Page 8 - Sports

Paris Olympics: Opted for athletics due to father's passion, says Jyothika

An academically-inclined child is a dream realised in most Indian households and that's why Olympic-bound runner Jyothika Sri Dandi aspired to be a doctor before she realised that her father would be happier seeing her excel in sports. The 23-year-old from Tanuku town in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, secured 97 per cent in Class X while studying at the Montessori School at her home town. But, her father Srinivasa Rao, a body-builder in his younger days, nudged her into taking interest in sports as he wanted to see her in the Olympics some day. That dream is going to be a reality in less than three months' time. Jyothika was part of the Indian women's 4x400m relay team that qualified for the Paris Olympics during the World Relays in Bahamas earlier this month. "I got 97 per cent in class X and when I was in school I actually wanted to be a doctor. But, once I started doing sports, I could not go back and think about becoming a doctor," Jyothika, who is taking part in the

A new maul game: How IPL's Impact Player rule has changed cricket

Batters are mauling bowlers this IPL like never before, as the impact player rule effectively gives every team 12 players. Where is it taking the game?

Nisha Dahiya secures India's fifth Paris Olympic quota in woman wrestling

Nisha Dahiya became the fifth Indian woman wrestler to qualify for the Paris Olympics after prevailing over Romania's Alexandra Anghel in the 68kg semifinals at the World Olympic Qualifiers here on Friday. This will be the first time India will have five women wrestlers at the quadrennial extravaganza. This was a day after all six Greco-roman wrestlers came up with forgettable performances. Nisha, a World U-23 bronze medallist and Asian Championships silver-medal winner last year beat Anghel 8-4 by points to enter the final and secure another Olympic quota for India. This will be the first time that five Indian woman wrestlers will be competing in the Olympics. Against Anghel, Nisha zoomed to a 8-0 lead with a flurry of attacks in the first period. She began with a right leg attack and converted that into a takedown. She quickly followed that up with a two-pointer and rolled her rival for a comfortable 6-0 cushion. Before the end of first period, she had taken what became an ...

India athletes will get sports-specific help from support staff: IOA chief

IOA president PT Usha on Friday assured Olympic-bound athletes of best possible assistance in Paris, saying sports-specific support staff would be housed closer to the Games Village in order to be able to provide help without wastage of time. Usha, who returned to India after finalising the arrangements of Indian athletes and support staff in Paris, said the IOA had also ensured that shooters and golfers stay closer to their respective event venues. The Chateauroux Shooting Centre is about two hours outside Paris, while the Le Golf National is an hour's drive from the Olympic hub. "We have been able to secure accommodation for a number of sports-specific support staff a short distance away from the Athletes' Village. We want to ensure no athletes are devoid of their support system and hence we have booked apartments in the vicinity," said Usha in a statement. "We have ensured that our shooters and golfers stay close to their respective venues," she added. Elaborating on the need f

Need to improve fitness, tactics to beat Chinese more often: Manika Batra

Manika Batra could not be more thrilled about bossing the World No.2 from China earlier this week but to beat the top-10 players more often, the Indian table tennis trailblazer knows she needs to do more on the tactical and fitness front. After becoming the first Indian female to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Smash (top tier events organised by World Table Tennis), the 28-year-old doesn't want to sit on her laurels and her focus is firmly fixed on the Paris Olympics in July-August. The Delhi-born player shocked Wang Manyu, the 2021 World Champion in women's singles and member of the Olympic gold-winning Chinese team at the Tokyo Olympics, before blanking 14th-ranked Nina Mittelham from Germany to make it a special week in Saudi Arabia. The loss in the quarterfinals came against fifth-ranked Hina Hayata, an opponent Batra has beaten before, but on Thursday the Japanese was better prepared for the challenge. Speaking to PTI after a successful run in Saudi Arabia, Batra said play

A city scarred by terrorism prepares an Olympic opening without walls

Since the 2015 deadly Islamist attacks, France has become sadly accustomed to terrorist threats and to soldiers patrolling its crowded squares and train stations

Chess: Gukesh wins Candidates, becomes youngest challenger for world title

India's 17-year-old Grandmaster D Gukesh scripted history by winning the Candidates Chess Tournament here to become the youngest ever challenger to the world title, bettering a record created by the legendary Garry Kasparov 40 years ago. Gukesh played out an easy draw with American Hikaru Nakamura in the 14th and final round to finish with nine out of a possible 14 points in the tournament that is held to decide the challenger to the world champion. The triumph entitles Gukesh a clash against reigning world champion Ding Liren of China in the last quarter of the year. The Chennai-based teen bettered Kasparov's record by quite a distance as the Russian great was 22 when he qualified in 1984 to clash with compatriot Anatoly Karpov. "So relieved and so happy. I was following this crazy game (between Fabio Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi), and then I went for a walk with my second (Gregorz Gazevsky), I think that helped," Gukesh said after winning. Gukesh also won a cash award of 88,50

King at 17, Chennai lad Gukesh sets his sights on chess World Championship

The Toronto win makes D Gukesh the youngest World Championship contender in chess history

Encourage girls in sports, they will bring smile on parents' faces: Sachin

Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar on Saturday urged people to encourage and support girls in the field of sports, and said the children will shine and bring a smile on parents' faces. Tendulkar and his wife Anjali were in Ranchi to motivate girl football players of the Yuwa Foundation' at Ormanjhi block of the district. Yuwa and the Sachin Tendulkar Foundation work together here to train and promote girl footballers. The cricket legend interacted with the players at their school located near Rukka Dam, and termed the day as remarkable. "Children's energy is infectious. I saw them working hard and enjoying themselves. I recalled my childhood," Tendulkar said, speaking to media persons. "I got inspiration from many children because this journey is not easy for them. There are several difficulties in their lives. They go to play football, which sometimes is not liked by parents. I would like to tell them to encourage children and support them. These children will bring a smile on their ..

