Prannoy, Sindhu to lead India
NEW DELHI, Jan 4: World no. 8 HS Prannoy and Commonwealth Games gold medallist PV Sindhu will lead a strong Indian contingent in the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships, to be played in Dubai from February 14-19.The Badminton Association of India (BAI) had once again followed the system of picking the top players directly and conducting trials for the rest of the squad to select a team that is capable of challenging for a medal in the prestigious continental competition.Lakshya Sen would be the second men’s singles player in the squad while Aakarshi Kashyap would provide backup to Sindhu in women’s singles.French Open champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty would have to shoulder the men’s doubles burden with Krishna Prasad G and Vishnuvardhan Goud making it to the team as the second pair.All England semifinalists Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly will be the main women’s doubles pair with Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Castro expected to be picked for the mixed doubles. (PTI)
NEUFC sign Hira Mondal
NEW DELHI, Jan 4: Northeast United FC on Wednesday confirmed the signing of defender Hira Mondal on a free transfer.Mondal was earlier a part of Bengaluru FC but parted ways with the club in November by mutual consent and has been without a team since then.He will face competition from Tondonba Singh and Gurjinder Kumar for the left-back position at Northeast United FC. The Highlanders will hope that Mondal’s addition will help them tighten up their defence as they look to end their season on a high.The full-back was in high demand after an impressive season for East Bengal and signed for Bengaluru ahead of the ISL season. NEUFC conceded 33 goals this season, which is the most by any team (IANS)
Adelaide 1:Medvedev Sabalenka register wins
ADELAIDE, Jan 4:World No 7 Daniil Medvedev breezed past Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 6-0, 6-3 to reach the Adelaide International 1 quarterfinal, here on Wednesday.The third seed saved the only break point he faced to triumph after 67 minutes. Medvedev now leads the pair’s ATP Head-to-Head record 3-0, winning all seven sets they have played.The 27-year-old will next play Karen Khachanov for a place in the semifinals In the women’s singles, Aryna Sabalenka edged Liudmila Samsonova 7-6(8), 7-6(3), in her first official singles match of the 2023 season to seal the Adelaide International 1 quarterfinal berth.She will take on the 2019 Roland Garros finalist Vondrousova, who dropped just four games in a dominant 6-0, 6-4 win over the former Top-20 player Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in the second-round match.(IANS)
First ever series of half marathons in NE
GUWAHATI, Jan 4: A series of half marathons’, named the Northeast Half Marathon, will kick-start from Guwahati on February 5 and will be organised in three different states, officials of Northeast Frontier Railway said.Jointly organised by the NFRwand Innovations India, the sporting event with the theme of ‘Developing Northeast & Empowering Sports’ will be held in Guwahati (February 5), Darjeeling (February 26) and Tawang (March 12).At the first Half Marathon of this series in Guwahati, approximately 5,000 runners from across India as well as abroad are expected to participate, he added. States like Sikkim and Manipur have shown interest to hold the series in their places too (PTI)