Category: 6. Sports

Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth entered the semi-finals of the men’s singles event at the Canada Open 2025 badminton tournament with a convincing win in Ontario on Friday.

Up against top seed and Olympian Chou Tien-chen of Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals, world No. 49 Kidambi Srikanth won the match 21-18, 21-9 in 43 minutes to enter the semi-finals.

This was Kidambi Srikanth’s fourth win in 10 meetings against Chou Tien-chen, who is the current world No. 9. Srikanth, who finished as runners-up at the Malaysia Masters in May, will face Olympian and third seed Kenta Nishimoto of Japan in the semis.

However, Kidambi Srikanth’s compatriot Sankar Subramanian’s run at the BWF Super 300 tournament came to an end as he went down fighting against Kenta Nishimoto.

After losing the first game, Sankar Subramanian rallied to win the second before falling short in the third to face a 21-15, 5-21, 21-17 defeat.

This was Sankar Subramanian’s second loss in as many matches against world No. 12 Kenta Nishimoto.

Meanwhile, India’s challenge in the women’s singles at the Canada Open wrapped up after Shriyanshi Valishetty’s spirited run in the tournament was halted in the quarter-finals.

Shriyanshi Valishetty, 75th in the women’s singles badminton rankings, squared off against world No. 69 Amalie Schulz of Denmark in the quarter-finals.

The Indian badminton player started the match well but failed to sustain the momentum, going down 12-21, 21-19, 21-19.

This was Shriyanshi Valishetty’s first defeat against Amalie Schulz, having prevailed over the Dane in their only previous meeting at the 2023 Abu Dhabi Masters.

BATHINDA: When Shubhman Gill became the first Indian captain to hit an iconic double ton in a Test match in England, his 90-year-old grandfather Didar Singh, who had been watching his stroke play on television, smiled serenely and showed the thumbs-up sign. He also said this had infused new strength in him, and he felt younger than his 90 years.Shubhman scored his 200th run on the first ball of the 122nd over of the first innings of the match bowled by J Tongue. Literally on cloud nine, Didar Singh reminisced about the time when a bat-wielding Shubhman, barely 5 years old then, had climbed onto his lap.

With this feat, Shubhman has become the youngest to score a double ton in ODIs and Tests at 25 years, making Punjab proud of his feat.

He is only the second from Punjab after Navjot Singh Sidhu to score a double century in Test matches. Sidhu had scored 201 runs against the West Indies in the second Test of the 1997 series at Port of Spain. Shubhman has also joined the elite league comprising only Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma, having scored double hundreds as a captain of the national squad.Shubhman had scored 208 runs in a one day international (ODI) on Jan 18, 2023, in the first match of the series against New Zealand, becoming the fifth Indian batsman to hit a double century in ODIs and the youngest batsman to achieve the feat.Didar Singh, while speaking to TOI, said, “Shubhman was less than five years old when he first held the cricket bat and played in the courtyard of our home at Chak Jaimal Singh Wala village in Fazilka. Seeing his keen interest in cricket, my son Lakhwinder shifted to Jalalabad when Shubhman was only seven years old, as there were better sports facilities in Jalalabad. After some time, he shifted to Chandigarh for Shubhman’s career in cricket.” The cricketer was born on Sep 8, 1999, at Punjab’s Chak Jaimal Singh Wala village.Didar Singh last met Shubhman nearly three months ago at his Mohali residence and witnessed him play in a stadium duing the the 2024 IPL matches at Jaipur and Ahmedabad.Didar Singh, along with his wife Gurmail Kaur, said, “Shubhman loved me a lot and used to spend most of his time with me until he shifted to Jalalabad. When he began playing international cricket, he used to ring me up when he achieved any milestone… infusing me with a booster dose of joy and strength. It is the same today.”The string of congratulatory messages for Gill’s grandparents had them basking in his glory.

