Page 17 - Sports

Alcaraz rallies from set down, ends Sinner's winning streak at Indian Wells

Carlos Alcaraz defeated Jannik Sinner 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 to end the Italian's 19-match winning streak and advance to the BNP Paribas Open final on Saturday night. Alcaraz retained his world No. 2 ranking with the victory and extended his winning streak to 11 matches at Indian Wells, where he'll play either Tommy Paul or Daniil Medvedev in Sunday's title match. Sinner led 2-1 in the first set when the match was suspended for more than three hours because of rain in the Southern California desert. Rain also affected the women's semifinals on Friday night. Sinner went on to dominate the first set before Alcaraz changed his tactics. The Spaniard started coming to the net more and moving Sinner up and back. Sinner could have knocked Alcaraz out of the second spot with a win. He had won 19 matches in a row dating to last year, including 16 straight this year. Alcaraz earned the only break of the second set in the fourth game with a forehand drop volley winner. He faced a break point on his s

Decathlon to accelerate investments in India on production, expansion: CEO

French sports retailer Decathlon is accelerating its investments to ramp up production and enhance its retail presence further in India, one of its "most important" global markets, its Global CEO Barbara Martin Coppola has said. Decathlon expects to continue its "high growth rate" from the Indian market, which is also emerging as an important manufacturing hub for the sports retailer, from where it currently exports around 65 per cent of production to global markets, she added. For Decathlon, India is currently among the top ten global markets, growing "twice the rate" of others, where it entered in 2009 and now operates a network of 129 stores, she said. Coppola said she is "really impressed" with the evolution of the sports culture in India, especially among the middle class, which is gradually getting engaged in different kinds of sports, amid a rise in their income level with the growth of the economy. "We see a real appetite for overall sports consumption, people wanting to tr

Adidas posts first loss in 30 years, warns North America sales may decline

Adidas has been battling to right itself after it cut ties with Kanye West in October 2022, suspending sales of the highly profitable Yeezy sneaker line

Indian Army to raise two 'Army Girls Sports Companies' in phased manner

The Indian Army has planned to raise two 'Army Girls Sports Companies' in a phased manner, as part of a move to train young girls from across the country in shooting, archery, athletics, boxing and weightlifting, officials said on Friday. The development coincides with International Women's Day celebrations in the country and outside. The Army Girls Sports Companies (AGSCs) will be "fully functional with effect from April 2024", a senior official said. "In sync with the national vision of women empowerment and demonstration of 'Nari Shakti', the Indian Army is raising two Army Girls Sports Companies in a phased manner," he said. These companies will be located at the Army's existing Centre of Excellence (COE) Nodes -- Army Marksmanship Unit, Mhow; and Army Sports Institute, Pune, he added. The aim is to identify young talent, provide them with formal education apart from other administrative requirements and train them to be champions in their respective sporting discipline, the .

Registered athletes to be issued digital certificates: Anurag Thakur

Sports minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday announced that the government will issue digital certificates to registered athletes across the country, a move which would ensure a transparent account of their participation and performance. The digital certificate will have dates of the athletes' participation in competitions and serve as proof of their achievements. "With athletes at the heart of our progressing and growing sporting ecosystem, the sports ministry has made a crucial decision to promote the 'issuance of digital certificates to athletes'," wrote Thakur on 'X'. The minister had first announced his plan to simplify things for athletes and National Sports Federations (NSFs) during the National Sports Day on August 29 last year. On the occasion, the NSF portal was launched for ensuring ease of business and good governance. It is a unified single window for processing annual renewals and elections in NSFs. On Thursday, the minister said, "Keeping up with our policy of ...

It makes sense for IOC to give 2036 Olympics to India, says Anurag Thakur

Sports Minister Anurag Thakur said on Sunday "it makes more sense for the IOC" to give India the hosting rights for the 2036 Olympic Games as the country is growing by leaps and bounds in every sphere including sports. Thakur, while speaking at the News9 Global Summit, said India's recent performance at mega international events, such as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, gives him hope that the country could become a top-10 sporting nation by 2036 and be in the top-5 by 2047. "We had the largest population to see the Olympic sports last time (in 2020 Tokyo) and this time, it makes more sense for the IOC to give 2036 Olympics to none other than Bharat, our India," said Thakur. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already expressed the country's desire to host the Olympics in 2036 during the IOC session in Mumbai last year, and when asked if India was ready to hold the mega event and which city could play host, Thakur said, "PM Modi made it very clear during the I

Are you not entertained by Bazball?

It's evolved into cricket's new identity, a philosophy and mindset where it hardly matters who wins or loses

Indian Premier League runners-up in league of broadcasting rights value

Indian Premier League runners-up in league of broadcasting rights value

What is the meaning of 'Akaay', the name of Virat-Anushka's second child?

