TEHRAN, Jan. 17 (MNA) – Syrian referee Hanna Hattab was appointed to officiate the match between Iran and Hong Kong in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.
Fan who hugged Virat Kohli during T20I match is now a local star
The fervent fan made his way onto the cricket field to hug Virat during the live match at Holkar Stadium.
Published Date – 17 January 2024, 07:56 PM
Image Source: X, @AhtashamRiaz_
Hyderabad: A fan who hugged Virat Kohli during the second T20I match against Afghanistan is now a star, at least among his friends and relatives.
In a video that surfaced online, he can be seen being felicitated by his fans with a garland. His friends also took selfies with him.
The fervent fan made his way onto the cricket field to hug Virat during the live match at Holkar Stadium.
After hugging Virat, he was apprehended by security personnel at the ground, who then handed him over to the police.
According to the police, he entered the stadium with a valid ticket and crossed the fence to meet his superstar.
Watch the video here:
The guy who hugged Virat Kohli in Indore is getting felicitated by his friends.pic.twitter.com/GiHSvrdLcE
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) January 16, 2024
Ahmed Hussain to lead Telangana team in Rajiv Gandhi T-20 Cricket Championship
Zameer Mohiuddin will serve as his skipper’s deputy. The team is under the guidance of coach S Rajnikanth Goud
Published Date – 17 January 2024, 06:15 PM
Ahmed Hussain
Hyderabad: Ahmed Hussain will lead the Telangana team in the 43rd edition of Shri Rajiv Gandhi National T-20 Cricket Championship organised by Cricket Federation of Hyderabad to be held in Hyderabad starting January 18.
Zameer Mohiuddin will serve as his skipper’s deputy. The team is under the guidance of coach S Rajnikanth Goud.
Squad: Ahmed Hussain (C), Zameer Mohiuddin (VC), Abhinav Kumar (WK), G Sravan, V Ajay, MA Adnan, Shaik Ameer, Hrishikesh Goud, Adarsh Deshmukh, Bharath Kumar, Dhairya, Arjun, Harsh, Nomaan Mirza, Pruthvi Sai, S Rajnikanth Goud (Coach).
Iran defeats China at 2024 IWBF AOZ
Previously in the tournament, Team Melli beat South Korea 67-48, Thailand 86-51 and Japan 74-65, but lost to Australia 69-60.
Iran’s team was recently awarded the title of the “2023 Best Asian Team Performance” by the Asian Paralympic Committee (AsPC).
The competition serves as a qualification for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games and the winner will qualify for the Paralympics.
The 2024 IWBF Asia Oceania Championships in men’s and women’s divisions are being held in Bangkok, Thailand from January 12 to 20.
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Iran falls short against Australia at 2024 IWBF AOZ
Team Melli had previously defeated South Korea 67-48, Thailand 86-51, and Japan 74-65.
Iran will play China on Thursday.
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.
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Iran’s Vafaei starts 2024 World Grand Prix on high
Praggnanandhaa overtakes Viswanathan Anand as India’s No.1
The 18-year-old claimed victory over China’s Liren with the black pieces at the 2024 Tata Steel Chess Tournament on Wednesday, elevating him to the top spot and surpassing the legendary Viswanathan Anand.
Published Date – 17 January 2024, 01:45 PM
New Delhi: Chess prodigy Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa clinched the number one spot among India’s chess players following his victory over World Champion Ding Liren.
The 18-year-old defeated China’s Liren with the black pieces at the chess-tournament”>2024 Tata Steel Chess Tournament on Wednesday and surpassed the legendary Viswanathan Anand to take the number one spot.
Praggnanandhaa said he was surprised with the outcome as he didn’t expect the world champion to get ousted in such a fashion.
“I felt I equalized very easily and then somehow things started to go wrong for him. Even after I won the pawn I felt it should be holdable,” Praggnanandhaa was quoted as saying by Chess.com.
“I think any day, if you beat such a strong player, it’s always special because it’s not very easy to beat them. The first time winning against a world champion in classical chess feels good,” he added.
Praggnanandhaa, who started playing at the tender age of 5, went on to become India’s youngest and the then world’s second-youngest Grandmaster at age 12 in 2018.
He is the fifth-youngest person ever to achieve the title of Grandmaster after Abhimanyu Mishra, Sergey Karjakin, Gukesh D and Javokhir Sindarov. Incidentally, his elder sister R Vaishali is also a Grandmaster, which makes the siblings the world’s first-ever brother-sister GM duo.
In the Masters category, Grandmaster Anish Giri headed into the first rest day as the sole leader in the group. Giri’s sensational moves helped him secure a victory over D Gukesh.
Iranian 15-year-old shooter Beyranvand makes history
After China’s Guo Yuhao – who secured the second available Olympic quota place – had missed his second effort in the shoot-off to give the Iranian teenager a 2-1 win, the latter raised his arms into the air before falling onto his back with hands over his face, shedding tears.
The shock was understandable for a youngster who last year finished 71st at the World Championships and 54th in the Almaty ISSF World Cup.
Beyranvand will not turn 16 until Aug. 28 this year – 26 days after the shooting event concludes at the Paris Games – and is currently in line to join three others who have competed in shooting at an Olympics aged 15, the youngest on record.
The next challenge on his horizon could be to better the performance of China’s Sheng Lihao, who became the youngest-ever shooter to win an Olympic medal when he took silver in the men’s 10m air rifle at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
India’s Lakshay Lakshay came third, scoring 33 points.
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Iran loses to South Korea at 2024 Asian Handball Championship
Team Melli, who had previously defeated New Zealand and China in the preliminary round, will play Japan in Group I on Thursday.
The 2024 Asian Men’s Handball Championship is the 21st edition of the championship scheduled to be held from 11 to 25 Jan. in Bahrain, under the aegis of the Asian Handball Federation (AHF).
It’s the third time in history that the championship is organized by the Bahrain Handball Federation.
It also acts as a qualification tournament for the 2025 World Men’s Handball Championship, with top four teams from the championship directly qualifying for the event.
If New Zealand finish inside the top five, they are qualified as well as the representative of Oceania.
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Himateja, Gaurav hit centuries for Hyderabad in CK Nayudu Trophy
Captain K Himateja hit an unbeaten 185 while Gaurav Reddy scored 106 to lead Hyderabad reply on the third day of the Col CK Nayudu Trophy match against Baroda
Published Date – 16 January 2024, 11:43 PM
K Himateja
Hyderabad: Captain K Himateja hit an unbeaten 185 while Gaurav Reddy scored 106 to lead Hyderabad reply on the third day of the Col CK Nayudu Trophy match against Baroda, at Gymkhana on Tuesday.
Batting first, Baroda declared their innings after posting a massive 614/9 in their first innings. Captain P Patidar (149), Jadav Gajvirsinh (163) and Ansh Patel (109) hit centuries for the visitors while CTL Rakshann scalped four wickets for Hyderabad under-23 team.
In reply, Hyderabad ended the third day at 368/4, trailing by another 246 runs. Earlier, Hyderabad didn’t have the best of starts losing Aman Rao and Nitish Reddy inside four overs for just 12 runs. Captain Himateja and Shashank Lokesh (57) added 107 runs for the third wicket before the latter departed.
In the company of Gaurav, Himateja stitched a massive 230-run partnership for the fourth wicket. At stumps, Paras Raj was with Himateja at the crease.
Brief Scores: Baroda 614/9d (Jadav Rajvirsinh 163, P Patidar 149, Ansh Patel 109; Ctl Rakshann 4/75) vs Hyderabad 368/4 in 100 overs (K Himateja 185 batting, Gaurav Reddy 106).
