Sports

Tashkent (Uzbekistan), July 1 (ians) Divyanshi Bhowmick scripted history at the 29th Asian Youth Table Tennis Championships here, becoming the first Indian in 36 years to win the U-15 Girls’ Singles title. The 14-year-old Indian, who is seeded second in this event, defeated China’s Zhu Qihi 4-2 in a high-pressure final, capping a sensational run that included victories over three Chinese players—an unprecedented feat in Indian youth table tennis.

With this performance, the second-seeded Divyanshi also sealed her berth for the World Youth Championships with this title.

In the Asian Championship, her standout moment came in the semifinals, where she edged past China’s Liu Ziling in a thrilling seven-game battle to keep India’s gold medal hopes alive.

A product of India’s growing pipeline of table tennis talent, Divyanshi is part of the Dani Sports Foundation’s development program, which works alongside Ultimate Table Tennis to identify and nurture young prospects. The youngster was a part of the first edition of the UTT Juniors, which ran alongside Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) Season 6 in Ahmedabad, featuring some of the country's best young talents.

Meanwhile, she was also named the Best Women's Player (Overall) at the Table Tennis Super League (TTSL) Maharashtra in April this year.

India wrapped up its campaign in Tashkent with one gold, one silver, and two bronze medals, with Divyanshi’s triumph standing out as a defining moment for the country’s resurgence in youth table tennis.

In other results for India, the mixed doubles pair of Ankur Bhattacharjee and Taneesha Kotecha clinched a bronze medal. Second seeds Ankur and Taneesha had to settle for a bronze medal after being edged out in a gritty Under-19 mixed doubles semifinal by South Korea’s Kim Gaon and Park Gahyeon. The Indian pair fought valiantly but went down 2-3 in a tightly contested match, with the Koreans prevailing 11-9, 8-11, 11-7, 3-11, 11-3.

The other two medals won by India came in the team events, with the U-15 Boys' team clinching a silver while the U-19 Boys' team securing a bronze medal. The Indian pair of Priyanuj Bhattacharyya and Syndrela Das exited in the Under-19 mixed doubles pre-quarterfinals, losing in straight games to North Korea’s Jon Ju Phyong and Jo Hong Rim. Despite challenging their opponents closely, the Indians went down 9-11, 6-11, 9-11.

--IANS

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London, July 1 (IANS) Five-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek of Poland started her campaign in the 2025 Wimbledon with a straight sets win in her opening match in the women's singles at the All-England Club here on Tuesday. Swiatek, a four-time French Open winner and one-time US Open titlist, took out Polina Kudermetova 7-5, 6-1 to secure her place in the second round.

The Polish former World No.1 has her best performance playing a quarterfinal at Wimbledon two years ago, which was following her best WTA Tour grass result ever. This year, Swiatek, who is currently ranked No.4 in the WTA Rankings, reached the final in Bad Homburg, Germany, which was her first WTA final since winning in Paris more than a year ago.

Tuesday's victory against Kudermetova is the 61st consecutive win in an opening match -- the longest streak of any woman this century. She’ll meet Caty McNally, a 6-3, 6-1 winner over British wildcard Jodie Burrage on Thursday.

With the victory, Swiatek’s record at Wimbledon is 12-5 (.706). That’s a fairly stellar mark, but perhaps because she is so dominant on clay, Swiatek has always been self-deprecating about her grass skills. And yet, the 24-year-old from Poland defeated Jasmine Paolini 6-1, 6-3, in the Bad Homburg semifinals.

“It for sure gave me a lot of confidence,” Swiatek said. “Obviously, it’s tennis, so every day is different, but I felt like I was playing great. I really pushed Jasmine the way I wanted to. I had a really great time in Bad Homburg and enjoyed it. Yeah, also having more time to practice before on grass really helped. I feel that I have a little bit more skills.”

And while Paolini reached the finals here a year ago, she is not listed among the leading favourites to win this title. Swiatek, a small distance behind Aryna Sabalenka, is ahead of 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and reigning French Open winner Coco Gauff.

