Sports

AUCKLAND: Former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka moved into her first WTA semifinal in nearly three years after a 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-2 quarterfinal victory over Hailey Baptiste at the ASB Classic on Friday.

SYDNEY: Former Australian Test opener Simon Katich has backed Beau Webster's selection for the fifth test at the SCG and said the allrounder deserved the opportunity as he has come on the back of lots of runs and wickets at the Shield level.

SYDNEY: Top-order batters KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill were taken out cheaply as Australia exerted its control to leave India at 57/3 in 25 overs at lunch on day one of fifth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday.

CAPE TOWN: South Africa has become the first team to secure their spot in the final of the ICC World Test Championship 2025 after their victory in the first Test against Pakistan. Their entry into the final has been greeted with criticism from some quarters. Questions have been raised about their path to the final. It was pointed out that South Africa played the fewest matches of any team in the competition (12) and had not faced heavyweights like Australia and England during the current cycle.

NEW DELHI: Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday congratulated the athletes who were named for the National Sports Awards for 2024. Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker, World Chess champion Gukesh D, Indian men's hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh, and Paris Paralympics gold medallist Praveen Kumar were awarded the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.

NEW DELHI: Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson has heaped praise on Sam Konstas for his electrifying debut in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy series while also voicing his support for Indian cricket stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma ahead of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy.

MUMBAI: The Sports Ministry made some more course corrections and awarded the Arjuna Award (Lifetime) to para-swimmer Murlikant Rajaram Petkar, India's first gold medallist in the Paralympic Games, conferring on him the prestigious award 52 years after he made history for the country in Heidelberg, Germany.

NEW DELHI: World Chess champion Gukesh D and Paris Olympics and Paralympics medallists - Manu Bhaker (shooting), Harmanpreet Singh (hockey) and Praveen Kumar (para-athlete) are to be conferred with Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2024 by President of India Droupadi Murmu at a specially organised function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 17, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced on Thursday.

NEW DELHI: Amid a lot of chatter over Indian skipper Rohit Sharma's place in the team following his poor run of form, former India cricketer Madan Lal said that team management and coach can sit down and sort such things out and asserted that its the skipper's call to decide whether he wants to play or not.

NEW DELHI: Former India fast bowler Madan Lal voiced his disappointment over reports of leaked discussions from the Indian dressing room, which hinted at a rift within the team. He questioned how such internal matters were disclosed and stated that if these rumours were true, it would reflect poorly on the team.

SYDNEY: Australia captain Pat Cummins indicated that he might miss the Sri Lanka Tests later this month due to the birth of his second child.

NEW DELHI: Former Australia captain Allan Border believes young opener Sam Konstas has all the attributes to be a long-term player for the national side and equated his flurry of breathtaking shots against Jasprit Bumrah in Melbourne to how Ian Botham used to unleash his strokes over the hosts’ bowlers.

NEW DELHI: Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir's childhood coach Sanjay Bhardwaj said there is no rift in the Indian camp.

COIMBATORE: The Division 2 stage of the 11th Yuva Kabaddi Series concluded in spectacular fashion at the Karpagam Academy of Higher Education in Coimbatore, marking a thrilling start to the new year. The grand finale between UP Falcons and Chandigarh Chargers was a nail-biting affair, with the Falcons emerging victorious by a single point in a dramatic 33-32 finish.

SYDNEY: India head coach Gautam Gambhir did not confirm Rohit Sharma's selection for the final Border-Gavaskar Trophy series Test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground and said under fire skipper's place in the playing XI will be decided after having a look at the pitch on match day.

BRENTFORD: Arsenal manager Milel Arteta hailed the impact of the 17-year-old winger Ethan Nwaneri, who made his full Premier League debut in Arsenal's come from behind 3-1 win over Brentford at Gtech Community Stadium.

SYDNEY: Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has been dropped for the New Year’s clash against India, with Beau Webster making a debut in the fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, starting on Friday.

AMRITSAR: Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sahni, while specially honoring the medal winners in the All India Inter University Games Watan Punjab Khelo India Inter College Senior National Punjab State, said that the district administration is always ready to help you.

LOS ANGELES: LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to play both as a teenager and past the age of 40 as Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers 110-122 at the Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI: Indian chess prodigy R Vaishali scripted a memorable finish to 2024, clinching a bronze medal in the women’s section of the World Blitz Championship on Wednesday.

BRISBANE: Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic’s doubles run at the Brisbane International came to an end in dramatic fashion as the pair fell to top seeds Nikola Mektic and Michael Venus in a tense tiebreak on Wednesday.

SYDNEY: Australian legend Glenn McGrath believes that Mitchell Starc would leave no stone unturned to be match-fit for the crucial New Year’s Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), starting on January 3.

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COIMBATORE: The Division 2 of the Yuva Kabaddi Series is heading toward a conclusion as UP Falcons solidified their position at the top and secured a spot in the final against Chandigarh Chargers.

PERTH: Elena Rybakina put Kazakhstan one win away from the 2025 United Cup semifinals with a commanding 6-3, 6-1 victory over Germany’s Laura Siegemund in the first match of the tournament’s knockout stages.

NEW DELHI: LeBron James, a player who has dominated the National Basketball Association (NBA) for two decades, turned 40 years old on Monday. While still being a top-ten player in the league, he reflected on his unprecedented career and claimed he could still play at a high level for another five to seven years.

DUBAI: West Indies opener Hayley Matthews capped off 2024 in style, smashing her seventh ODI century to re-enter the top 10 of the ICC women’s batting rankings.

NEW DELHI: Former Australian cricketer Kerry O’Keeffe has raised concerns about the batting technique of 19-year-old opener Sam Konstas, warning that the glaring flaws in his forward defence could derail his promising Test career if not addressed urgently.

MELBOURNE: Cricket Australia has named India's premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah as captain of the Men's Test Team of the Year 2024. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal is the other Indian named in the diverse playing XI featuring players from six countries.

SYDNEY: Flavio Cobolli bounced back from the verge of defeat on saving a match point and produced a memorable comeback as Italy sweeps France to book a place in the quarterfinals of the United Cup.

MELBOURNE: Australia head coach Andrew McDonald brushed aside any fitness concerns for all-rounder Mitchell Marsh despite his limited overs in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India. Australia.

LONDON: Former England men’s senior football manager Gareth Southgate has been recognised in the New Year Honours List for 2025.

LONDON: Newcastle United recorded their fourth straight Premier League win after a 2-0 victory over struggling Manchester United at Old Trafford.

HYDERABAD: A month and a half, and 87 matches later, it all comes down to 90, or possibly 120 minutes or more at the GMC Balayogi Athletic Stadium in Hyderabad, where West Bengal take on Kerala in the 78th National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy 2024-25 final on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI: A lot of controversy surrounded the dismissal of Yashasvi Jaiswal after he was dismissed off a bouncer by Australian captain Pat Cummins in the 71st over of the fourth innings of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne on Monday. The left-handed opener’s childhood coach Jwala Singh believes he should have been given the benefit of the doubt due to inconclusive evidence.