Category Archives: Sports

INTERNATIONAL: SPORTS / ARCHERY: Aditi Swami becomes Youngest ever Senior World Champion at 17, India Record best ever Haul of 03 Gold, 01 Bronze

In the individual final, Aditi was up against the Mexican giant-killer, the 16th seed who had knocked out reigning champion Sara Lopez in the pre-quarterfinals.

Aditi Swami on Saturday became the youngest-ever senior world champion at 17 years when she secured India’s first-ever individual title at the World Archery Championships with compound women’s gold here.

Later in the day, Ojas Deotale also became the world champion when he bagged the compound men’s title with a sheer perfect score of 150 as India recorded their best ever finish in the showpiece with four medals — three gold and one bronze.

A calm and composed Deotale, who hails from Nagpur in Maharashtra, defeated Lukasz Przybylski of Poland by one point in a thrilling finish en route to the men’s title. The Olympic discipline recurve archers on the other hand came a cropper, returning empty-handed. Incidentally, both Aditi and Deotale train at the same under academy in Satara under coach Pravin Sawant.

Hailing from Maharashtra’s drought-prone Satara, the teenager shot a near perfect score of 149 out of a possible 150 points to prevail over Andrea Becerra of Mexico by two points.

The class 12 student also became a double world champion in less than two months, having won the Under-18 title in Youth Championships in Limerick, Ireland on July 8.

She is now the first individual world champion in archery from India, across any discipline and gender.

Aditi along with Parneet Kaur and Jyothi Surekha Vennam had secured India’s first ever World Archery Championships gold by winning the compound women’s team final on Friday.

In the individual final, Aditi was up against the Mexican giant-killer, the 16th seed who had knocked out reigning champion Sara Lopez in the pre-quarterfinals.

But Andrea faced a tougher challenge against the Indian sixth seed who started off with a bang, drilling in all her first three arrows closer to the centre (X) to take a 30-29 first round lead.

Aditi was on target in all of her 12 arrows in the first four rounds to extend her lead by three points.

It was only in the final end, she shot one 9 out of the three arrows, but by then she had already sealed India’s second World Championship gold ever.

Aditi earlier defeated the Netherlands’ Sanne De Laat in a tense quarterfinal shoot-off and came up against her idol and senior teammate Jyothi Surekha Vennam in the semifinals, who was hoping upgrade to gold, having won bronze in 2019 and silver in 2021.

But she ousted her ‘idol’ and the most successful Indian compound archer Jyothi 149-145 in an all-Indian semifinal.

Aditi was simply unbeatable on a day where she dropped just four points, including scores of 149 in both her semifinal and final contests, shooting four consecutive ends of 30 in the final.

“Bas India ke pehla liye gold jitna tha, aur kuchh soch dimag mein nahin aaya (I was just focused on winning the first gold for the country),” Aditi told PTI.

“I knew she was very experienced and someone whom I grew up watching and idolising but I just kept my focus on my shooting, rest just fell in place.” “I am very proud, I wanted to hear the 52 seconds of the national anthem to be played at the World Championships.” “This is just the start. We have the Asian Games coming up, I want to win gold for the country and continue to win team gold for the country.” “It is really great that at 17 I could become the world champion. I want to thank all my supporters and everyone in India who helped me become the world champion.” Jyothi however went on to win a bronze medal when she shot a perfect 150 to defeat Ipek Tomruk of Turkey by four points in the third-place playoff.

“It’s not much of disappointment, though. Afterall, I could win a gold — in team event — this time,” Jythi, who now has one gold, four silver and three bronze medals from three editions of the World Archery Championships, said.

Later in the afternoon session, Deotale gave the icing on the cake by becoming the men’s compound world champion.

In an end-to-end shooting, both Deotale and his Polish rival were locked 90-all after three ends (nine arrows).

Deotale continued his perfect 10-hitting spree and made it 150 out of 150 as Przybylski crumbled under pressure and dropped a point to settle for the silver.

“It’s no fluke and a result of strong team work, focus on sports science and 100 per cent faith on our technical team,” Archery Association of India secretary general Pramod Chandurkar told PTI.