==IANS

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Astana (Kazakhstan), July 1 (IANS) India’s strong start at the World Boxing Cup–Astana, Kazakhstan 2025 gained further ground with Sakshi, Lakshya Chahar, and Jaismine advancing to the quarterfinals following their preliminary victories at the Beeline Arena here on Tuesday.

In the women’s 54kg category, Sakshi put on a composed display to defeat England’s Charley Davison with a unanimous 5:0 decision in her pre-quarterfinal bout.

Jaismine followed with a confident showing of her own in the women’s 57kg division, overcoming Azerbaijan’s Aynur Mikayilova by the same margin to seal her place in the last eight. Lakshya Chahar delivered a gritty performance in the men’s 80kg category, moving past Bulgaria’s William Cholov 4:1 in a split verdict.

Meanwhile, Manish Rathore exited the competition after a closely contested bout against Rui Yamaguchi of Japan in the men’s 55kg category.

Sakshi, Lakshya, and Jaismine now join Sachin Siwach, Hitesh Gulia, Muskan, Minakshi, and Sanju in the next round, underlining India’s strong start to the tournament in Astana.

Earlier on Monday, Hitesh and Sachin Siwach led India’s strong start at the World Boxing Cup with dominant, unanimous wins in their opening preliminary bouts.

In women’s competition, Minakshi began her campaign with a clean 5:0 win over Australia’s Madeleine Bowen in the light-flyweight division, while Muskan edged England’s Kerry Davis in a closely contested 3:2 decision in the middleweight category.

India had claimed six medals at the previous World Boxing Cup leg in Brazil. With the Finals set to take place in New Delhi this November, the Astana leg plays a key role in shaping preparations. India had won one gold, one silver, and four bronze medals in the first leg of the 2025 World Boxing Cup at Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil.

Uzbekistan had topped the medal table in the first leg in Brazil with eight medals, with five gold medals. Hosts Brazil finished with nine medals but had fewer gold (three), while Kazakhstan ended third with six medals, including three gold and three bronze.

--IANS

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Northampton, July 1 (IANS) Skipper Thomas Rew scored a century to help England Under-19 chase a stiff target and prevail over India Under-19 by one over in the second Youth ODI on Monday as they levelled the five-match series 1-1 at the County Ground, Northampton.

Asked to bat first, India Under-19s posted a competitive score of 290 with four batters, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Vihaan Malhotra, Rahul Kumar, and Kanishk Chouhan, narrowly missing half-centuries.

The 14-year-old Suryavanshi, who scored a century in India U-19s' win in the first ODI, and Vihaan Malhotra rescued India U-19 with a 67-run partnership for the second wicket after skipper Ayush Mhatre was bowled by Alex French for a duck. Suryavanshi scored a 34-ball 45, hitting five fours and three sixes before he was caught by Morgan off Jack Home.

alhotra was out one run short of his half-century while Maulyarajsinh Chavda (22) and Abhigyan Kundu (32) while Rahul Kumar (47), and Kaushik Chauhan (45) helped the India U-19 reach 272/7. But RS Ambrish (4), Mohamed Enaan (6), and Hanif Patel (7) failed to contribute much as India U-19 failed to reach the 300-run mark.

For England, pacer Alex French claimed 4-71 while Jack Home 4-63 and Alex Green bagged 3-50 as India U-19 were bowled out for 290 with one over remaining.

Chasing 291, England Under-19s recovered from the early departure of BJ Dawkins (7), Ben Mayes (27), and Isaac Mohammed (11) and were reduced to 47/3 in the 12th over. Rocky Flintoff (39) came together with skipper Thomas Rew to take the score to 170, raising 123 runs for the fourth wicket partnership.

Rew went on to score 131 before he was caught by Yudhajit Guha off Henil Patel. The India U-19 bowlers made inroads in the England U-19 innings getting Joseph Moores (13), Ralphie Albert (18), Jack Home (3), and Alex Green (12). But Sebastian Morgan scored an unbeaten 20 to ensure England U-19 crawled over the line to win the match by one wicket.

Though RS Ambrish claimed four wickets for India, but conceded 80 runs, which is the highest by a bowler in Youth ODIs this year.

