India’s Gurpreet Singh delivered a golden double at the Asian Shooting Championship 2025 in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, on Thursday, winning both the individual and team titles in the men’s 25m standard pistol.
The 37-year-old Indian shooter shot a total of 572 with 18 inner tens to pip compatriot Amanpreet Singh, who matched the score but finished with 11 inner tens, for silver. People’s Republic of China’s Su Lianbofan claimed bronze with 570 (15x).
India’s dominance extended to the team shooting competition, where Gurpreet, Amanpreet and Harsh Gupta combined for 1709 points to secure gold. The Republic of Korea (1704) settled for silver, while Vietnam (1677) took bronze.
There was disappointment in the men’s 50m rifle prone team event, where India narrowly missed out on a podium. The trio of Parikshit Singh Brar, Samarvir Singh and Goldi Gurjar finished fourth with 1839.6, just behind Kazakhstan (1841.2).
South Korea topped the standings with 1854.5 and China took silver on 1852.9. Individually, Brar was India’s best performer, finishing seventh with 617.1.
The two medals on Thursday took India’s tally up to 26 medals – 11 gold, seven silvers and eight bronze – in senior events at the 2025 Asian Shooting Championships.
Manu Bhaker won three bronze medals, with one of them coming in an individual event – the women’s 10m air pistol.
The Indian senior shooting squad for the Asian competition comprise 35 members competing for medals in 15 events. A total of 129 Indian shooters are also competing in the junior events at the Shymkent meet.
The Asian Shooting Championship 2025 will conclude on Friday.
Afghanistan will be eyeing a positive start against Pakistan in the first match of the T20I tri-series on August 29 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. The tri-series featuring Pakistan, Afghanistan and UAE serves a perfect preparation for the Asia Cup 2025, starting next month.
Afghanistan have not played in the shortest format in 2025 with their last series coming against Zimbabwe in December 2024. On the other Pakistan are coming into this tournament on the back of a 2-1 victory over West Indies.
Meanwhile, Pakistan will be without their experienced stars in Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan among the notable ones while Afghanistan have named 16 players out of the 17 in the Asia Cup for the tri-series. Pacer Naveen-ul-Haq is missing from the tri-series.
Young Abdollah Ahmadzai is likely to replace Naveen in the playing XI while mystery spinner AM Ghazanfar is also in line for his T20I debut in UAE. This will be Afghanistan’s first white-ball game since the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in March.
Afghanistan vs Pakistan 1st T20I match details
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Afghanistan vs Pakistan T20I head-to-head
In T20Is, Pakistan have played seven matches against Afghanistan in T20Is with the Men in Green winning four and losing three.
How to watch AFG vs PAK 1st match in India?
No television channels will live telecast the matches in the tri-series in UAE. However, fans can still watch the Afghanistan vs Pakistan first match on FanCode app and website on a subscription model.
Afghanistan vs Pakistan predicted XIs
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan (c), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Abdollah Ahmadzai, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Haris (wk), Hasan Nawaz, Salman Agha (c), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
Lisandro Martinez is still undertaking his recovery programme for a serious knee injury and our match against Burnley will come too soon for him, but there is a shorter timeline currently expected for Noussair Mazraoui, who has not appeared for the Reds since our pre-season friendly with Leeds United, but Amorim confirmed he is nearing a return.
Further updates on the Moroccan, along with the rest of the squad, are likely to be delivered by the head coach in his pre-match press conference for this game.
Benjamin Sesko made his first United start in the penalty shootout defeat at Grimsby, while Andre Onana replaced Altay Bayindir in goal for the second-round tie.
Jordan Beyer, Connor Roberts and Zeki Amdouni are all likely to be unavailable for Scott Parker’s side with none of the trio expected to make an imminent return from knee injuries. Manuel Benson is also not thought to be in contention, as he continues to work towards full match fitness in Burnley’s Academy.
As with Amorim, Parker may also provide further information in his media duties prior to the match.
Australian cricketer Phoebe Litchfield went on social media to challenge her compatriots in the Rugby World Cup squad to go ‘around the world’ with a cricket bat and ball.
That means bouncing the ball on the front and back of the bat, as well as each edge, the bottom and the top of the handle – all in one go without allowing the ball to hit the floor.
How do you think the Wallaroos got on? Watch the video below!
2. ‘Before warm-up I brush my teeth’
Silvia Turani spoke to the media on Wednesday, where she waxed lyrical about her gameday superstitions and routines – some of which are fairly niche!
“I have many rituals,” she said.
“The whole day my main source of carbs will be rice. I will eat rice cakes, rice, it’s all about rice. Then before the game I have to go outside wearing something which is not Italian kit. I have to go for coffee or have my hair done, whatever it is, but dressing up.
“I have to wear mascara, always the same underwear and once in the changing room I need to spray perfume in specific places, my wrists, my neck and the back of my head. Before warm-up I brush my teeth and then when we come inside again, I have to brush my teeth again and put perfume on again.”
She’ll be going through all that in York this weekend where Italy face South Africa on Sunday, 31 August. You can buy tickets to the game here.
3. ‘Moments to make us feel cherished
Those who were in York over this past weekend would have seen Spain put in a spirited display in their loss to New Zealand.
The Spanish players were well supported by their own fans as well as the neutrals, which caused prop Laura Delgado so much happiness it even caused a little pain.
“I was smiling so hard on Sunday that I felt my cheekbones hurting,” she wrote in her RugbyPass column which you can read here.
“But how could I not smile when there were thousands of people supporting Spain in our opening game? And that was the culmination of eight brilliant days, so let me tell you what other moments happened that made us feel cherished.”
4. ‘There’s rugby and there’s us’
Australia’s Lori Cramer could play against her partner, Charli Jacoby when the Wallaroos take on USA in York this Saturday.
It wouldn’t be the first time they have played on opposition teams, so Cramer is taking it in her stride.
“We’ve played against each other so many times so we totally keep it separate,” Cramer said.
“There’s rugby and then there’s us and they’re two totally different things.
“Obviously you want to ask what’s the game plan? But I think we’re a bit more professional than that so it hasn’t been a problem in the past.”
You can read the whole story here.
5. Black Ferns legend on latest official podcast
New Zealand legend Kendra Cocksedge appears in the latest episode of the Rugby World Cup 2025 official podcast, where she discusses her decision to play on until the delayed Rugby World Cup 2021, and reveals what really shredded her nerves recently.
She also spoke about the biggest threats to the Red Roses’ hopes of winning a home Rugby World Cup.
You can watch the full episode here:
6. ‘Happy tears’ after mum’s surprise visit
There was a lovely moment after Samoa’s game against Australia where Fa’asua Makisi realised her mother had flown over to surprise her.
The Samoan addressed the media on Wednesday where she revealed the lengths her mother went to in order to be on the sidelines for such a big moment in her career and life.
“I thought I had no family here for the game and I mentally prepared for that but I didn’t actually see her until the end of the game,” Makisi said.
“She had flown in at 8am from New Zealand and probably had zero sleep and came straight to the stadium. When I saw her at the end of the game – one of my friends made up some lie to get me to go over to the stand and when I saw her, she was holding up a flag behind her and I screamed. It was a natural response.
“I couldn’t believe she was here in England and I fully had an emotional breakdown in front of the crowd.
“My mum has been my rock and she’s been one of the main reasons I’ve been able to come here and to see her here was really overwhelming, but happy tears for sure!”
RIGA (Latvia) – Portugal picking up their first EuroBasket win in 18 years was not enough for us, so we went digging to figure out if we had witnessed the best-ever debut by a single player on Wednesday afternoon in Arena Riga.
That’s because Neemias Queta went off for 23 points, 18 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 steals and an efficiency rating of 39, tormenting Czechia’s defense and bothering their offense all game long.
“We already know what he’s capable of. He’s a great player for us, and he’s a really humble guy. Great chemistry, great player, we’re glad we have him,” Portugal team captain Miguel Queiroz was in awe after the game.
“I know he had like 23, but we still didn’t give him the ball enough. I think if we were to give him the ball like six more possessions, he’d have 37 points or something. He’s a big time player, EuroBasket is the perfect place for him to show his talent and sometimes it doesn’t get recognized in the NBA, but he’s playing great, that’s our guy, we wanna go through him,” teammate Travante Williams added.
How historic was his first game?
He became the first player with more than 20 points and more than 15 rebounds in his first EuroBasket game over the past 30 years, since FIBA began tracking rebounding stats in 1995.
In fact, his tally of 18 rebounds was the most-ever in a EuroBasket debut and also immediately catapulted him into elite company among Europe’s greats for single-game rebounding performances of all time.
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Who holds the single-game records in FIBA EuroBasket history?
However, he is not even close to making history when it comes to all-time scoring performances.
Mike Jackel won the FIBA EuroBasket with Germany in 1993. Eight years prior, he played his first game in this competition, going crazy for 36 points against the Netherlands.
The only player who came close to taking him down afterwards was Lithuania’s Arturas Karnisovas with 35 against Germany in 1995. However, Queta does rank in the Top 10 highest scoring debuts in this century.
Top 10 highest scoring debuts in EuroBasket history
Dragons RFC duo Fetuli Paea and Fine Inisi have been selected to represent Tonga in their upcoming fixture against Fiji.
The match will take place on Saturday (August 30) at HFC Bank Stadium in Suva, Fiji. With kick-off at 4am UK time, if you’re interested in watching our new signings play for their country get your alarms set early!
Paea will start at inside centre while Inisi will wear the 14 jersey. Tonga are going into this match with momentum after decisively beating Manu Samoa 30-16 in their most recent fixture.
The Pacific Nations Cup is comprised of six teams Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Canada, USA and Japan with the six sides split evenly into two pools A and B. This will be the last match that Tonga plays within their pool and will soon face one of the teams from the other pool in play-offs.
We wish Paea and Inisi all the best and can’t wait to see them both in action again this weekend!
This season, once again, 24 teams from 10 different European leagues will compete for the title. This will be the third season of the CHL’s “groupless” format, meaning each team will play six games against six different opponents, which were determined at the regular season draw during the 2025 IIHF World Championship in Stockholm.
Switzerland: ZSC Lions Zurich (CHL & national champions), Lausanne HC (regular season winner), SC Bern (regular season 3rd place), EV Zug (regular season 4th place).
Austria/ICE Hockey League: Red Bull Salzburg (national champion), KAC Klagenfurt (regular season winner), HC Bolzano (Italy, regular season 3rd place).
Czechia: Kometa Brno (national champions), Sparta Prague (regular season winner), Mountfield Hradec Kralove (regular season 2nd place).
Finland: KalPa Kuopio (national champion), Lukko Rauma (regular season winner), Ilves Tampere (regular season 2nd place).
Germany: Eisbaren Berlin (national champion), ERC Ingolstadt (regular season winner), Pinguins Bremerhaven (regular season 3rd place).
Sweden: Lulea Hockey (national champion), Brynas Gavle (regular season winner), Frolunda Gothenburg (regular season 3rd place).
Challenger leagues (national champions only): Odense Bulldogs (Denmark), Grenoble (France), Storhamar Hamar (Norway), GKS Tychy (Poland), Belfast Giants (EIHL).
Among the more interesting match-ups of the regular season, Sparta Prague will host Frolunda Gothenburg in a rematch of the 2016-17 CHL final on 6 September. That 4-3 overtime win is one of four titles for Frolunda, which was by far the most successful team of the CHL’s first decade.
“The one I remember most is the final we won at home against Red Bull Munich (in 2019),” recalled Frolunda captain Max Friberg, who is about to play in his sixth CHL season. “On the road, too, our second CHL title, we had some great comebacks, but the final at home was for sure the best one.”
Frolunda, Zurich and EV Zug will all be participating in their ninth CHL seasons, one behind Red Bull Salzburg, which is representing Austria a record 10th time. At the other end of the spectrum, the Danish champion Odense Bulldogs are set to make their CHL debut.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for our fans and the club in general to experience some of the best hockey in Europe,” said Bulldogs head coach Jason O’Leary. “I think it’s very exciting for everyone and we’re looking forward to it.”
As is always the case, the CHL will feature some of the biggest names in European hockey that should be familiar to fans around the world.
Zurich’s roster includes two former CHL MVPs in Sven Andrighetto from last season and Czech goaltender Simon Hrubec from 2017/18. The team’s roster also includes Denis Malgin, Yanick Weber and Austrian prospect Vinzenz Rohrer. Elsewhere in Switzerland, EV Zug boasts some veteran talent in goaltender Leonardo Genoni, defenceman Raphael Diaz and forwards Tomas Tatar and Dominik Kubalik. And Lausanne HC has Erik Brannstrom, Austin Czarnik and Dominik Kahun.
In Sweden, Brynas’ roster features some pretty big star power in veteran forwards Nicklas Backstrom and Jacob Silfverberg, defenceman Robert Hagg and the goaltending duo of American Collin Delia and Italian Damian Clara.
In Finland, Ilves Tampere’s roster includes veteran Swede Carl Klingberg and young Czech prospect Ondrej Kos. While Lukko Rauma features newly acquired local boy Antti Raanta in goal.
Other notable names on other CHL teams include brothers Thomas and Raffl with Red Bull Salzburg and veteran Slovenes Ziga Jeglic, Jan Urbas and Miha Verlic in Bremerhaven.
Rouda Alserkal on the pressures of being a 16-year-old chess grandmaster
Aug 28 – Last November, in round eight of the Arab Women’s Chess Championship, Abu Dhabi-raised chess player Rouda Alserkal had a realization. If she won the match, she’d earn enough points to be named a Woman Grandmaster — the first from her country, and the entire Gulf region. Spoiler alert: she did. At only 15, Alserkal etched her name into chess history, becoming a symbol of possibility for young Emirati women in a sport long dominated by men.
Speaking with Reuters from her home chess club in Abu Dhabi, fresh off international tournament appearances in Norway and Romania, Alserkal gets real about the pressures of representing a country, a culture and a gender on the international sporting stage. “I’ve traveled to over 35 countries to play chess,” she says before a young girl approaches to request a selfie — and to show Alserkal that she had chosen her image for her phone background.
The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
You first started playing chess at four years old, and you were originally turned away from a chess club for being too young. How did that moment shape you?
I used to play all the time with my mom, my dad, my sisters. I was begging my mom: “Mom, please take me to a chess club, please take me to a chess club.” I just wanted to play chess, you know?
Two weeks later, because I was being pretty annoying, she found this chess club. She signed me up there, and they were like, sorry, we can’t accept her, because the minimum age back then was six years old. We talked to the coaches there, to the management, and they were like, so sorry, she’s too young.
Then my first coach, Hisham Al-Argha, a Syrian player, he was like, okay, I’m going to give her a chance. I started playing with him, and when I moved the knight, he immediately accepted me. Usually kids, when they first join the chess club, it takes them a while to learn how to move the piece because it has a very complicated movement. And I’m really glad my first coach, Hisham, decided to give me that chance.
How long did it take you to start playing seriously?
I joined the Chess Club in December 2013. And my coach was like, okay, so Rouda, go play with this girl. And the girl was like: “What are you doing? You can’t move two pieces at once!”
But later on, I was playing, I was beating the girls from our chess club. The club decided to give me a chance to go play in the Asian Championship when I was four years old. And luckily, I was able to take the bronze medal in the Asian Championship. Then, a couple of months later, I played in the Asian Schools Championship, and I took first place there.
Becoming a serious chess competitor at such a young age, what were the greatest sacrifices you had to make? Were they worth it?
I had to sacrifice a part of my childhood, because I wasn’t always at school. I didn’t have time to have fun, go out with my friends. I was missing out on so many family events, friends’ stuff, because I was always traveling, training, playing chess.
Of course, it seems fun that I’m always traveling, but it’s not as easy as it sounds. There’s a lot of pressure. I was five years old, pressured from the chess club, family, federation. They were expecting a lot from me. But I don’t regret it. Not one bit. I’m very happy that I chose this path.
What is it like balancing your different identities as a teenager, in high school, and then on the other hand, a Woman Grandmaster?
I’m two different people. At school I’m a different person; at chess I’m a different person. I know when to have fun; I know when training is serious. I just keep things very balanced. And when I go to tournaments and win and come back to school, I just pretend like nothing happened. Even my teachers, they’re just like: “Good job, Rouda! I need you to submit this assignment.”
What is your style like as a player?
I think I’m a very attacking player. I love tactics. I love calculating. But chess is all about balance. You should know when to attack, when to defend. Personally, I think I’m very good at defending bad positions. But I love tactics. I don’t think I’m a very positional player. I like playing openings that are going to lead me to some very crazy, complicated positions where everything is hanging.
What is your training regimen these days?
During school days, I train like three and a half hours, maybe four hours. During vacation, I would say my entire day is chess. I do take some breaks, but I’m always playing tournaments, always with my coach training at the chess club, always with my friends. Even when I’m at home, I always play on Chess.com. I search for some tactics. At some point I’m going to start dreaming about chess.
During training, we mainly focus on my weaknesses. For example, I just came back from a tournament and my coach noticed that I’m having some troubles with positional chess. So, he can give me a very positional game by, let’s say, Magnus Carlsen, and we analyze this game.
Do you think you’re more of a theory player or an intuitive player?
I’m more of an intuitive player. I think I have a very good memory when it comes to chess, but I like using my intuition more because I trust myself. I’ve played for 11 years now. When I know that my opponent did something wrong in the position, when I know that I have a good move in the position, I just have a feeling about it. This is why sometimes my coach says that I’m better at playing rapid chess. I just trust my intuition more and just go with the flow.
You became a Woman Grandmaster at fifteen-years-old. You were the first in the UAE and in the entire Gulf region. What does that title mean to you — not just as a chess player, but as a young Emirati woman?
Obviously, with the title comes a lot of responsibility. This means I have to train 10 times harder, I have to keep up the grind. I have more goals to achieve, more tournaments to win, and more rating to gain. Of course, it’s very stressful. Especially when I go to big tournaments, like the World Championship. Recently, I was playing the World Cup, and I was the only Emirati who was playing there.
How do you handle that pressure? I try to just remind myself that I’m playing chess for myself because I love chess. I’m not playing chess for anyone .
What is it like being a young woman in a sport traditionally dominated by men?
People are always going to say something. I remember there was this post about me, congratulating me for being the first woman grandmaster from the UAE. And I was looking at the comments and everyone was talking about everything else about me, not the chess. I’m putting my best into this game and people just can’t see it and they’re just focusing on everything else: my looks, the fact that I don’t wear a hijab.
This is not what I’m trying to show the media. I’m trying to show them that I’m an Emirati woman; I’m a 16-year-old, and I have accomplished a lot. I’ve made a name for myself. People are just focusing on the wrong stuff, and this is never going to stop, obviously. I just have to ignore it completely and focus on what’s important, which is me playing chess.
Through all that noise, it’s clear you’re breaking boundaries in the sport. Talking to the kids around the club, they think you walk on water. What is it like being able to inspire other kids in the UAE, and other young women, to play chess?
When I first joined the chess club, there weren’t a lot of people. But later on, I think when I first started winning, so many kids started joining. And I remember, I would be walking around and people were like: Oh, you’re Rouda. Oh, I’ve heard a lot about you. We joined the chess club because we wanted to see you.
This means a lot to me, it makes me really proud. I just really hope that we can see more UAE players, UAE women, more talents, more tournaments. It’s such an honor. I’m really happy that many kids look up to me, many girls look up to me. But as I said, it can be very stressful sometimes, trying to just give the perfect picture. Because no one’s perfect; everyone has their flaws.
What comes next for you?
I’m planning on winning more world championships. The World Youth Championship is coming soon in October in Albania, and I’m going to work really hard to at least take top three.
I have to ask: I know you’ve seen
The Queen’s Gambit
. What did they get right? What did they get wrong?
You know, there were some parts that were unrealistic, but the parts that I liked were that they were showing Beth’s dark side. No one really shows the dark side. I really like that they just showed, behind the scenes, how dark her life was. And although she was going through a lot, she was still doing well in chess.
This made me really like the show. I continued watching the show because of it. And the fact that she started playing chess and it was just all men’s tournaments, and she was the only woman who was playing. I really liked that. It made me very proud as a woman.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
FIFAe will use Lenovo’s cutting-edge Legion gaming devices at its competitions
FIFAe Finals 2025 confirmed for 10–19 December in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
The world’s top national teams to compete across three competitions at the FIFAe Finals 2025
FIFAe has confirmed that Lenovo’s Legion gaming technology will be used at its pinnacle competition in 2025, with the world’s #1 PC manufacturer partnering with the world’s #1 football esports competition to support elite players and national teams across all competitions with high-performance devices built for industry-leading esports events.
Lenovo’s high-performance Legion gaming devices will be used at FIFAe’s pinnacle event of the year – the FIFAe Finals 2025, supporting elite gameplay, competition integrity, and immersive performance across all tournament environments, and setting the standard for the next generation of football esports players.
Lenovo’s Legion Tower 7i, Legion gaming monitors, mice, keyboards, accessories and other Lenovo devices will be used by athletes as well as FIFAe presenters and staff alike to power one of the largest esports competitions in the world.
The partnership between FIFAe and Lenovo is part of the company’s wider collaboration with FIFA, which includes supporting the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™, the FIFA World Cup 2026™ and the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027™ through the delivery of advanced technology and infrastructure. Across these events, Lenovo is providing smart devices, AI-driven solutions, and data center services that enhance operations, broadcasting, and fan engagement on a global scale.
The FIFAe Finals 2025 will take place from 10 to 19 December in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and will feature the FIFAe World Cup™ featuring Rocket League, the FIFAe World Cup™ featuring eFootball™ on console, and the FIFAe World Cup™ featuring eFootball™ on mobile. The tournaments will bring together the top-performing national teams from across the globe to compete for three world titles in their respective disciplines.
Following a record-breaking 2024 season, which delivered the most viewed sports simulation event of the year by peak viewers, FIFAe continues to expand its global ecosystem for football esports.
This year’s competitions will feature an extended open qualification process, providing more FIFA Member Associations than ever before the opportunity to compete at the highest level.
For further information, visit FIFA.GG
About Lenovo
Lenovo is a US$69 billion revenue global technology powerhouse, ranked #196 in the Fortune Global 500, and serving millions of customers every day in 180 markets. Focused on a bold vision to deliver Smarter Technology for All, Lenovo has built on its success as the world’s largest PC company with a full-stack portfolio of AI-enabled, AI-ready, and AI-optimized devices (PCs, workstations, smartphones, tablets), infrastructure (server, storage, edge, high performance computing and software defined infrastructure), software, solutions, and services. Lenovo’s continued investment in world-changing innovation is building a more equitable, trustworthy, and smarter future for everyone, everywhere. Lenovo is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange under Lenovo Group Limited (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY). To find out more visit https://www.lenovo.com, and read about the latest news via our StoryHub.