With Asian Games in two months’ time, this would give the sport a huge boost, he said.

“We are expecting at least four medals from the Asian Games. It’s a big moment for Indian archery.”

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.

source/content: telegraphindia.com / PTI (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: SPORT / SKATING / RECORDS: 18-year-Female Teen Super Skater, holder of several Guinness World Records Shrishti Dharmendra Sharma shatters ‘Limbo Speed Skating Record’

This isn’t the first time that Shrishti has broken a record. She has been doing so since 2015 when she was just 11 years old.

Shrishti Dharmendra Sharma, an 18-year-old super skater from India, has broken her own record for the ‘fastest time to limbo skate over 50 metres’. Shattering her previous record of 7.38 seconds in 2021, she has now achieved this feat in just 6.94 seconds.

Notably, in the sport, a person drives on roller skates underneath an obstacle like a horizontal pole without any form of touch.

According to Guinness World Records’ official website, Shrishti limbo skated under 51 horizontal bars which were placed just 30 cm or 12 inches above the ground – without touching or dislodging any of them.

Additionally, neither her hands nor arms were permitted to touch the floor at any point during the attempt, so she held her legs for the entire duration whilst maintaining the splits position,” it mentioned.

This isn’t the first time that Shrishti has broken a record. She has been doing so since 2015 when she was just 11 years old, noted the website.

As an avid campaigner for the ‘Save a Girl Child’ humanitarian project, she uses her record attempts to promote the organisation. “Every citizen of civilised society should be made aware of the fact that a girl child is as important as a boy child,” she said.

Notably, the first Guinness World Records title Shrishti achieved as an 11-year-old was the ‘lowest limbo skating over 25 metres’. She managed to successfully skate underneath 25 bars placed at a height of 17 cm. To date, no one has been able to break this record, Guinness World Records shared.

Later in 2017, Shrishti elevated the difficulty level and took her talents to an ice rink, achieving the record for the ‘lowest limbo ice skating over 10 metres’ at a height of 17.78 cm. This record, too, hasn’t been toppled to date.

“As Shrishti grew older in age, her body naturally grew bigger in size, meaning it became harder for her to set new records for low limbo skating. However, she didn’t let this stop her from breaking records, and in 2020, she turned her attention to limbo speed skating ,” the website mentioned.

The teen decided to attempt to break the record for the ‘fastest time to limbo skate under 10 bars’. “In 2020, Shrishti successfully broke the record, becoming the first person to break the 2-second barrier, with a time of 1.72 seconds. Amazingly, in 2021, she again broke her record with a time of 1.69 seconds,” it added.

With her latest record, Shrishti has cemented herself as the “queen of limbo skating”.

source/content: indianexpress.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: SPORT / CRICKET: India beats West Indies by 200 runs in 3rd ODI to Win series 2-1

In response to India’s massive total of 351, West Indies collapsed to 50 for six before being all out for 151 in 35.3 overs.

A clinical India outclassed West Indies by a whopping 200 runs in the third ODI to win the series 2-1 but the lingering questions on the team combination ahead of the World Cup remained in the horizon despite four half-centuries and a top notch bowling effort here on Tuesday, August 1, 2023.

Skipper Rohit Sharma and senior pro Virat Kohli once again opted out to give World Cup hopefuls a fair go but the dominant result isn’t a good enough indication that all boxes have been ticked as the team looks far from settled.

Shubman Gill, who has had a quiet Caribbean sojourn so far, finally found some rhythm with 85 off 92 balls and his opening stand of 143 with an in-form Ishan Kishan (77 off 64 balls) set the platform for a commanding score of 351 for 5 after being put into bat.

Sanju Samson (51 off 41 balls) made a compelling case to be picked as a reserve middle-order batter while skipper Hardik Pandya’s (52-ball-70 not out) five sixes and four boundaries added the finishing flourish on a good batting strip.

The chase was always out of question and Mukesh Kumar’s (3/30 in 7 overs) three-wicket burst with some quality seam bowling in the first Powerplay dashed West Indies’ hopes as they were shot out for 151 in only 35.3 overs.