Brief scores:

India Under-19 290 all out in49 overs (Vaibhav Suryavanshi 47, Vihaan Malhotra 49, Rahul Kumar 47, Kanishk Chouhan 45; Alex French 4-71, Jack Home 3-63, Alex Green 3-50) lost to England Under-19 291/9 in 49.1 overs (Thomas Rew 131, Rocky Flintoff 39, Ben Mayes 27; RS Ambrish 4-80, Henil Patel 2-28, Yudhajit Guha 2-63) by one wicket.

--IANS

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New Delhi, June 30 (IANS) Brett Lee has responded to encouraging words from India's two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra, who said the former Australian cricketer could be a good javelin thrower.

In a freewheeling interview with JioStar, the official broadcaster of the most significant events of his season - the Neeraj Chopra Classic 2025, the Tokyo Olympic Games gold medallist said Brett Lee could be a good javelin thrower. Chopra won a silver medal in the javelin throw event in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

"I have heard that Brett Lee was a javelin thrower. I think he could throw the javelin well, especially when he was in his peak years," said Chopra, who won back-to-back titles in the Paris Diamond League event and Ostrava Golden Spike meet.

In his response to the interview, Brett Lee said he did throw the javelin during his schooling days, but was nowhere near as good as Neeraj. "I did throw the javelin back in my schooling days, but nowhere near what Neeraj does & continues to do," wrote the former Australian pacer in his post on X, formerly Twitter.

He also explained why he did not continue with javelin despite indulging in it in his school days, and said the sport is very tough on the elbow.

Brett Lee also expressed his admiration for Neeraj Chopra, who is one of the most popular and famous athletes on the international circuit.

"Very tough on the elbow. I have, however, admired what this fine athlete can do and wish him well," said Brett Lee.

He also expressed his interest in trying javelin alongside India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah. "I would like to try javelin with Jasprit Bumrah too, and hope he teaches me some bowling skills. While bowling and javelin are both throws, they are very different. I would like to learn from Bumrah."

After his win in Paris, Neeraj was asked by a media outlet whether he had ever tried cricket, especially bowling. Neeraj said he would also like to try his hand at baseball pitching at some point.

--IANS

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London, June 30 (IANS) Two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz survived a scare on the opening day of action at Wimbledon, defeating seasoned Fabio Fognini in an intense five-set thriller to reach the men's singles second round at the All England Club here on Monday.

Alcaraz, the World No.2 and French Open 2025 winner, overcame the veteran Italian and the intense London heat 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 in four hours and 37 minutes.

In a topsy-turvy battle, which featured first-class shotmaking, Alcaraz showed his trademark grit to triumph on the hottest opening day at The Championships with temperatures reaching 31.4C.

The Spaniard, who now holds a standout 14-1 fifth-set record and recently defeated Jannik Sinner in the Roland Garros final, was made to work extremely hard against a free-hitting Fognini.

In London with an 18-match winning streak – the longest of his career, Alcaraz is aiming to join Bjorn Borg and become just the second man in history to win the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double in consecutive years.

However, few would have expected the 22-year-old to struggle against the 38-year-old Fognini, who as the third oldest man in the men’s singles draw, stepped onto the court on the back of a 10-match tour-level losing streak.

Yet for periods, Alcaraz was in real trouble on Centre Court. With David Beckham watching on in the Royal Box, Alcaraz rallied from a breakdown in the third set and finally put the Italian to bed in a dominant fifth set. With his win, the No. 2 player in the ATP Rankings avoided becoming just the third defending champion to lose in the first round. Manuel Santana fell in 1967 and Lleyton Hewitt in 2003.

Alcaraz also maintained his perfect first-round record at the majors (18-0) and extended his winning streak at Wimbledon to 15 matches. He will next meet British qualifier Oliver Tarvet after the 21-year-old beat Swiss Leandro Riedi 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to earn victory on his major debut.

Alcaraz is chasing his sixth title of the season, highlighted by his fifth major at Roland Garros and ATP Masters 1000 titles in Monte Carlo and Rome. Earlier this month, Alcaraz triumphed at The Queen’s Club for the second time.

--IANS

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New Delhi, June 30 (IANS) India’s highly anticipated Neeraj Chopra Classic 2025 will miss one of its star attractions, as Asian Games silver medallist Kishore Jena has been ruled out due to an ankle injury. The setback, confirmed just days ahead of the meet, has forced the organisers to bring in Yash Vir Singh as Jena’s replacement in the elite javelin lineup for the event to be held on July 5.

