Indian sports News- September 6th
September 6, 2019, Lucknow
Bytes: WC Qualifiers, T20 WC, Boxing-Tokyo berths, Ashes, Duleep Trophy final, US Open, Chinese Taipei Open, PKL, COA, Indian GP
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:
IndVSOma- Indian football team suffered a heartbreaking 1-2 loss at the hands of Oman in the first game of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers at Guwahati on Thursday as they let a one-goal lead slip in the final ten minutes of the game. Leading through a Sunil Chhetri goal in the 24th minute, India staved off second-half Omani pressure until substitute Rabia Alawi Al Mandhar produced two fine goals to give Oman the victory. India dominated the first half with more shots at opposition goal and also enjoyed possession. A deflated India showed little signs of a comeback as Oman walked away with all three points. India now travel to Qatar on Tuesday in the second game of the World Cup qualifiers.
Superliga- Argentine legend Diego Maradona will take over as coach of Superliga side Gimnasia, the club announced on its Twitter account Thursday. The former Argentina coach quit his job at Mexican second division outfit Dorados in June for health reasons after just nine months in charge. His new club, officially known as Gymnastics and Fencing, is currently bottom of Argentina’s 24-club Superliga, with just one point from five matches.
Kabaddi:
PKL- U Mumba and Puneri Paltan shared the points after their Pro Kabaddi match ended in a tense 33-33 draw at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday. Abhishek Singh clinched a Super 10 (11 raid points) for U Mumba as they clawed their way back from being six points down in the final five minutes to secure a crucial draw. The match got off to a slow start with both sets of raiders cautious of the strong defences they were up against.
Tamil Thalaivas coach- Bhaskaran Edachery on Friday resigned as the coach of Pro Kabaddi outfit Tamil Thalaivas after a string of poor results that have left the Chennai side in danger of missing out on the playoffs for the third straight season.
Edachery, who took over as the team’s coach ahead of last season struggled to turn the fortunes around for Tamil Thalaivas who finished bottom of their zone, winning just five games in season six. Despite recruiting experienced stars like Rahul Chaudhari, Mohit Chhillar and Ran Singh, Tamil Thalaivas have continued to struggle in season seven and find themselves in the 11th spot with 27 points from 13 games, ten points behind U Mumba, the last team in the qualifying spots.
Cricket:
Ashes- Australia’s Steve Smith took his run-spree this Ashes to a new level as he returned to international cricket with a superb double century on the second day of the fourth Test against England at Old Trafford on Thursday. Smith’s 211 was the cornerstone of Australia’s commanding 497-8 declared. England then lost Joe Denly, a makeshift opener after swapping places with the struggling Jason Roy, for four when he was brilliantly caught at the second attempt by Matthew Wade at short leg following a genuine glance off Pat Cummins. England were 23-1 at stumps, 474 runs behind, with Rory Burns 15 not out and nightwatchman Craig Overton unbeaten on three.
Duleep Trophy- Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran (102*) struck a superb ton to put India Red in a strong position on day two of the Duleep Trophy final against India Green in Bengaluru on Thursday. India Red were 175/2 in 52 overs at close of play in reply to India Green’s 231 at the M Chinnaswamy stadium. Stylish right-hander Easwaran hit 11 fours and two sixes in his knock, which set the platform for India Red to take control of the proceedings. Easwaran was involved in a 87-run opening partnership with captain Priyank Panchal (33), during which the duo played some beautiful shots. India Red are trailing India Green by 56 runs with eight first innings wicket intact.
T20 WC- Bangladesh on Thursday booked a berth for the Women’s Twenty20 World Cup to be held in Australia next year after reaching the final of the qualifying tournament with a four-wicket win over Ireland in Dundee. Bangladesh first bowled Ireland out for 85 in 20 overs and then chased down the target of 86 with nine balls to spare in the first semi-final of the Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers.
COA- The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators on Friday extended the deadline for the completion of elections for the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s state associations till September 28. The earlier deadline for these polls was September 14. “The deadline for completion of elections of state associations is extended from 14th September 2019 to 28th September 2019,” the CoA said in a statement after a meeting in Mumbai.
Tennis:
US Open- Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu will play 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams for the US Open title after a tense 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 win over Belinda Bencic in Thursday’s semifinals. The 19-year-old Andreescu is just the second women’s Grand Slam finalist from Canada – after Eugenie Bouchard at Wimbledon in 2014 – and will bid to become the first teen Grand Slam champion since Maria Sharapova won at Flushing Meadows in 2006. Andreescu, in her US Open main draw debut, saved a set point in the opening set against fellow first-time Grand Slam semi-finalist Bencic, the 13th seed from Switzerland, before edging the tie-break.
Boxing:
Tokyo berths- The medal winners at the upcoming World Championships for men and women – to be held in Russia – will get direct berths in the Indian boxing teams for the first Olympic qualifying tournaments next year. The Boxing Federation of India has officially laid down the selection plan for the qualifiers to the 2020 Tokyo Games. “The medallist [men] of AIBA World Championship 2019 will be sent directly to the first Olympic qualifier to be held in China,” read the minutes of a meeting of a BFI meeting which was attended by its brass, the coaching staff, and the selection committee members. While the men’s event gets underway in Ekaterinburg from September 9, the women’s competition is scheduled to begin on October 3 in Ulan-Ude.
Badminton:
Chinese Taipei Open- Former champion Sourabh Verma suffered a straight-games loss to world No 2 Chou Tien Chen in the men’s singles second round to draw curtains on India’s campaign at the $500,000 Chinese Taipei Open in Taipei on Thursday. The 26-year-old, who won the Hyderabad Open last month, was no match for the top-seeded Chen, going down 12-21, 10-21 in a match that lasted 30 minutes. World No 38 Verma, the 2016 winner, had come into the match with a 2-0 head-to-head record against Chen but that did not matter as the Taipei shuttler stamped his authority to knock the Indian out of the tournament.
Athletics:
Triple Jump- In a disappointing performance, Asian Games champion Arpinder Singh was pipped by Karthik Unnikrishnan for the triple jump gold medal in the Indian Grand Prix on Thursday. Unnikrishnan came up with a 16.69m effort on his final attempt to seal the gold while Arpinder was unable to go past the 16.35m that he managed on his second attempt. The 26-year-old, who jumped 16.83m while winning gold in the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Lucknow a few days ago, is set to miss the World Championships to be held in Doha from September 28.