Gudakesh Motie (39 not out) and Alzarri Joseph (26) delayed the inevitable with a 55-run stand for the ninth wicket.

Shardul Thakur (4/37 in 6.3 overs), Jaydev Unadkat (1/16 in 5 overs) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/25 in 8 overs) were also among the wickets as the series decider turned out to be a lopsided contest.

But there would be questions that will beg answers ahead of the upcoming Asia Cup and subsequent World Cup at home.

For Kishan, the performance in this series will keep him in good stead ahead of Asia Cup but the bigger question remains about his batting position in case KL Rahul isn’t fit for the tourney.

The chances of Rohit Sharma sacrificing his place at the top of the order to accommodate Kishan are slim.

And then if Kishan is asked to bat in the middle-order — No 4 or 5, would it be fair to ask him to perform at that slot straightaway? Samson, one of the contenders for the No. 4 slot in case Shreyas Iyer doesn’t get fit in time for the World Cup, gave a good glimpse of his talent and enthralled his millions of followers on social media.

His innings had four lusty sixes — three off leg-spinner Yannic Cariah, where he got his front-foot out of the way to hit some glorious inside-out shots.

But just as it has been Samson’s bane, he failed to convert his fourth half-century into a big one despite a whole lot of time at his disposal.

Suryakumar Yadav (35) did hit his customary pick-up shot — a six behind square with little width to manoeuvre and also a slashed six off Jayden Seals but once again wasted a golden opportunity to make a mark.

Hardik announced his arrival with a picturesque off-drive and a straight six off Cariah was equally eye-pleasing. Hardik and Suryakumar added 65 runs in 8.1 overs for the fifth wicket but the latter will only have himself to blame or not making most of the opportunities.

Not scoring a fifty against this West Indies attack can surely come back to haunt him in case both Rahul and Shreyas Iyer get fit.

Similarly in bowling department, not picking Yuzvendra Chahal for a single game was slightly baffling as now only nine matches (if they play Asia Cup final) are left before World Cup starts.

With Ravindra Jadeja picking himself as the first spinner, there is no way that Axar Patel can make it to the playing XI.

Similarly, Mukesh Kumar despite his performances at best could be in list of five stand-bys if Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur are picked in the squad of 15.

The fifth seamer has to be a left-armer with variation and Jaydev Unadkat, despite his serious limitations, is likely to be persisted with till the end of World Cup.

Brief scores:

India 351/5 in 50 overs (Ishan Kishan 77, Shubman Gill 85, Sanju Samson 51; Romario Shepherd 2/73).

West Indies 151 all out in 35.3 overs (Alick Athanaze 32; Mukesh Kumar 3/30, Shardul Thakur 4/37).

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: SPORTS / ARCHERY: Sangampreet Singh Bisla, Avneet Kaur clinch individual Gold Medals in Archery, World University Games, Chengdu, China

Bisla got the defeated South African Christian de Klerk 149-147; Avneet prevailed over U.S.A.’s Alyssa Sturgill 144-144 in shoot-off.

Sangampreet Singh Bisla and Avneet Kaur clinched the compound men and women individual gold medals to help India ensure an impressive haul of three gold, one silver and three bronze medals in archery competitions of the World University Games in Chengdu on Monday (July 31).

Bisla got the better of compatriot Aman Saini 147-147 (29-30, 30-30, 30-29, 29-29, 29-29, shoot-off 10*-10, shot closer to the centre) in a tense semifinal contest and raised the bar to defeat South African Christian de Klerk 149-147 (30-30, 29-30, 30-30, 30-28, 30-29) in the final to emerge as the champion.

Saini, who had earlier won a mixed team gold with Pragati and a men’s team bronze with Bisla and Rishabh Yadav, beat Frenchman Victor Bouleau 148-146 (30-29, 29-30, 29-29, 30-30, 30-28) to secure the bronze.

In the women’s competition, Avneet, who had a team silver with Pragati and Purvasha Shende, toppled top-seeded Korean Sua Cho 146-143 (29-27, 27-28, 30-30, 30-29, 30-29) in the last-four and prevailed over U.S.A.’s Alyssa Sturgill 144-144 (28-30, 29-28, 29-29, 29-28, 29-29, shoot-off 10-8) in the title clash.

