India cueist Dhruv Sitwala won his maiden World Billiards title in Auckland on Saturday. The Mumbai-based billiards player defeated reigning world champion Peter Gilchrist of Singapore 537-438 in the two-hour final of the Auckland Open in New Zealand. Also Read: Anirban Lahiri slips to tied 12th The victory marks the first World Billiards ranking event honours of Sitwala’s career as he becomes the first player other than David Causier or Gilchrist to lift a ranking title in 2024.
16 September,2024 08:17 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentIndia’s Anirban Lahiri went 1-over 71 in the second round and slipped to tied 12th in the 2024 LIV Golf Individual Championship here. Lahiri carded two birdies but he also had three bogeys on the second day, and now he has a total of 2-under for 36 holes. Also Read: Unimpressive Indians blanked 0-4 by Swedes Lahiri began the tournament with a fine 3-under 67 that placed him inside the Top-5. He had four birdies against one bogey in the opening round. Jon Rahm entered this week’s regular-season finale with a slim points margin over Joaquin Niemann. The Legion XIII captain increased that advantage with a brilliant bogey-free 6-under 64 that now has him in position to claim two trophies after Sunday’s final round at Bolingbrook Golf Club. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
16 September,2024 08:15 AM IST | Chicago | PTIRamkumar Ramanathan and N Sriram Balaji could play well only in patches in the do-or-die doubles encounter and later Siddharth Vishwakarma lost on debut as India went down 0-4 to Sweden in the Davis Cup World Group I tie, here Sunday. After losing both the singles on Saturday, India needed to win the third rubber to stay alive in the tie but Ramkumar and Balaji went down 3-6, 4-6 against Andre Goransson and Filip Bergevi in one hour and 19 minutes to concede an unassailable 0-3 lead. India’s dismal record against Sweden in the Davis Cup continued as it was the team’s sixth defeat in as many ties. The reverse singles were rendered inconsequential and it gave captain Rohit Rajpal chance to test former national champion Siddharth, who lost 2-6, 2-6 to Elias Ymer. Also Read: Supersub Nkunku scores in Chelsea’s 1-0 victory It was India’s best chance to beat Sweden despite having a depleted squad but the players could not grab their opportunities. India will now compete next year in the Play-offs to keep place in World Group I. The Indian pair had its first chance in game three in the opening set on Goransson’s serve. Balaji and Ramkumar pocketed four straight points to earn a breakpoint but the home team averted the danger. Ramkumar was, however, broken in the next game and Bergevi held his own to zoom to a commanding 5-2 lead. Balaji served to stay in the set and managed to hold. The home team comfortably sealed the opening set with Bergevi holding at love. In the second set, Ramkumar had a fiery start, holding at love. Bergevi though surprisingly struggled with his first serve as he committed two double faults to be at 30-all. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
16 September,2024 08:13 AM IST | Stockholm | PTIDouble Olympic medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra on Sunday revealed that he took part in the Diamond League season finale here despite a fracture in his non-throwing left hand which he sustained during a training session. On Saturday, Chopra came agonisingly close to winning the Diamond League crown before missing it by a single centimetre to finish as runner-up for the second consecutive year with a throw of 87.86m here. The x-ray that shows a fracture on the fourth metacarpal in Neeraj Chopra’s left hand “On Monday, I injured myself in practice and x-rays showed that I had fractured the fourth metacarpal in my left hand. It was another painful challenge for me. But with the help of my team, I was able to participate in Brussels,” the 26-year-old said on his social media handle. Also Read: "They defend very well and can counter attack": Harmanpreet Singh ahead of Korea match Metacarpals, also known as palm bones, are the bones that lie between the fingers and the wrist in a human hand. There are five metacarpals in each hand, with each bone being associated with a specific finger. Lost to Anderson Peters Chopra, who throws with his right hand, was beaten for the gold by two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada who sent his spear to 87.87m in his first attempt. This was Chopra’s second consecutive Diamond League runner-up finish after winning the crown in 2022. He normally falls down with his left palm touching the ground in the follow through after releasing the spear. On Saturday, in all his six attempts, Chopra avoided falling down and touching the ground with his left palm. Struggling with groin injury The Haryana athlete had been struggling with his fitness this year and is expected to meet a doctor soon to rectify a groin injury that has affected him all season and came in the way of his quest to hit the elusive 90m mark. This hand injury is a new one and he did not elaborate much on it. This fracture may need a few months to heal. Chopra, who added a silver to his Olympic medal tally in Paris following a historic gold at the Tokyo Games, thus ended his season on a high. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
