Unnati Hooda shines in national junior badminton selection trials
RAIPUR: Unnati Hooda, the youngest shuttler to win a BWF Super 100 event at Odisha Open this year, topped the National junior selection trials which concluded on Monday.
The Haryana-born shuttler defeated Rakshitha Sree and Anupama Upadhyaya in the play-offs to decide the top three positions.
Hooda, 14, registered a 10-21, 21-17, 21-14 win over Anupama and beat Sree 18-21, 21-18, 23-21 in another match.
New junior World No.1 Sankar wants to make it big at senior level
HYDERABAD: A week after Indian shuttlers dominated the Commonwealth Games, there is a new junior world No.1 from another part of India in Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian. The Chennai lad became the new World No.1 in the boys singles category according to the latest rankings released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Tuesday.
Sankar is the first shuttler from Tamil Nadu to achieve this feat and fourth Indian boy after Aditya Joshi (Madhya Pradesh) in 2014, Siril Verma of Telangana in 2016 and Lakshya Sen from Uttarakhand in 2017. Among them only Lakshya Sen went on to make it big in the senior circuit..
Sankar benefited from BWF’s decision to defreeze the ranking points this August. Ranking points were frozen after the All England Championships in March 2020 due to the pandemic situation.
World No. 1 Pramod Bhagat and World No. 4 Sukant Kadam have reached the semifinals of the men's doubles SL 3 - SL 4 event and have also reached the quarterfinals in singles.
According to information received here, in singles, Pramod Bhagat secured his quarterfinals birth with an easy win over Ukraine's Oleksandr Chyrkov with a straight set win. He will be facing France's Mathieu Thomas in the quarter finals. The score line read 24-22 and 21-15 and the match lasted for 37 minutes.
In the men's doubles, Pramod and Sukant defeated Thailand's Mongkhon Bunsun and Siripong Teamarrom in straight sets with the score line of 21-17 and 22-20, the also defeated France's Faustine Noel and Lucas Mazur in straight sets to secure their semifinals spot.
The match ended in 24 minutes with the score line of 21-7 and 21 -15. Pramod Bhagat and Manisha Ramadass also won his mixed doubles match against Korea's Shin Kyung Hwan and Joo Dongjae in straight sets with the score line of 21-16 and 21- 19.
Sukant defeated his German counterpart Tim Haller in straight sets to fix his place in the quarterfinals. He won the game in straight sets with the score line of 21-13 and 21-12. Sukant will be facing France's Guillaume Gailly in the quarterfinals.
The second stop on Serena Williams’ farewell tour was a short one.The 40-year-old Williams fell to 0-2 in matches since announcing “the countdown has begun” on her career, losing 6-4, 6-0 to U.S Open champion Emma Raducanu in the Western & Southern Open on Tuesday night.
After failed attempt to buy Chelsea, billionaire Jim Ratcliffe interested in buying Manchester United: Reports
As per multiple reports, British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, a long-standing Manchester United fan, is interested in buying the club if the owners, the American Glazer family, are willing to sell.
This is the second time in few months when Ratcliffe, head of chemical company INEOS, had shown interest in buying a Premier League club. He had previously wanted to purchase Chelsea from Roman Abramovich.
In May 2022, Chelsea Football Club was sold to a consortium led by an investment group led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital for $3.2 billion (2.5 billion pounds).
“If the club is for sale, Jim is definitely a potential buyer,” a spokesperson for Ratcliffe told the Times. “If something like this was possible, we would be interested in talking with a view to long-term ownership.”
The club’s owners, the American Glazer family, are under pressure with United sitting bottom of the Premier League after two games of the season.
Bloomberg reported they would consider selling a minority stake, opening the door for Ratcliffe.
It is unclear if the interest would result in any deals. The Glazer family is not ready to concede the controlling stake in Manchester United and has an expectation of valuing the club at more than double its current market cap of $2.2 billion, another source said.
The Glazers have been the target of intense criticism for their failure to invest in the team who have not won a trophy in five years. United’s net debt had grown 11% to about 496 million pounds ($598 million) by the end of March.
The owners have also been criticised for not improving the Old Trafford stadium, the biggest club ground in the country with a capacity of around 75,000 fans.
United finished sixth last season in their worst Premier League campaign with respect to points earned, failing to qualify for the lucrative European Champions League.
They won the last of their record 20 top-flight league titles in 2013, the year Alex Ferguson stepped down as manager after more than 26 years in charge.
