Team Melli will play the winners of Australia and South Korea in the final match.
Iran had previously defeated South Korea 67-48, Thailand 86-51, Japan 74-65, China 84-53 and Afghanistan 81-41 and lost to Australia 69-60.
The winners of both the men’s and women’s competitions will qualify directly for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
The IWBF Asia Oceania Zone started on Jan. 12 in Bangkok, Thailand, and will run until Jan. 20.
AMK/TT
Team Melli will play the UAE on Sunday in Group I.
Iran had defeated New Zealand and China and lost to South Korea and Japan in its previous matches.
The competition is taking place from January 11 to 25 in Manama and Isa Town in Bahrain, with 16 teams vying for the coveted crown of Asian champions.
The top four sides at the 2024 AHF Asian Men’s Handball Championship will seal a ticket to the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, while New Zealand will qualify if they finish fifth or higher in the competition.
MP/TSN
Cristiano Ronaldo had a stupendous 2023 as he ended the year after becoming the world’s top goal-scorer
Published Date – 20 January 2024, 01:15 PM
New Delhi: Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo on Friday opened up on his retirement plans and said that he will take the decision when he is done.
While speaking at the Globe Soccer Awards 2023 ceremony, Ronaldo said as quoted by Goal.com, “The moment I feel I’m done, I’ll retire… maybe in 10 years?!” When asked about being the highest goalscorer in 2023, Ronaldo said he was proud of his milestone after beating “young animals like Haaland” The five-time Ballon d’Or winner added that he likes it when people doubt him.
“I was the best goalscorer this season, imagine beating young animals like Haaland… I’m proud. And I’ll be 39 soon! I like when people doubt again about me and then I’m successful. I don’t get affected by the criticism,” he added.
Cristiano Ronaldo had a stupendous 2023 as he ended the year after becoming the world’s top goal-scorer. Following the landmark, the Portuguese superstar said that he will try to achieve it again next year.
In 2023, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner scored 54 goals for his country and his current club, Al Nassr. English striker Harry Kane stood in second place with 52 for his country and newly joined club Bayern Munich. PSG and French attacker Kylian Mbappe scored 52 goals. Meanwhile, City and Norwegian striker Erling Halaand placed 50 goals.
Ronaldo is considered one of the best footballers in the world, and he has set a few records which will be hard to break.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo joined the Saudi club Al Nassr in January 2023, and he has played 50 matches for his new team and scored 44 goals.
In the ongoing season of the Saudi Pro League, the Portuguese has appeared in 18 matches for the Riyadh-based club and scored 20 goals. Ronaldo also made nine assists in the 2023-24 season for Al Nassr.
During the 2023 Globe Soccer Awards ceremony, the Portuguese star asserted, “The Saudi league surpasses Ligue 1, being more competitive.”
Published Date – 20 January 2024, 12:35 PM
New Delhi: Legendary footballer Cristiano Ronaldo on Saturday backed the Saudi Pro League and called it more competitive than Ligue 1.
While speaking at the Globe Soccer Awards 2023 ceremony, the Portuguese star said, “The Saudi league is not worse than Ligue 1. The Saudi Pro League is more competitive than Ligue 1.”
“I can say that after one year spent there. We are better than the French league already now,” Ronaldo was quoted by Goal.com as saying.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner, who is very playing at Al Nassr, added that the Saudi league is still developing and will take some time to reach the top level.
“I feel so happy at Al Nassr, it’s a great move. Saudi is in a process, it will take a long… but step by step they will go to the top level. I think the Saudi Pro League will be among the top three leagues in the world. People in Saudi will be proud,” he added.
The 38-year-old joined the Saudi club Al Nassr in January 2023, and he has played 50 matches for his new team and scored 44 goals.
In the ongoing season of the Saudi Pro League, the Portuguese has appeared in 18 matches for the Riyadh-based club and scored 20 goals. Ronaldo also made nine assists in the 2023-24 season for Al Nassr.
Earlier, the Portuguese superstar returned to his boyhood club Manchester United in 2021 after leaving Juventus, however, his stint in the English club did not last very long after he lambasted the United coach Erik Ten Hag in a controversial interview with Piers Morgan.
