The Iranian freestylers seized three gold, three silver, and two bronze medals in the ranking event.
Mohammad Nokhodi recovered from a grueling semifinal against Evan Wick from the U.S. to win gold at 79kg with a 6-0 win over Georgian Avtandil Kentchadze.
Amirali Azarpira defeated Kyle Snyder 6-3 in the final match of the 97kg to win the gold medal.
His compatriot Kamran Ghasempour defeated Erhan Yaylaci from Turkey 3-1 in the bronze medal match.
At 125kg weight class, Amirhossein Zare defeated his countryman Amir Reza Masoumi 5-0 to win the third gold.
At 65kg, Iran’s Rahman Amouzad lost to Vazgen Tevanyan from Armenia after pulling out due to an injury. Amouzad’s compatriot Abbas Ebrahimzadeh seized a bronze in the class.
Hossein Abouzari from Iran also lost to American Jason Nolf in the final bout of 74kg.
The U.S. won the team standings in men’s freestyle with 159 points, followed by Iran with 115 points and Georgia with 110 points.
Leading the side in the absence of Tilak Varma, G Rahul Singh elected to bowl after winning the toss
Published Date – 12 January 2024, 08:03 PM
Leading the side in the absence of Tilak Varma, G Rahul Singh elected to bowl after winning the toss
Hyderabad: Hyderabad bowlers dished out another good show to take command on Day One of the Ranji Trophy Plate Group match against Meghalaya at the MCA Cricket Ground, Polo Ground in Shillong, on Friday.
Leading the side in the absence of Tilak Varma, G Rahul Singh elected to bowl after winning the toss. His stand was vindicated by the bowlers as they dismissed the hosts to a paltry 111 in just 33.1 overs in their second round match. P Sairam returned with impressive bowling figures of 4/33 in 12 overs. Apart from Sairam, CV Milind (2/5), Ravi Teja (2/26) and Tanay Thyagarajan (2/23) scalped two wickets apiece.
For the hosts, captain Kishan Lyngdoh waged a lone battle with a 73-ball unbeaten 51. Later, Hyderabad failed to get off to a good start as they lost openers cheaply inside four overs for 14. Rahul Singh (22) also departed in the ninth over when the team score was 43/3. But Rohit Rayudu (54 not out off 123; 4×4, 1×6) and Chandan Sahani (52 off 65 (6×4, 2×6) added 89 runs of the fourth wicket. Though Sahani was dismissed, Pragnay Reddy (32 batting) was giving Rohit Rayudu the company at the crease to take the visitors’ lead to 71 runs.
Chirayush Patwardhan and Aashirwad Saxena bagged silver and bronze medals respectively in the 28th Senior, Junior & Sub-Junior National Road Cycling Championship
Published Date – 12 January 2024, 07:48 PM
Hyderabad: Telangana cyclists Chirayush Patwardhan and Aashirwad Saxena bagged silver and bronze medals respectively in the 28th Senior, Junior & Sub-Junior National Road Cycling Championship at Vijayapura, Karnataka on Friday.
In the 80km Under-18 category, Chirayush clocked 1:59:27.810s to win the silver medal while Aashirwad, with a timing of 1.59:27.836s, grabbed a bronze.
The State cycle team is under the guidance of B Vijay Bhasker Reddy, Venkat Narsaiah, Diwakar Rao and Pandu Jadhav Participated in the competition as coaches and manager. Telangana Cycling Association congratulated both the cyclists on their fine show at the competition.
The city golfer shot a total of 208 (71, 69 and 67) to end 5 under finish shot behind winner Nishna Patel who carded 208 for the top honours
Published Date – 12 January 2024, 06:56 PM
Sneha Singh after finishing runner-up, in Pune on Friday.
Hyderabad: Hyderabad’s promising golfer Sneha Singh began the new season with a runner-up finish in the Women’s Pro Golf Tour 2024 Leg 1 at the Poona Club Golf Course, Pune on Friday.
The city golfer shot a total of 208 (71, 69 and 67) to end 5 under finish shot behind winner Nishna Patel who carded 208 for the top honours. Hitaashe Bakshi too finished joint second with 208.
Sneha was four shots behind the leader after two days and was in the lead after nine holes on the final day. However, a bogey in the 16th and 17th hole cost her dearly though she made six birdies on hole 1, 2, 3, 5, 9 and 11.
The tournament saw six teams – Punjab Lions, UP Warriorz, Mumbai Stars, Delhi Bulls, Hyderabad Eagles and Bangalore Badshahs – vie for the top honours
Updated On – 12 January 2024, 07:03 PM
Victorious Hyderabad Eagles team in Mumbai on Friday.
Hyderabad: Hyderabad Eagles defeated UP Warriorz by five wickets to clinch the IDCA’s 1st T-10 Women’s Deaf Premier League trophy in Mumbai on Friday.