The club hired manager Erik ten Hag from Ajax Amsterdam in a bid to turn around their fortunes but the Dutchman has not yet succeeded in imposing his playing style, with United losing their opening two games after conceding six goals.
United play their arch-rivals Liverpool, who scored nine times without reply in their two league meetings last season, at Old Trafford on Monday.
Odisha FC rode on a first-half brace by Jerry Mawihmingthanga to demolish NorthEast United FC 6-0 in their Durand Cup opener on Wednesday. Jerry opened the scoring in the 15th minute, producing a fine finish to a well worked out team move.
Eleven minutes later goalkeeper Lalthuammawia Ralte got into the act with an accurate throw-out across the field to find Nandhakumar Sekar on the left. The Salem-based player showed a bit of trickery to take out two defenders before nailing a shot in the top corner. Jerry got his second (37′), getting at the end of a Raynier, Pedro, Nadha move to put the game at rest.
In what turned out to be a clinical performance in the end, Josep Gombau’s side produced a late dazzle in the second half to complete the rout. Gombau brought out his substitutes and all three responded with goals.
Isak scored with a brilliant header off a Nandha corner in the 81st minute, and then, Diego Muricio found the net with a wonderful free-kick (87′).
The Imphal derby between Neroca FC (NFC) and TRAU FC (TFC) and the highly anticipated Durand Cup debut of Mumbai City FC (MCFC) will highlight Day 3 of the Durand Cup football tournament which is currently ongoing in the three cities of Kolkata, Guwahati and Imphal. This is also the first time that a Durand Cup game will be played in the state of Manipur which is considered to be a powerhouse of Indian football.
Under the tutelage of Des Buckingham, the “Big Boys” of Mumbai City FC are up against an Indian Navy football team in a Group B game at the VYBK. In an otherwise David versus Goliath contest, the Indian Navy side looks in a good position with a blend of talented and experienced players.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in Asia and one of the Durand cup favorites. Many big names in their squad.” The team’s confidence and quality came to the fore when he added, “We have analysed their last year ISL & AFC matches. According to that we have some plan. Looking for three points nothing less than that,” said Navy men’s coach VS Abhilash.
Abhilash’s reference to big names was not limited to Indians like Bipin Singh, Rahul Bheke, Rowlin Borges, Vikram Pratap Singh, Mandar Rao Desai and Lallianzuala Changte. It also included some of the foreign Big Guns like Soctsman Gary Stewart, Senegalese Mourtada Fall, Moroccan Ahmed Jahouh along with newcomers like Jorge Pereyra-Diaz and Rostyn John Griffiths from the A-league.
On the contrary, the sailors will be relying on the leadership of Dalraj Singh from deep defence, the sharpness of their Kerala centre-forward Sreyas VG upfront, the wing-play of Pintu Mahata and P.M. Britto. All these players have been performing exceptionally well in the top Indian leagues for quite some time now.
In his pre-match chat, Buckingham spoke about the importance of having a good start and said, “We’ve just had three weeks of a preparatory camp in Dubai before we’ve come here because we wanted to prepare as well as we can firstly for this tournament, and then secondly, for the ISL. But, I won’t disrespect this tournament and say we’re using it as a preparation for ISL because it is the oldest competition in Asia and it’s our first time competing. So of course, we want to try and do as well as we can. We must make sure that we get off to a good start and that’s making sure we only look at the first game within the group.”
“For me as a coach, for us as a playing group and as a club, we want to continue where we left off in the AFC Champions League last season, which is continuing to build our brand of football, continuing to give players opportunities to showcase what they can do, whether it’s on the Asian stage or here at the Durand Cup or whether it’s in preparation for the ISL. So for me, of course, it’s going to be our first competitive game against the Indian Navy, but it’s very much important that we try and pick up where we left off at the back end of last season,” he added.
Sunil Chhetri and Roy Krishna scored a goal each as a 10-man Bengaluru FC overcame some anxious second-half moments to down Jamshedpur FC 2-1 in the Durand Cup on Wednesday.
Eyeing the elusive Durand Cup title, the former I-League and Indian Super League champions began on a positive note with Chhetri finding the net in the 23rd minute from a Prabir Das corner. The much-anticipated pairing of Chhetri and Krishna then got going together to make it 2-0 with the former ATK Mohun Bagan star marksman opening his account in the 56th minute.
