Indian sports News- October 9th
October 9, 2019
Bytes: Basketball Qualifiers in India, Vijay Hazare Trophy, Shanghai Masters, Women’s World Boxing Championship, Men’s Nationals, England Women’s Cricket, Denmark Open, Junior World Championship, Squash, Athletics, Gymnastic World Championship
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:
Tennis:
Shanghai Masters- India’s Rohan Bopanna and his partner Denis Shapovalov entered the pre-quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters doubles event with a straight-set win over Russian pair of Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev in Shanghai on Tuesday. The Indo-Canadian pair notched up a 6-1, 6-4 win over Khachanov and Rublev in the opening round. The duo will now face the winner of the match between the pair of Borna Coric of Crotia and Runhao Hua of China and Polish-Brazilian combination of Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo.
Saudi Arabia- Saudi Arabia is to stage its first ever international tennis tournament, a men’s exhibition event, in a “watershed moment for the Kingdom”, the country’s top sports official said on Tuesday. Swiss three-time Grand Slam winner Stanislas Wawrinka and rising star Daniil Medvedev are two big names already signed up to appear in the eight-player December 12-14 hardcourt event. “Hosting world class international tennis in Saudi Arabia for the very first time is another watershed moment for the Kingdom,” said Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al Faisal Al Saud, chairman of the General Sports Authority of Saudi Arabia.
Cricket:
Vijay Hazare- Shikhar Dhawan’s half-century went in vain as Uttar Pradesh produced a superlative all-round performance to register a comfortable five-wicket win over Delhi in a Group B match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy at Vadodara on Tuesday. Dhawan, who opens India’s innings in limited-over cricket, scored a 74-ball 54 at the top of the order before No. 6 batsman Himmat Singh came up with a 77-ball 64 to lift Delhi to 204 for eight in their stipulated 50 overs. In their run chase, Uttar Pradesh recovered from a wobbly start to overhaul the target, scoring 207 for five in 29 overs, riding on Priyam Garg’s quickfire 52-ball 79 and a 62-ball 57 by Upendra Yadav. Earlier, Uttar Pradesh bowlers, led by Mohsin Khan, produced a disciplined performance as they achieved breakthroughs regularly and didn’t allow Delhi to post a big score. Brief Scores:
Delhi 204/8 in 50 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 54, Himmat Singh 64; Mohsin Khan 3/39 lost by five wickets to Uttar Pradesh 207 for 5 in 29 overs (PK Garg 79, UD Yadav 57; NA Saini 2/48).
Haryana 83 all-out in 30.5 overs (A Mishra 26; DG Nalkande 4/25) lost by nine wickets to Vidarbha 85 for one in 20.4 overs (FY Fazal 38, W Jaffer 32; J Yadav 1/29). Brief Scores:
At Tanush Academy Ground: Sikkim 112 from 36.3 overs (Ashith Rajiv 6/37, Sagar Udeshi 3/7); Puducherry 116 for no loss from 11.4 overs (Paras Dogra 70 not out, Arun Karthik 41 not out).
Puducherry won by 10 wickets. Points: Puducherry 4, Sikkim 0.
At Abhimanyu Cricket Academy: Meghalaya: 316/5 from 50 overs (Raj Biswa 134, Puneet Bisht 103; Arbar Kazi 3/33); Mizoram 139 from 38 overs (KB Pawan 52; Swarajeet Das 3/17, Akash Chowdhury 2/39, Sanjay Yadav 2/26, Aditya Singhania 2/22). Points: Meghalaya 4, Mizoram 0.
At Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium: Nagaland 174 from 44.5 overs (Stuart Binny 107; Dhanraj Sharma 2/34, Pradeep Chamoli 2/32, Rahil Shah 2/13, Ashish Chaudhary 2/33, Dikshanshu Negi 2/35); Uttarakhand 176/3 from 36.2 overs (Avneesh Sudha 77, Tanmay Srivastava 54 not out). Uttarakhand won by 7 wickets. Uttarakhand 4, Nagaland 0.
England Women’s cricket- England cricket chiefs have launched an action plan to transform women’s cricket, with the aim of making it a gender-balanced sport. Funding of £20 million ($24m) will be provided over the next two years, with the ambition of investing £50 million over five years. Forty full-time professional, domestic contracts will be funded in addition to the existing central contracts. The plan focuses on five key objectives including increasing the number of women and girls playing cricket recreationally and boosting the profile of the women’s game through The Hundred and the England women’s team. The Hundred, starting next year, will see eight women’s teams taking part in a new 100-ball competition alongside a separate event for men.
