Naomi Osaka will miss the remainder of the WTA tour due to a back injury. The Hong Kong Open, set to begin on October 28, announced on its social media channels on Monday that the four-time Grand Slam singles champion was not only withdrawing from the tournament but also ending her season early. The WTA also made the announcement on its website. 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 October,2024 06:30 AM IST | Hong Kong | AP | PTIIndian men’s hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh called the decision to exclude hockey from the 2026 Commonwealth Games an ‘unfortunate’ one and revealed that his side was eyeing the gold medal in the quadrennial tournament. Also Read: Gopichand ‘deeply appalled’ at decision to exclude badminton On the eve of taking on reigning world champions Germany in a bilateral series at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium here, Harmanpreet said: “I just got to know now. I’m also on the same page. We were targeting a gold medal in that tournament but unfortunate to hear this news now. It is not in our hands and we can’t think about it and at present, the two matches [against Germany] are important for us.” 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 October,2024 06:30 AM IST | New Delhi | IANSThe National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) and Olympic medallist shooter Gagan Narang have expressed their ‘disappointment’ on the shooting’s exclusion from the 2026 Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Glasgow. Shooting made its debut in the 1996 CWG and has been on the list since then except for 1970 and the last edition in Birmingham. Shooting has been one of India’s medal-taking sports in the Games. India have won 135 medals in shooting in the Games so far. The tally includes 63 gold, 44 silver and 28 bronze. “It is disappointing that shooting hasn’t been included in the CWG. This will be a very different Commonwealth Games with many popular Olympic sports not included in what will be a watered-down version of the Games,” the NRAI said in a statement. Also Read: Gopichand ‘deeply appalled’ at decision to exclude badminton The 2012 London Olympics bronze medallist shooter Narang said the decision would leave shooters disappointed, who were preparing for the quadrennial event. “I am certainly disappointed shooting is not part of CWG 2026 in Glasgow. Our sport has been out of CWG since 2018 and when Victoria was to host it, shooting was included and now it’s been removed. I can imagine the disappointment for shooters who were preparing for this event. I am also disappointed that few more disciplines which are medal prospects for India don’t figure in the list of disciplines for CWG 2026,” he wrote on X. 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 October,2024 06:30 AM IST | New Delhi | IANSThe legendary Pullela Gopichand and Vimal Kumar on Tuesday slammed the decision to exclude sports such as badminton from 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and urged the country to not send a team to the event as it is aimed at “stunting” India’s progress. In a blow to India’s medal prospects in the Commonwealth Games, key sports such as hockey, badminton, wrestling, cricket, table tennis and shooting have been dropped from the 2026 edition by host city Glasgow, which unveiled a pruned roster of 10 disciplines to keep the event budget-friendly and free of “operational risks.” But the roster has stunned the Indian sports fraternity with Gopichand and Vimal coming out with the strongest reactions. Gopichand, who is often credited with creating a pipeline of top badminton players by identifying them at a young age, described the move by the games’ organisers’ as appalling. “I am deeply appalled and disappointed by the decision to exclude badminton from the 2026 Commonwealth Games — a judgment that appears to be aimed at stunting the progress of nations like India,” the former All England champion said. Also Read: High marks in Class 10 doesn’t evoke delight for badminton player Naishaa Gopichand added, “Badminton has brought us immense pride and success, serving as a vital platform for our brightest talents to shine on the international stage. “This decision represents a significant lapse not just for Indian badminton, but for the sport worldwide, lacking clear reasoning and jeopardizing its growth.” “There is no need for CWG. In my opinion, they should do away with it. It is better to organise Olympics and Asian Games than CWG. It is pathetic, I am really disappointed. CWG is losing its charm, relevance, so I feel strongly we shouldn’t send out a team for CWG,” said ex-India coach Vimal. 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 October,2024 06:29 AM IST | New Delhi | PTIStar wrestler and Congress MLA Vinesh Phogat on Tuesday disagreed with Sakshi Malik’s view that her and Bajrang Punia’s decision to accept exemption from the Asian Games trials last year undermined their protest against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Olympic bronze-winning wrestler Sakshi, one of the three prominent faces of the prolonged protest against the former WFI chief, had claimed in her recent book that Vinesh and Bajrang’s decision made their movement seem “selfish.” Also Read: Paris Olympics 2024: CAS reasons that onus lies on Vinesh to remain below weight limit “That is her personal opinion. I don’t agree with that. Unless I am weak, the fight cannot be weak. This is my belief. Till the time Sakshi, Vinesh and Bajrang are alive, the fight cannot be weak,” Vinesh told PTI Video. “Those who want to win should never be weak. They should always choose to fight on the field. And we are ready for fight.” 