Jena, who threw a personal best of 87.54m to clinch silver behind Neeraj Chopra at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, was seen as a strong contender to challenge the world’s best at this landmark event. His absence is a blow not just for Indian fans, but for a meet designed to showcase the finest javelin talent on Indian soil.

Yash Vir Singh, ranked 41st in the world, steps in with his own credentials, having registered a personal best of 82.57m at the 2025 Asian Championships in Gumi, Korea. He joins compatriots Neeraj Chopra, Sachin Yadav, Rohit Yadav, and Sahil Silwal in the Indian contingent.

The Neeraj Chopra Classic 2025—India’s first international javelin competition—is a collaboration between Neeraj himself, JSW Sports, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), and World Athletics (WA). The event promises to be the highest-tier international athletics meet ever staged in India.

Leading the star-studded field will be Neeraj Chopra, the Olympic champion and reigning world title holder. Joining him are global heavyweights such as Anderson Peters (Grenada), two-time world champion Thomas Rohler (Germany), and Rio 2016 gold medallist Julius Yego (Kenya).

Originally slated for May 24, the event was postponed due to security concerns and will now take place on July 5 at Bengaluru’s Sree Kanteerava Stadium. Expectations remain sky-high as the stage is set for a historic evening of javelin excellence on Indian soil.

Neeraj Chopra has geared up for the event named after him by winning his first Diamond League leg in two years. Earlier in the season, he had breached the 90m mark for the first time in Doha, finishing second. Recently, he won the Ostrava Golden Spike meet with a throw of 85.29m.

--IANS

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London, June 30 (IANS) Brazilian youngster Joao Fonseca made an immediate impact at the majors with a classy debut at Wimbledon, racing past home favourite Jacob Fearnley in straight sets in the first round on Monday. The Brazilian NextGenATP star defeated Fearnley 6-4, 6-1, 7-6(5) to become the first 18-year-old to reach the second round at the grass major since Carlos Alcaraz in 2021.

Another debutant and French qualifier, Valentin Royer, also advanced to the next round as Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas was forced to retire during his Wimbledon opener on Monday due to a back injury.

Royer led 6-3, 6-2 against the Greek, who received a medical timeout in the second set due to a back issue. The former World No. 3 Tsitsipas looked in discomfort at times during the 74 minutes on the court and struggled with his movement and serve, making just 43 percent of his first deliveries.

In his first match at Wimbledon, Fonseca produced a powerful display throughout and kept his cool in his only real moment of peril, when set point down at 5-6, 30/40 in the third set.

“It means a lot. It’s super special for me,” said Fonseca in his on-court interview after the match. "It’s my favourite Grand Slam since my childhood. I’ve been watching all the matches, so it’s just a pleasure being here. I’m sorry for winning against a British guy, but thanks a lot for the support here. Thanks for respecting the tennis today. Jacob is a great friend, a great player, and I’m looking forward to my next meetings against him.”

Before January’s Australian Open, Fonseca had not played a main-draw match at a Grand Slam tournament. Yet the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals champion stunned then-Top 10 star Andrey Rublev in Melbourne to announce himself on the world stage.

After lifting his maiden ATP Tour title in February in Buenos Aires, the Brazilian then reached the third round of a major for the first time at Roland Garros.

Even with those recent standout performances in mind, the way Fonseca dismantled Fearnley at Wimbledon was impressive. Although he played in qualifying for the event last year, the teenager had contested only four tour-level matches on grass before Monday’s clash. He nonetheless had no trouble bringing his clean-hitting game to his least-familiar surface against Fearnley.

In his first match, Tsitsipas, coached by former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, left SW19 holding a 19-13 record on the season. The 26-year-old is the second men's seed to fall on Day 1, joining Daniil Medvedev.

Tsitsipas is currently 22nd in the ATP Live Race To Turin, having failed to advance beyond the third round in any of his previous five events. The Greek is a former champion at the ATP Finals, competing at the prestigious year-end event on five consecutive occasions from 2019 to 2023. Tsitsipas' best result this year came in Dubai, where he lifted his 12th tour-level trophy.

