Page 49 - Sports

Six sprint races to take place in 2023 season, announces Formula 1

Formula 1 has announced that six Sprint races a season will be taking place from 2023 onwards after the proposal gained approval of top authorities of the sport.The announcement was made on Tuesday. The number of sprint races per season will now double from three to six.The Sprint is a shortened race for Saturdays that debuted last year and returned for 2022 as well. It is a mini version of what one can see on Sundays on Grand Prix races. Drivers race for 100 km, the third of the usual race distance in Grand Prix for grid slots for Grand Prix and points for their championship hopes.The 20 drivers start in order they qualified on Friday and their finishing positions 100 km later become the positions they line up in for the start of Sunday's Grand Prix event.This year, it was seen in Imola and Austria. Both were won by Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing, earning him maximum eight points. It will return at Brazillian GP during the penultimate race of the ongoing season.Though the move ...

Maria Sakkari, Sloane Stephens win openers at Parma Ladies Tennis Open

Top-seeded Maria Sakkari rallied past Ukrainian qualifier Kateryna Baindl 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-3 in the opening round of the Parma Ladies Open. Sakkari, who accepted a late wild card to the red clay court tournament, was playing her first event since losing to Wang Xiyu in the second round of the U.S. Open. Also, 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens defeated 121st-ranked Magdalena Frech 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; sixth-seeded Ana Bogdan beat Laura Pigossi 6-1, 6-2 and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova eliminated Reka-Luka Jani 6-2, 6-4. Stephens reached the semifinals last year when the inaugural edition was held in May.

Fitness culture among 'Divyangs' being promoted: PM Modi in Mann Ki Baat

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that many institutions in India are working to increase the fitness levels and participation of 'Divyangs' in sports and the country is winning laurels in para-sports.Addressing the nation on the 92nd episode of his monthly Radio programme 'Mann ki Baat', PM Modi said, "India is winning laurels in para-sports. We have all been witness to this in many tournaments. There are many institutes that are working on helping Divangs increase their fitness levels & participate in sports. Today there are many people who are engaged in promoting the fitness culture among the specially-abled at the grassroots level. This imparts a lot of strength to the self-confidence of the specially-abled."India has won many accomplishments and set new records in para-sports as of late.Earlier in September, Indian javelin thrower and Paralympics gold medalist Devendra Jhajharia clinched a silver medal for the country in the World Para Athletics Grand Prix held ..

Federer, Nadal, Djokovic set new bar of Tennis for next generations

Here is one way to look at what Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and the now-retired Roger Federer accomplished: The group known as the Big Three of men's tennis accumulated so many Grand Slam titles 63 in all that it seems unlikely anyone will reach the standards they set. Not anytime soon, certainly. Here was another way to think about things as the professional level of the sport began its post-Federer life on Saturday, following the last match of his career: What he and the other two members of that distinguished trio, along with Serena Williams, managed to do was demonstrate that it is possible to dominate for decades, not merely years, at a time. And the 41-year-old Federer, for one, thinks up-and-coming players can learn from the way he and the others of his era went about it, from their self-belief and attitudes about setting goals to their training, nutrition and other methods of ensuring longevity. He laughed when relaying a conversation with Bjorn Borg, who is the captain

Top-seeded mixed doubles pair out from National Table Tennis Games 2022

Top-seeded mixed doubles pair of Sanil Shetty and Reeth Rishya witnessed an upset and crashed out of the National Games on Thursday

Indian table tennis is enjoying a golden era: Sathiyan Gnanasekaran

India's highest-ranked player Sathiyan Gnanasekaran feels that the country is enjoying a golden era in table tennis and believes that things will only get better from here.

ICC makes changes in playing conditions, using saliva to polish ball banned

Using saliva to polish the ball is now prohibited permanently by the ICC, announced the organisation while introducing new changes to its playing conditions

We will not put pressure on ourselves over T20 World Cup: Moeen Ali

England stand-in skipper for the seven-match T20I series against Pakistan Moeen Ali has indicated his side will not put pressure on itself thinking about the upcoming World Cup

Gujarat gears up for 36th National Games with 36 sporting events

Beginning on Sept 27, the 14-day event will see over 7,000 sportspersons

Arsenal's Ethan Nwaneri, 15, becomes youngest-ever Premier League player

Arsenal's 15-year-old academy product Ethan Nwaneri became the youngest player ever to appear in a Premier League game after coming on for the final few minutes of the Gunners' 3-0 win at Brentford on Sunday. Nwaneri was included in Arsenal's matchday squad for the first time and was handed a record-breaking debut by manager Mikel Arteta in injury time at the Gtech Community Stadium. At 15 years and 181 days, Nwaneri broke the Premier League's age mark previously held by Harvey Elliott, who was 16 years and 30 days when he came off the bench for Fulham at Wolves in May 2019. "He has trained a couple of times with us and I had a feeling yesterday that if the opportunity came I would do it, Arteta said about putting Nwaneri in the game. "I think it sends a strong message about who we are as a club. I told him yesterday he would be with us and he had to be ready. He is ready. When he went on I said: Congratulations and enjoy it.'" Jack Wilshere who now manages the Arsenal Under-18 t

