13-11, 11-7; Naina (Telg) bt Harshavardhini (TN) 11-7, 6-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-8, 11-7; Sreeja Akula (RBI) bt Moumita Datta (Rlys) 12-10, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 6-11, 13-11; Krittwika Sinha Roy (WB) Archana G. Kamath (PSPB) 6-11, 7-11, 12-10, 5-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-8.

Boys Singles (U13-U15): Final: Ankur Bhattacharjee (WB) bt Shankhadeep Das (WB) 11-4, 11-8, 11-7. Girls Singles (U13-U15): Final: Oishiki Joardar (WB) bt Prithoki Chakraborti (WB) 13-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-8.

Kabaddi:
Dronacharya Award- India’s legendary coach Balwan Singh who coached the Indian kabaddi team to Asian Games gold medals in 2010 and 2014 and also led the team to the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup has returned as one of the three coaches in the coaches’ panel for the Indian men’s kabaddi teams for various age groups. Former Asian Games gold medalist, Ashan Kumar who guided South Korea to the silver medal at the 2018 Asian Games is also included along with Jaivir Sharma, who is a coach at Sport Authority of India in Ahmedabad. In the coaches’ panel for the women’s team, Dronacharya award-winning coach Sunil Dabas has been included along with Shailja Jain, who led the Iranian women’s team to gold in Jakarta last year. Banani Saha who was the assistant coach for the Indian kabaddi team at 2018 Asian Games is also part of the panel. The Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India had advertised for the posts of coaches for the Indian men’s and women’s kabaddi teams for various age groups on October 15. After examining over 29 candidates for the posts (20 for men and 9 for women), the AKFI announced the final list on Thursday.

After a lack of international events since the Asian Games, there is some action expected in the coming months with the first-ever U-20 Kabaddi World Cup set to be held in Iran in November.

The senior World Cup is also expected to take place in the first half of 2020, where India would be hoping to defend their title and re-establish their dominance in a sport after the setback at the Asian Games last year.

Athletics:
World Military Games- India added two more gold medals to its kitty with para-athletes Aneesh Kumar Surendran Pillai and Virender bagging the top honours in their respective events at the seventh CISM World Military Games in Wuhan on Wednesday. Pillai won gold in the disabled men’s shot put IF1 category with a best throw of 12.76 metres, which he registered in the fourth of his six attempts. Peru’s Felipa Carlos won the silver with best effort of 10.47m while Severs Robert of The Netherlands clinched the bronze with an effort of 9.93m. Virender added one more yellow metal, when he emerged winner in the men’s disabled shot put IF5 category with a best effort 11.43m. France’s Marfil Nicolas bagged the silver in this category, while Suma Piero Rosario of Italy clinched the bronze. India narrowly missed a bronze medal in the 25m center fire pistol men team event after the trio of Yogesh Singh, Gurpreet Singh and Omkar Singh finished fourth behind Ukraine, Korea and China. Gunasekaran had clocked 12.00 seconds to win the 100m event, India’s first medal in the ongoing Games. Later, the 32-year-old Indian clinched his second gold by clocking 53.35 seconds in the disabled men’s 400m IT1 event.