Seasoned Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth entered the men’s singles semi-finals of the Malaysia Masters badminton tournament with a hard-fought three-game win over the higher-ranked Toma Junior Popov of France here on Friday. Close encounter Srikanth, currently ranked 65th, but a former World No. 1, fought tooth and nail against World No. 18 Popov before outwitting the Frenchman 24-22, 17-21, 22-20 in a fierce contest that lasted for one hour and 14 minutes. Srikanth made a quick start, racing to a 5-1 lead in the opening game before Toma clawed back to level at 7-7. However, Srikanth held his composure to edge past the Frenchman and pocket the first game. Toma came out stronger in the second, taking a 6-2 lead. Though Srikanth managed to catch up at 14-all, the 26-year-old Frenchman kept his nose ahead to take the match into a decider. The third game turned into a rollercoaster. Srikanth led 5-2 before Toma surged ahead to go into the interval with an 11-7 advantage. The Frenchman held a slender 16-14 lead before Srikanth turned the tide with a brutal smash to earn three match points. However, nerves crept in as the Indian squandered all three opportunities, sending the shuttle wide twice and then into the net. However, Toma failed to capitalise under pressure, committing two unforced errors as Srikanth sealed the match and raised his hands in triumph. Srikanth, a World Championships and Asian Games silver medallist, will take on Japan’s Yushi Tanaka next. It will be his first semi-final appearance in over a year. ‘It’s been a while coming’ “It’s been a while since I’ve won these many matches in a tournament. I hope I can continue to do so. I’ve always been trying to better myself and this win proves that whatever I’m doing is working,” said Srikanth, 32, who is now the lone surviving Indian in this BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament after the exit of the mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto in the quarter-finals on Friday. Kapila and Crasto gave the China’s top-seed Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin a tough fight in the first game, but then lost steam in the next to bow out 22-24, 13-21 in a 35-minute affair. 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
24 May,2025 08:53 AM IST | Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) | PTIDon Bosco beat St Stanislaus 2-1 in an exciting boys U-16 match of the St Peter’s hockey tournament at Bandra on Friday. Arnav Khot and S Samarth netted a goal each for the Bosco boys while Zidane Fernandes pulled one back for St Stanislaus. In a men’s open encounter, Indian Navy Blue beat Republicans Black 5-1. Yogesh Malik netted a hat-trick while Nitesh Jr and Prati Singh scored one goal each for Indian Navy. Rama Soankar scored for Republicans. In another match, Mumbai Port Authority (MPA) romped to a 9-2 win over Hockey Mira Road (HMR). Stephen Swamy netted four goals, including a hat-trick, while Atharva scored a brace for MPA. Deepak S and Satyam B Deepak Y completed the tally. Nilesh Mane and Brijendra scored for HMR.
24 May,2025 08:50 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentLewis Hamilton admitted on Thursday that time is no longer on Ferrari’s side this season, but hopes he can push on at the Monaco Grand Prix after a spirited fourth-place finish last weekend. After swapping Mercedes for Ferrari, the seven-time world champion has faced unprecedented scrutiny and pressure and is still seeking his first podium finish after seven races — a third-place finish in the Miami sprint race notwithstanding. He knows too that the team may soon abandon developing this year’s car and switch their attention to preparations for 2026 when new power unit regulations are to be introduced. After a promising display at last Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, where he beat teammate Charles Leclerc for the first time, Hamilton hopes that the upgrades on his car will bring it back to life in qualifying this weekend. “It’s getting late and we’re running out of time. But for me, it’s a foundation year, getting to grips with the team and helping make changes that are needed to navigate to long-term success. We need a faster car and I have all the faith and belief we can do it.” said Hamilton. Ferrari are currently in fourth place of the constructors’s standings with 114 points. Hamilton, meanwhile, has contributed 53 points to the Prancing Horse’s cause.Hamilton and Leclerc also suffered a disqualification in the Chinese Grand Prix for excessive plank wear and an underweight car, respectively. Double pit-stop to spice up Monaco race F1 has introduced a mandatory second pit-stop to this season’s Monaco Grand Prix in a bid to make a usually dull race more entertaining, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen admitting it could ‘spice things up.’ “It can be straightforward, or completely crazy because of safety cars coming into play or [teams] not making the right calls. I think it will spice it up probably a bit more,” Verstappen said on Thursday about the new rule. The change is designed to stop a repeat of last year, when a first-lap red flag, allowed everyone to make their one mandatory tire change. With overtaking all but impossible on the narrow track, the rest of the race was a procession. 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
