Bharat Penumetsa and V Nanditha emerged winners in junior and open categories respectively in the 213th Brilliant Trophy Chess Tournament held at Brilliant Grammar High School, Dilsukhnagar on Sunday.
Published Date – 11 February 2024, 11:44 PM
Medal winners of the chess tournament on Sunday.
Hyderabad: Bharat Penumetsa and V Nanditha emerged winners in junior and open categories respectively in the 213th Brilliant Trophy Chess Tournament held at Brilliant Grammar High School, Dilsukhnagar on Sunday.
Bharat, who studies in Quantum Leap School, Kukatpally scored six points from as many rounds to grab the top spot ahead of Mohit Venkatasai and Aadyareddy Konda in second and third places respectively.
In the Open category, Nanditha won the title recording a score of 5.5 points as Benny Joseph and K Perumalla grabbed second and third places with a score of 5 and 4.5 points respectively.
Results: Top Ten Places Open Category: 1. V Nanditha, 2. Benny Joseph, 3. K Perumallu, 4. Y Muralimohan, 5. B Viswajit Sai, 6. L Vijaykumar, 7.R Kiran, 8. Rishi Pallagani, 9. Arunkumar, 10. Advik Ranga; Age category winners: U-15 Boys: 1. Mohit Venkatasai, 2. Thota Jovenkataraman; U-13 Boys: 1. D Jaswanth, 2. D Anish; Girls: 1. Adya Reddy Konda, 2. Rishita Baheti; U-11 Boys: 1. Heethesh Kumar, 2. Aarushreddy Sudireddy; Girls: 1. Anika Reddy, 2. G Deetya Reddy; U-9 Boys: 1. Arjunkrishnan Somanchi, 2. N Narayana Srivathsav; Girls: 1. B Harini, 2. D Saanvi; U-7 Boys: 1. Prakrit Thakur, 2. Dyutidhara; Girls:1. P Saanvika, 2. Shreshta Gone, 3. Madhu Sree Duvvala; Best Woman: Lasya Pallagani, Best Veteran: PVV Satyanarayana Murthy.
Prime Volleyball League side Hyderabad Black Hawks gearing up for the upcoming third season as the team unveiled their new jersey during the finale of the VD Black Hawks volleyball tournament in Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad on Sunday.
Updated On – 11 February 2024, 11:34 PM
Vijay Deverakonda unveils his team’s jersey for the upcoming Prime Volleyball League season on Sunday.
Hyderabad: Prime Volleyball League side Hyderabad Black Hawks gearing up for the upcoming third season as the team unveiled their new jersey during the finale of the VD Black Hawks volleyball tournament in Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad on Sunday.
During the event, Vijay Deverakonda, co-owner of Hyderabad Black Hawk, Abhishek Reddy, principal owner and Zoran Kedacic, head coach were present at the event.
Meanwhile, the VD Black Open saw over 300 volleyball teams from 16 districts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh battling for the top honours. Speaking at the event, Vijay Deverakonda, said, “We are super excited for our team for their grand performance in the Season 3 of Prime Volleyball League. We are also delighted to organise The VD Black Open’24 held in Telangana and AP to focus on grassroots and encourage players from the rural parts of both the Telugu states.”
Heartbreak break for India juniors too as Aussie colts mirror seniors to record 79-run win to lift Under-19 World Cup in Benoni, South Africa on Sunday.
Published Date – 11 February 2024, 11:22 PM
Australia celebrates winning the ICC U19 mens Cricket World Cup Final against India in Benoni, South Africa on Sunday.
Benoni (South Africa): A fresh chapter was added to the script of Australia’s domination over India in the ICC World Cup finals when they bagged the Under-19 title with a 79-run victory here on Sunday.
Batting by choice, the Aussies posted a healthy 253 for seven as India were forced to mount the highest chase in a youth World Cup summit clash. But Uday Saharan’s side floundered in the final step to glory, stumbling to 174 all out as the relentless Aussie bowlers led by the furious Mahli Beardman (3/15) and the crafty off-spinner Raf MacMillan (3/43) did not give them any breathing space. This was Australia’s fourth U19 title and first since 2010 and, in a way, they also washed away the pain of losing to India in two title matches in 2012 and 2018.
Many would view this result as a continuation of Australia’s win over India in the senior World Cup last year at Ahmedabad. Pacer Callum Vidler started Australia’s victory march by packing off Indian opener Arshin Kulkarni, inducing an edge to stumper Ryan Hicks. From that point, India simply failed to stitch together any meaningful partnerships as frontline batters including skipper Saharan (8), Musheer Khan, who received a reprieve on zero, and Sachin Dhas (9) departed without making any real contributions.
Beardman broke through the defence of Musheer (22) with a delivery that kept a tad low, while the pacer tempted Saharan, the tournament’s highest run-getter, with a slightly wide delivery on off-stump, but his slash ended in the hands of Hugh Weibgen at point.
