Page 6 - Sports News

Ricky Ponting invests in Century Cricket as firm starts New York expansion

Former Australia captain joins as major investor, global ambassador and advisor as Century Cricket prepares its first flagship centre at Bryant Park in Manhattan

China Masters: Lakshya Sen headlines India challenge, women's trio in focus

Lakshya Sen will look to bounce back from the disappointment of his early exit at the World Championships but a tough opener awaits him when he spearheads the Indian challenge at the USD 1,250,000 China Masters Super 750, beginning here on Tuesday. Sen, who became the first Indian male shuttler to reach an Olympic semifinal in Paris two years ago before finishing fourth, will face France's newly-crowned world champion Alex Lanier in his opening match. The Indian has enjoyed some notable results this season, including a runner-up finish at the All England Championships, and will be keen to regain consistency against a strong field after a shock second-round loss to world number 92 Garret Tan at the Worlds. Former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth, meanwhile, faces Chinese Taipei's Chi Yu-jen after reaching the US Open Super 300 final in June, where he finished runner-up. His campaign on the Tour after that has been patchy. It was interrupted by an injury-forced retirement due to injury a

UEFA vs Infantino: How the battle for FIFA's future is escalating

According to media reports, UEFA has launched legal proceedings in the US and Switzerland over Infantino's handling of a controversial proposal to bring private-equity investment into FIFA

Six games, one defeat: How India produced a historic Women's Hockey WC run

India did not need a string of unlikely upsets to finish fifth. They simply became extremely difficult to beat

Wrestling to athletics: Doping cases cloud India's Asian Games preparations

Athlete Abhishek Pal has been the latest addition to India's growing list of doping cases ahead of the Asian Games 2026

A career interrupted: Neeraj Chopra's battle with injuries continues

The injury means Neeraj Chopra will be unable to defend his two-time Asian Games gold medal in the javelin throw event at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya

Dream11 pulls from fantasy games to build global sports engagement platform

Dream11 on Thursday said it has moved away from pure-play fantasy sports to building a global sports engagement platform. Dream11 was India's biggest fantasy game company before the government imposed a blanket ban on the category a year ago. "Dream11 today completes its pivot away from pure-play fantasy sports to becoming a global sports engagement platform. It has discontinued all prizes to focus only on sports content, live streaming, stats, scores, commentary, community, experiences, and social contests," the company said in a statement. The statement said Dream11 will be transitioning to an AI-first platform, building a highly personalised experience for users based only on their favourite sports, leagues, teams and players. The platform will also be multi-sport, addressing a global gap and positioning itself as a single destination for sports fans worldwide, the statement said.

Why is Indian Hockey struggling to produce next generation of senior stars?

The number of players making their senior international debut after India's Junior World Cup campaigns has declined since the stellar 2016 edition

Hockey World Cup 2026: When will India play their classification matches

Both India's men's and women's teams failed to qualify for the semifinals and will now be playing classification matches

PGTI unveils new nine-event race format ahead of India Championship 2026

The inaugural season will feature nine tournaments between August and October, with a combined prize purse of Rs 10 crore

Hockey World Cup 2026: India's men's team semifinal qualification scenario

India's men's hockey team were given a second chance for semi-final qualification following Argentina's 3-1 win over England in a Pool E encounter on Saturday

India women bow out of Hockey World Cup after goalless draw with Australia

The Indian women's hockey team succumbed to the pressure of a must-win match and were knocked out of semi-final contention after playing out a goalless draw against Australia here on Saturday. India needed a win to advance to the last four while a draw was enough for the Aussies to make it to the last four on the basis of more number of goals scored. The goal difference for both teams stood identical at minus two but Australia had three strikes compared to India's two. Both teams had drawn their opening Pool D match against China. The Indian team, which had performed brilliantly before losing to the Netherlands by two goals in the first match of the second leg, looked out of rhythm on the day. They missed several chances and struggled to retain possession against Australia, ranked just one place above them. Chief coach Sjoerd Marijne even substituted goalkeeper Bichu Devi in the final five minutes trying to throw the kitchen sink at the opposition but to no avail. Having finished

IND vs AUS hockey live streaming: Where to watch today's World Cup match?

The India vs Australia FIH Women's Hockey World Cup Phase 2 match will be available for live streaming on JioHotstar through its app and website

Can India turn sports equipment into an $8.1 billion export industry?

NITI Aayog's 2036 target rests on cheaper inputs, testing laboratories, port-linked clusters, procurement reform and closer ties with global brands, industry leaders said at the IAMGAME conclave

FIH Men's Hockey World Cup: Netherlands hand India 3-1 defeat in phase 2

The defeat has left Harmanpreet Singh-led India with a difficult task in their bid to qualify for the semi-finals

Hockey World Cup 2026: India semifinal qualification scenarios explained

Both India's men's and women's teams need to win their remaining Phase 2 matches to give themselves the best chance of securing a place in the semifinals of the 2026 Hockey World Cup

Treesa-Gayatri suffer heartbreak vs top seeds, secure BWF Worlds bronze

Treesa and Gayatri become only the second Indian women's doubles pair to win a medal at the BWF World Championships after Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa (2011)

IND vs NED hockey live streaming: Where to watch today's World Cup match?

The India vs Netherlands FIH Men's Hockey World Cup Phase 2 match will be available for live streaming on JioHotstar through its app and website

Neeraj Chopra climbs to 5th in Diamond League standings after 88.05m throw

The two-time Olympic medallist finished nine centimetres behind Rumesh Pathirage and moved into the top-six qualification zone for the season-ending Final

Gauff, Tiafoe, Nakashima and Pegula reach 2026 Cincinnati Open semifinals

Frances Tiafoe and Brandon Nakashima won quarterfinal matches Friday night to set up one all-American men's semifinal at the Cincinnati Open. Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula also advanced to make it four U.S. players in the semis. "It's insane, I think we're all doing so well," Gauff said. "Hopefully, you know, we can have a double title win. Obviously there are more matches to be played for that to happen. We definitely root for each other." Tiafoe beat Italian Lorenzo Musetti, 7-6 (2), 7-5, and Nakashima beat fellow American Taylor Fritz, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3, marking the first time two Americans have reached the men's semifinals in Cincinnati since Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish in 2010. Nakashima is the first American man to reach the semifinals in Canada and Cincinnati in the same season since Fish in 2011. Nakashima is coached by Tiafoe's former coach, Wayne Ferreira. "It's a guy who knows me pretty well in Wayne," Tiafoe said. "I expect some good serving and all the best from him. Happy