Guwahati to host next year’s BWF World Junior Championships
New Delhi, April 28: India will host next year’s World Junior Badminton Championships at the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati, the sport’s global governing body BWF said on Tuesday. It will be the first time since 2008 that the prestigious Badminton World Federation (BWF) event will be held in India. “Both the team and individual events will be held at the Badminton Association of India’s (BAI) National Centre of Excellence in the northeast region of the country,” the BWF said in a release. India last hosted the event in Pune. Dates for the 2025 event are yet to be confirmed. (PTI)
US and Mexico drop bid to host 2027 FIFA World Cup
New York, April 30: The US Soccer Federation and its Mexican counterpart dropped their joint bid to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup and said they instead will focus on trying to host the 2031 tournament. The decision left a proposal from Brazil and a joint Germany-Netherlands-Belgium plan competing to be picked for 2027 by the FIFA Congress that meets May 17 in Bangkok. The USSF said the 2031 bid will call for FIFA to invest equally in the men’s and women’s World Cups. FIFA said last year it planned to spend $896 million in prize money for the 2026 World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada. The governing body devoted $110 million in prize money for last year’s Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. (AP)
Brazil footballer cleared to play during appeal in doping rules case
Lausanne (Switzerland), April 30: Brazilian football player Gabriel Barbosa can resume playing pending an appeal against his ban for a breach of doping rules, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said on Tuesday. The Flamengo and Brazil forward, known as Gabigol, is challenging a two-year ban imposed in March by an anti-doping tribunal in Brazil. He was judged to have evaded doping control in April 2023 and banned until April next year. He denied a charge of doping fraud. The CAS said its panel of judges “has issued an order granting the request to stay the execution of the challenged decision filed by Gabriel Barbosa.” The court gave no timetable for an appeal hearing and verdict in the case. “I stress that I never tried to obstruct or fraud any test. I trust that I will be found not guilty in my appeal,” Barbosa said in March. Barbosa played in the Brazil team that won the 2016 Olympics gold medal as the home team in Rio de Janeiro, then aged 19 joined Inter Milan. He returned to Brazil in 2019 with Flamengo and has helped the Rio club win two Copa Libertadores titles. (AP)
Senior Women’s National Football Championship begins today
Kolkata, April 30: The final round of the 28th edition of the Senior Women’s National Football Championship commences here on Wednesday. Twelve teams, divided into two groups of six each, will play in a single round-robin format, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semifinals. The 12 teams in the final round consist of six group stage winners, three best runners-up and three direct entrants West Bengal (hosts), Tamil Nadu (defending champions) and Haryana (runners-up). Matches will be played at the Kishore Bharati Stadium and the AIFF National Centre of Excellence. The final round group stage will finish on May 11. The semi-finals are scheduled for May 13 and the champion team will be crowned on May 15. (PTI)
Nadal tested in a 3-hour win over Cachin at Madrid Open
Madrid, April 30: After spending more than three hours on the court and earning a hard-fought victory, Rafael Nadal was feeling optimistic again. Nadal’s body withstood its toughest test yet at this Madrid Open in a 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3 win over 91st-ranked Pedro Cachin on Monday. He didn’t show any signs of physical limitations in a victory that earned him a spot in the round of 16 at the clay-court tournament where he is the record five-time champion. (AP)