Gukesh, Pragg share point on second round of Superbet Chess
Bucharest (Romania), June 28: World Championship challenger D Gukesh played out a hard-fought draw with Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia, while fellow Indian R Praggnanandhaa shared points with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France in the second round of the Superbet Chess Classic, a part of the Grand Chess tour. On a day when a rare blunder deprived top seed Fabiano Caruana of his second straight win against compatriot Wesley So, Frenchman Alireza Firouzja launched his campaign with a win over Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan. The other game in the USD 350000 prize money tournament ended in a draw as Anish Giri of Holland could not do as much as he might have liked against lowest ranked Deac Bogdan-Daniel of Romania. With seven rounds still to come in the 10-player double round-robin tournament, Gukesh and Caruana continued to share the lead on 1.5 points and they are followed by Alireza, Praggnanandhaa, Giri, Wesley Vachier-Lagrave and Nepomniachtchi who all have one point each. Deac Bogdan-Daniel and Abdusattorov have a half point each. (PTI)
India blank Vietnam 5-0 in Badminton Asia Junior C’ships
New Delhi, June 28: India started their Badminton Asia Junior Mixed Team Championships campaign with a thumping 5-0 win over Vietnam in their Group C opener at Yogyakarta in Indonesia on Friday. The mixed doubles combination of Bhargav Ram Arigela and Vennala K came back from a game down to beat Pham Van Truong and Bui Bich Phuong 17-21, 21-19, 21-17 to put India ahead. Pranay Shettigar then defeated Tran Quoc Khanh 10-21, 21-18, 21-17 to double India’s lead. Senior national finalist Tanvi Sharma then wrapped up the contest with a 21-13, 21-18 win over Tran Thi Anh. India will next take on the Philippines in the second round-robin tie on Saturday. (PTI)
Indian girls face-off in Asian Jr squash final; Shiven in boys’ final
New Delhi, June 28: The second seeded Aadya Budhia will face compatriot Goushika M in an all-Indian under-13 girls’ final of the 31st Asian Junior Individual Squash Championships in Islamabad on Saturday. India will have their representation in the boys’ Under-15 title round through Shiven Agarwal after he defeated fourth seeded local challenger Nouman Khan 5-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-0 in the semifinals on Friday. Aadya defeated sixth seed Chiu Hau Ching of Hong Kong 11-4, 11-7, 4-11, 12-10 in the last-four stage, while fourth seed Goushika beat Malaysian ninth seed Maisarah Binti Mohd Khairul Nizam 11-6, 6-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-6. (PTI)
US Open: Rajawat, Malvika into quarters; Gayatri-Treesa advance
Fort Worth (USA), June 28: India’s Priyanshu Rajawat has stormed into the men’s singles quarterfinals with a straight-game win over Chinese Taipei’s Huang Yu Kai in the US Open Super 300 badminton tournament here. Eighth seed Rajawat, who had won the Orleans Masters in 2023, notched up a 21-18, 21-16 win over Huang to set up a clash with fourth seed Lei Lan Xi of China. Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also advanced to the women’s doubles quarterfinals with a 16-21, 21-11, 21-19 win over Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Pei Shan and Hung En-Tzu in the second round. The second seeded Indian pair, who received a bye in the opening round, will next face sixth seeded Japanese Rui Hirokami and Yuna Kato. Also making it to the last eight is Malvika Bansod, seeded seventh. She beat Czech Republic’s Tereza Svabikova 15-21 21-19 21-14 in a women’s singles match. Malvika will face a tough test against third seed Kristy Gilmour of Scotland. (PTI)
Sports Min lends support to IOA’s plea to include yoga in Asiads
New Delhi, June 26: Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has welcomed the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha’s move to get yoga included in the Asian Games programme. “It is only fair that in keeping with its wide popularity, yoga becomes a competitive sport and is in the Asian Games,” Mandaviya said in a statement. The IOA president had written to the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) acting chief Randhir Singh on June 26 to consider the proposal of including yoga as a sport in the Asian Games. “Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji has worked hard to ensure that June 21 is celebrated as International Yoga Day each year. The discipline, which embraces mind and body, has gained in popularity around the world and is ready as a competitive sport with its own code of points and distinct events,” Mandaviya said. The Government of India, through its different initiatives, has promoted yoga as a competitive sport as well along with it being an art and science of healthy living. The Sports Ministry has granted recognition to Yogasana Bharat for promotion and development of Yogasana as a competitive sport in India. Additionally, Yogasana has been added as a competitive discipline over the last many editions of Khelo India Youth Games and Khelo India University Games since 2020. It is also learnt that Asian Yogasana, recognised body by World Yogasana, has already written to OCA for affiliation so that Yogasana can be developed as a competitive sport across the continent. (PTI)
Tests show Paris’ Seine River still has unsafe E. coli levels
Paris, June 28: Unsafe levels of E. coli have been found in the Seine River for the third consecutive week, according to test results published Friday, less than a month before the Paris Olympics. The test results by monitoring group Eau de Paris reveal contamination levels consistently above the safe limit of 900 colony-forming units per 100 millilitres determined by the World Triathlon Federation for competitions. Marathon swimming and triathlon events are scheduled to take place in the river near the Alexandre III bridge during the Olympics, which begin on July 26. Persistent rainfall has exacerbated the issue, as rainwater infiltrates the sewer system, leading to the discharge of faecal bacteria into the Seine, the report said, adding that the flooding of the Yonne River, a confluence of the Seine, has increased the flow of the Seine. A 50,000 cubic metre reservoir inaugurated in May to store excess rainwater was used for the first time on June 18 and 19, preventing 40,000 cubic metres of wastewater from seeping into the Seine. (AP)