Dhamne qualifies for junior Wimbledon Championships
LONDON, July 7: Young Manas Dhamne qualified for the boys singles main draw at the prestigious Wimbledon championships on Friday with a three-set win over 10th seed Atakan Karahan but Aryan Shah missed out with a second-round defeat.The 15-year-old Dhamne beat his opponent from Turkey 6-2, 6-7 (5), 10-8 in the second and final qualifying round.Dhamne, placed 78th in junior ITF ranking list, had two match points in the second set as he served for the match at 40-15 in the 10th game but the 69th ranked Karahan stretched it to the decider.It will be a second junior Grand Slam appearance of the season for Dhamne, who had competed at the Australian Open where he had retired in the second round.Dhamne, who trains at Piatti Tennis Centre in Italy, had impressed at the Tata Open Maharashtra early this year. Playing against American Michael Mmoh he had lost 2-6, 4-6 but his craft was applauded by former Indian players.He will open his campaign against Australian Hayden Jones, world number 47.Meanwhile, fourth seed Aryan Shah lost 3-6, 3-6 to 11th seed Italian Fabio De Michele to bow out. (PTI)
Indian eves to face Japan in Olympic qualifiers
KUALA LUMPUR, July 7:The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Friday announced the fixtures for Round 2 of the AFC Women’s Olympic Football Tournament Paris 2024 with India opening their campaign against Japan on October 26.The draw for the Women’s Olympic Qualifiers was earlier conducted in May.India, ranked 60 in the world, will face London 2012 silver-medallists Japan (ranked 11) in their first Group C match on October 26 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.Three days later, the Blue Tigresses will take on 32-ranked Vietnam, who qualified for their first FIFA Women’s World Cup this year, at the same venue. India’s final opponents in the group will be 49-ranked Uzbekistan on November 1 at the Bunyodkor Stadium. India qualified for Round 2 courtesy of two comfortable victories over Kyrgyz Republic (5-0 and 4-0) in Bishkek in April.(PTI)