Category: 6. Sports

Meanwhile, India’s Aryaveer Dewan claimed the boys’ U17 Asian junior squash title after defeating Malaysian top seed Nickhileswar Moganasundharam 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-3) in the age-group final.

Two more Indian players – Ayaan Dhanuka in boys’ U13 and Saanvi Kalanki in girls’ U15 – had to settle for silver medals after losing in their respective finals.

Saanvi lost 3-0 (11-4, 11-6, 12-10) to Malaysia’s Jinoreeka Ning in her age group final, while Ayaan lost 3-1 (11-5, 11-2, 11-13, 11-6) to top-seeded Pakistani player Muhammad Sohail Adnan in the title clash.

Amarya Bajaj (boys’ U13), Aryaman Singh (boys’ U15) and Anika Dubey (girls’ U17) also clinched bronze medals from the continental meet by making the semi-finals of their respective events.

Squash is all set to make its Olympic debut at LA 2028.

Japan stormed back in the second half to beat Wales 24-19 on Kyushu Island on Saturday, extending the visitors’ record losing streak to 18 Test matches.

Japan were 19-7 down at the break before two second half tries saw them come back to overhaul the deficit.

Both sides scored three tries in an error-strewn clash at the Mikuni World Stadium, where Wales were hoping to end 18 months of misery, having last won a match at the 2023 Rugby World Cup against Georgia.

They looked to be well on course to break their drought at the break but fell apart in the second half as Japan rallied for the narrow victory.

Japan fullback Takuro Matsunaga scored in the first half, while his replacement Ichigo Nakakusu and fellow substitute Halatoa Vailea went over for two more tries.

All were converted by Lee Seungsin, who also kicked a penalty.

The tourists’ points came in the first half, with Ben Thomas and Tom Rogers going over, and Wales also awarded a penalty try. Sam Costelow kicked just one conversion.

Welsh rugby is seeking to rebuild after plunging to a new low in a 68-14 defeat to England in their final Six Nations game in March, but the loss in Japan is a further blow. They will now drop to 14th in the world rankings.

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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.