The former world No. 1 men's doubles pair, the 2022 India Open champions, has made a good start to the 2025 season, reaching the semifinals at the Malaysia Super 1000 last week. Ahead of the host nation's largest-ever event, India Open Super 750, people will keep tabs on Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. Despite disappointment at the Paris Olympics 2024, the Satwik-Chirag duo has emerged as Team India's most reliable performer in the spot over the course of the last two years. Satwik-Chirag who sealed the semi-finals berth at the China Masters 2024 will lock horns with Malaysia's Wei Chong Man and Kai Wun Tee in the India Open Super 750 opener. However, the Indian pair will face stiff competition from top names such as China's Olympic silver medallists Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang, Paris bronze medallists Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia, Denmark's Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen, and Indonesia's Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto. The tournament will see 21 Indian entries, with two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu featuring in the event after missing the season opener in Kuala Lumpur following her wedding. Also Read: Champions Trophy 2025: Afghanistan announce their 15-man squad for the marquee event The 29-year-old Hyderabadi returned to winning ways, lifting the Syed Modi International title, although it was against a predominantly Indian field. PV Sindhu will kick start her India Open Super 750 campaign against Anupama Upadhyaya is drawn to face Japan's rising star Tomoka Miyazaki the 2022 world junior champion and her conqueror at last year's Swiss Open in a potentially intriguing clash. Also ahead of the India Open Super 750, Lakshya Sen who won the Syed Modi title and finished third at the Kings Cup, will look to make a solid comeback after suffering an early exit in Malaysia. But the 2022 India Open champion faces a tough opening test against Chinese left-hander Hong Yang Weng. HS Prannoy, returning after a five-month break following a pre-quarterfinal exit at the Paris Olympics, stumbled in the second round in Malaysia. However, the 32-year-old veteran showed signs of his old self and will look to build when he faces Chinese Taipei's Li Yang Su in the first round. A victory could set him up for a showdown with second seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia. With marquee players like Olympic champions Viktor Axelsen and An Se Young, and world No. 1 Shi Yuqi leading the competition, high-octane action could unfold at KD Jadhav Indoor Hall, Indira Gandhi Stadium. The tournament will feature 18 of the world's top-20 men's singles players and 14 of the top-20 women's singles shuttlers. Among the Indians, some promising youngsters will be eager to make a mark. Priyanshu Rajawat faces a tough challenge in his opening round against sixth-seeded Japanese Kodai Naraoka, while Malvika Bansod meets third seed Chinese Yue Han, and Aakarshi Kashyap faces eighth-seeded Thai Pornpawee Chochuwong. In the women's doubles, India's hopes rest on fifth-seeded Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, who will face Japan's Arisa Igarashi and Ayako Sakuramoto in the first round. Meanwhile, Guwahati Masters winners Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa, seeded seventh here, will take on the British duo of Chloe Coney and Estelle Van Leeuwen. (With PTI Inputs)
13 January,2025 12:52 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentAryna Sabalenka became an overnight internet sensation after busting out some dance moves on court at the Australian Open on Sunday night. Also Read: Champions Trophy 2025: Pat Cummins to lead the Australian pack, know the full squad After beating Sloane Stephens in straight sets, Sabalenka was invited to recreate a Tiktok dance routine with her team by on-court interviewer Jelena Dokic. "I'm not the best dancer, but I'll try my best," a slightly taken aback world number one said after the pre-tournament social media post was played on Rod Laver Arena. Taking to X: Aryna Sabalenka dancing for Australian Open crowd after winning her 1st round against Sloane Stephens“Now they have proof that I’m the worst dancer” 😂Give this woman a spotlight and she will shinepic.twitter.com/L5JyfrwcXs — The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) January 12, 2025 "But only if the whole crowd will join in," beckoned Sabalenka. To the delight of a packed Rod Laver Arena the Belarusian two-time defending champion obliged, with some fans grooving along to get the party started on the opening night at Melbourne Park. Australian actress Rebel Wilson in the crowd was spotted having a boogie, as Sabalenka and Dokic danced. Sabalenka, though, clearly wants to stick to her tennis moves in future. "Now they have proof that I'm the worst dancer," she laughed. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
13 January,2025 09:12 AM IST | Australia | AFPHady Habib’s history-making run at the Australian Open will continue after the first man to represent Lebanon in a Grand Slam singles tournament in the Open era became the first to win a match, defeating Bu Yunchaokete of China 7-6 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (6) on Sunday in front of a loud group of supporters. Also Read: Sunny day for Mumbai cricket captains at Wankhede “This is probably one of the best days of my career, honestly. It’s such an incredible feeling to get this win — not only for myself but for Lebanon and Lebanese tennis,” said the 26-year-old Habib, who is ranked outside the top 200 on the ATP Tour. “As you guys could see there, the crowd was absolutely wild. It made it even more special to win in front of them. ... I felt the energy out there.” This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
13 January,2025 07:44 AM IST | Melbourne | AFPClinical World No. 2 Alexander Zverev surged into the Australian Open second round on Sunday with a straight sets victory to kickstart his bid to better the semi-final he made last year. Also Read: Sablenka aces it mentally! The German saw off French wildcard Lucas Pouille, who made the last four in 2019 before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena. It put him into round two at Melbourne Park for a ninth straight year, setting up a meeting next with Spain’s 44th-ranked Pedro Martinez. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
13 January,2025 07:37 AM IST | Melbourne | AP | PTIA battling Aryna Sabalenka credited new a “mental toughness” on Sunday for helping her survive an Australian Open first-set wobble that a few years ago might have cost her the match. The two-time defending champion beat Sloane Stephens 6-3, 6-2 in the first round to begin her bid for a historic hat-trick at Melbourne Park. But the Belarusian did not have it all her own way against the 2017 US Open champion on Rod Laver Arena. She raced into a 4-0 lead before a series of unforced errors allowed the 31-year-old American to break back twice for 4-3. “I stepped back, and I gave her a chance to come back in the match,” said Sabalenka. Also Read: Kyle wants to be a walker ‘Glad I stepped in’ The lapses fired up Sabalenka, who changed her racquet and became more aggressive. “I’m glad that in that game on 4-3 I stepped in and I was going forward to the net. I think that was the key to get back to this match.” She created a succession of break points before finally converting on the fifth to move 5-3 ahead and then served out to take the set in 38 minutes. “If I compare myself to even like three years ago, in that moment I would get frustrated and probably would lose the first set. I’m not sure if I would be able to win the match,” she admitted. “I’m really glad that I improved my mental toughness. I’m able to stay focused no matter what the score, what the situation is.” Stephens, now ranked 84th, has a poor record in Melbourne, losing in the first round on four of her previous five appearances. A double break took Sabalenka to 5-1 in the second set and she completed the win in 1hr 11min. Olympic champ Zheng wins Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, the fifth seed and last year’s losing finalist, had the honour of playing the first point on centre court against Romania’s 110th-ranked Anca Todoni. She came through 7-6 (7/3), 6-1, but was rusty after opting not to play a warm-up event. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
13 January,2025 07:35 AM IST | Melbourne | AFPGokuldham High School (Goregaon) came from a set down to beat Vasant Vihar High School (Thane) 2-1 to emerge boys U-16 champions in the MSSA inter-school throwball tournament at Shishuvan Sports Complex (Matunga) on Friday. The Gokuldham boys dropped the first set, 13-15 but fought back hard with some sharp throws to win the second 16-14. In the decider, things went down to the wire before Gokuldham eventually won 17-15. In the girls U-16 final, Lakshdham High School enjoyed a straight sets win over their Goregaon neighbours, Gokuldham High School. Lakshdham cruised to a 15-8, 15-12 win. Also Read: Know the secret which helps Novak Djokovic keep healthy Boys U-16 champions Gokuldham High School (Goregaon) with their trophy and medals. Pics/Sayyed Sameer Abedi Meanwhile, in the boys U-14 final, Yashodham High School, (Goregaon) beat Bombay Cambridge International (Andheri) 15-13, 13-15, 15-12. In the girls U-14 final, Lokhandwala Foundation (Andheri) beat Lakshdham 15-13, 15-3 victory. In the boys U-12 final, Gokuldham defeated Vasant Vihar High School, (Thane) 15-13, 14-16, 15-8, while in the girls final, Bombay Cambridge International (Andheri) beat Gokuldham 15-8, 15-12.
13 January,2025 07:29 AM IST | Mumbai | Rufus VedanayagamNovak Djokovic has revealed a new secret weapon that he credits with helping keep him healthy and prolong his career — a green “energetic disc”. Known for his new-age spiritual interests, the Serbian star is in Melbourne hoping to wind back the clock and win an 11th Australian Open and record 25th Grand Slam singles title. To help achieve the feat, he has a device made by an engineer in Serbia he claims has helped him deal with several ailments. Also Read: Mumbai City FC lose to Jamshedpur The 37-year-old showed off the dinner-plate size disc in a video on Instagram. “It’s [an] energetic disc, creates an electromagnetic field around it and [the] kind of secret is in this pattern,” he said. Know the secret which helps Novak Djokovic keep healthy “And so when you place it on a certain part of your body, place this part, for example, if you have stomach issues, which I do have often when I’m nervous, stressed before the match or indigestion issues, that creates heat. So then it starts enhancing the metabolic functions or it reduces inflammation in certain parts of the body.” Djokovic added: “I have a bunch of those and I do carry it everywhere. When I fly in the plane, I put it on [my] head or somewhere. I shouldn’t be having it on the body parts for too long, so like 20-30 minutes it does its work.” This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
13 January,2025 07:26 AM IST | Melbourne | AFPPsychic Star, trained by Pesi Shroff and confidently ridden by Vivek G, posted an authoritative victory in the Group 1, Villoo C Poonawalla Indian Oaks at the Mahalaxmi racetrack on Saturday. The Multitude - Psychic Light filly thus completed a Classics double, having already won the 1000 Guineas last month on the same track. Psychic Light's Oaks victory further strengthened Pesi Shroff's image as the 'ladies' man' because he has now won this race (reserved only for the fillies) a record 13th time, also creating another unique record of winning the last five on the trot. Having also won the 2000 Guineas with Santissimo three weeks ago, Shroff has made a clean sweep of the Classics so far this season. This was also a record 19th Oaks success for the Usha stud where Psychic Star was bred. The Oaks winner is owned by Vijay Shirke's family along with Mrs Liane Luthria and breeder Ms Ameeta Mehra. For jockey Vivek, this was the second Indian Classic after the 1000 Guineas astride the same filly. After the race, Shroff singled out the young lad for special praise. "Vivek is maturing both as a rider and a thinker," Shroff said, "he has a bright future ahead." Win win Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, who has been sponsoring the Indian Oaks in the memory of his late wife Villoo for several years now, had a lucky day at the races as two horses racing in his own silks--Portofino Bay & Gordon--won their respective races. The Dallas Todywalla-trained Portofino Bay (N Bhosale up) mercilessly thrashed Cellini to win the PD Avasia Trophy by a widening seven lengths; and the Pesi Shroff-trained Gordon covered more than five lengths in the straight in the hands of jockey R Ajinkya to pounce on the runaway leader Floyd (TS Jodha up) to claim the Uttam Singh Trophy. Double delight Trainer Karthik also led in two winners on the card: Lord Vader & Golden Thunder. The former, with Bhavani Singh in saddle, stunned his younger rivals at 15-to-1 to bag the upper division of the Tricumdas Dwarkadas Trophy; and and Englishman David Allan worked hard on Golden Thunder to shake off rivals to win the Gr 3, RR Ruia Gold Cup. The other Gr 3 event, the Gool S Poonawalla Million saw the hot favourite Elusive Star, trained by Adhirajsingh and ridden by A Sandesh, just about managing to hold on from a fast-finishing Stormy Sea (NS Parmar up).
12 January,2025 03:20 PM IST | Mumbai | Prakash GosaviHyderabad Toofans scored a thrilling 4-3 penalty shoot-out victory over Soorma Hockey Club after the teams were locked in a 1-1 stalemate at the end of regulation time in a Hockey India League match here on Saturday. Nicolas Della Torre (8th) gave Soorma Hockey Club the lead in the first quarter before Amandeep Lakra (40th) brought the Hyderabad Toofans back with a drag flick.Zach Wallace scored for Hyderabad Toofans in sudden death and goalkeeper Dominic Dixson saved Nicolas Poncelet’s attempt to secure the bonus point for Hyderabad Toofans. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
12 January,2025 08:29 AM IST | Rourkela | PTIIn what promises to be a landmark moment in Indian sport, two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra will be bringing a Continental Tour javelin-only competition to India. While the venue is yet to be finalised, the event is slated to take place in May this year. The event being held in association with JSW Sports, along with the support of World Athletics and the Athletics Federation of India, will see some of the best male and female javelin throwers from around the world – headlined by Chopra – compete on Indian soil for the first time. Speaking about the event, Chopra said, “It has been a longstanding dream of mine to organise and bring a world-class javelin competition to India. With the help of JSW Sports and the Athletics Federation of India, we are making this happen. I am sure that my fellow athletes and the fans in India will both create an experience that will be spoken about for a long time. I am excited to see how big we can make this.” Chopra and JSW Sports are keen to make the event an annual fixture in the world athletics calendar, with an eye on adding more track and field disciplines to the meeting. Parth Jindal, Founder, JSW Sports said, “I would like to thank the Athletics Federation of India and their leadership for giving us this fantastic opportunity of bringing a world-class event to India. The AFI has been doing some incredible work to raise the profile of track and field sports in the country, and how they have come forward to support this event is a testament to their endeavours.” The star-studded lined-up aside, the focus will be on delivering a competition that enhances viewer experience using technology – both, at the event and via broadcast. Speaking about the upcoming event, Lord Sebastian Coe, President, World Athletics, said, “World Athletics is delighted to support this new event that will allow fans in India to see their heroes on home soil and that will also showcase to the world India’s ability to stage gold standard events." The meet also aims to inspire the next generation of Indian athletes and to amplify the health and fitness initiatives undertaken by the Government of India. With the AFI giving track and field disciplines a concerted push, India has taken big strides of progress on the continental and global stage with records and numerous firsts for our athletes. Adille Sumariwalla, Chairman (N&IR) of the Athletics Federation of India, said, “We could not have a better role model than Neeraj Chopra to inspire the next generation of Indian athletes and we are pleased to partner with Neeraj and JSW Sports to present the best of our sport to the Indian public. 2025 will be an exciting year for Indian athletics with two Continental Tour meetings being held in our country." This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
12 January,2025 08:21 AM IST | Mumbai | IANSSatwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s impressive run at the Malaysia Super 1000 badminton tournament came to an end following a straight-game loss to Korea’s Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae in the semifinals, here on Saturday. Seeded seventh, Satwik and Chirag, who reached the finals last season, lost 10-21, 15-21 in a 40-minute semi-final clash. “They played really well, and we could have followed our game plan a bit better. Instead, we played some random strokes, but kudos to them for playing a solid game,” Satwik told reporters. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
12 January,2025 08:17 AM IST | Kuala Lumpur | PTIADVERTISEMENT
![Jockey Vivek G, astride the Pesi Shroff-trained Psychic Star, waving at the crowds after winning the Villoo C Poonawalla Indian Oaks (Gr 1) at the Mahalaxmi racetrack on Saturday [Pic: RWITC]](https://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/jan/tpflesidf_d.jpg "Jockey Vivek G, astride the Pesi Shroff-trained Psychic Star, waving at the crowds after winning the Villoo C Poonawalla Indian Oaks (Gr 1) at the Mahalaxmi racetrack on Saturday [Pic: RWITC]")
