India's 10-year-old karting sensation Atiqa Mir is set to become the first female from the country to race in the World Series Karting (WSK) Championships after being signed by 29-time champions Babyrace for a full season. This was after her impressive results in a test session conducted at La Conca circuit in south of Italy. The racer from Jammu and Kashmir will also be the only female in the Mini class having a highly competitive grid of over 60 karts. She will race in all three WSK Championships this year: the WSK Super Master Series, the WSK Euro Series and the WSK Final Cup as a debutant. The first of these three races, WSK Super Series Master Series, will be held over the weekend. "I am super thrilled to get this opportunity to drive with in WSK with Babyrace. This will be the highest level of karting I have ever driven in. I will have to learn a lot of circuits and driving in the winter will be a challenge but I am up for it," said Atiqa. WSK is considered as the pinnacle of karting which attracts the best driving talent, the top kart manufacturers and engine manufacturers from the world over. Reigning world champion Max Verstappen is among the host of drivers that have raced in WSK in their formative years. Like Verstappen, Atiqa too hails from a racing family. Her father Asif Nazir is India's first National Karting Champion and Formula Asia Vice Champion. He will be by Atiqa's side when she competes in Italy this weekend. "Atiqa has managed to move up to the highest level of karting through her hard work and dedication. "It will be tough for her racing against this quality of field. She has to learn new tracks, new conditions and adapt herself to this new environment. It will be challenging and a learning year for her," said Nazir. (With agency inputs)
23 January,2025 02:29 PM IST | Muro Leccesse (Italy) | mid-day online correspondentContinuing his rapid rise, world champion D Gukesh dethroned compatriot Arjun Erigiasi to become the highest-ranked Indian chess player, at fourth, in the latest FIDE rankings on Thursday. Gukesh, 18, achieved the feat when he logged his second victory in the Tata Steel Tournament in Wijk Aan Zee (Netherlands) defeating Vincent Keymer of Germany. Gukesh, who was awarded the Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna recently, has amassed 2784 rating points, while Erigaisi, who was the highest-ranked Indian for a long time, has slipped to fifth with 2779.5 rating points. Norway's Magnus Carlsen continues to be the undisputed world No.1 with 2832.5 points, followed by United States' Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura (2802) and country-mate Fabiano Caruana (2798). Gukesh has been in sublime form ever since he beat China's Ding Liren to clinch the world title in Singapore in December last year. He took a break from the game to attend to functions and festivities back home and skipped the World Rapid and Blitz Championship in New York. On his return to the board, Gukesh has not lost a single game in Wijk Aan Zee. He has two victories and three draws so far in the tournament with eight rounds still to go. Erigaisi had became India's top-rated player in September last year and in December achieved his peak rating of 2801, which had made him the 15th-highest rated player in history and only the second Indian after five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand to beach the 2800 threshold. Erigaisi. who was a part of India's triumphant journey in the Chess Olympiad in Budapest last year, had gone to the World Rapid and Blitz Championship in New York hoping to secure a Candidates berth but returned home disappointed. The 21 year old is struggling in the ongoing Tata Steel Tournament, having garnered just one point so far, while Gukesh has 3.5. (With agency inputs)