Batting first, UP Warriorz posted 55/6 in 10 overs. A Pooja picked up two wickets. In reply, Hyderabad reached the target on the final ball of the innings to clinch the title with five wickets in hand. Priyanka Patil top-scored with 23 runs for the winners.
The tournament saw six teams – Punjab Lions, UP Warriorz, Mumbai Stars, Delhi Bulls, Hyderabad Eagles and Bangalore Badshahs – vie for the top honours. The winner got richer by Rs 1 lakh.
Brief Scores: UP Warriorz 55/6 in 10 overs (Pratima Mishra 18; A Pooja 2/2) lost to Hyderabad Eagles 57/5 in 10 overs (Priyanka Patil 23; Fauziya 2/21).
Poojary, a winger turned defender, has grabbed his opportunity when called up for the national team in recent times and is one of trusted men for national team head coach Igor Stimac
Published Date – 12 January 2024, 06:36 PM
Hyderabad: The Indian team will kick off their AFC Asian Cup campaign against Australia at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Qatar on Saturday and Hyderabad FC right-back Nikhil Poojary is excited to play in his maiden Asian Cup, “It’s an absolute honour to represent India in any match and because this will be my first Asian Cup, so that’s special for me,” said Poojary on the eve of the match. Poojary, a winger turned defender, has grabbed his opportunity when called up for the national team in recent times and is one of trusted men for national team head coach Igor Stimac.
Speaking about the team’s preparation ahead of the marquee tournament, the 28-year-old said, “The squad had some good training sessions and one practice game between ourselves. The ones who came with niggles have recovered well and the rest of us have been working on both fitness and on the tactical aspect,” he revealed.
Since the AFC Asian Cup was founded in 1956, this edition in Qatar is the fifth time India have qualified for the continental competition. India are ranked 102 and are clubbed with Asian heavyweights Australia (25), Uzbekistan (68) and Syria (91) in Group B as there lies a difficult challenge for Stimac’s side to make it to the knockouts. “Australia are among the 20-25 best teams in the world. But what we can do is to play at our maximum capacity and try to get the best result,” said the right-back.
“Uzbekistan are also one of the best teams in Asia and it will be a tough game, but there will be no lack of effort from our end,” he added. Though the possibilities of India’s chances to knockout looks bleak on paper, Poojary said the players will gain experience as 17 out of the 26 players will be participating in their first Asian Cup.
According to media reports, Vihari’s decision was personal and he wanted to focus on his batting.
Published Date – 12 January 2024, 03:17 PM
Mumbai: India player Hanuma Vihari will not be leading Andhra in the ongoing Ranji Trophy after having stepped down from captaincy on Thursday.
On Friday, during Andhra’s Group B match against Mumbai, Ricky Bhui was leading the side.
According to media reports, Vihari’s decision was personal and he wanted to focus on his batting. Vihari managed 51 runs in the opening game against Bengal, which ended in a draw.
Interestingly, he was mulling a move to Madhya Pradesh before the start of the season, as he was eager to play under domestic coach Chandrakant Pandit to revive his international career.
Vihari has represented India in 16 Tests so far, scoring 839 runs at an average of 33.56, including a ton and five half-centuries, with a top score of 111 against the West Indies in Kingston in 2019.
Having made his Test debut at The Oval in 2018, his last outing also happened to be in England, in Birmingham 2022.
India’s fringe players, led by Shivam Dube, made the opportunity count to set up a six-wicket win over Afghanistan in the first T20 of the three-match series
Published Date – 11 January 2024, 11:01 PM
India’s Shivam Dube plays a shot during the first Twenty20 international cricket match between India and Afghanistan at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali on January 11, 2024. (Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP)
Mohali: India’s fringe players, led by Shivam Dube, made the opportunity count to set up a six-wicket win over Afghanistan in the first T20 of the three-match series here on Thursday.
A lively 68-run partnership off 43 balls between the seasoned Mohammad Nabi (42 off 27) and youthful Azmatullah Omarzai (29 off 22) lifted Afghanistan to 158 for five after India dominated the powerplay.
The total posted was not enough in good batting conditions as India got home comfortably in 17.3 overs.
Dube, playing his first T20 since the Asian Games, and Tilak Varma (26 off 22) shared a 44-run stand off 29 balls to give Indian innings momentum after losing the openers inside four overs.
Rohit Sharma (0), returning to T20s after 14 months, and Shubman Gill (23) got involved in an avoidable mix-up that limited the Indian skipper’s stay to just two balls. The usually calm and cool Rohit did not hide his anger on this occasion as Gill did not pay heed to his call for a quick single.
Gill was not able to stay for long but Varma and Dube were able to take the innings forward and India did not look back from there on.
Dube, who is seen as a back up to injury prone Hardik Pandya, used his long levers efficiently and his disdainful drives on the off side stood out. He ended the game in style with a straight six and four in the fine leg region.