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 October,2024 06:27 AM IST | New Delhi | PTIDhairya Vimal of Hiranandani Foundation School defeated Zoyeb Patel of Gyan Kendra Secondary School 7-4 in the tie-breaker to advance to the final of the MSSA boys U-16 inter-school lawn tennis tournament at Bombay Gymkhana on Tuesday. Dhairya lost both his games on serve, but recovered by converting two successive break points thereafter. With the best-of-five match tied at 2-2, the tie-breaker was employed. Here again, Dhairya lost a bit of his focus and went down 0-3 before fighting back to make it 4-4 and then going to win the match with his accurate placements. “I played well initially, but Zoyeb had a different plan and kept lobbing the ball. That was frustrating, but I kept calm and changed my movements a bit and that eventually got me the victory,” Dhairya told mid-day. Also Read: Chahat, Reya enter U-12 tennis final In the second semi-final, which was also won via tie-breaker, Aahaan Jain of BD Somani beat Shiv Garud of Cathedral and John Connon 7-2. After the match was tied 2-2, Aahaan took control of the tie-breaker and went into a 5-0 lead. Shiv did try to fight back and picked up a couple of points but it wasn’t enough to stop Aahaan from storming into the final with a neat backhand winner.
23 October,2024 06:26 AM IST | Mumbai | Rufus VedanayagamAhead of the India vs Germany bilateral series, Team India's head coach Craig Fulton expressed his views on the exclusion of hockey from the upcoming Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow. The games where India could have won medals such as cricket, field hockey, badminton and wrestling are dropped from the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2026. The marquee event is set to begin on July 23 to August 2, next year. The sporting event will return to the Scottish city after 12 years. The Commonwealth Games 2026 will be hosted across four venues such as Scotstoun Stadium, Tollcross International Swimming Centre, Emirates Arena, including the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, and the Scottish Event Campus (SEC). Also Read: IND vs NZ 2nd Test: Stalwart Virat Kohli eyes several records in Pune "I need time to think about that. It is what it is. Unfortunately, at the same time, I am thinking about today. What is going to happen tomorrow and the day after tomorrow that is further down the line," Fulton said in the press conference ahead of the bilateral series. Indian men's hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh shared his views on the sport's exclusion from the Commonwealth Games 2026. "I just got to know about it. But I think it was a target for us and this time our target was for a gold medal. This is not in our hands. At present, these two matches are important for us," Harmanpreet said. Field hockey's exclusion means the sport will be missing from the event for the first time since its CWG debut in 1998. With a total of six medals shared between men's and women's teams, including a gold, four silver and a bronze, India is the second-most successful field-hockey side in CWG behind Australia. India also has a stellar record in badminton, table tennis and squash at the CWG, having won 31 medals (including 10 gold), 28 medals (including 10 gold) and five medals (including a gold) in these games across all editions of the competitions in which they were played. Indian Men's Hockey Team will be in action against Germany at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi. The Paris 2024 bronze medalists India will face off against the Olympic Silver medallists on October 23-24. International hockey is returning to New Delhi after a decade with this event and several dignitaries, including former hockey stars, are expected to attend the event, including Harbinder and Zafar. The last time India played at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium was the Hockey World League Final - Men's Round 4, back in January 2014. (With ANI Inputs)
22 October,2024 10:16 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentStar wrestler and Congress MLA Vinesh Phogat on Tuesday disagreed with Sakshi Malik's view that her and Bajrang Punia's decision to accept exemption from the Asian Games trials last year undermined their protest against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Olympic bronze-winning wrestler Sakshi, one of the three prominent faces of the prolonged protest against the former WFI chief, had claimed in her recent book that Vinesh and Bajrang's decision made their movement seem "selfish". "That is her personal opinion. I don't agree with that. Unless I am weak, the fight cannot be weak. This is my belief. Till the time Sakshi, Vinesh and Bajrang are alive, the fight cannot be weak," Vinesh told PTI Video. "Those who want to win should never be weak. They