16 September,2024 08:07 AM IST | Brussels | PTIMaintaining a clean slate, favourites India will fancy their chances when they take on a below-par but unpredictable Korea in the semi-finals of the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) hockey tournament on Monday. Paris Olympics bronze medallist India have been in rollicking form in the tournament so far, registering five wins out of five league matches. Also Read: Imtiaz is 1st Pak woman to become international umpire The Harmanpreet Singh-led side started their campaign with a 3-0 win over hosts China and then trounced Japan and Malaysia 5-1 and 8-1 respectively. India then beat Korea 3-1 before eking out a narrow 2-1 win over arch-rivals Pakistan.It has been a commanding performance from the Indians as they excelled in every department—be it forwardline, midfield or defence. Harmanpreet warned his teammates against taking Korea lightly despite his side’s impressive run so far in this tournament. “We came into this tournament with very little rest or preparations after our Olympic campaign. Despite that, I am happy with how the team has done to progress into the semi-final stage. Korea is a tough team, they defend very well and can counter attack fast and skillfully,” said Harmanpreet. In the other semi-final of the day, Pakistan will take on hosts China. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
16 September,2024 08:03 AM IST | Hulunbuir (China) | PTIOscar Piastri delivered a cool performance on and off the track on Sunday after his measured drive to win a tense and dramatic Azerbaijan Grand Prix lifted McLaren past Red Bull in the race for the constructors’ championship. His win ended Red Bull’s more than two-year domination and confirmed that McLaren are now the team to beat having outscored all their rivals in the last seven races. Also Read: Pragyan Ojha urges Rohit Sharma to continue with Mumbai Indians ahead of IPL 2025 In a battle of attrition on the fast and technical 6km Baku street circuit, the 23-year-old Australian drove with control and aplomb to beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who started on pole for the fourth consecutive year. George Russell, profiting from a late crash involving Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, finished third for Mercedes. Perez had attempted to pass Leclerc before tangling with Sainz in a collision that left both drivers furious after hitting the wall on the penultimate lap. The crash damaged both cars, ending their involvement and triggering a Virtual Safety Car finish to the race. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
16 September,2024 07:40 AM IST | Baku (Azerbaijan) | AFPIndian driver Kush Maini on Sunday survived a horrifying crash after he stalled at the start of the feature race in Formula 2, a support race to Formula 1. The scary incident occurred on the opening lap of the Formula 2 race which preceded the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The 23-year-old Indian had nowhere to go at the race start as his car's engine stopped working suddenly. That left fellow drivers Josep Maria Marti and Oliver Goethe unsighted, leading to a massive collision. The crash at the start of Formula 2 that resulted in Kush Maini's DNF #F2 #AzerbaijanGPpic.twitter.com/nmMBqNqO0F — Desi Racing Co. (@DesiRacingco) September 15, 2024 The rear of Maini's car was totally destroyed by the impact of the crash and fortunately, he came out of it unscathed. Maini's father Gautam confirmed to PTI that his son is doing fine. "He is doing okay. As part of the standard protocol all medical check ups were conducted on Kush and all reports are normal," he said. Maini, representing Invicta Racing in his second Formula 2 season, is 11th in the standings. The race was won by Richard Verschoor of Trident. Also Read: First-ever Grand Prix win for Oscar Piastri Following the investigation of the incident, the stewards handed the Indian a 10-second time penalty for causing the collision. "After the race, the Stewards heard from the Team Representative and examined available video evidence before determining that the driver of Car 9 had failed to engage the Start Set Up Procedure for the start of the race, an error that led to the car stalling on the grid causing the subsequent collision. "The Stewards determined that because of this, Maini was wholly responsible for the collision and, as a result, elected to hand him a 10-second time penalty. With Maini not finishing the Feature Race, his time penalty has been converted into a five-place grid penalty," read a Formula 2 statement. Maini will serve the penalty in the next race. Safety has improved drastically in motorsport over the past two decades but the sport remains dangerous. Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert had succumbed to his injuries following an accident at the iconic Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium in 2019. The Frenchman was only 22. Jules Bianchi, who was only 25, had died following a collision with a recovery vehicle during the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix in 2014. The FIA had introduced Halo, a head protecting device, on all Formula 1 cars post the fatal accident. (With agency inputs)
15 September,2024 07:29 PM IST | Baku (Azerbaijan) | mid-day online correspondentMaintaining a clean slate, favourites India will fancy their chances when they take on a below-par but unpredictable Korea in the semifinals of the Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament on Monday. Paris Olympics bronze medallist India have been in rollicking form in the tournament so far, registering five wins out of five Asian Champions Trophy league matches. The Harmanpreet Singh-led side started their campaign with a 3-0 win over hosts China and then trounced Japan and Malaysia 5-1 and 8-1 respectively. India then beat Korea 3-1 before eking out a narrow 2-1 win over arch-rivals Pakistan. It has been a commanding performance from the Indians as they excelled in every department -- be it forwardline, midfield or defence. The most promising part of India's performance in the league stages has been the form of the strikers. Scoring field goals was a major concern in Paris but here the young forwardline comprising Sukhjeet Singh, Abhishek, Uttam Singh, Gurjot Singh, Araijeet Singh Hundal and others have exceeded expectations. Young midfielder Raj Kumar Pal, too, has shone bright, scoring some fine field goals. Besides, veteran Manpreet Singh, vice-captain Vivek Sagar Prasad and Nilakanta Sharma have excelled in the midfield. The Indian defence too has performed stoutly, conceding just four goals with goalkeepers Krishan Bahadur Pathak and Suraj Karkera not letting the team feel the void left by the retirement of the talismanic PR Sreejesh. Harmanpreet, one of the best drag-flickers in the world currently, has led from the front and has continued his good form of Paris, converting as many as five penalty corners. When India struggled for field goals, Harmanpreet stood up with his penalty corner conversions. Also Read: Chopra reveals he took part in Diamond League final with fracture in hand Harmanpreet also has an able understudy in young Jugraj Singh, who is right now the fastest dragflicker in the world. But a knockout game is a new beginning for any side and the Indians can ill afford to take Korea lightly as they can spring a surprise on their day, evidence of which was their last-gasp equaliser to draw 3-3 against Malaysia and keep their semifinal hopes alive. The Indian defence will also have to be cautious about not conceding too many penalty corners as in Jihun Yang, the tournament's leading scorer with seven goals, Korea possesses a potent drag-flicker. In the other semifinal of the day, Pakistan will take on hosts China. The final is scheduled for Tuesday. Harmanpreet warned his teammates against taking Korea lightly despite his side's impressive run so far in this tournament. "We came into this tournament with very little rest or preparations after our Olympic campaign. Despite that, I am happy with how the team has done to progress into the semifinal stage. "Korea is a tough team, they defend very well and can counter attack fast and skillfully," said Harmanpreet. Talking about the previous encounter against Pakistan, the ace drag-flicker said it was good the youngsters have shaken off the nerves of playing against Pakistan. "I think there was a bit of nerves in the match against Pakistan. After their goal, there was a bit of panic especially with some of the youngsters in the squad playing against them for the first time. "While the focus tomorrow will be on ourselves, it will be interesting to watch how Pakistan to do against China," he said. (With agency inputs)
