Games

New Delhi [India] (ANI): India shuttler Lakshya Sen won the men’s singles final of the ongoing India Open 2022 here at the KD Jadhav Stadium here on Sunday.Lakshya Sen defeated Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew 24-22, 21-17 in the summit clash that lasted for 54 minutes. This is the first time that Sen has managed to win the Super 500 title in his career. Lakshya Sen was comfortably leading the first game, but world champion Kean Yew came from behind, and it was evenly poised at 22-22. The India shuttler then raised his game to win the first game 24-22.The 20-year-old Sen continued with his momentum and he went on to win the summit clash in straight games.Earlier on Sunday, the duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy clinched victory in the men’s doubles finals of Indian Open 2022, which is part of the BWF World Tour tournament series.The Indian pair defeated the Indonesian duo of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in straight games 21-16, 26-24 in the summit clash that lasted for 43 minutes. (Image source: Instagram)

New Delhi [India] (ANI): Indian duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stormed into the finals of the ongoing Indian Open 2022, which is part of the BWF World Tour tournament series, at the KD Jadhav Stadium here on Saturday.The Indian pair defeated French duo of Fabien Delrue and William Villeger in the straight sets of 21-10, 21-18 in a match that lasted for 37 minutes. Earlier in the day, shuttler Aakarshi Kashyap bowed out after losing against Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the straight sets of 24-26, 9-21 in a match that lasted for 52 minutes.Lakshya Sen made his way into the finals of men’s singles after defeating Malaysia’s NG Tze Yong in the semi-finals on Saturday. He has reached the first Super 500 final of his career.Later in the day, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu will be going against Supanida Katethong in the women’s singles semi-final clash. (Image source: Instagram)

New Delhi [India] (ANI): Malvika Bansod became only the second Indian to beat former World No. 1 Saina Nehwal since 2017 in any international tournament while Ashmita Chaliha continued her strong run by beating France’s Yaelle Hoyaux to reach the quarter-finals of the India Open 2022, which is part of the BWF World Tour tournament series, at the KD Jadhav stadium on Thursday.Bansod defeated Nehwal 21-17, 21-9 in 34 minutes while Chaliha got the better of Hoyaux 21-17, 21-14. Also advancing to the Round of 8 were top seed PV Sindhu and Aakarshi Kashyap. Sindhu defeated Ira Sharma 21-10, 21-10 while Kashyap beat Keyura Mopati with an identical scoreline.Prior to today’s match, Nehwal’s only loss against an Indian opponent at the India Open was in the quarter final against PV Sindhu in 2017. On the domestic circuit any Indian to beat her was in 2006 by Aparna Popat in Bangalore Nationals, fifteen years ago.And even though Nehwal hadn’t been at her physical best and is still recovering from a serious knee-injury in this tournament, Bansod’s task was far from easy as the experienced former champion was willing to dig in and fight for every point.Bansod started by playing more drops to counter Nehwal’s ability to hit down the line smashes and that allowed her to open up an 11-6 lead in the opening game.Under pressure from Bansod, she then started pushing herself to lift […]

New Delhi [India] (ANI): India shuttler Saina Nehwal on Thursday bowed out of the ongoing Indian Open 2022 here at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in New Delhi.Malvika Bansod defeated Nehwal 21-17, 21-9 in the second-round match which lasted for 35 minutes. The 31-year-old Nehwal was trailing 5-7 in the first game, and Malvika was in no mood to let this advantage and she ended up winning the first game 21-17.Bansod then did not look back, and she continued with her momentum, winning the match inside 35 minutes.Earlier in the day, PV Sindhu progressed to the next round of the ongoing competition. In an all-Indian affair, Sindhu outclassed Ira Sharma 21-10, 21-10 to progress to the next round.Sindhu was at her dominant self in the first game and she wrapped up the game inside 13 minutes. Continuing from where she left off, the 26-year-old took full advantage of her momentum and ended up winning the match within 30 minutes.Earlier, Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Thursday confirmed that seven players have been withdrawn from the ongoing India Open 2022 after testing positive for COVID-19.“The players returned a positive result to a mandatory RT-PCR test conducted on Tuesday. Doubles partners deemed close contact of the seven players have also been withdrawn from the tournament,” BWF said in a statement.The seven players to test positive for COVID-19 were all Indians and they were — Kidambi Srikanth, Ashwini […]