23 January,2025 12:40 PM IST | New Delhi | mid-day online correspondentThe best thing about franchise tournaments like the Hockey India League is the confidence boost that young Indian players get by rubbing shoulders with some of the best talent in the world. Young India striker Gursahibjit Singh, 24, who has been excelling at the HIL for the Vedanta Kalinga Lancers, is one such example. The Kalinga side boasts of some top international hockey stars like Dutch striker Thierry Brinkman and Belgian defenders Alexander Hendrickx and Arthur van Doren, to name a few. Gursahibijit was among the scorers as the Kalinga outfit registered a dominating 5-1 win over Delhi SG Pipers at the Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela, Odisha, recently. He admitted he’s been learning from his interactions with Brinkman. “My experience so far at the HIL has been great. I have learned a lot, and not just me—I think it’s a great opportunity for all the Indian players. For many of us, this is the first time we are part of the league, so it’s an exciting experience,” Gursahibijit told mid-day.com. “Our team is a healthy blend of some of the most experienced and best players from across the world. Sharing the dressing room with the likes of Brinkman, Hendrickx and Van Doren, among others, is a great feeling. I look forward to learning from them and hearing about their experiences to improve my game. I’m particularly inspired by Brinkman because we play in the same position and he is the world’s best striker, so I am getting to learn a lot from him. I keep talking to him on the field and off the field as well. I keep asking him about things and he answers them patiently,” added Gursahibjit. Dutch striker Thierry Brinkman celebrates a goal for Kalinga Lancers in the ongoing Hockey India League recently. Pic/Hockey India Brinkman is among the leading scorers of the HIL with eight goals so far. He netted a fine hat-trick against in a 6-0 rout of the Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers last week. The Lancers have three wins and a draw from eight matches so far and to make it to the playoffs the role of their strikers will be key in getting them those all-important goals. “The team’s performance has been great so far. We’ve made a few mistakes here and there, but there is always a learning curve. There have been some hits and some misses, but we’ve learned from our mistakes, improvised, and kept our focus on the next game. With the tournament approaching its final stages, we know that every game is crucial, and we’re determined to give our best effort in each one,” added Gursahibjit.
23 January,2025 06:50 AM IST | Rourkela | Ashwin FerroIrish Gold, trained by Dallas Todywalla and to be ridden by A Sandesh, has a slender edge over his two rivals in the Mathradas Goculdas Trophy, the feature event of Thursday's seven-race Mahalaxmi card. This edge comes from the fact that Sandesh is now switching to Irish Gold (whom he had beaten last time astride Baby Bazooka), and Portofino Bay, who outpaced Cellini when scoring a resounding victory in the last start over five furlongs, may be seriously tested over the extra furlong. First race at 2 pm. Selections: Pradeep Vijayakar Plate (Class IV; 1800m)Nostalgia 1, Kimiko 2, Ataturk 3. Mathradas Goculdas Trophy (Class I; 1200m)Irish Gold 1, Baby Bazooka 2. Royal Barbershop Trophy - Div II (For 5y&o, Class IV; 1200m)Mila 1, Ariyana Star 2, Sentinel 3. Aziz H Ahmedbhoy Trophy (Class II; 1600m)Pride's Prince 1, Waikiki 2, Charlie 3. Nadia Mary Homi Wadia Trophy (For 3y, Maidens; 1200m)Enchanting 1, Jackson 2, Saseka 3. Royal Barbershop Trophy - Div II (For 5y&o, Class IV; 1200m)Art Collector 1, Liam 2, The General 3. A Geddis Plate (Class V; 1400m)Otello 1, Anaira 2, Anoushka 3. Best bet: NoneUpsets: Johnny Mac (5-2) & Little Minister (7-4) Today's poolsSuper jackpot pool: 2,3,4,5,6,7Jackpot pool: 3,4,5,6,7Treble pool: 4,5,6Tanala pool: All races.