The IFSC Climbing World Cup in Kraków, Poland hosted competitors from around the world at this year’s fourth Speed World Cup competition. Here’s what some of the top-performing athletes had to say following each round.

PRE-EVENT

Sam Watson of the USA:

“I feel really lucky to be in Poland, it’s a really cool place and it’s my first time in the country.”

“The venue looks amazing. The city of Krakow, walking around, it’s such a cool, old town, and this venue – the square, the backdrop, it all looks amazing.”

Natalia Kalucka of Poland

“To be honest I’m a little bit nervous because I want to showcase my level to my home crowd. But I think I am ready because I’ve got a lot of experience in climbing now.”

“I think it will be crazy. I think the crowd is quite specific in Poland, but quite friendly. I think they will give a bit more support to the Polish athletes so it will be a good motivation for us Polish climbers.”

“My main goal is to focus on my personal performance. The first part of the season was a little hard for me as I feel I did quite a few little mistakes, so I want to only show the best of me during the competition.”

A brief look at Diogo Jota’s football careerpublished at 08:13 British Summer Time

08:13 BST

Image source, Getty Images

Diogo Jota reached the pinnacle of his football career for both club and country this season, winning the Premier League title with Liverpool and helping Portugal to victory in the final of the Uefa Nations League.

He began his career with Portuguese side Pacos de Ferreira and joined Atletico Madrid in 2016.

Jota had successful loan spells with both Porto and Wolves, helping the latter earn promotion to the Premier League in 2018 before making his move to Molineux a permanent one that summer.

After two years in the West Midlands, the forward transferred to Liverpool in a move worth an initial £41m and went on to score 65 goals in 182 appearances during five seasons at Anfield.

His honours with the Reds also included one FA Cup (2022) and two EFL Cup (2022 & 2024) winners medals.

Internationally, Jota scored 14 goals in 49 appearances for Portugal.

Sri Lanka will look to seal the three-match series when it takes on Bangladesh in the second One-Day International at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Saturday.

The host rode on skipper Charith Asalanka’s gritty century to win the series opener by 77 runs at the same venue. Set a middling target of 245, Bangladesh was cruising at 100 for one before it suffered a stunning collapse, losing seven wickets for just five runs. It was eventually bundled out for 167 with skipper Wanindu Hasaranga and Kamindu Mendis picking seven wickets between them.

The Lankans are eyeing a fifth consecutive ODI series win at home since August last year after beating India, West Indies, New Zealand and Australia in their backyard.

SL vs BAN 2nd ODI – Match Details

When will the second ODI between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh take place?

The second ODI between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will take place on Saturday, July 5.

Where will the second ODI between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh be held?

The second ODI between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will be held at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

At what time will the second ODI between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh start?

The second ODI between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will begin at 2:30 PM IST.

At what time will the toss take place for the second ODI between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh?

The toss for the second ODI between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will be held at 2 PM IST.

Where to watch the live telecast of the second ODI between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in India?

The second ODI between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will be televised live on the  Sony Sports Network in India.

Where to watch the live stream of the second ODI between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in India?

The second ODI between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will be streamed live on the  SonyLIV and  FanCode apps and websites.

The Squads

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kamindu Mendis, Charith Asalanka (c), Janith Liyanage, Dunith Wellalage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Dilshan Madushanka, Eshan Malinga, Nishan Madushka, Asitha Fernando, Jeffrey Vandersay, Sadeera Samarawickrama.

Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Mohammad Naim, Shamim Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz (c), Litton Das (wk), Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Nahid Rana, Jaker Ali, Hasan Mahmud, Tanvir Islam, Rishad Hossain, Parvez Hossain Emon.

Doug Ghim holed out from the fairway for an eagle for the second straight day to help him retain the lead at the halfway stage of the John Deere Classic.

The American’s three-under second round of 68 moved him to 12 under par for the tournament and saw him take his first 36-hole lead in his six years on the PGA Tour. He is one shot ahead of a five-strong chasing pack going into the weekend that includes defending champion Davis Thompson (63) and Max Homa (68).