should always choose to fight on the field. For that you will have to be tough and face the obstacles. And we are ready for fight." Also Read: David Warner willing to come out of retirement and play against India In her recently-released book 'Witness', Sakshi said their protest developed cracks when "people close to" Bajrang and Vinesh began to fill their minds with "greed". The trio had alleged that Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh sexually harassed women wrestlers during his tenure as WFI president. The case is still being heard in a Delhi court. The ad-hoc committee, that took over the administration of wrestling after WFI's suspension, exempted Bajrang and Vinesh from the 2023 Asian Games trials but Sakshi decided not to seek the favour as suggested by her colleagues. Eventually, Sakshi did not compete while Vinesh suffered an injury before the Games and Bajrang failed to win a medal in Hangzhou. Vinesh, who was elected from Julana constituency in the Haryana Assembly elections earlier this month, said their fight will continue "till we are alive". "When we were playing, the responsibility of crores of people of the country was on us. Today I am elected (as MLA) from Congress party ... even today the whole nation is looking at us," she said. "But we can assure you that the fight we fought on the streets and up to Olympics is for all daughters and sisters and for all women who know how to fight and want to fight. Farmers, youth and athletes are the foundation of our country. We will fight till we are alive." The protest, which went for months, ended after the wrestlers' march towards the new Parliament Building was halted by the Police on May 28, 2023. Both Vinesh and Bajrang joined the Congress party before the Haryana assembly elections earlier this month. The former contested and won from the Julana constituency, while the latter was made head of the party's national farmers' unit. Before the political plunge, Vinesh endured a heartbreaking sporting low when she was disqualified from the 50kg category final in Paris Olympics for being 100gm overweight. 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 October,2024 09:04 PM IST | New Delhi | PTIThe Puneri Paltan side have been one of the best units in the first week of the Season 11 of the PKL, and head coach BC Ramesh is understandably mighty delighted about that. The defending champions defeated the Haryana Steelers first, and then romped past the Patna Pirates in their second game. Speaking after the win against the Patna Pirates, BC Ramesh said, “The captain (Aslam Inamdar) played brilliantly and the whole team has worked very well. We had a particular plan, and we knew who were the important players for the Patna Pirates, and we planned accordingly. We were keen to pick up the bonus points from the very beginning and to maintain a strong defensive unit. And along with Aslam, there was Mohit Goyat and Pankaj Mohite played really well, along with the others.” Also Read: IND vs NZ 2nd Test: The fight for the slot? “I am very happy with how the team has been performing so far, and I don’t feel there is any weakness as of now, because all the players have taken responsibility, and someone or the other has always stepped up whenever required. We hope that the combinations continue work well and then we will be able to play even better in the coming games,” he added. One of the standout aspects for the Puneri Paltan side has been their defensive unit, and how well they have synced up with the raiders. Star raider Pankaj Mohite said, “Our defence has been a very tight unit and they have combined well to keep the opposition from getting points. Our coach told the raiders to go all out, because the defenders have been in good form, and the performances have helped the team do well.” The Puneri Paltan head BC Ramesh also touched upon how he sees the sport of Kabaddi progressing in the future. “For me, the PKL and Kabaddi is important, and I believe the sport will make a lot of progress, and sooner or later, it should reach the Olympics, and that will be huge. The sport of Kabaddi was not very famous earlier, but today thanks to Mashal Sports and the PKL, the players have become stars, and it is very nice to see that. Kabaddi is on the rise, and we will all work hard to ensure the sport keeps on growing,” he signed off. Preview for the matches on October 23rd: The first match of the day will see the Puneri Paltan, who are looking for their third consecutive win of the campaign, come up against the Tamil Thalaivas. Neither team have lost a game in the competition so far this season. After that, the Gujarat Giants will face U Mumba in the second game of the day. While the Gujarat Giants, who have former U Mumba raider Guman Singh in their side this season, started off on a winning note, the team from Mumbai, are still looking for their first points of the season. 