Boxing:
Women’s World Boxing Championship- Last edition’s bronze-winner Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) and debutant Jamuna Boro (54kg) on Wednesday marched into the quarterfinals of the World Women’s Boxing Championships with comprehensive victories in the pre-quarters here. Boro outpunched fifth-seeded Algerian Ouidad Sfouh, an African Games gold-medallist, in a unanimous verdict, while the third-seeded Borgohain got the better of a sprightly opponent in Morocco’s Oumayma Bel Ahbib, also a 5-0 win. Boro will next take on Belarus’ Yuliya Apanasovich, who is seeded fourth. Apanasovich, a bronze-medallist at the European Championships, defeated Germany’s Ursula Gottlob in her pre-quarterfinal bout. Next up for Borgohain is sixth-seeded Karolina Koszewska, who defeated Uzbekistan’s Shakhnoza Yunusova. Poland’s Koszewska had claimed a gold medal at this year’s European Games. Six-time champion and third seed M C Mary Kom (51kg), Manju Rani (48kg) and Kavita Chahal (+81kg) are the other Indians to have made the last-eight stage.
Mens Nationals- Rohit Tokas (75kg) caused a huge upset as he stunned Asian Championships silver medallist and home favourite Ashish Kumar in the quarter-final while the top boxers, led by Sachin Siwach (57kg) and Shiva Thapa (63Kg) comfortably sailed into the semi-finals on the fifth day of the ongoing 4th Elite men’s National Boxing Championships at the Baddi University of Emerging Sciences and Technology on Tuesday. Rohit Tokas from the Railways adopted a counter-attacking strategy against his taller opponent from Himachal. He succeeded in landing more punches to unsettle Ashish with a mix of close-range attack. Rohit landed more clear punches in the third round to finally call an upset win with 4-1 margin. While 40 bouts being played, Shiva Thapa (63 kg) showed his composure and experience as he breezed past the challenge of Delhi’s Yogesh Tokas 4-0 in a one- sided bout. The World Championships bronze medallist will face Uttar Pradesh’s Abhishek Yadav in the semi-finals. In the bantam weight category, 2018 Commonwealth game bronze medallist Mohammad Hussamuddin, representing Services continued the winning spree, scripting a unanimous victory over Haryana’s Neeraj. Services boxer PL Prasad (52 kg) was no match for his opponent Sudeep Kumar from Uttar Pradesh who was defeated by a 5:0 verdict.
Chandigarh’s Pankaj Chauhan (75kg) reached the semi-finals after getting a walkover in the quarter-final bout against Punjab’s Lakhbir Singh. He will face Haryana’s Ankit Khatana as he aims to secure his place in the final.
Squash:
Hong Kong Squash Open- The Hong Kong Squash Open has become the latest international sports event to be called off because of the unprecedented political unrest gripping the city. The international hub has been shaken by four months of massive pro-democracy protests which have seen increasingly violent clashes between hardcore demonstrators and the police, as well as regular disruptions to transport. A string of high-profile entertainment and sports events have been cancelled as a result, and Hong Kong’s premier squash event, scheduled for December, became the latest casualty on Tuesday. The annual Hong Kong Squash Open is one of the Professional Squash Association’s world tour platinum events. It was last cancelled in 2003 during the SARS outbreak. Organisers of the mixed martial arts event HK4 also announced on Wednesday a postponement to March next year, citing safety concerns during the ongoing protests.
Athletics:
National Open- Asian Games and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Neeraj Chopra will return to competition after almost a year at the 59th National Open athletics championships which begin in Ranchi on Thursday. Chopra, who underwent elbow surgery last year and skipped the World Championship in Doha, will be among a clutch of star athletes who will be in action, The Hindu reported on Wednesday. According to the newspaper, the entry list has undergone a big change a day after was published with most of these names missing after a clear directive from the Athletics Federation of India. The prominent stars who will be seen in action immediately after the world championships include 400m runner, VK Vismaya, javelin thrower Annu Rani, long jumper M Sreeshankar and Asian Games shot put gold medallist Tajinderpal Singh Toor. However, steeplechaser Avinash Sable, who qualified for the Olympics, and Asian Games 1500 gold medallist Jinson Johnson are doubtful starters.
Football:
Iran FA- Iranian women fans are free to enter a football stadium Thursday for the first time in decades, after FIFA threatened to suspend the Islamic republic over its controversial male-only policy. Iran has barred female spectators from football and other stadiums for around 40 years, with clerics arguing they must be shielded from the masculine atmosphere and sight of semi-clad men. World football’s governing body FIFA last month ordered Iran to allow women access to stadiums without restrictions and in numbers determined by demand for tickets.
The directive came after a fan dubbed “Blue Girl” died after setting herself on fire in fear of being jailed for dressing up as a boy in order to attend a match. Women were quick to get their hands on tickets to attend Iran’s 2022 World Cup qualifier against Cambodia at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium on Thursday.