The celebrity couple Virat-Anushka are welcoming a second child, Akaay. Virat Kohli shared the news through Instagram. Know what is the meaning of Akaay

Virat Kohli, Anushka Sharma announce birth of their second child 'Akaay'

Star India batter Virat Kohli on Tuesday announced that he and his actress wife Anushka Sharma were blessed with a baby boy on February 15. Kohli and Anushka are already proud parents of a three-year-old daughter Vamika. "With abundant happiness and our hearts full of love, we are pleased to inform everyone that on 15th February, we welcomed our baby boy Akaay & Vamika's little brother into this world!," Kohli informed in an instagram post. "We seek your blessings and good wishes in this beautiful time in our lives. We request you to kindly respect our privacy at this time." Kohli had opted out of the ongoing Test series against England, citing personal reasons. India are leading the five-match series 2-1.

China's online retailer JD.com versus Elliott in battle for UK's Currys

Currys on Saturday rejected Elliott's possible cash offer of 62 pence per share, a 700 million pounds ($883 million) proposal it said significantly undervalued the company

Manika Batra stars in India's win over Hungary at World Championships

Manika Batra won both her singles matches as the Indian women's team edged out Hungary 3-2 for its first win of the World Table Tennis Championships here on Sunday. However, the Indian men's team suffered a 1-3 loss to Poland in its second group game. It was a fine comeback from Manika who had lost both her singles against China on Friday when India stood on the cusp of a mega upset before falling short 2-3. Manika, who is India's top-ranked player at 36, had to dig deep against Dora Madaras in the opening singles before pulling off an 8-11, 11-5, 12-10, 8-11, 11-4 win on Sunday. Georgina Pota then levelled the tie with a 11-3, 11-7, 9-11, 9-11, 11-8 result over Sreeja Akula in the second singles. Sreeja had stunned world number 2 Wang Yidi in the tournament opener. Ayhika Mukherkjee, the conqueror of world number one Sun Yinghsa on Friday, put India 2-1 up with a 7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-8 win over Bernadett Balint. The contest was stretched into the decider when Madaras got past Sr

IND vs ENG 3rd Test: Jaiswal smashes Anderson and records on his way to 200

Jaiswal also became the first Indian to hit 20 or more sixes in a Test series and 10 or more in a Test innings, betaing on his way Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agrawal for the respective records

Jaiswal asuperstar in making, England deserve credit for inspiring: Duckett

England's Ben Duckett on Saturday called India's Yashasvi Jaiswal a "superstar in the making" but said his side deserves credit for inspiring players in the opposition camp to bat aggressively in Test cricket. Jaiswal dished out his own version of England's much talked-about 'Bazball' approach of run-making in Test cricket, cracking nine fours and five sixes in his 133-ball 104 before retiring hurt due to back spasms. The Indian opener shifted gears all of a sudden in the final session. Having reached 35 off 73 balls, he peppered the field with powerful strokes to bring up his second century of the series and third overall in his career. "When you see players from the opposition playing like that, it almost feels like we should take some credit that they're playing differently than how other people play Test cricket," Duckett told the media during a press conference here. "We saw it a bit in the summer and it's quite exciting to see other players and other teams are also playing th

Extraordinary milestone: PM Modi praises on Ashwin's 500 Test wickets feat

Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Friday for the "extraordinary milestone" of taking 500 Test wickets. Ashwin became the second Indian bowler after Anil Kumble to take 500 Test wickets during the third Test against England in Rajkot on Friday. The prime minister said on X, "Congratulations to Ravichandran Ashwin on the extraordinary milestone of taking 500 Test wickets! His journey and accomplishments are testament to his skill and perseverance. My best wishes to him as he scales further peaks." Ashwin also became only the third off-spinner to achieve the feat and continues to be the second highest wicket-taker for India behind Kumble, who ended his career with 619 scalps.

Fine wine: Elite athletes defy age with science, nutrition, mental strength

Athletes are taking elaborate measure. Biohacking, which is a combination of ice bath, sleep therapy, and strict diet and supplements, is a popular method

Nike to cut about 2% of total workforce to lower costs as demand weakens

Nike had in December outlined a $2 billion savings plan over the next three years, which included tightening the supply of some products and reducing management layers

Saurav Ghosal in quarterfinal at Squash on Fire Open in Washington

India's top-ranked player Saurav Ghosal advanced to the quarterfinals with a hard-fought 3-1 win over USA's Spencer Lovejoy in the Squash on Fire Open tournament in Washington. The 37-year-old rallied from a game down to defeat local favourite Lovejoy 4-11, 11-8, 11-4, 13-11 on Thursday. The Indian world No 26, who is the sixth seed and received a first-round bye at the USD 51,500 PSA World Tour Bronze event, will meet French world No. 11 and top seed Victor Crouin in the quarterfinals. Reigning national champion Velavan Senthilkumar, who made it to his maiden PSA World Tour Silver quarterfinal in Pittsburgh last week, lost to Egyptian second seed Youssef Soliman 11-6, 11-8, 11-2. The left-hander from Tamil Nadu had put it past Briton Mark Broekman 11-4, 11-4, 11-2 in 22 minutes in his opening round.

Assam's world-class sports venues to spice up Khelo India Varsity Games

The Nehru Stadium, situated in the heart of the city, has been a witness to a number of mouth-watering contests in both cricket and football over the years

Hamilton's team switch: Ferrari gambles on new red storm for 2025 F1 season

Hamilton is hungry for a podium finish. His move from Mercedes to Ferrari could be a recipe for success or a disaster in the making