25-30% more Indian fans flying across globe for key sporting events in 2024

Indian sports fans are flying across the world in huge numbers for T20 World Cup 2024 as well as Wimbledon in London, and Formula One races in Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Bahrain

Commonwealth Games Federation to announce new 2026 host next month

The Commonwealth Games Federation plans to announce a new host for its 2026 event next month, saying it has multiple proposals to replace Australia's Victoria state. The CGF on Monday said it was keeping the proposals confidential. Victoria state lawmakers last July withdrew from plans to host the 2026 Games in three regional hubs, citing escalating costs. Significant progress has been made and we are excited by the early concepts, which aim to reset and reframe the Games, the CGF said in a statement following its April meeting. We are working collaboratively with the relevant (members) to undertake further detailed assessments, and aim to announce the 2026 Commonwealth Games host in May. Victoria state agreed to a compensation package with the Commonwealth Games Federation, which will help offset costs for the next hosts. Australia's Gold Coast, which held the 2018 Commonwealth Games, was flagged as a potential host for 2026 but couldn't get state or federal funding. The CGF said

S Sreesanth escaped due to vacuum of law, says ex-Delhi CP Neeraj Kumar

Stakeholders have shown a distinct lack of seriousness in bringing a law against corruption in Indian sports, a reason why someone like tainted former pacer S Sreesanth got away despite strong evidence of spot-fixing against him in the 2013 IPL, former Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar has said. Kumar, a celebrated IPS officer who served for 37 years, was in charge of Delhi Police when its Special Cell under his guidance arrested Sreesanth and fellow Rajasthan Royals cricketers Ajit Chandila and Ankit Chavan on spot-fixing charges. However, in 2019, the Supreme Court, despite ruling that there was evidence against the former India player, asked BCCI to reconsider the life ban on him. The punishment was eventually reduced to a seven-year suspension that ended in September, 2020. "The case seemingly didn't go anywhere...unfortunately, there is no law (in India) to deal with corruption in cricket or corruption in sports in general," Kumar said during an exclusive interaction with

Centre Court Capital launches Rs 350 cr maiden fund for sports, gaming

Fund has raised Rs 200 cr in commitments from investors, will focus on early-stage opportunities

Beyond boundaries: Shafali, Smriti and Jemimah lead the brand lineup

The top three to garner attention after the second season of WPL include Smriti Mandhana, Shefali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues

Olympic officials, local organisers move to present games in positive light

After weeks of uncertainty about billion-dollar stadium projects for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, the IOC and local organizers moved Wednesday to present the games more positively. Plans for a $2 billion rebuild of the storied Gabba cricket stadium as an Olympics centerpiece were dropped this month after the expected price spiraled. Australia's most influential Olympic official, John Coates, had called the stadium issues in Brisbane's home state Queensland damaging to the Olympics brand. Queensland Premier Steven Miles, who faces state elections in October, had asked for a review of Olympic venue construction and prefers renovating an existing rugby stadium for the opening and closing ceremonies. Reports that Queensland had explored getting out of its commitment to host the Olympics was dismissed as fake news last week by International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach. It led to IOC and local organizing officials being asked Wednesday after their annual review of preparation

BS Manthan: From Viksit Bharat by 2047 to AI, Here's what happened on Day 1

At the Business Standard's annual event, FM Nirmala Sitharaman talked about opportunities in the public sector companies, while industry leaders talked about upcoming technologies and challenges

Pankaj Advani aims to maintain winning streak at CCI Billiards Classic

Defending champion Pankaj Advani will be aiming to maintain his winning streak at the upcoming CCI Billiards Classic starting here on Tuesday. Winner of 27 World Championship titles, Advani has displayed far superior skills compared to his rivals as he secured three back to back titles at various CCI events in the past year and half. Bagging the CCI Classic Snooker title in January 2023 and having defended it successfully recently, he is eyeing another conquest in the upcoming tournament. However, top Indian cuesists like national champion Dhruv Sitwala, runner-up Sourav Kothari and Maharashtra No. 1 Mahesh Jagdale will pose a tough challenge to Advani. The field also comprises international players like multiple world champion Peter Gilchrist of Singapore and Englishmen David Causier, Peter Sheehan, Chris Taylor, and last year's runner-up Rob Hall. Former world champions like Rupesh Shah, Ashok Shandilya, and Devendra Joshi will also be vying for the title. The competition has a

Mumbai cricketers to get 100% pay raise from 2024-25 domestic season

The decision was approved at the MCA's recent apex council meeting. It will effectively double a player's earnings through the season, as per ESPNCricinfo

McDonald's becomes French soccer league's title sponsor for 3 seasons

McDonald's will become the title sponsor of the French league from July for the next three season, the league said on Thursday. The fast-food chain is succeeding Uber Eats as the title sponsor of Ligue 1. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. According to L'Equipe newspaper, which did not specify its sources, McDonald's will pay 30 million euros per season ($33 million). The sports outlet said the food delivery service Uber Eats currently pays about 16 million euros ($17.5 million) per season. This partnership marks the coming together of two major institutions that are deeply rooted in the daily lives and collective imagination of the French people, the French league said. Through its national network of 1,560 restaurants, McDonald's will enable Ligue 1 to get even closer to its fans across the country.

India's sport audience base 678 mn; 2 cricketers are most liked: Report

Cricket, football, kabaddi are top three favourites on TV and streaming platforms, it says