Jitesh Sharma (31 off 20) also gave a good account of himself before Rinku Singh (16 not out off 9) joined Dube in the middle and took the team home.
Earlier, a stroke-filled partnership between Nabi and Omarzai was just what Afghanistan needed after India reduced the visitors to 57 for three in 10 overs amid chilly conditions at the PCA Stadium.
Openers Rahamanullah Gurbaz (23 off 28) and skipper Ibrahim Zadran (25 off 22) could only find four boundaries in the powerplay.
The start of the game was delayed by a few minutes as a flickering blue light around the sightscreen distracted Gurbaz.
Pacer Arshdeep Singh opened the innings with a maiden before the spinners got into the game as early as the fourth over.
Axar Patel, who ended up as the stand out bowler for India with figures of 4-0-23-2, had Gurbaz stumped with a fast and straight delivery after the opener slog swept him for a six.
Zadran was the next to depart as he smashed an innocuous ball from Dube straight to India skipper Rohit Sharma at cover. It was only the second ball of his opening spell.
Rahmat Shah, making his T20 debut after playing 106 ODIs for Afghanistan, chopped on to stumps a flatter one from Axar.
Afghanistan badly needed a move on and that came via the experience of Nabi and Omarzai, who had impressed with his all-round abilities in the ODI World Cup in India.
While the top-order struggled to rotate strike, Omarzai and Nabi showed their teammates how to build a T20 innings.
Both targeted Ravi Bishnoi and Mukesh Kumar in the middle overs.
Nabi’s back-to-back sixes off Mukesh stood out in his quickfire knock. He first made room to smash him over extra cover and waited still for the second ball to dispatch it over mid-wicket.
Najibullah Zadran (19 not out off 11) and Karim Janat (9 not out off 5) took the total past 150.
India dropped three catches in the biting cold of Mohali. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was unavailable for selection due to a sore right groin.
Chennai Quick Guns will take on Gujarat Giants, who beat defending champions Odisha Juggernauts 29-27 in the first semifinal
Updated On – 11 January 2024, 10:49 PM
Hyderabad: Chennai Quick Guns reached the final of Ultimate Kho Kho Season 2 with a 31-29 victory over Telugu Yoddhas in the second semifinal at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Cuttack on Thursday.
They will take on Gujarat Giants, who beat defending champions Odisha Juggernauts 29-27 in the first semifinal. Despite Telugu Yoddhas seizing an early advantage, Chennai Quick Guns clawed their way back into the match with an impressive attacking performance in the final turn.
All eyes were on the in-form Ramji Kashyap going into Turn 1, but it was another big name player who grabbed all the attention. Telugu Yoddhas skipper Pratik Waikar was in regal form, scoring a whopping ten points for his team in turn. Chennai Quick Guns’ first batch — Ramji, Vijay Shinde and Madan — earned the customary couple of dream run points. But that was all that the Telugu Yoddhas attackers led by Waikar allowed their opponents. At the end of the turn, Telugu Yoddhas had a 14-2 advantage.
Telugu Yoddhas consolidated the advantage in Turn 2 with their first batch of Waikar, Aditya Ganpule and Avdhut Patil staying on the mat for four minutes and seven seconds, and getting three dream run points. The first innings ended with the score at 17-14 in favour of Telugu Yoddhas.
Waikar continued his superb show in Turn 3, taking just four seconds to send back his first victim. The first Chennai Quick Guns batch lasted just two minutes and 11 seconds. That allowed Chennai Quick Guns’ prime batch of Ramji, Shinde and Madan to come on the mat. They did their job, spending four minutes and 18 seconds on the mat and earning three dream run points. Telugu Yoddhas held a 29-17 lead going into the final turn.
The Chennai Quick Guns attackers however came to the party in Turn 4, sending back the first two Telugu Yoddhas batches in quick time and levelling the scores. And with Laxman Gawas sending back Avdhut Patil, the Chennai Quick Guns had the points they needed.
In a video captured by one of the guests at the wedding, Hyderabad’s very own speedster Siraj can be seen sitting along with his friends and enjoying the performance.
Published Date – 11 January 2024, 09:08 PM
Mohammed Siraj at a wedding in Hyderabad
Hyderabad: Star Indian fast bowler, who is just back in Hyderabad after his successful tour of South Africa with the team, was spotted enjoying a qawwali program at a friend’s wedding in the city.
In a video captured by one of the guests at the wedding, Hyderabad’s very own speedster Siraj can be seen sitting along with his friends and enjoying the performance.
Watch the video here:
On professional front, Mohammed Siraj unleashed a lethal spell in South Africa, grabbing 6 wickets in an innings, helping the team bundle out the opponents of mere 55 runs, which is a 96-year-low for the Proteas.