India had also bagged a bronze medal in recurve women’s team event.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: SPORTS / TENNIS : Sumit Nagal Wins Tampere Challenger, Finland

Sumit Nagal beat Dalibor Svrcina of the Czech Republic 6-4, 7-5 in the final of the €73,000 Challenger tennis tournament in Tampere, Finland, on Sunday.

It was the second Challenger title of the season after the one in Rome, and the fourth Challenger title of his career for the 25-year-old Nagal.

After a hesitant start when he was down 1-4, Sumit reeled off nine games in a row to lead 6-4, 4-0. However, there was a tussle thereafter with the Czech asserting his fighting qualities on the clay court. Sumit by his own admission refocussed to pull through in straight sets.

The champion collected 75 ATP points and $9,880. The points are expected to catapult Sumit back into the top-200 rankings and help him get into the US Open qualifying event. Sumit had enjoyed a career best rank of 122 in 2020.

The runner-up pocketed 50 points and $5,820.

In the ATP event on grass in Newport, USA, Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni went down with guns blazing in the doubles semifinals against the top seeds Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow 7-6(2) 6-7(1), [9-11].

Yuki and Saketh collected 90 ATP points and $10,660.

In the $60,000 ITF women’s event in Evansville, USA, third seed Karman Kaur Thandi made the final with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Mccartney Kessler of the USA. She was scheduled to play the fourth seed Yuliia Starodubtseva of Ukraine in the final.

The results: $718,245 ATP, Newport, USA: Doubles: Semifinals: Nathaniel Lammons & Jackson Withrow (USA) bt Yuki Bhambri & Saketh Myneni 6-7(2), 7-6(1), [11-9].

€73,000 Challenger, Tampere, Finland: Final: Sumit Nagal bt Dalibor Svrcina (Cze) 6-4, 7-5.

$60,000 ITF women, Evansville, USA: Semifinals: Karman Kaur Thandi bt Mccartney Kessler (USA) 6-4, 7-5.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: SPORTS / PARA – ARCHERY: Rakesh Kumar and Sarita Adhana Script History, Become First-Ever Gold Medal Winners For India at Para-Archery World Championship

Rakesh Kumar and Sarita Adhana have a historic moment as they win gold medal in the mixed team compound archery event in the Para-Archery World Championship 2023.

They win by 152-146 against Brazil in the final. 

source/content: latestly.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL : SPORT / SHOOTING: 3rd ISSF Junior World Championships 2023, Changwon, Korea: Indian Shooters Win 17 Medals Tally, Ranking Overall at No.2 from 44 Countries Participating

As many as 90 Indian shooters are taking part in the junior shooting world championships in Changwon, South Korea. Know how many medals India has won.

The July 16-24 ISSF Junior World Championship 2023 are underway at Changwon Shooting Range, Republic of Korea. The junior shooting world championships, now in its third edition, will see 90 Indian shooters vie for medals in pistol, rifle and shotgun competitions in the under-21 age category. 

India’s contingent of 90 shooters for the 2023 junior world championships is the largest, followed by Korea’s squad of 66. The USA have 43 shooters in the competition.

Over 550 shooters from 44 countries are competing at the ISSF Junior World Championships 2023.

The 16-year-old shooter Darshna Rathore, an ISSF World Cup bronze medallist, is part of the Indian squad. She will compete in the women’s trap event.

India, with 43 medals including 17 golds, had topped the medals tally at the last junior world championships held in Lima, Peru, two years back.

Raiza Dhillon, Vinay Pratap Singh Chandrawat, Bakhtyaruddin Mohamadmuzahid Malek and Naamya Kapoor, who contributed to India’s success in Peru, are also competing at the Changwon meet.