15 September,2024 07:11 PM IST | Hulunbuir (China) | mid-day online correspondentDouble Olympic gold medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra on Sunday revealed that he took part in the Diamond League season finale here despite a fracture in his non-throwing left hand which he sustained during a training session. On Saturday, Chopra came agonisingly close to winning the Diamond League crown before missing it by a single centimeter to finish as runner-up for the second consecutive year with a throw of 87.86m here. "On Monday, I injured myself in practice and x-rays showed that I had fractured the fourth metacarpal in my left hand. It was another painful challenge for me. But with the help of my team, I was able to participate in Brussels," the 26-year-old said on his social media handle. Chopra, who throws with his right hand, was beaten for the gold by two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada who sent his spear to 87.87m in his first attempt. This was Chopra's second consecutive Diamond League runner-up finish after winning the crown in 2022. He normally falls down with his left palm touching the ground in the follow through after releasing the spear. On Saturday, in all his six attempts, Chopra avoided falling down and touching the ground with his left palm. The Haryana athlete had been struggling with his fitness this year and is expected to meet a doctor soon to rectify a groin injury that has affected him all season and came in the way of his quest to hit the elusive 90m mark. Also Read: Lausanne Diamond League: Neeraj Chopra finishes second with season’s best 89.49m This hand injury is a new one and he did not elaborate much on it. This fracture may need a few months to heal. Chopra, who added a silver to his Olympic medal tally in Paris following a historic gold at the Tokyo Games, thus ended his season on a high. But he admitted that he could not meet his own expectations in the season. "This was the last competition of the year, and I wanted to end my season on the track. While I couldn’t meet my own expectations, I feel this was a season in which I learned a lot. I am now determined to return, fully fit and ready to go," he said. Reflecting on his season, he said, "As the 2024 season ends, I look back on everything I’ve learned through the year - about improvement, setbacks, mentality and more. "I want to thank all of you for your encouragement. 2024 has made me a better athlete and person. See you in 2025." The Haryana athlete remained consistent throughout the season, though he won just one international event this season, the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland on June 18. He had made the Diamond League final cut after finishing fourth in the overall standings with 14 points from his two second-place finishes in DL one-day meets in Doha and Lausanne on May 10 and August 22 respectively. Next season's major event is the World Championships in Tokyo (September 13-21) where Chopra would aim to defend the gold he had won in 2023. He has already qualified for the World Championships after breaching the entry mark of 85.50m. The window for achieving the qualification standard is August 1, 2024 to August 24, 2025. (With agency inputs)
15 September,2024 05:12 PM IST | Brussels | mid-day online correspondentFrance crashed out of the Davis Cup on Friday when World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz beat Ugo Humbert 6-3, 6-3 in the second rubber in Valencia with a convincing display. Earlier, the defeat of Arthur Fils to Roberto Bautista 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 put France 0-1 down and Humbert was unable to revive the French against a solid Alcaraz in front of a home crowd. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
15 September,2024 09:16 AM IST | Paris | AFPN Sriram Balaji was easily tamed by Elias Ymer while Ramkumar Ramanathan lacked the killer instinct even against a lower-ranked Leo Borg as India were left trailing 0-2 against Sweden in the Davis Cup World Group I tie, here on Saturday. Balaji, who is a doubles specialist, found the going tough against Ymer, who raced to a 6-4, 6-2 win in the opening singles. Ramkumar, who is a seasoned Davis Cupper now, was expected to bring India back into the tie, but he lost to 603-ranked Borg, son of the legendary Bjorn Borg 3-6, 3-6, in the second singles at the Royal Tennis Hall. India were forced to field Balaji in singles as the country’s top singles player Sumit Nagal opted out of the tie due to a back injury. While Balaji did the job against Pakistan, playing someone of the calibre of Ymer was always going to be a tough task. The onus to win a point for India on the opening day was on Ramkumar. He should have won his singles match against the 21-year-old Borg, but he did not seem to have a way to go past the Swede. Also Read: 'Don't write us off': Bopanna Ramkumar’s challenge fell apart in just 58 minutes. India now need to win all the remaining three matches on Sunday if the team has to make it to next year’s Qualifiers. It remains to be seen if captain Rohit Rajpal goes with Balaji and Ramkumar in the do-or-die doubles, or changes the combination. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
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