24 May,2025 08:48 AM IST | Monaco | AFPIndia’s javelin star Neeraj Chopra will be looking to better his Doha Diamond League throw of 90.23m at the ORLEN Janusz Kusocinski Memorial meet here on Friday. Chopra will face a familiar foe in Germany’s Julian Weber, who beat him to the top prize in Doha. 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
23 May,2025 08:17 AM IST | Chorzow (Poland) | PTICarlos Alcaraz will begin his French Open title defence against Japan’s Kei Nishikori as Iga Swiatek faces a difficult route to a fourth successive Roland Garros title after a year-long trophy drought. Pressure on Sinner Jannik Sinner takes on home hope Arthur Rinderknech in the World No. 1’s first Grand Slam match since serving a three-month doping ban. Alcaraz and Sinner have combined to win each of the last five men’s Grand Slam titles and are the two chief contenders again in Paris. Novak Djokovic, who had not won a clay-court match this season before this week, starts his latest quest for a record-setting 25th major against American Mackenzie McDonald. Seeded sixth, Djokovic could have been drawn to meet either Alcaraz or Sinner in the quarter-finals, but Thursday’s draw spared him from that prospect. Instead, he could run into 2024 runner-up Alexander Zverev in the last eight before a potential semi-final against Sinner. Alcaraz is in the other half. Zverev opens against US teenager Learner Tien. Alcaraz could play Fabian Marozsan or Luca Nardi in the second round, with Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard a possible third-round opponent. Then could come Stefanos Tsitsipas or Ben Shelton followed by Casper Ruud in the quarters. Alcaraz high on confidence “The confidence is really high right now. I’ve been playing great matches, I’ve got great wins in this clay season. I’m excited,” Alcaraz said on Thursday. The 22-year-old has won in Monte Carlo and Rome this season. He also reached the final in Barcelona. Meanwhile, a struggling Iga Swiatek will need to rediscover her best form to retain the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen following a troubled past 12 months. The Pole, who has dropped to fifth in the world, is in the same quarter as last year’s finalist Jasmine Paolini, former champion Jelena Ostapenko and 2022 Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina. Swiatek plays Slovakian Rebecca Sramkova in the first round before a possible meeting with Britain’s Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open winner making just her second visit to Paris. Elina Svitolina, Belinda Bencic, Donna Vekic and Marta Kostyuk also feature alongside Swiatek in a loaded section. 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
23 May,2025 08:15 AM IST | Paris | AP | PTIWestern Railway (WR) beat Union Bank 2-1 in a keenly contested Women’s Seniors match of the St Peter’s hockey tournament in Bandra on Thursday. Anupa Barla netted both goals for the railway side while Sarita pulled one back for Union Bank. In a men’s open tie, Savio Hockey blanked India Rush 5-0. Karan Singh netted a brace while Pranay Bhosle, Bhavik Chandane and Mario Fernandes scored a goal each.
23 May,2025 08:12 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentFormer World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth as well as the mixed doubles pairing of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila entered the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Masters here on Thursday. Srikanth prevailed 23-21, 21-17 in a 59-minute showdown against Ireland’s World No. 33 Nhat Nguyen. Dhruv Kapila (left) and Tanisha Crasto during their win yesterday The Indian shuttler, whose world ranking has plummeted to 65 owing to a prolonged lean patch will face France’s Toma Popov in the last-eight stage. Meanwhile, Kapila and Crasto beat the French duo of Julien Maio and Lea Palermo 21-17, 18-21, 21-15. They are set to battle against the Chinese combination of Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin in the quarter-final. In the day’s other pre-quarterfinal matches involving Indian players, HS Prannoy suffered a 9-21, 18-21 defeat to Japan’s Yushi Tanaka. Ayush Shetty lost to France’s Toma Popov 13-21, 17-21 while Sathish Kumar Karunakaran went down to Christo Popov of France 14-21, 16-21. In the women’s doubles, Prerana Alvekar and Mrunmayee Deshpande lost to Hsu Yin-Hui and Lin Jhih Yun 9-21, 14-21. 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