After Ronaldo claimed that Ten Hag did not respect the Portuguese player, United terminated the 38-year-old’s contract. In his second run at United, CR7 played 54 matches and scored 27 goals.
Shoaib Malik took to social media to share photos from their wedding ceremony on Saturday, January 20.
Updated On – 20 January 2024, 12:18 PM
Hyderabad: Pakistan cricket star Shoaib Malik married popular Pakistani actor Sana Javed amid rumours of his separation with former India tennis player Sania Mirza. Shoaib Malik took to social media to share photos from their wedding ceremony on Saturday, January 20.
– Alhamdullilah ♥️
“And We created you in pairs” وَخَلَقْنَاكُمْ أَزْوَاجًا pic.twitter.com/nPzKYYvTcV
— Shoaib Malik 🇵🇰 (@realshoaibmalik) January 20, 2024
According to Xinhua, Mallorca hosts La Liga leaders Girona, and Celta Vigo faces Real Sociedad at home after an impressive 3-1 win in Valencia on Wednesday
Updated On – 20 January 2024, 10:56 AM
Madrid: The quarterfinal draw of Spain’s Copa del Rey on Friday produced two classic ties, with Athletic Bilbao drawn at home to FC Barcelona, while Atletico Madrid face Sevilla
The remaining two ties see Mallorca at home to La Liga leaders Girona, who have never got past the quarterfinals of the competition, while Celta Vigo’s reward for an impressive 3-1 win in Valencia on Wednesday is a home game against 2020 cup winners, Real Sociedad, reported Xinhua.
Athletic beat Barcelona 1-0 in their San Mames Stadium in the quarterfinal in early 2020, before defeating them 3-2 after extra time in last 16 in 2022, although they lost the 2021 final 4-0 to the Catalan side in an empty Estadio de la Cartuja in Seville.
Atletico Madrid‘s reward for beating Real Madrid in a 3-2 thriller on Thursday is a game against Sevilla, who are led by former Atletico coach Quique Sanchez Flores.
The tie is a repeat of the 2010 final, which Sevilla won 2-0 in Barcelona’s Camp Nou Stadium.
All ties will be played next week.
Launching a relentless offensive, Chirag-Satwik made a strong statement in the opening game, racing to an impressive 11-3 lead.
Updated On – 20 January 2024, 10:37 AM
New Delhi: India’s Asian Games 2022 gold medallists Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy alongside bronze medallist HS Prannoy recorded contrasting victories and moved into the semi-finals of the India Open 2024, organized by the Badminton Association of India, at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here on Friday.
While Chirag-Satwik registered a dominating 21-7, 21-10 victory against Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen of Denmark, Prannoy had to fight hard to secure his maiden semi-final berth of the tournament by defeating Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei in a 21-11, 17-21, 21-18 win.
Going all-out attack, Chirag-Satwik began the opening game with a statement of intent by amassing a quick 11-3 lead. The former champions maintained that momentum against the fifth seed to claim the first game in a mere 16-minute span.
Prior to this match, the Danish duo had notched two consecutive victories against Chirag-Satwik. However, the World No.2 put an end to that run by scoring eight consecutive points in the second game to seal the victory and set up a highly anticipated clash with former World Champions Soh Wooi Yik and Aaron Chia of Malaysia.
Commenting on how they managed to secure the victory, Chirag Shetty shared, “Against them (Kim and Anders), it is not always a game where you are challenged skillfully but it is also mentally. Whoever wins the mental battle comes out on top and today we did that quite well. We usually don’t play such mind games, but today we made sure that we only receive and not play at their rhythm. The way we started off was in a convincing fashion and we kept it through the very end. We are really happy with the way we played and we want to keep the momentum for tomorrow as well and give 100%.”
Similar to his compatriots, the World Championships 2023 bronze medallist Prannoy made a strong start against his Taiwanese opponent by winning a 26 point rally and set the tone for the game by establishing a 13-4 lead in the first game. Despite a brief resurgence from Wang, the eighth seed closed out the game quite effortlessly.
The second game saw a rejuvenated Wang taking a lead of 13-6, and though Prannoy tried to narrow the gap, the 28-year-old held on to force a tie-breaker.
There was not much that separated the two players in an intense third game. With the score tied at 16-16, Prannoy seized a two-point lead and ultimately claimed victory in an hour and 17 minutes to hand Wang his fourth quarterfinal exit at the tournament.