Beardman later added the wicket of opener Adarsh Singh, who was India’s highest scorer on the day with a 77-ball 47, to bulldoze the Indian batting unit with pace and bounce. If the Indian batters could not cope with the hostility of Beardman, a disciple of legendary Dennis Lillee, they could not counter the guile of MacMillan, Australia’s lone spinner this day.
MacMillan was introduced in the 20th over and he dismissed Dhas off his first ball, a regulation catch to Hicks behind the stumps. India were reduced to 68 for four then, and ouster of the free-flowing Dhas was a body blow to their chances.
The strapping offie later also bagged the wickets of Aravelly Avanish and Raj Limbani, preventing any late Indian punch back. Murugan Abhishek (42, 45b) tried gamely in the company of Naman Tiwari adding 46 runs for the ninth wicket, highest of the innings, but the task proved beyond his reach.
However, the Australian batters too can claim the right amount of credit for this triumph. No one really made a tall score but they fired collectively around Harjas Singh (55, 64b, 3×4, 3×6) to give the Antipodeans a competitive total to defend amidst strikes by Indian pacers Limbani (3/38) and Tiwari (2/63).
Limbani, who worked up a fair clip from the pitch, bowled opener Sam Konstas with a lovely in-coming delivery to deny the Aussies a quick start as they have done often in this tournament. But the Australians found stability through Harry Dixon (42, 56 balls) and skipper Weibgen (48, 66 balls).
Dixon, in fact, started off in a blazing fashion, hammering left-arm pacer Tiwari (2/63) for 4, 6, 4 in the second over, but he settled into a more sedate rhythm in the company of Weibgen. The hallmark of their second-wicket alliance of 78 runs in 18.1 overs, was the way they negated the Indian spinners, a massive restrictive force throughout this showpiece. There were no big hits but Dixon and Weibgen managed to push the scoreboard forward with those singles and twos.
Just as the stand was coasting along, Saharan threw the ball to Tiwari, who was withdrawn after an expensive first spell. Tiwari answered his leader’s call in the perfect fashion getting rid of a set Weibgen, whose drive away from the body nestled in the hands of Musheer at point.
The left-arm quick dismissed Dixon two overs later to bring India back into the game. The Aussies were 99 for three then. But Harjas and Ryan Hicks (20) added 66 runs in 11.2 overs for the fourth wicket to keep their team afloat. Harjas struggled early on, but a six and a four in successive balls off off-spinner Priyanshu Moliya gave him the much-needed confidence.
The left-hander was a transformed player from that point and nullified the off-breaks of Abhishek with a series of sweeps and slog-sweeps, and two of them landed deep inside the stands for maximums. Harjas completed his first fifty of the tournament with a four off Tiwari to long-off but failed to stay longer as another attempt to sweep left-arm spinner Saumey Pandey saw him getting adjudged leg-before. But Oliver Peake (46 not out off 43 balls) and Charlie Anderson (13) added precious 34 runs for the seventh-wicket that pushed Aussies to a sufficient total.
While speaking at the post-match presentation, Marsh said that it was a “great” game against the Caribbeans in the second T20I match.
Updated On – 11 February 2024, 11:07 PM
File Photo
Adelaide: Following Australia’s 34-run win over the West Indies in the second T20I in Adelaide on Sunday, Aussie skipper Mitchell Marsh said that they are lucky to have Glenn Maxwell in their squad.
While speaking at the post-match presentation, Marsh said that it was a “great” game against the Caribbeans in the second T20I match.
He also praised his side and said that they have performed well in the T20I format over the last six months.
“I thought it was a great game; I thought 220 was par, so I needed every bit of that 240. (Maxwell) has always done it; he’s unbelievable. We are incredibly lucky to have Maxwell. I think we’ve played some really good T20 cricket over the last six months. I thought there were key moments in the inning we won. They bat down to ten and are a formidable team,” Marsh said.
Recapping the second T20I match between Australia and West Indies, Maxwell’s unbeaten 120 off 55 deliveries and a clinical spell from bowlers helped the Baggy Greens inflict a 34-run defeat over the Caribbean side and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
While chasing a target of 242, West Indies suffered early blows, with Brandon King (5), Nicholas Pooran (18), Shai Hope (0) and Johnson Charles (24) losing their wickets inside the power play.
The West Indies were reduced to 63/5 after Spencer Johnson sent Sherfane Rutherford back to the pavilion for a two-ball duck. But Marcus Stoinis brought in his experience and soon put an end to the promising-looking partnership.
He ended Russell’s quick-fire knock of 37 off 16 deliveries and after this, Australia’s victory was only a matter of time.