Dispur (Assam) [India] (ANI): Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist boxer Lovlina Borgohain expressed happiness at being appointed as Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) in Assam but said that currently she will focus on sports and winning medals for the country.Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma handed over the letter of appointment to the bronze medallist at Janata Bhawan, Dispur on Wednesday. Addressing the media at the event, Lovlina said, “It feels good to have a confirmed job. Now I can serve the country while working in Assam Police but my main focus is sports and winning medal. I will focus on training and won’t join duty until retired from boxing; will join post boxing (career).”Lovlina Borgohain became the third Indian boxer after Mary Kom and Vijender Singh to bag a Bronze medal at the quadrennial event, held last year.Later in November, Lovlina was also conferred with Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award and also received the trophy for Arjuna Award for 2020. (Image source: Instagram)

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India] (ANI): Saina Nehwal’s father Harvir Singh Nehwal on Tuesday said that the ace Indian shuttler is unhappy after the remarks made by actor Siddharth against her.“A person from cinema industry (actor Siddharth) has made some bad remarks against Saina (Nehwal) on Twitter,” Harvir Singh told ANI. Siddharth on January 6 had retweeted a post by Saina Nehwal in which she had expressed her concern over the security breach of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Punjab visit on January 5.Raising concerns over the Prime Minister’s convoy being stopped for 15-20 minutes on a flyover in Punjab’s Bathinda as the road was blocked by protesting farmers, the Olympic medallist tweeted: “No nation can claim itself to be safe if the security of its own PM gets compromised. I condemn, in the strongest words possible, the cowardly attack on PM Modi by anarchists.”Retweeting her post, Siddharth wrote, “Subtle cock champion of the world… Thank God we have protectors of India. Folded hands. Shame on you Rihanna.”“The double worded language he has used, he shouldn’t have uttered these words. I wholeheartedly condemn his statement and it is unforgettable and unpardonable from our side. If he has something to say in honour of Saina who has brought laurels to the country, then he should come in open and apologize to Saina, and then it can be thought because it’s a first offence from his side […]

New Delhi [India] (ANI): The Indian Open badminton is all set to start here in New Delhi at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall. The experienced Indian men’s doubles combination of B Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Atri along with men’s singles fourth seed Kantaphon Wangcharoen of Thailand have withdrawn from the competition.However, Sumeeth will be in action in mixed doubles alongside Ashwini Ponnappa with the pair taking on second seeds Rodion Alimov and Alina Davletova in the opening round. Star Shuttler PV Sindhu will be in action on the first day. The disarming smile and lightning speed that mesmerized badminton fans at the World Championship last month has suddenly made Loh Kean Yew the star attraction around the globe.Singapore’s first World Championships gold medallist is still basking in that glory, even posing for pictures with fellow players on the eve of the India Open, which is a part of the BWF World Tour 500 tournament series.The 24-year-old admits that he hasn’t got enough time to train after his triumph in Huelva, Spain, but wants to start the New Year by putting his best foot forward.Loh Kean Yew is seeded fifth at the India Open. The Singapore shuttler defeated Kidambi Srikanth in the World Championships final and the Indian is expected to be his biggest challenger at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall along with bronze medallist Lakshya Sen, who is playing in this tournament for the […]

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India]: Day 10 of Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 will see bottom-placed team Puneri Paltan take on Tamil Thalaivas.Puneri Paltan, despite showing glimpses of brilliance through their all-rounder Aslam Inamdar, have struggled to gather points with “showman” Rahul Chaudhari not getting the expected points. The match will be followed by Patna Pirates’ encounter against defending champions Bengal Warriors who suffered a humiliating loss against Dabang Delhi KC on Wednesday. Tamil Thalaivas have been involved in two ties this season (in three matches). Coach J Udaya Kumar will now need to figure a way to ensure they convert these tight games into victories. In Manjeet and Bhavani Rajput they have two lanky raiders who have impressed in patches. But Thaliavas’ habit of losing momentum towards the closing stages of the match has seen them concede cheap points.Captain Surjeet Singh will need to marshal his defence well against Puneri Paltan’s raiding trio of Aslam Inamdar, Mohit Goyat and Pankaj Mohite. The three youngsters have been the backbone of coach Anup Kumar’s plans with Rahul Chaudhari not being given the full 40 minutes on the mat. With one win in three matches, Puneri Paltan are at the bottom of the PKL season 8 points table.Defending champions Bengal Warriors will be looking to bounce back after a humiliating 52-35 defeat against Season 7 finalists Dabang Delhi KC on Wednesday. The Warriors struggled against Delhi raider Naveen […]