Ghim holed out on the short par-four sixth in the opening round. This time it was from 179 yards away on the par-four 15th.

“I guess holing out two days in a row is always nice,” Ghim said. “It’s been a couple years since I holed out from the fairway. To get two back-to-back days is great.”

Ghim had held a two-shot lead before only his second bogey of the round came on his last hole of the day, the par-four ninth. Hitting left into the trees and down a cart path, he then punched out through the green and chipped to 18 feet before missing the putt.

With Saturday’s starting times moved forward because of forecast rain, Mexico Open winner Brian Campbell (66), David Lipsky (67) and Emiliano Grillo (66) are also tied with Thompson and Homa for second.

Ghim still feels a long way off from a chance to win for the first time at a tournament that has produced more first-time winners than any other PGA Tour event since 1970.

“The person that’s going to win this tournament will be in the 20-under-par area, so last time I checked I’m not there yet,” Ghim said.

“I don’t feel like I’m in the lead, and I’m just happy that I get to be teeing off late tomorrow in contention.”

Homa was tied with Ghim late in the afternoon, when the greens were getting dry and crusty. But on the 18th hole, he pulled his tee shot into a bunker, missing the green to the right and wound up missing a 12-foot par putt to fall one back.

“You’re going to have to shoot really low,” said Homa.

“If you went out there and tried to do something specific, I’m not so sure that is going to work.

“Somebody can go out there and shoot 11 under out there and jump everybody. So just go do what we did today and play another round of golf. Just keep waiting until the back nine on Sunday basically.”

Thompson played in the morning and was the first to reach 11 under as he tries to become the first repeat winner of the John Deere Classic since Steve Stricker won three in a row from 2009 through 2011.

There was high drama late in the day that wound up setting the cut at five under.

Rikuya Hoshino and Jesper Svensson each made birdie on their last hole to move the cut line to five under, only for Paul Peterson to take bogey on his last hole to move it back to four under.

But in the final group, Brendan Valdes drilled his tee shot on the par-four 18th, hit his approach to about eight feet and holed the birdie putt for a 66. That moved the cut back to five under, eliminating 14 players from the weekend.

Rickie Fowler and Jake Knapp wound up making the cut on the number.

Meanwhile, 12 players were separated by two shots going into the third round, a group that includes Camilo Villegas, Sam Stevens and Si Woo Kim.

Stevens and Kim are trying to finish high enough to move up the world ranking that will be used next week to set the alternate list for the The Open at Royal Portrush, live on Sky Sports, from Thursday July 17.

Coverage of the third round of the John Deere Classic continues live on Sky Sports Golf from 5pm on Saturday – or stream without a contract.

The final instalment of SA Rugby’s 2025 FNB Youth Weeks programme will run from Monday 7 to Saturday 12 July, with 16 teams competing across the matches played on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

At the conclusion of the tournament, the SA Schools and SA Schools ‘A’ teams will be announced. They will face each other at Hoërskool Middelburg on Thursday, 17 July, while the U18 International Series will follow in August.

Nine players who featured in the SA Schools and SA U18 teams last year have bwwn included in their provincial squads again. They are Josh Neill, Markus Muller, Briint Davids, Jordan Jooste (all WP), Ethan Adams, AJ Meyer (both Free State), Zekhe Siyaya (KZN), André Poulton (Lions), and Joshua McKenzie (EP).

Eight teams are in action on the opening day of the tournament, with the Western Province XV and the Griffons meeting in the first fixture at 09h30.

Free State, who went down to DHL Western Province in the final match of the 2024 tournament, will face South Western Districts thereafter.

The FNB U18 Craven Week Opening Ceremony at 14h00 will be followed by a clash between the Hollywood Foundation Pumas – the hosts of this year’s tournament – and the Limpopo Blue Bulls.