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 October,2024 05:54 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentIn a body blow to India's medal prospects in the Commonwealth Games, key sports such as hockey, badminton, wrestling, cricket and shooting have been dropped from the 2026 Glasgow CWG, which unveiled a pruned roster of 10 disciplines to keep the event budget-friendly. Table tennis, squash, cricket, netball, and road racing have also been axed in a bid to limit the cost and streamline logistics given that only four venues will host the entire showpiece. The total number of events at the Games will be nine fewer compared to the 2022 Birmingham edition. The 23rd edition of the mega-event is scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 2, marking Glasgow's return as host after 12 years, following the 2014 edition. "The sports programme will include Athletics and Para Athletics (Track & Field), Swimming and Para Swimming, Artistic Gymnastics, Track Cycling and Para Track Cycling, Netball, Weightlifting and Para Powerlifting, Boxing, Judo, Bowls and Para Bowls, and 3x3 Basketball and 3x3 Wheelchair Basketball," the Commonwealth Games Federation said in a statement. "The Games will take place across four venues -- Scotstoun Stadium, Tollcross International Swimming Centre, Emirates Arena ¿ including the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, and the Scottish Event Campus (SEC). Athletes and support staff will be housed in hotel accommodation," it added. The roster is a massive setback to India's medal prospects given that bulk of the country's medals came from the removed disciplines in the past editions. Shooting was never expected to return after being dropped from the Birmingham programme four years ago, owing to logistics. While announcing the Glasgow schedule, the CGF said "Glasgow 2026 will feature a 10-sport programme concentrated across four venues within an eight-mile corridor". This ruled shooting out of the roster as the Barry Buddon centre in Dundee -- the venue during the 2014 CWG -- is more than 100km away from Glasgow. Glasgow Green and the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, which hosted hockey and wrestling in 2014, has been dropped from the list of venues, while Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, where badminton was held that year, will be used only for cycling this time. Aside from cost, hockey's exclusion could also be down to the fact that the Games are being organised close to the World Cup that is scheduled two weeks later from August 15 to 30 in Wavre, Belgium and Amstelveen, Netherlands. The Australian state of Victoria was the original host of the 2026 edition but pulled out last year due to rising costs. Scotland then stepped in to save the Games. Hockey's omission from the 2026 Glasgow CWG would be a significant blow for India. The men's team has won three silver and two bronze medals, while the women have also shone, clinching three medals, including a historic gold in the 2002 Games. Also Read: Paris Olympics 2024 cauldron could stay in city even after Games end In badminton, India has racked up an impressive 31 medals -- 10 gold, eight silver, and 13 bronze. Notably, the nation was to enter the 2026 edition as defending champions in men's and women's singles, as well as men's doubles. Shooting was a stronghold for India, with a staggering 135 medals to its name. The count included 63 gold, 44 silver, and 28 bronze. The wrestling competition has yielded 114 medals for the nation, including 49 gold, 39 silver, and 26 bronzes. After the cricket's reintroduction in 2022, the Indian women's team claimed a silver. Para-athletes have been a part of the Games since the 2002 Manchester edition and will continue to be there in the 2026 edition as well. "Para sport will once again be fully integrated as a key priority and point of difference for the Games, with six Para sports included on the sport programme," CGF said. The CGF said that the Games will deliver over 100 million pounds of "inward investment into the city" and is expected to support add an economic value of over 150 million pounds for the region. The body asserted that all this would be possible thanks to a model "that has been specially designed to not require public funding for the delivery of the Games." "The 2026 Games will be a bridge to the Commonwealth Games of tomorrow -- an exciting first step in our journey to reset and redefine the Games as a truly collaborative, flexible and sustainable model for the future that minimises costs, reduces the environmental footprint, and enhances social impact," Commonwealth Games Federation CEO Katie Sadleir stated in the press release. (With agency inputs)
22 October,2024 01:13 PM IST | London | mid-day online correspondentCharles Leclerc led Carlos Sainz home as Ferrari claimed a resounding one-two triumph in Sunday’s United States Grand Prix after Lando Norris was relegated to fourth, having finished third on track ahead of title rival Max Verstappen who took the third podium spot. McLaren’s Norris was penalised five seconds for gaining an advantage by leaving the track to pass Red Bull’s Max. For Leclerc, it was a first victory in the US, his third of the season and the eighth of his career while for Ferrari it was a first one-two in America since 2006. “It wasn’t an easy weekend up to now, I have been struggling with the car, but I had confidence in the race,” said Leclerc. “I am really happy with today, a 1-2 for the team, we couldn’t have dreamed for better.” 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 October,2024 07:48 AM IST | Austin | AFPADVERTISEMENT