Having started from the bench, the marquee Fijian recruit scored just 11 minutes after coming on to the pitch, as he worked in tandem with talismanic skipper Chhetri.
Anticipating Krishna behind him, Chhetri made a perfect run into the Jamshedpur FC box, providing an inch-perfect backheel to the Fijian to do the needful and give them a 2-0 cushion inside the hour-mark. But the Blues were in for some jittery moments after their skipper left the field.
Bengaluru’s signing from East Bengal, Hira Mondal, who was already on a yellow card, once again caught the eyes of referee Rahul Kumar Gupta to get a second booking as Bengaluru was reduced to 10 players in the 59th minute.The Red Miners were quick to cash in on their numerical advantage to earn a free kick, resulting in their first goal of the Durand Cup.
Rishi utilized Phijam Vikash Singh’s freekick from the right to pull one back as they slowly started to build pressure on Bengaluru.
Under new coach Simon Grayson, Bengaluru FC bolstered their defense with five men at the back to hold off Jamshedpur FC’s late surge, as they looked most threatening from setpieces. Credit should also be given to their seasoned goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh who stood tall under the bar. With four minutes left on the clock, he palmed away a Rishi corner.
The suspended World Cup qualifying game between Brazil and Argentina will not be played, the two countries’ governing soccer bodies said after reaching a deal with FIFA to cancel the match.
Both teams agreed to pay a fine for not playing the qualifier, which was stopped shortly after kickoff last September when Brazilian health officials entered the field saying four Argentina players had broken COVID-19 protocols. FIFA had wanted the match to be played next month, even though it had been rendered essentially meaningless after both Brazil and Argentina qualified for the World Cup in Qatar despite playing a game less than other South American countries.
FIFA initially fined the soccer bodies of both countries and demanded the match be played. Brazil’s confederation and Argentina’s federation took the case to the Court for Arbitration of Sport, where all three parties agreed to the deal to cancel the game.
Brazil coach Tite and his Argentina counterpart Lionel Scaloni had argued that the risks of injuries and suspensions were too high for the game to be played ahead of the tournament in Qatar. The decision leaves both teams free to schedule September friendlies against different opponents instead.
In Qatar, Brazil is in Group G with Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon. Argentina is in Group C with Mexico, Poland and Saudi Arabia.
For Gokulam Kerala, the anxious wait goes on. India’s champion women’s football team was originally supposed to be on a short flight to Qarshi from Tashkent in Uzbekistan and continue their preparation for their maiden Asian Women’s Club Championship campaign. Instead, they were forced to stay back in the Uzbek capital – the only team left behind- after being barred from competing in the championship as FIFA had suspended the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for third-party interference.
Kerala Blasters FC, the men’s team who were in Dubai to play three pre-season matches, were also hit. They issued a statement that their games have been cancelled. Gokulam Kerala also issued a statement on twitter, a letter addressed to the prime minister. “… Our Prime Minister’s dream is to make India a super power and become No.1 in the world. In a small way our club is spearheading the effort to bring women football in India … hence we again humbly request your good offices to intervene.
Gokulam’s hopes rested on the outcome of the Supreme Court hearing on Wednesday morning. However, the apex court adjourned the case until Monday, August 22, after the government said they, along with the Committee of Administrators, held a meeting with FIFA on Tuesday and there was ‘some breaking of ice’.
This, however, meant that India’s suspension would remain in force when the Asian Women’s Club Championship begins on August 20. And as a consequence, Gokulam’s participation remains up in the air after FIFA wrote to all its member associations, reminding them not to enter any ‘sporting contact with AIFF’ and its teams while it is suspended.
Desperate for a solution, the Gokulam Kerala team management reached out to the sports ministry on Wednesday afternoon, seeking their intervention. The ministry had already swung into action and had sent a letter to the Asian Football Confederation, requesting them to grant an exemption to Gokulam Kerala and allow them to compete in the Championship.
“Our request is that in the interest of the young women athletes who have already reached Uzbekistan from India before FIFA’s decision for suspension of AIFF was communicated, Sree Gokulam Kerala FC team may be permitted to take part in the AFC Women’s Club Championship 2022,” director, sports ministry, SPS Toman wrote in his letter.
The AFC has now offered the team an extension of 48 hours in Tashkent instead of asking them to return immediately. However, unless FIFA lifts its suspension or grants a special exemption, the uncertainty over their participation still persists.