ISSF Junior World Championships 2023: India’s medal winners

ShooterEventMedal
Shubham Bisla10m air pistol menGold
Sainyam10m air pistol womenGold
Abhinav Shaw and Gautami Bhanot10m air rifle mixed teamGold
Abhinav Shaw, Srikanth Dhanush and Parth Rakesh Mane10m air rifle men’s teamGold
Kamaljeet50m pistol menGold
Yashita Shokeen, Veerpal Kaur and Tiyana50m pistol women’s teamGold
Kamaljeet, Ankait Tomar and Sandeep Bishnoi50m pistol men’s teamGold
Shubham Bisla, Amit Sharma and Abhinav Choudhary10m air pistol men’s teamSilver
Uttam Sonam Maskar, Gautami Bhanot and Swati Chowdhury10m air rifle women’s teamSilver
Raiza DhillonWomen’s skeetSilver
Harmehar Singh Lally and Sanjana SoodMixed team skeetSilver
Sameer, Mahesh Anandakumar and Rajkanwar Singh Sandhu25m rapid fire pistol men’s teamSilver
Bakhtyaruddin Malek, Shardul Vihan and Arya Vansh TyagiTrap men teamSilver
Abhinav Chaudhary and Sainyam10m air pistol mixed teamBronze
Sainyam, Urva Chaudhary and Anjali Chaudhary10m air pistol women’s teamBronze
Umamahesh Maddineni10m air rifle menBronze
Unish Holinder, Randeep Singh and Akshay Kumar25m standard pistol men’s teamBronze
Yashita Shokeen, Prarthana Khanna and Tiyana25m standard pistol women’s teamBronze

source: olympics.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: SPORTS / SKEET : Harmehar Singh Lally & Sanjana Sood Win Silver in Skeet Mixed Team event at ‘ISSF Junior Worlds Championships’ Changwon,Korea

Harmehar and Sanjana had to endure a gruelling 52-shot shoot-off, which they won 26-24 eventually, enroute to the final, where they lost 38-43 to Italian duo of Andrea Galardini and Sara Bongini.

Indian pair of Harmehar Singh Lally and Sanjana Sood on Wednesday bagged a silver medal in the skeet mixed team event in the International Shooting Sport Federation Junior World Championships in Changwon, Korea.

Harmehar and Sanjana had to endure a gruelling 52-shot shoot-off, which they won 26-24 eventually, enroute to the final, where they lost 38-43 to Italian duo of Andrea Galardini and Sara Bongini.

Harmehar and Sanjana shot a combined 140 out of 150 in qualification, but found themselves tied for second place with American pair of Benjamin Keller and Jessi Griffin. The Italians had topped the 16-team field with a score of 141.

A shoot-off between the Indian and the American pair decided the other finalists to take on Italy.

In the shoot-off, the Indian and the American pairs did not miss a single target for the first 48-shots.

As the Indians nailed their 25th and 26th double, the Americans finally missed to settle for a bronze medal.

In the final, Harmehar and Sanjana faced hiccups from the start, missing five of their first 16 targets against the Italian’s two.

Overall, both Harmehar and Sanjana missed five of their 24 targets each in the final, whereas the Italians missed five overall to coast to victory.

In the men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions (3P) event, Sartaj Singh Tiwana grabbed the final eighth qualifying spot with a tally of 584, but finished fourth eventually to miss out on a medal.

Sartaj was 0.5 ahead of his Chinese opponent Ye Yishun before the 43rd of the 45-shot final, but an 8.9 to Ye’s 10.2, meant that he fell short by 0.8. Romain Aufrere of France won gold, his second of the championship.

Among other Indians in men’s 3P, Shivam Dabas shot 580 for a 15th place finish, Parikshit Singh Brar fired 579 for the 20th spot, Ramanya Tomer 576 for 27th, Harsh Singla 571 for 41st and Vedant Waghmare shot 571 to finish in 45th overall.

In the women’s 25m pistol as well, Payal Khatri was the only Indian to make it to the final with a score of 578. She too finished fourth with 22-hits as China’s Zuo Qingyi won the gold medal with 34-hits to her name.

Hosts Korea and USA were second and third respectively. Among other Indians Simranpreet Kaur Brar (574) was 15th, Naamya Kapoor (571) 20th, Divyanshi (571) 21st and Meghna Sadula (570) finished 22nd. Tejaswini shot 563 to finish 29th.