After cricket, cutting-edge tech set to transform football and chess too

A startup in Bengaluru has developed a sensor that helps batsmen and coaches gain insights on bat speed, impact speed, bat-lift angle, and bat path, with an option to replay the action in 360 degrees

MotoGP likely to make India debut in winter of 2023, promoters optimistic

MotoGP, the pinnacle of two-wheel racing, could come to India in the winter of 2023 if all goes ahead as planned, providing a massive boost to the stagnant motorsport scene in the country. The master agreement between MotoGP commercial rights owner Dorna and Noida-based race promoters Fairstreet Sports could be signed as early as next week. Dorna MD Carlos Ezpeleta and CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta will be in the national capital on Wednesday and they are expected to make an official announcement on the 'Grand Prix of Bharat'. The round is most likely to be held at the Buddh International Circuit, once home of the Formula I Indian Grand Prix, which was discontinued due to financial, tax and bureaucratic hurdles. The FIM homologation of the track will be done only after the agreement is signed between MotoGP rights owner and race promoters. Speaking to PTI, Fairstreet Sports COO Pushkar Nath said they have done their homework for the organisation of the high-profile race, taking into ...

Davis Cup 2022: India trail Norway 0-2 on opening day of World Group I

Prajnesh Gunneswaran was defeated by US Open semifinalist Casper Ruud, while Ramkumar Ramanathan was beaten by Viktor Durasovic in their respective singles matches

Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz loses to Canada's Auger-Aliassime at Davis Cup

Carlos Alcaraz's biggest fans had flocked see the world's new top-ranked player in his homecoming to Spain. Instead, they witnessed Felix Auger-Aliassime beat their new idol before staying on the hard court to secure a second victory in doubles and help Canada score a 2-1 upset win over Spain in the Davis Cup group phase on Friday. Alcaraz lost 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2 to a superb Auger-Aliassime, who endured the partisan crowd and tilted the match at Valencia his way after the 19-year-old Spaniard dug deep to claim the first-set tiebreaker. Felix is a beast. Physically and mentally, Felix is one of the best in the world, Alcaraz said after his first match since winning the U.S. Open last weekend to become the youngest man to rise to the top of the ATP rankings. I didn't come in very good physical condition, he added. It was a very tough day, but I have to say congratulations to him because he played an unbelievable game. As the pavilion roared for Alcaraz, Auger-Aliassime coolly respond

Duleep Trophy: Venkatesh Iyer forced to walk out after Gaja's wild throw

However, Iyer did come back later, but was dismissed by Tanush Kotian on 14. The all-rounder did return to bat but he did not field for the Central Zone and was replaced by Ashok Menaria

Durand Cup: Bengaluru FC beat defending champions in semis, reach final

An own goal at the half-hour mark by Spanish defender Odei Onaindia Zabala, was enough for Bengaluru FC (BFC) to overcome the challenge of Indian Super League (ISL) champions Hyderabad FC (HFC) and make the final of the 131st IndianOil Durand Cup.It was a largely cagey second semi-final played here at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK) with HFC having the lion's share of chances as well as possession and their star striker Batholomew Ogbeche being wasteful for once, but in the end, the Blues did well enough to win the battle of ISL heavyweights.All 47 games of the 131st IndianOil Durand Cup are being telecast LIVE on Sports18 1 SD & HD andSports18 Khel as well as live-streamed on the Over the Top (OTT) platform VOOT!The match began with no team willing to give an inch and as a result, there were quite a few rough challenges witnessed. BFC's Parag Shrivas was shown a yellow card early.The goal came quite against the run of play and in what was probably BFC's first ...

Mental strength as important as physical fitness in MMA: Ritu Phogat

India's Ritu Phogat feels mental strength is as important as physical fitness in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). The Indian wrestler-turned-MMA fighter will return to the Circle at ONE 161: Petchmorakot vs. Tawanchai. She will take on home favourite and former ONE Women's Strawweight World Title challenger Tiffany Teo in Singapore on September 29. "To win, I try to stick to my plan, which is very important," Phogat, who has an impressive 7-2 record, said. "Being mentally strong is more important than being physically strong during matches," she added. The 28-year-old was last in action in the final of the ONE Women's Atomweight World Grand Prix in December last year, where she lost. "The last loss didn't affect me mentally at all. Winning and losing is a part and parcel of the game, I have endured it during my wrestling days. It pushed me to work harder." Phogat, who is returning after an injury layoff, is looking forward to her fight to Toe. "The best thing is that she is number one

Starc, Marsh, Stoinis to miss T20I series against India due to injuries

Opener David Warner had already been rested from the trip and now, Starc (knee), Marsh (ankle) and Stoinis (side strain) have been ruled out of the short tour of India

Mandhana scores half-ton as India thrash England to level T20I series 1-1

The 53-ball 79 from Mandhana was enough for India to chase down a competitive 142/6 from England for the loss of just two wickets and with 20 balls to spare

How technology played a part in India scripting triple jump history

Separated by visa issues, coach, athletes turned to WhatsApp; came home with gold & silver