23 May,2025 08:10 AM IST | Kuala Lumpur | PTIPakistan-based Olympic javelin champion Arshad Nadeem remained restrained when asked about his relationship with Neeraj Chopra, days after the latter clarified that the two athletes 'were never really close friends'. Speaking at a press conference in Lahore ahead of the upcoming Asian Athletics Championships, Nadeem addressed the media with caution. “I don't want to make any comments about Neeraj because of the ongoing conflict with India,” he said. “I come from a village, and I will only say that my family and I will always stand with our army.” "First, I would like to clarify that I don’t have a very strong relationship [with Nadeem], we were never really close friends or something. But, because of this [tensions at the India-Pakistan border], it will not be like before. But if someone talks to me respectfully I reciprocate the respect,” Chopra had earlier told reporters at a press conference. Chopra had extended an invitation to top global javelin athletes, including Nadeem, for the now-postponed Neeraj Chopra Classic, a World Athletics-approved event initially scheduled to be held in Bengaluru. However, the invitation drew criticism from certain Indian social media users in light of escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. The criticism intensified following a devastating terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which tragically claimed 26 lives, mostly tourists. Chopra later said that his bond with Nadeem would not remain the same, citing the worsening political climate with Pakistan. Meanwhile, Chopra achieved a personal best of 90.23 metres at the Doha Diamond League on May 16, finally breaching the elusive 90-metre barrier. The throw made Chopra only the 25th male javelin thrower in history to join the prestigious '90-metre club'. However, his record-setting effort earned him a second-place finish behind Germany’s Julian Weber, who claimed the top spot with a throw of 91.06 metres. Prior to this landmark performance, the 26-year-old’s personal best stood at 89.94 metres, achieved at the Stockholm Diamond League on June 30, 2022. Since then, the 90-metre mark had remained a tantalising target, with Chopra consistently producing world-class performances but falling just short of the iconic distance. That changed in Doha, where his powerful release and near-flawless technique propelled the javelin beyond the historic threshold.
22 May,2025 09:37 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentHe may not have coached him as closely as javelin super star Neeraj Chopra, but Shivpal Singh’s second doping offence has infuriated German bio-mechanics expert Klaus Bartonietz. Bartonietz, who shared a highly successful five-year partnership with Chopra during which the Indian collected a host of accolades, including a historic Olympic gold at Tokyo and a silver at the Paris Games last year, didn’t hide his anger at Shivpal’s second doping offence that could lead to an eight-year ban. “Disappointed? I don’t know. But I’m really pissed off. So stupid,” Bartonietz told PTI on Wednesday. “It shows that you don’t trust in this process. All those who are doping don’t trust that they can reach the top by normal nature of training. It makes me so angry. They carry the Indian flag proudly, saying Jai Hind, by cheating,” added Bartonietz. Shivpal, 29, who also competed at the Tokyo Olympics, tested positive for a banned substance in an out-of-competition test earlier this year. 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
22 May,2025 08:23 AM IST | New Delhi | PTIIndia’s male shuttlers, led by the experienced duo of HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth, were off to a brilliant start, but it was curtains for double Olympic-medallist PV Sindhu as she bowed out with a first-round loss at the Malaysia Masters badminton tournament on Wednesday. Prannoy and Srikanth were joined by Satish Karunakaran in the second round. Taking the court first, 2023 World Championships bronze medallist Prannoy stunned fifth seed Kenta Nishimoto of Japan 19-21 21-17 21-16 in one hour and 22 minutes. He will play Yushi Tanaka of Japan in the second round. HS Prannoy (left) and K Srikanth Karunakaran, who won the 2023 Odisha Masters and 2024 Guwahati Masters, also registered an upset by stunning third seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei 21-13 21-14 in just 39 minutes. Ayush Shetty, who had reached the semi-finals at the Taipei Open super 300, also progressed after getting past Brian Yang of Canada 20-22 21-10 21-8. Later, former World No. 1 Srikanth, a 2021 World Championships silver medallist, stunned a higher-ranked, sixth seeded Lu Guang Zu of China 23-21 13-21 21-11 in a 57-minute showdown to progress. World No. 16 Sindhu’s poor form, however, continued as she failed to get past the opening hurdle, losing 11-21, 21-14, 15-21 to 6 Nguyen Thuy Linh of Vietnam, who is ranked 10 places below at 26. 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
22 May,2025 08:20 AM IST | Kuala Lumpur | PTIIndian Navy Blue registered a 5-2 win over Mumbai Port Authority (MPA) in a men’s open match of the St Peter’s hockey tournament at Bandra on Tuesday. Rajat Minz netted a fine hat-trick while Bhavin Kuspa and Yogesh Milak scored one each for Navy. Stephen Swamy netted both goals for MPA. In another tie, Mumbai Customs drew with CTC Red. Moses Alexander scored for CTC while Moses Pullanthara made it 1-1.
22 May,2025 08:16 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentADVERTISEMENT
