Indian Grandmaster D. Gukesh’s World Chess Championship triumph, the Indian cricket team bringing back the Twenty20 World Cup after 2007 and Manu Bhaker bagging two individual medals at the Paris Olympics… fans will cherish 2024 as one of the best years for Indian sports. There were some closes misses too… The Indian men’ s hockey … Read more
Learning curve: Maaya looks to work on the intensity part of her game. At 15, youngsters are generally in that phase where they are still figuring out what they want to do. But not Maaya Rajeshwaran. She’s far from the average teenager and has already earned a scholarship to the prestigious Rafa Nadal Academy in … Read more
Clinical: Shrivalli lost just one game against Pridankina. | Photo Credit: special arrangement It was a busy day for the Indian players on the hard courts of the Cricket Club of India here on Tuesday. In the morning, Ankita Raina secured an emphatic victory, defeating Vaishnavi Adkar 6-2, 6-2. The first set saw Ankita take … Read more
File picture of Romania’s Simona Halep after winning the Wimbledon in 2019 | Photo Credit: AP Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep announced her retirement from tennis at age 33 after a first-round loss at a tournament in her home country of Romania on Tuesday, ending an injury-filled comeback from a doping suspension. Halep used … Read more
Mukund went down to Russian Zakharov. | Photo Credit: R. RAGU Sasikumar Mukund, Ramkumar Ramanathan and Karan Singh — members of the Indian Davis Cup team which beat Togo 4-0 in a World Group I Playoff recently — were knocked out of the Chennai Open ATP Challenger in the first round at the SDAT tennis … Read more
Manish Sureshkumar in action in the Chennai Open qualifiers on Sunday. | Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam In an otherwise dismal tennis scene in India, one positive in recent years has been the conduct of a handful of ATP, WTA and ITF tournaments. Three States – Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu – have put their best foot forward … Read more
Thailand’s Lanlana Tararudee advanced to the second round of the L&T Mumbai Open WTA 125 with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 victory over India’s Sahaja Yamalapalli at the Cricket Club of India on Monday. India No. 1 Sahaja began well, winning the opening game in quick time. However, Tararudee quickly bounced back, capitalising on Sahaja’s errors. … Read more
Chirag, captain Rajpal, Karan, Nandal and coach Ashutosh at a training session for Davis Cup in Delhi. | Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan Beating Togo in Davis Cup may have looked like a walk in the park for the strong Indian tennis team last weekend as India recorded a 4-0 victory without dropping a set, or … Read more
India’s Manish Sureshkumar got the better of Switzerland’s Luca Castelnuovo in the first qualifying round of the Chennai Open ATP Challenger tournament in Chennai on Sunday. | Photo Credit: B. JOTHI RAMALINGAM Four Indians-Manish Sureshkumar, Dev Javia, Siddharth Vishwakarma and Chirag Duhan- made it to the second and final qualifying round of the Chennai Open … Read more
India’s N Sriram Balaji celebrates after winning match of Davis Cup 2025 World group Playoff against Togo at DLTA Complex in New Delhi on February 2, 2025 | Photo Credit: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap India completed the formalities in quick time, claiming the doubles match to take an unassailable lead in its Davis Cup tie against … Read more
Ramkumar Ramanathan eased to victory against Togo’s Thomas Setodji in the Davis Cup World Group 1 play-off match in New Delhi on Saturday. | Photo Credit: SHASHI SHEKHAR KASHYAP New Delhi: India was always expected to win but even Sasikumar Mukund and Ramkumar Ramanathan were surprised by the ease with which they dismantled their Togolese … Read more
Ramkumar in action. | Photo Credit: SHASHI SHEKHAR KASHYAP The Indian Davis Cup team looked like a happy place after the host took a 2-0 lead on Day One of its tie against Togo on Saturday with smiles and banter, things missing for a while now from the team’s locker room. And Sasikumar Mukund admitted … Read more
From being ‘banned’ for pulling out of national duty to leading India’s Davis Cup charge against Togo, Sasikumar Mukund has come a long way in the last one year. On Saturday, the 28-year old will be hoping to live up to the expectations that come with being the highest ranked player in the fray. Or … Read more
The U.S. Open is expanding to 15 days this year, shifting to a Sunday start for the first time in the Open era that began in 1968. Fans who subscribed for ticket information from the USTA were informed of the change for the season’s last Grand Slam tennis tournament — and its new dates of … Read more
Services triple jumper A.B. Arun, who lost his National Games gold after failing a dope test, has been given a four-year suspension. The 26-year-old had stunningly won the gold with 16.79m, a Games’ record breaking Asian Games bronze medallist Praveen Chithravel’s record 16.68m (2022), in Goa late last year. The National Anti-Doping Agency’s disciplinary panel, … Read more