Gymnastic:
World Championship- US gymnastics star Simone Biles clinched a record-extending 15th world championship gold medal on Tuesday as the Americans won the women’s team title in Stuttgart. Biles, 22, collected her 21st medal at the championships to become the most decorated women’s gymnast, taking her one clear of Russia’s Svetlana Khorkina. She also moved to within two medals of the all-time record held by Vitaly Scherbo of Belarus, a men’s gymnastics star in the 1990s. It was a fourth team title for Biles in an event the Americans have dominated for the last eight years.
They claimed gold with a tally of 172.330, well ahead of the Russians who took silver with 166.529, while the bronze went to Italy on 164.796. Biles is expected to add more medals to her dazzling tally as the favourite in the women’s all-around final on Thursday and this weekend’s apparatus finals.
Badminton:
Junior WC- Tasnim Mir and mixed doubles pair of Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto led India’s charge on the second day of the individual event at the BWF World Junior Championships in Kazan on Tuesday. Mixed doubles duo of Satish Kumar K and Ramya Venkatesh also entered the next round. Continuing their good run from the mixed team event, Tanisha and Ishaan opened their individual campaign on a winning note, beating Italian duo Enrico Baroni and Chiara Passeri 21-12, 21-10 to reach the second round. In the girls singles, Tasnim secured a comfortable 21-4 21-8 win over Finland’s Tuuli Vasikkaniemi. Three other Indian girls – Aditi Bhatt, Trisha Hegde and Unnati Bisht – also qualified for the round of 32. In another mixed doubles match, Sankar Prasad Udyakumar and Nafeesah Sara Siraj had to work hard after losing the first game 16-21. The pair made a splendid comeback in the second game to eventually complete a 16-21 21-12 21-18 win and move to the second round of the Championships.
In another mixed doubles match, Sankar Prasad Udyakumar and Nafeesah Sara Siraj had to work hard after losing the first game 16-21. The pair made a splendid comeback in the second game to eventually complete a 16-21 21-12 21-18 win and move to the second round of the Championships.
Denmark Open- Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal on Tuesday said her visa application was being processed and she is hoping to get the same in time for her participation in next week’s Denmark Open tournament. The Olympic bronze-medallist had tweeted on Monday that she was facing visa issues for her participation in the BWF Super 750 tournament. She had sought help of External Affairs Ministry to sort out the matter. The Denmark Open will be played at Odense from October 15 to 20.
Kabaddi:
Pro Kabaddi League- Tamil Thalaivas beat Jaipur Pink Panthers 35-33 in a closely-contested Pro Kabaddi match at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida on Monday to end a 14-game winless run in the competition. Ajith Kumar scored a Super 10 for the Tamil Thalaivas as the team secured a victory in the penultimate match of their campaign. Jaipur, despite having had a good start to the match succumbed to yet another defeat to end their campaign on a sad note. The season-one champions led the table at one point time in the season but a collapse in the second half of the season sees them finish in the seventh spot in the standings. There was nothing but pride at stake in the match as both the teams had failed to qualify for the playoff stages despite pre-season billing as favourites to reach the top six. While the Thalaivas went through an implosion, with the star players not finding the required cohesion to carry a team, Pink Panthers’ over-reliance on a Deepak Hooda backfired after the seasoned raider had a dip in form due to an illness.
Gujarat Fortunegiants rallied to comprehensively beat Telugu Titans 48-38 in the earlier Pro Kabaddi match at Greater Noida on Monday. Sonu had a great game for Gujarat Fortunegiants, scoring 17 raid points (Gujarat’s best-ever raid performance in PKL history), as the season six runners-up finished their campaign on a positive note. Even though both the teams were out of the tournament, Telugu Titans started the match like a squad that wanted to end the tournament on a high. Siddharth Desai had his usual near-perfect first half with a 100% success ratio in his seven raids while Rakesh Gowda also impressed in his raids.
Basketball:
Tokyo Olympics- India will host the 3×3 basketball qualifying tournament for the Tokyo Olympics in March next year, the world governing body of the sport, FIBA has announced. The venue of the tournament, which will feature 40 teams (20 each for men and women), will be announced later. The event will be held under the aegis of the Basketball Federation of India and will be organised by the International Basketball Federation. Six spots (three each for men and women) for 2020 Olympics will be up for grabs at the FIBA 3×3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The discipline will make its Olympic debut in Tokyo next year where eight-team tournaments will be held for men and women. FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis said the success of the two Asia Cups in Bangalore and 3×3 World Tour in Hyderabad played a vital role in awarding the tournament to India. In addition to the host teams, the remaining of the 40 participating teams will be chosen via the FIBA 3×3 Federation Ranking and the results of the FIBA 3×3 World Cup.
