French Open prize money up 10% to $72 million overall
Paris, April 16: French Open prize money has increased by about 10% for an overall pot of 61.7 million euros ($72.1 million). The total amount is up 5.3 million euros from last year. Play begins on Sunday, May 24 at Roland Garros in western Paris. Men’s and women’s singles champions each receive 2.8 million euros and the runners-up 1.4 million euros. Semifinalists earn 750,000 euros and first round losers get 87,000 euros. Men’s and women’s doubles winners pocket 600,000 euros and the mixed doubles champions get 122,000 euros. Last year, Carlos Alcaraz staged an epic comeback to beat Jannik Sinner in a five-set final and Coco Gauff defeated Aryna Sabalenka for the women’s title. There will be an opening ceremony before the men’s and women’s finals, lasting about six minutes, with French choreographer Benjamin Millepied in charge of the program. Also for the first time, players can wear data-collecting portable devices on court in order to gain information on their physical performances, tournament director Amelie Mauresmo said at a news conference on Thursday. (AP)
Joshna, Chotrani advance in Hamburg Open
Hamburg, April 16: Veteran Joshna Chinappa and Veer Chotrani advanced in the Hamburg Open squash, while compatriots Velavan Senthilkumar and Tanvi Khanna bowed out in the opening round here. Former women’s world No 10 Joshna eased past local challenger Saskia Beinhard 11-4, 11-5, 11-4, while men’s world No 47 Chotrani beat Spain’s Ivan Perez 11-8, 11-9, 11-8 in the PSA Bronze-level event. Men’s fifth seed Abhay Singh, who moved up to a career-best world ranking of 22 this week, and Ramit Tandon, the seventh seed, received first-round byes. (PTI)
Arjun, Aditya win another gold at the US Open
New Delhi, April 16: Arjun Singh combined with Aditya Singh to win the men’s doubles 5.0 event at the US Open Pickleball Championship by getting the better of J Meode and W Lin 9-11, 11-2, 11-7) in the final in Naples, Florida. Another Indian pair to bag a medal was Panth Thakkar and Atharva Sheth, who took home a silver in the 4.5 men’s doubles category, after losing the summit clash to Caian Appel and Michael Van Dusen 8-11, 9-11. This is Arjun’s third gold at the tournament and his second with his brother Aditya. They had won the U-18 boys doubles title earlier in the tournament. (PTI)
Top seeds TN, Bengal set up U-19 Girls’ title clash
Dehradun, April 16: Tamil Nadu and West Bengal will lock horns in the Under-19 Girls Team final at the UTT 87th Inter-State Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships here. West Bengal sealed their place in the final with a 3-0 win over Delhi on Thursday, though the scoreline hardly reflected the intensity of the match, with two tightly-contested rubbers going the distance. Earlier, the top seeds were pushed to the brink by fourth-seeded Maharashtra, where Divyanshi Bhowmick emerged as a formidable hurdle, threatening to derail Tamil Nadu’s campaign. However, Tamil Nadu showed resilience when it mattered the most. After conceding the opening rubber to Divyanshi, Ananya Muralidharan rose to the occasion, delivering a composed performance to outclass Hardee Patel in the decider and steer her team into the final. (PTI)
Mumbai Cricket Association announces player contract system
Mumbai, April 16: In a bid to professionalise and streamline its structure ahead of the 2026-2027 season, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) on Thursday announced a player contract system, becoming the first state cricket body to introduce such an arrangement. The players in Grade A are set to be paid between Rs 12 lakh and Rs 20 lakh per annum, whereas the Grade B players will get between Rs 8 lakh and Rs 12 lakhs. The players to be placed in Grade C will be paid up to Rs 8 lakhs per annum. The contracts will vary according to the experience of a player, the number of formats a player has played or plays for Mumbai. The contracts will be given to those players from Mumbai who have neither played for India in the past two seasons nor have been selected by any team in the Indian Premier League for a similar duration. The foremost eligibility criteria, meanwhile, demands players to be registered with the state body, they should be meeting the minimum fitness benchmark set by the MCA, and are recommended for contracts by the selection committee. Mumbai’s contracted players will also be entitled to get match fees, daily allowances and performance-based incentives as per the board’s policies. (PTI)