DHL Western Province, who finished last year’s tournament unbeaten, will be in action on Tuesday, along with the Leopards, Valke, Border, Suzuki Griquas, Sharks High Schools, Eastern Province and Sanlam Boland.

All the FNB U18 Craven Week action will be broadcast by SuperSport.

FNB U18 Craven Week day one schedule (Monday, 7 July):
09h30: DHL Western Province XV v Griffons
11h00: Free State v South Western Districts
12h30: Blue Bulls v Obaro Golden Lions
14h00: Opening Ceremony
14h30: Hollywood Foundation Pumas v Limpopo Blue Bulls

FNB U18 Craven Week day two schedule (Tuesday, 8 July):
10h00: Leopards v Valke
11h30: Border v Suzuki Griquas
13h00: Sharks High Schools v Eastern Province
14h30: DHL Western Province v Sanlam Boland

Paul O’Connell has always been strikingly honest about his coaching career.

As a player, he was revered and feared – his iconic ‘manic aggression’ speech in the bowels of Croke Park ensured the latter.

Over the past eight years, the former lock has been coaching at various levels after his injury-enforced retirement in February 2016.

After a distinguished playing career that yielded three Six Nations titles with Ireland and three British and Irish Lions tours, he has carefully progressed his coaching education, which arrives at an important juncture this summer as he leads Ireland into Tests against Georgia and Portugal.

Following roles with the Munster academy and Ireland Under-20s, O’Connell spent a year at Top 14 club Stade Francais as Heyneke Meyer’s forwards coach.

He found the going tough, later saying it was “too full-on for me”. But when head coach Andy Farrell came calling before the 2021 Six Nations, he considered the chance to work with Ireland’s current pack too good to turn down.

Naturally, when other opportunities have arisen, his name has been put forward with haste.

A Munster icon, he won two European Cups and three league titles during his 14 years in the red jersey. But when Johann van Graan announced he would vacate his role as Munster head coach for Bath at the end of the 2021-22 season, O’Connell admitted he “wouldn’t be qualified to do it”.

Again, when Graham Rowntree left the province last year, O’Connell said he had “no interest” in replacing the Englishman.

The stars are aligning for four-time Olympic gold medallist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone ahead of her 2025 Prefontaine Classic (Eugene Diamond League) debut at Hayward Field in Oregon on Saturday, 5 July. Although, she won’t be competing in her signature 400m hurdles, where she holds the world record, but rather, flexing her sprint speed in the 400m flat.

Though a non-Diamond League event, the 400m race is shaping up to be a marquee showdown as McLaughlin-Levrone looks to better her 48.74 second mark, which she set at Hayward Field during the 2023 U.S. Championships. A time that sits just 0.04 seconds off the American record of 48.70 seconds, set by Sanya Richards-Ross in 2006.

At a pre-event press conference on 4 July, McLaughlin-Levrone was hesitant to talk about chasing records, instead offering praise for Richards-Ross: “It’s a great record. Sanya is an amazing athlete.” McLaughlin-Levrone added, “I’m grateful for the opportunity to run it free. It’s my first time, and I’m really hoping to go out there and execute it—I’ve got to focus on myself and see what happens.”

In a lighthearted moment, the lane draw results were revealed during the press conference, and McLaughlin-Levrone lit up. “I hope it’s five,” she said. “I’ve had some great races in five.” She got her wish—lane five, the same lane at Hayward where she set her personal best in 2023.

Her presence alone raises the stakes, but McLaughlin-Levrone will face heavy competition, including from her compatriots, NCAA outdoor champion Aaliyah Butler (49.26 SB) and Alexis Holmes, who raced on the gold medal-winning 4x400m relay team at Paris 2024 alongside hurdles legend. World Indoor Champion Amber Anning (49.96 SB), isn’t to be discounted either ahead of the hotly anticipated race.