Six Indians in Chennai squash PSA Challenger quarters
Chennai, July 12: Second seed Indian Suraj Chand rallied to beat Kuwait’s Ammar Altamimi 6-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 in the men’s pre-quarterfinals of the Squash PSA Challenger Tour-Chennai at the Indian Squash Academy on Sunday. Men’s seventh seed Om Semwal and women’s third seed Rathika Seelan, fourth seed Sanya Vats, eighth seed Unnati Tripathi and Pooja Arthi Raghu were the other Indians to advance to the quarterfinals. India had a mixed day in the pre-quarterfinals of the tournament. Om Semwal, Suraj Chand, Unnati Tripathi, Sanya Vats, Pooja Arthi Raghu, and Rathika Seelan all moved on to the quarterfinals in their singles events. (IANS)
ITTF to announce 2027 World Cups hosts; Europe to host one event
Panaji, July 12: The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is set to announce the hosts for its three World Cup events in 2027, including the inaugural Doubles World Cup, with one of the events to be held in Europe. With the doubles being a part of the Los Angeles Olympics 2028 program, the ITTF had announced launching a World Cup in this category earlier this year in March. “The ITTF is developing its 2027 World Cup programme, comprising three events: singles, doubles, and mixed team. We haven’t made the formal announcement yet, but we will take one of them to Europe,” the ITTF president Petra Sorling said. Sorling had earlier said that the introduction of the Doubles World Cup would encourage to play more in the category. Sorling said the format of the UTT, which consists of matches in men’s and women’s singles as well as mixed doubles, is “really attractive”. (PTI)
Khosla family to purchase Super Bowl champion Seattle for $9.612B
Seattle (USA), July 12: The Seattle Seahawks are being sold to the Khosla family, including Vinod Khosla, in accordance with the wishes of late team owner Paul Allen, the team announced on Saturday. The Khosla family entered into a formal agreement to purchase the defending Super Bowl champions for $9.612 billion, according to a person familiar with the deal. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal is still subject to approval by the NFL. The Khosla family will become the team’s controlling owner, according to a social media post by the Seahawks. Allen’s estate announced on February 18 it had begun the process of selling the team, which is coming off its second Super Bowl victory in franchise history. Vinod Khosla is the founder of Khosla Ventures, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. His current net worth is $13.7 billion, Forbes reported this month. The Khosla family will be required to relinquish its ownership stake in the San Francisco 49ers as part of the deal. Khosla joined 49ers ownership group as a minority owner in 2025, purchasing 3.1% of the team. NFL owners still have to ratify a final purchase agreement and they are expected to meet in August to approve the deal. The Seahawks have been in the Allen family since 1997, when Paul Allen bought the team for $194 million from then-owner Ken Behring. Allen was critical in keeping the Seahawks in Seattle, which is where the team is expected to remain after the sale is finalised. (AP)