Let’s do it: Togo will look to make an impression when it takes on India. | Photo Credit: special arrangement When India’s opponent for its next Davis Cup fixture was announced, many would have struggled to place the tiny nation of Togo on the world map, leave alone its chances against the home team. Watching its … Read more
Pragmatic: Karan, third from left, while calling it an honour to play for India, is being realistic about his chances of getting a match. With Indian tennis in a churn for the past couple of years and uncertainties around the availability of several top players for national duty for a variety of reasons, the upcoming … Read more
The pinnacle of sport as you know it. Grand Slam tennis – there’s nothing like it. There’s no room for error. Perfection is the norm. Anything below, and you will struggle to keep up. Show the slightest sign of crumbling — one bounce more than optimal before your serve, two extra sips of water to … Read more
Jannik Sinner of Italy poses with Norman Brookes Challenge Cup the morning after defeating Alexander Zverev of Germany in the men’s singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. | Photo Credit: AP Of all the praise bestowed on Jannik Sinner after he won his second consecutive Australian … Read more
Prithvi Sekhar with his reward for winning the Australian Deaf tennis championship in Melbourne on Sunday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Prithvi Sekar repeated his performance of winning the Australian Open deaf tennis championship as he beat Oliver Grave of France 6-3, 6-1 in the final at the Melbourne Park on Sunday. “I am thrilled … Read more
Togo captain Alisama Agnamba, left, talks to his players M’lapa Akomlo, Liova Ajavon and Thomas Setodji during a training session ahead of the Davis Cup in New Delhi on Monday. | Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan The Togo team arrived for the Davis Cup World Group play-off tie at the DLTA Complex, without much fanfare. Its … Read more
India’s Sumit Nagal. File | Photo Credit: Reuters After spending 10 straight months in the top 100 in the ATP singles rankings, India’s Sumit Nagal on Monday (January 27, 2025) dropped out of the much-desired bracket following a string of poor shows. Veteran Rohan Bopanna lost his place in the top 20 due to an … Read more
Earlier this month, Rethin Pranav (17) had the most significant moment of his teen tennis career so far. He got to play in the main draw of the Australian Open juniors, an upgrade from playing in last year’s qualifying draw of the US Open juniors. But a left thumb injury he’d sustained in November played … Read more
Sumariwalla said there is a plan to have at least 30 domestic competitions from next season | Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has plans to restructure the domestic competition and qualification system for major international events from the new (2025) season, AFI president Adille Sumariwalla said at a press conference … Read more
The only women’s match featuring Grand Slam singles champions in the third round at the Australian Open turned out to be an overpowering win by Iga Swiatek over Emma Raducanu on Saturday (January 18, 2025). Swiatek won the final 11 games of the match to beat 2021 U.S. Open champion Raducanu 6-1, 6-0 and become … Read more
Siddharth Choudhary, men’s shot put gold winner. | Photo Credit: K. Keerthivasan India’s Siddharth Choudhary and Pooja created new meet records in the men’s shot put and women’s high jump events respectively in the South Asian junior athletics meet here on Wednesday. In the last event of the day, Abinaya Rajarajan of India clinched the … Read more
Learner Tien of the U.S. celebrates after defeating Corentin Moutet of France in their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, on January 18, 2025. | Photo Credit: AP American qualifier Learner Tien became the youngest man to reach the Australian Open fourth round in 20 years as he beat … Read more
Neeraj Chopra and Avinash Sable will be spearheading the Indian challenge in the Diamond League season finale starting on September 13, 2024. | Photo Credit: ANI/Getty Images Javelin throw star Neeraj Chopra will have lofty expectations to live up to, while for steeplechaser Avinash Sable, it would be an opportunity to make up for a … Read more
Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka celebrates after defeating Russia’s Mirra Andreeva during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, on January 19, 2025. | Photo Credit: AP World number one Aryna Sabalenka swept into the Australian Open quarterfinals on Sunday (January 19, 2025) and was joined by Coco Gauff, while Novak … Read more
Unnathi finished on top in 100m hurdles in a record time. | Photo Credit: R. Ragu Unnathi Aiyappa won the women’s 100m hurdles quite comfortably in a record time of 13.93s in the South Asian junior athletics meet here on Thursday, though her time here was way below her personal best of 13.66 set in … Read more