California [US]: Indian javelin star Neeraj Chopra expressed that he felt overwhelmed after winning gold at Tokyo Olympics 2020 and fulfilling legendary athlete Milkha Singh’s wish to see India bringing the biggest laurel back at the mega event in track and field event.The 24-year-old is in California, US, preparing for the 2022 World Athletics Championships, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. “It was an overwhelming experience of fulfiling the wish of legendary athlete Milkha Singh, who has inspired so many people of this country. He has made our country proud on so many occasions and it’s really important to remember him at such a big event,” said Neeraj Chopra while replying to ANI query during a virtual press conference.“It was his dream to see an Indian athlete winning gold at the Olympics. I remembered his words at that moment and I wished that he should have been with us to see his dream coming true,” he added.Milkha represented India at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, the 1960 Olympics in Rome, and the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. He was the first Indian athlete to claim a gold medal in the individual athletics category at the Commonwealth Games before the sprinter’s record was broken in 2010.Talking about the upcoming generation, Neeraj said that the children these days are looking forward to going ahead in the javelin after being inspired by him.“As an athlete, the year 2021 has […]

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India]: The Haryana Steelers played their hearts out, but they went down 38-40 against Jaipur Pink Panthers in Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 in Bengaluru on Saturday.Captain Vikash Kandola was Haryana’s best player with 14 raid points in the match. The Haryana Steelers carried out a fantastic tackle in the fourth minute and took a two-point lead at 4-2. Kandola pulled off a brilliant raid moments later and helped the Steelers take a four-point lead at 7-3.The Haryana side carried out an all-out in the next minute and extended their lead by 6 points. The Steelers pulled off a brilliant Super Tackle in the 15th minute and led at 17-12. The Jaipur Pink Panthers carried out an All Out in the last few minutes, however, the Steelers held on to their lead at 22-21 at the end of the first half.Both sides were neck-and-neck in the first four minutes of the second half as Haryana and Jaipur were locked at 26-26. The Panthers carried out an all-out in the 30th minute and led at 33-27.The Steelers tried to fight back with a brilliant tackle and a couple of raids, however, the Jaipur side kept forging forward. Rohit Gulia pulled off a fantastic Super Raid in the last few minutes of the match and reduced Jaipur’s lead, however, the Panthers held on to their lead and closed out the match at 40-38.

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India]: Haryana Steelers, who went down 39-42 to Patna Pirates on Thursday, will be up against Jaipur Pink Panthers in their next match of Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 in Bengaluru on Saturday.Jaipur Pink Panthers also lost their first match of the season. The Pink Panthers went down 27-34 to Gujarat Giants on Thursday. “The entire team played well yesterday and it was a close match. Both sides were neck-to-neck throughout the contest. Sometimes Patna Pirates were leading and sometimes we were leading. It was our first match and we made some small mistakes. We will work on those mistakes and make sure that we don’t repeat them in the next game,” said Haryana Steelers’ Captain Vikash Kandola in a statement.Kandola added that the side made a few errors in the latter part of the match against Patna, “I made a couple of mistakes while raiding yesterday and there were some mistakes made by the defence unit. We played well throughout the game and will continue with that momentum in the next games as well.However, the Captain expressed that the confidence is high in the team, “Our confidence is high at the moment. The Jaipur Pink Panthers are a good side, but we are also a good team. We will give our 100 per cent and try to win the match. All the players are great in the Jaipur side and we […]

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India]: The Haryana Steelers played out a close encounter against the Patna Pirates in their first match of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 in Bengaluru on Thursday.The Pirates attained momentum in the second half, however, the Steelers kept fighting to earn the lead before going down 39-42 in the match. Rohit Gulia was Haryana Steelers’ best player with 10 raid points in the game. The Haryana Steelers took the lead early on in the match, however, the Patna Pirates picked up a few points quickly and took the lead at 12-7 in the 11th minute. However, Rohit Gulia got the Steelers back into the match with a Super Raid in the 12th minute helping his team take the lead at 14-12. Moments later, the Haryana team carried out an All Out and extended their lead by 5 points at 18-13. The Steelers defence also backed up their raiders with some fantastic tackles as the teams went into the break with Haryana leading at 22-18.The Patna team got off to a strong start after the break as Monu Goyat carried out a couple of raids in the opening minutes of the second half. The Pirates carried out an All Out in the 26th minute to get back in the lead at 27-26. The Steelers tried to fight back, but the Pirates defence stood tall and kept extending the lead. In the 29th […]