China extended the gap with India at the top of the medal standings by picking up two more gold medals on day four of the event.

India have so far won four gold, four silver and three bronze medals in the championship.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: ASIA REGION: Indian Boys’ Teams finish with Bronze Medal in TT at the 27th Asian Youth 2023

The two teams failed to cross the semifinal hurdles and ended up with the bronze medals from the outing, a qualification event for the World Youth Championships in Slovenia in December.

India’s U-15 and U-19 boys’ squads defeated Singapore and Hong Kong in the quarterfinals before settling for bronze medals at the 27th Asian Youth 2023 here.

The two teams failed to cross the semifinal hurdles and ended up with the bronze medals from the outing, a qualification event for the World Youth Championships in Slovenia in December.

The U-15 girls lost in the quarterfinals 0-3 to Japan, but the U-19 girls managed to take a game off Japan before bowing out 1-3.

In the Under-15 category, PB Abhinand beat Le Ellsworth of Singapore 11-9, 11-5, 11-7 to set the ball in motion.

Priyanuj Bhattacharyya dropped a game against Xing Yao before overpowering to win 11-8, 9-11, 11-5, 12-10, and the two Indians struggled against the pair of Irle Eles and Zhou Jinghe but won 11-8, 11-5, 7-11, 6-11, 11-7. In the semi-final on Wednesday, they went down 0-3 to China.

As for the U-19 boys, the Indians had a tough time against Hong Kong, with their quarterfinal going down to the last rubber in which Jash Modi turned the tables against Yiu Kwan to win 6-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8, 11-2.

Modi, who lost his opening tie to Chan Baldwin Ho Wah 8-11, 5-11, 5-11, lost the first two games to Yiu before pulling up his socks to outwit him and put India in the semi-final.

Earlier, Ankur Bhattacharjee beat Yiu 11-8, 11-8. 11-7 before Divyansh Srivastava defeated Li Hon Man 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 12-10 to seal the fate of Hong Kong players.

Like their juniors, the U-16 boys met championship favourites China in the semi-final and lost 0-3.

In position matches, the Under-19 girls finished seventh after beating Iran 3-0.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: SPORTS / WRESTLING: Sangeeta Phogat Wins Bronze Medal At Hungary Ranking Series Wrestling Tournament

Sangeeta Phogat lost her semifinal but won the bronze play-off 6-2 against young Hungarian Viktoria Borsos, the U-20 World Championship silver medallist.

Sangeeta Phogat, one of the six wrestlers who protested against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh at Jantar Mantar, on Saturday won a bronze medal in the non-Olympic 59kg category that featured six grapplers at the Hungary Ranking Series tournament. Sangeeta began with a crushing defeat by fall but bounced back with a win in her second bout. She lost her semifinal but won the bronze play-off 6-2 against young Hungarian Viktoria Borsos, the U-20 World Championship silver medallist. Sangeeta, who won the National Championship in the 62kg last year, began with a defeat by fall against American Jennifer Page Rogers.

The contest lasted just 80 seconds with the American pulling away with a right leg attack that led to a take-down and multiple rolls. Eventually, the American got herself in a position to pin Sangeeta.

In her next bout against America’s Brenda Olivia Reyna, the Indian managed to shake off rust and was quick with her movement. She went into the break with a 4-2 lead and kept consolidating to finally win the bout by technical superiority.

One win and one defeat in six-wrestler draw put her in the semifinal against Poland’s Magdalena Urszula Glodek.

Sangeeta initiated double-leg attacks but lacked power to convert those moves into points. Still she led twice, first 2-0 and then 4-2m but Glodek’s counter-attacking moves were good enough to race to a close 6-4 win.

In the bronze play-off against local favourite Borsos, Sangeeta took the lead with a take-down move. The Hungarian fought back to make it 2-2 but Sangeeta soon launched a fast and furious attack.

Borsos put up a good defence but Sangeeta breached it for a 4-2 lead.

In the second period, Sangeeta did not lose a single point and added two to her kitty to take the bronze medal.

source/content: sports.ndtv.com (headline edited)