The national Iranian women’s futsal team defeated Tajikistan 9-0 in their last match at the Dushanbe Indoor Hall, Tehran Times reported.
Iran had defeated Uzbekistan 5-1, Kyrgyzstan 11-0 and Turkmenistan 9-0.
The CAFA Women’s Futsal Championship is the annual international futsal championship organized by CAFA for the women’s national futsal teams of Central Asia.
A total of 5 (out of 6) CAFA member national teams entered the tournament. with Turkmenistan participating in the tournament for the first time since their establishment in 2022.
Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan competed in the edition.
While India faltered in the final step, skipper Saharan praised the team for their impressive run in the tournament.
Published Date – 11 February 2024, 10:19 PM
Benoni: India skipper Uday Saharan admitted that his batters faltered in their execution and paid the price for playing rash shots in a heartbreaking 79-run loss to Australia in the U-19 World Cup final here on Sunday.
Set 254 to win, India cut a sorry figure with the bat as they were all out for 174 in 43.5 overs. Opener Adarsh Singh (47) and number 8 Murugan Abhishek (42) were the only Indian batters who showed the stomach to fight as the title slipped out of their hands.
“We played a few rash shots, couldn’t spend more time at the crease. We had prepared, but couldn’t execute,” said Saharan during the post-match presentation.
While India faltered in the final step, skipper Saharan praised the team for their impressive run in the tournament.
“It was a very good tournament. I am very proud of the boys, they all played very well. They all showed great fighting spirit from the start, very proud of them,” he said.
“We got to learn a lot from the start to now. From the coaching staff to the games, learned a lot. Now we just need to keep learning more and move ahead.”
For Australia it was their fourth U-19 World Cup title.
“It’s unbelievable. I am so proud of this group of boys and the coaches. A lot of work has gone in over the last few months,” Australia captain Hugh Weibgen said.
“We had fair bit of confidence that if we got 250 on the board, we’d defend it. India, obviously, is a class side, they dominated the whole tournament and they were on the wrong side today but they have a lot of class,” he added.
Australian bowlers were on the money with Callum Vidler (2/35), Charlie Anderson (1/42), Mahli Beardman (3/15) and Tom Straker (1/32) sharing seven wickets in the final.
“Personally, as a unit they work so well together. They know their roles, they know their jobs. I’ll be very surprised if the four of them don’t go a long way.” Weibgen also heaped praise on Harjas Singh, who top-scored for Australia with 55. “Form is temporary, class is permanent. Full credit to the coaches for keeping faith in him. We had full faith he could get the job done.”
Beardman, who was adjudged the player of the match, described it as a “surreal” feeling. “It’s pretty surreal, hasn’t fully set in yet. But it’s something we’ve been working towards for a long, long time so the hard work has paid off,” he said.
Asked about their plans against India, Beardman said: “They’ve been incredible and we knew it was going to be a good battle. For me I just wanted to use my short balls and hit the top of off. “I’ve been thinking about my bowling, my field settings. Just trying to work on the mental side of the ball.” South Africa fast bowler Kwena Maphaka was named the player of the tournament.
Maxwell’s unbeaten 120 off 55 deliveries and a clinical spell from bowlers helped the Baggy Greens inflict a 34-run defeat over the Caribbean side and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
Published Date – 11 February 2024, 09:04 PM
Adelaide: Australia‘s 34-run victory over West Indies in the second T20I saw them being denied a run out in the closing moments of the game on Sunday at the Adelaide Oval.
In the 19th over of the second innings, West Indies pacer Alzarri Joseph placed the ball towards covers and ran towards the other end.
Australia skipper Mitchell Marsh got hold of the ball and threw it to Spencer Johnson who clipped the bails off the stumps.
There was little excitement in the Australian team after the incident and according to ESPNcricinfo the umpire Gerard Abood could be heard saying seemingly to the third umpire “No appeal”.
The replay was shown after the incident and Joseph was clearly short of the crease as Australia players started to celebrate.
However, according to Abood, there was no appeal made. When players started to gather around the umpire he said as quoted from ESPNcricinfo, “Stop, stop, stop…there was no appeal.”
Tim David was insisting that he had appealed while David Warner said, “it’s an umpire error.”
In reply, Abood said, “Can we get on with the game, guys…guys we are getting into real poor territory.”
According to ICC, Law 31.3, the timing of appeals, “For an appeal to be valid, it must be made before the bowler begins his/her run-up or, if there is no run-up, his/her bowling action to deliver the next ball, and before Time has been called.”
Australia eventually went on to win the game by 34 runs. Maxwell’s unbeaten 120 off 55 deliveries and a clinical spell from bowlers helped the Baggy Greens inflict a 34-run defeat over the Caribbean side and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
While chasing a target of 242, West Indies suffered early blows with Brandon King (5), Nicholas Pooran (18), Shai Hope (0) and Johnson Charles (24) losing their wicket inside the powerplay. Skipper Rovamn Powell and Andre Russell launched a counterattack with a 47-run stand.
