Boxer Akash Kumar enters final in Bosnia
SARAJEVO, Sep 7: World Championships bronze medallist Akash Kumar (57kg) defeated Wasim Abusal of Palestine to reach the final of the Mustafa Hajrulahovic Memorial tournament in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.Kumar, a world championship bronze winner in 2021 edition, started the bout aggressively and looked in control from the first round itself.Abusal tried counter-attacking in the second round but with no success as Kumar’s attacking punches were relentless.The Indian did not give his opponent any chance of a comeback throughout the bout. Kumar secured a unanimous 5-0 win to enter the final to be played on Saturday.Manish Kaushik (63.5kg) and Manju Rani (50kg) will be in action on Friday in their semifinals bouts. (PTI)
Indian rowing contingent leaves for Asian Games
HANGZHOU, Sep 7: A 43-member Indian rowing contingent, including 10 support staff, left for the Hangzhou Asian Games scheduled to commence on September 23.The rowers, 20 men and 13 women, will undergo a week-long acclimatisation-cum-training camp in Hangzhou before checking into the Games Village on September 16.The government has sanctioned Rs one crore for the camp in Hangzhou.India will be fielding its largest contingent of women rowers at the Asian Games as this is the first time Women’s Eight has been included in the continental event.The contingent was given a rousing send-off by the Sports Authority of India officials on Wednesday.Earlier this week, Indian sailors and the first batch of boxers also left for China to train ahead of the multi-sport event. (PTI)
Demarai Gray joins Al-Ettifaq
LONDON, Sep 7: Everton winger Demarai Gray became the latest player to join the exodus to Saudi Arabia after signing for Al-Ettifaq on Thursday on the final day of the country’s transfer window.The Jamaica international moved for an undisclosed fee and signed a four-year contract.The 27-year-old Gray joined Everton from German team Bayer Leverkusen in 2021. He made 75 appearances and scored 12 goals for the Premier League club.“There has been a lot of speculation about my situation all summer,” Gray posted on Instagram. “The truth is, I gave my all to this club on and off the pitch through good and bad. I was ready to play as much football as possible this season but it felt like this was not going to happen. It’s time for my next chapter.” Al-Ettifaq has already signed former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson this window and hired former Rangers and Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard as coach. (PTI)
Indian Super League start clashes with Asian Games
NEW DELHI, Sep 7: The Indian Super League schedule was announced on Thursday amid doubts over the release of a few India players by clubs for the Asian Games later this month.The league clashes with the Hangzhou Asian Games where the football competition begins on September 19 and continues till October 7.The ISL 2023-24 kicks off on September 21 with the match between Kerala Blasters and Bengaluru FC in Kochi.League organisers FSDL announced the fixtures of the first half of the ISL till December 29. The 12th team ISL, now the country’s top tier league, will be in its 10th edition.The 22-member Indian men’s squad for the Asian Games has players from 10 ISL clubs and it is learnt that some of them have been reluctant to release all their players.Out of the 22 players named in the squad, six are from Bengaluru FC, three from Mumbai City FC, while FC Goa, Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, Odisha FC, Kerala Blasters have two each.Newly-promoted Punjab FC, Chennaiyin FC and Hyderabad FC have one each. (PTI)
Asia TT: Sutirtha beats higher ranked opponent
PYEONGCHANG, Sep 7: India’s Sutirtha Mukherjee beat higher-ranked Szu-Yu Chen to enter the women’s singles round of 32 at the Asian Table Tennis Championships here on Thursday.The world number 104 bounced back after losing the opening game against 40th-ranked Chen from Chinese Taipei to win 10-12, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7 in a round-of-64 match.However, India’s top-ranked player Manika Batra gave a walkover to Thailand’s Jinnipa Sawettabut in another round-of-64 contest.Ayhika Mukherjee defeated Nepal’s Suwal Sikka 11-2, 11-0, 11-1 to advance in the competition.Another Indian in the fray, Sreeja Akula, could not put up much of a fight against world number 8 Mima Ito of Japan, losing 5-11, 6-11, 9-11.China’s world number 2 Chen Meng was too good for Diya Chitale, winning 11-3, 11-6, 11-8 to reach the round of 32.Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah blanked the Uzbekistan combine of Abdulaziz Anorboev and Kutbidillo Teshaboev to enter the men’s doubles quarterfinals.In the women’s doubles, the duo of Ayhika and Sutirtha got past Kazakhstan’s Angelina Romanovskaya and Sarvinoz Mirkadirova 11-1, 13-11, 10-12, 11-7 to reach the last-eight stage. Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah blanked the Uzbekistan combine of Abdulaziz Anorboev and Kutbidillo Teshaboev to enter the men’s doubles quarterfinals.In the women’s doubles, the duo of Ayhika and Sutirtha got past Kazakhstan’s Angelina Romanovskaya and Sarvinoz Mirkadirova 11-1, 13-11, 10-12, 11-7 to reach the last-eight stage.In the team events, Indian men ended with a bronze medal. (PTI)
Marko Mitrovic hired as USA Olympic men’s football coach
CHICAGO, Sep 7: Marko Mitrovic was hired Wednesday to coach the USA under-23 men’s football team at next year’s Paris Games, the first Olympics for the Americans since 2008.The 45-year-old Mitrović was an assistant for the Chicago Fire from 2016-19 and Reading from 2020-22, then became head coach of the U.S. under-19 team in April 2022. He served as an assistant to national team interim head coaches Anthony Hudson and B.J. Callaghan from this April until July. After the USA under-23 team failed to qualify for the last three Olympics, the regional governing body of North and Central American and the Caribbean said the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship in June and July of 2022 would serve as qualifying for the 2024 Olympics. The USA won the tournament and qualified for both the Olympics and the Under-20 World Cup, where the Americans lost 2-0 to Uruguay in the quarterfinals. (AP)