--IANS

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Atlanta, June 29 (IANS) Lionel Messi’s reunion with his former club did not go as plan as Paris Saint-Germain delivered a dominant performance to defeat Inter Miami CF 4-0 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, securing qualification for the quarter-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025.

Following their 2-0 win over Seattle Sounders FC, PSG entered the Round of 16 with confidence and a clear objective to advance further in the tournament. Head coach Luis Enrique named a strong starting XI, with Marquinhos and Willian Pacho in central defence ahead of Gianluigi Donnarumma, supported by full-backs Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes. The midfield trio comprised Vitinha, João Neves, and Fabián Ruiz, while Bradley Barcola and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia operated on the wings, flanking forward Désiré Doué.

PSG set the tone early, with João Neves heading in a Vitinha cross to open the scoring in the 6th minute. The French side continued to control possession and create opportunities throughout the first half. Despite multiple saves from Inter Miami’s goalkeeper Óscar Ustari, PSG doubled their lead in the 39th minute through Neves again, finishing calmly after a well-worked move initiated by Barcola and Ruiz.

Just before halftime, PSG extended their lead to 3-0 when Doué’s cross was deflected into the net by Inter defender Tomás Avilés. The scoring was completed in stoppage time when Hakimi followed up on his initial effort to slot home PSG’s fourth goal after a Barcola assist.

Despite numerous second-half chances, including efforts from Doué, Barcola, and Kvaratskhelia, PSG were unable to add to their tally. Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi had two efforts on goal but failed to make an impact against his former club. Ousmane Dembélé made his return from injury in the second half, replacing João Neves, who was later named Man of the Match.

PSG will face the winner of FC Bayern Munich vs Flamengo in the quarter-finals.

--IANS

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Spielberg, June 29 (IANS) Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli has been hit with a three-place grid penalty for the upcoming British Grand Prix after the stewards found him at fault for a collision with Max Verstappen on Lap 1 in Austria.

After starting from P9 on the grid, Antonelli locked up the rear brakes of his Mercedes into Turn 3, causing him to hit Verstappen’s Red Bull which put both cars out of the race.

Both were summoned to the stewards over the incident, where the verdict was that Antonelli was “fully at fault” for what happened, though it was also acknowledged that the move had been a “result of the evasive action after locking up”.

A document released following the stewards’ meeting stated, “In the hearing the driver admitted that he made a mistake as he locked up the rear wheels while using his regular braking point, but also pointed out that he needed to avoid a collision with Car 30 [Liam Lawson] in front of him and released the brakes for a short period of time to do so.

“Taking evasive action led to the car having less grip on the dirty inside line and therefore he was not able to decelerate the car in a way to avoid the collision with Car 1.

“The stewards determine that, although the incident happened in Lap 1, no other cars influenced the incident and the driver of Car 12 is fully at fault. Therefore the more lenient approach to judging Lap 1 incidents has not been applied in this case.

“However, they also acknowledge that the incident was not a blatant attempt to dive into the corner but rather a result of the evasive action after locking up.”

Given that the teenager was unable to continue in the race, the penalty decided upon was a three-place grid drop for the next race – that being Silverstone next weekend on July 4-6 – as well as two penalty points on his licence.

Speaking after his early exit from the race at the Red Bull Ring, Antonelli said: “I think I had a normal start, then going up to T3 I was just trying to maintain the position. I didn’t want to do anything because I knew there was no space in front, but then when I hit the brake I locked the rear and I got caught by that.

“When I locked the rear, I lost the car and then I had to first avoid the Racing Bull [of Lawson], but then I just couldn’t stop the car. Unfortunately I hit Max and I just feel very sorry towards the team, and him of course.

“I just apologised straight away. I recognise it’s all on me and I just feel sorry because I ended my race, but I ended his as well.”

Verstappen was seemingly accepting of Antonelli’s apology, the World Champion reflecting on the incident said, “Unlucky, I guess. It is what it is. I spoke quickly to Kimi, he came with me to the hospitality. I think every driver has made a mistake like that. No one does that on purpose as well so for me, that’s not a big deal,” said Verstappen post-race.

--IANS

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