They entertained the spectators with a couple of boundaries and high-flying shots. However, it was not enough to help West Indies steer towards victory, Australia have gained an unassailable 2-0 lead and will face the Caribbean side on Tuesday.
Tiwary, also serving as the sports minister of Bengal, refrained from specifying the particular rationale behind his suggestion on social media.
Published Date – 11 February 2024, 01:59 PM
File photo of Manoj Tiwary
New Delhi: Former India cricketer and current Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary has called for the scrapping of the Ranji Trophy from the next season saying several things are “going wrong” in India’s first-class tournament, which has been running since 1934.
Tiwary, also serving as the sports minister of Bengal, refrained from specifying the particular rationale behind his suggestion on social media.
“Ranji trophy should be scrapped off from the calendar from the next season onwards. So many things going wrong in the tournament. So many things need to looked into in order to save this prestigious tournament which has a rich history. It’s losing its charm and importance. Absolutely frustrated,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Tiwary, in addition, conducted a live session on Facebook to shed light on certain concerns regarding the Ranji Trophy.
“Bengal are playing their match against Kerala in an outdoor venue, not a stadium despite there being one built years ago. The dressing rooms are such that you cannot even strategise properly since our dressing room and the opposite team’s dressing room are so close to each other that you can hear what the others are saying. There is no privacy,” he said in a Facebook live.
He also announced his decision to retire from Ranji Trophy after this season. ” After this match and match against Bihar at Edens Garden I will end my Ranji Trophy career…I wanna personally announce that I started at Edens and will end my career there,” he said.
After playing for over 19 years, Tiwary announced his retirement from all forms of cricket last year before reversing his decision in less than a week, saying he wanted to give one more try to help Bengal win the Ranji Trophy.
The Bengal player hasn’t disclosed the true reason behind the tweet advocating for scraping of the Ranji Trophy. But he promised to unveil the reason upon concluding his career.
“I cannot elaborate further as I am a player and the captain of a State and I have to follow the BCCI‘s Code of Conduct. I cannot say anything publicly during the match,” he said.
Tiwary has scored 216 runs for Bengal in the ongoing Ranji Trophy in six innings with a century against Assam.
PSG’s Saturday night victory extends their unbeaten streak to 16 matches across all competitions.
Published Date – 11 February 2024, 12:30 PM
Paris:Paris Saint-Germain secured a 3-1 victory over LOSC Lille in a clash between two top Ligue 1 teams and move 11 points clear at the top of the table.
With Saturday night’s win PSG extended their run to 16 matches unbeaten across all competitions.
Both teams swiftly found the net as the goals were scored early in the match. Lille took the lead in the sixth minute, exploiting PSG’s defence to go 1-0 up thanks to Yusuf Yazıcı, but their lead was short-lived.
The Parisians levelled the scoring minutes later after Ousmane Dembele found Goncalo Ramos for their opening goal. Following the tying goal, PSG took a 2-1 lead when the ball hit off Alexsandro Ribeiro for an own goal.
In the second half, PSG attempted to find the insurance goal as they had ten total shots in the final 45 minutes, and the third goal eventually came for Luis Enrique and his team.
Bradley Barcola, who came on as a substitute in the second half, connected with Randal Kolo Muani to make the score 3-1 and clinch the win for PSG. Lille had eight total shots as Les Dogues couldn’t find the equalizer necessary to leave the French capital with a favourable result.
PSG must put this win behind them and concentrate on their upcoming UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first-leg match against Real Sociedad on Wednesday night at the Parc des Princes.
As for Lille, they’ll await what transpires in the UEFA Conference League knockout round play-off to see who they face after finishing first in Group A.
Al Rawaah: No.1 seed Elena Rybakina and No.7 Daria Kasatkina each won three-set semifinals to line up a championship showdown at the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open.
2022 Wimbledon Champion Rybakina prevailed through three sets 6-0, 4-6, 6-2 against Liudmila Samsonova to book her spot in Sunday’s sold-out final, finally breaking her winless streak over her opponent.
With her victory, World No.5 Rybakina earned her first tour-level win over 15th-ranked Samsonova. Samsonova had won all four of their previous professional meetings.
Earlier, Kasatkina clinched her spot in the final after a three-set thriller against Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Kasatkina’s 2-hour and 59-minute victory put Kasatkina into her second final of the season, having made her first in Adelaide last month. The victory is Kasatkina’s first over a Top 20 opponent since defeating No.18 Karolina Pliskova at Eastbourne last summer.
Rybakina and Kasatkina have split their four lifetime meetings. Rybakina prevailed in their most recent meeting, squeaking past Kasatkina 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(8) in last year’s Montreal quarterfinals.