“I think it is always tough to play against somebody like Wang Tzu Wei, who is exceptionally good along the net and attack. It was important for me to get that first game because he is somebody who gets going right from the start. The second game didn’t go really well but I am really proud of what I could do in the third game to fight back. Shi Yu Qi has been playing really well in the last six months and he looks pretty solid out there. So it is going to be tough physically and the major thing is to get the body ready for tomorrow,” said HS Prannoy after his victory.
The World No.9 will face sixth-seeded Shi Yu Qui of China in the final four.
Earlier in the day, Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu continued his stunning run in the tournament as he triumphed over Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Anthony Ginting of Indonesia with in a thrilling 21-17, 18-21, 21-13 victory.
The 27-year-old continued to build on his advantage and ultimately sealed the victory to set up a semi-final tie against second seed Kodai Naraoka of Japan.
In women’s singles, second seed An-Se Young’s title defence came to an unfortunate end as she had to retire due to injury, handing Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min her first semi-finals berth at the India Open.
Jia Min will face Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei, who prevailed against two-time World Championships bronze medallist He Bing Jiao of China with a comfortable 21-12, 21-12 victory.
Elsewhere, former World Champions Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand clinched a 21-17, 15-21, 27-25 victory over defending champions Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino of Japan.
Mehdi Ghayedi, Iran’s forward scored the winning goal for Iran at the minute of 24.
With today’s narrow victory, Iran have now qualified for the next round of 16 of the AFC Asian Cup 2023.
Iran beat Palestine 4-1 in their first match.
The match was held at Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar.
The 2023 AFC Asian Cup is the current 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It involves 24 national teams after expansion in 2019, with Qatar the defending champions.
MNA
Titans, who are enduring another forgettable season languishing at the bottom of the table, welcomed Bulls in the opening match of the Hyderabad leg in an electrifying atmosphere
Published Date – 19 January 2024, 11:27 PM
Hyderabad: Bengaluru Bulls raider Akshit Dhull came on as a substitute and proved to be a game-changer with nine raid points to lead his side to a commanding 42-26 win over Telugu Titans in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 match at Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad on Friday.
Titans, who are enduring another forgettable season languishing at the bottom of the table, welcomed Bulls in the opening match of the Hyderabad leg in an electrifying atmosphere. Captain Pawan Sehrawat was up against his former side and Titans made a good start with a 3-0 lead. But Sherawat was caught by Abhisekh Singh during his raid to send him to the bench silencing the home crowd.
Defender Mohit Rathe registered the match’s first Super tackle to lift the home side to take the side to a 6-5 lead after trailing 4-5. By the end of the first half, Titans were leading 12-9.
In the second half, the Bulls looked like a different team as they inflicted All Out on Titans courtesy of raider Vikash Kandola who gave his side an 18-15 lead. And soon followed the Bulls dominance in the tie taking a lead of 20-15 and soon entered the second strategic timeout with a score of 22-16 in the Bulls favour.
Raider Akshit made his presence felt collecting vital raid points and with just 10 minutes to go, Titan faced second All Out trailing 19-26. And shortly followed by the third All Out for the home side, the Bulls took complete control.
For the winners, Samiksha opened the scoring in the 14th minute while Chaitanya Sri doubled the lead in the 25th minute
Published Date – 19 January 2024, 10:40 PM
Hyderabad: Care Football Academy began their campaign with a crushing 4-0 victory over hosts Gajwel FC in the Telangana Football Association’s Khelo India Girls Football League at the MJPBCRSJDC College, Wargal, Gajwel, on Friday.
For the winners, Samiksha opened the scoring in the 14th minute while Chaitanya Sri doubled the lead in the 25th minute. Lasya and Sahastra found the back of the net in a span of three minutes to make it 4-0 for the Care Football Academy.
In another match, Twin City FC rode on Roopa’s 14th minute goal to down Telangana Sports School 1-0.
Results: Twin City FC 1 (Roopa) bt Telangana Sports School 0; Care Football Academy 4 (Samiksha 1, Chaitanya Sri 1, Lasya 1, Sahastra 1) bt Gajwel FC 0; Deccan Dynamos 1 (Shamitha) bt Hyderabad Women’s FC 0.