23 January,2025 06:34 AM IST | Mumbai | Prakash GosaviSeventh-seed PV Sindhu bowed out of the Indonesia Masters 2025 in the first round after Vietnam’s Nguyen Thuy Linh beat the Indian 22-20, 21-12 in women’s singles in Jakarta on Wednesday. The two-time Olympic medallist led the first game 20-14 before she failed to convert the game point. Her opponent went on to take the lead in the match. Nguyen led throughout the second game and didn’t allow the Indian to comeback into the match. Meanwhile, Lakshya Sen beat Japan’s Takuma Obayashi 21-9, 21-14 in straight sets to qualify for the second round, in a match that lasted just 39 minutes. In the mixed doubles, Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila began their campaign at the USD 475,000 Super 500 badminton tournament on a high note, advancing to the second round with a straight-game win over their rivals. Crasto and Kapila defeated the Indonesian duo of Adnan Maulana and Indah Cahya Sari Jamil 21-18, 21-14 in their opening match, setting up a clash against Malaysia’s Pang Ron Hoo and Su Yin Cheng. However, the other Indian mixed doubles pair, Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde, was eliminated in the first round, losing 9-21, 13-21 to England’s Gregory Mairs and Jenny Mairs. 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
23 January,2025 06:30 AM IST | Jakarta | PTIGrandmaster R Praggnanandhaa crashed through the defences of fellow Indian Leon Luke Mendonca to jump into sole lead after the fourth round of the Tata Steel Masters chess tournament here. Praggnanandhaa started off with an innocuous Ruy Lopez closed but found his chances in the middle game when Mendonca, clearly being the rookie here, could not handle the pressure of another high-profile game. It was another day when Praggnanandhaa found the fire to score his third win on the trot after 46 moves. All of Praggnanandhaa’s victories have come at the expense of the Indians so far in the tournament, with the GM now looking forward to the clash against world champion D Gukesh. With his third win, the Chennai-based player has stamped his authority ahead of the first rest day. 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
23 January,2025 06:29 AM IST | The Netherlands | PTIIga Swiatek is dominating her Australian Open opponents the way no one has at Melbourne Park since Maria Sharapova in 2013. Swiatek’s latest lopsided win came via a 6-1, 6-2 score in the quarter-finals against No. 8 seed Emma Navarro on Wednesday. The No. 2-seeded Swiatek not only has not dropped a set so far in the tournament, but also has lost a grand total of only 14 games as she seeks her first title at Melbourne Park and sixth Grand Slam trophy overall. Sharapova was the last woman to reach the Australian Open semi-finals having dropped fewer than 15 games. Madison Keys en route her win over Elina Svitolina yesterday “She does everything with 100 per cent conviction and intensity,” Navarro said about Swiatek. “She has a different style of movement and play. It’s tough to not be sort of affected by that and not feel like, OK, I have to do everything at the same speed that she’s doing it.’ So that was something, for sure, I felt a little bit today.” Swiatek will face No. 19 Madison Keys of the USA on Thursday night for a berth in the final. The other women’s semi-final is No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, against her good friend, No. 11 Paula Badosa. Keys, whose best showing at a major was getting to the title match at the 2017 US Open, was a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 winner against Elina Svitolina and is into her third semi-final in Australia. “Iga is tough to beat because she has a lot of spin, kind of naturally, on both sides. She’s a good server. She’s a good returner. She moves incredibly well,” Keys said. “The biggest thing that makes her so difficult to beat is, because she moves so well, if you miss your spot just slightly, she has enough time to recover, and then the point goes back to neutral,” she added. 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
23 January,2025 06:28 AM IST | Melbourne | AP | PTIDefending champion Jannik Sinner put any illness worries to bed by crushing home hope Alex de Minaur in a straight-sets rout to tee up an Australian Open semi-final against Ben Shelton. The Italian World No. 1 showed no signs of the health issues that hampered him in his last match to emphatically fly past the eighth seed 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 on Rod Laver Arena. He will meet stubborn American Shelton for a place in Sunday’s final against either 10-time champion Novak Djokovic or second seed Alexander Zverev. Shelton, seeded 21, battled past another Italian, the unseeded Lorenzo Sonego, 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) to make the Melbourne Park last four for the first time. The writing was on the wall for De Minaur with Sinner winning all nine of their previous meetings. He was given a glimmer of hope after Sinner battled illness in his last-16 clash, where he admitted he was “not there health-wise” and had been “a bit dizzy at times” in hot weather. Ben Shelton celebrates his win over Lorenzo Sonego yesterday But the Italian showed no evidence of any problems on a much cooler quarter-final day. “Yesterday was a very easy day. I played just half an hour, 40 minutes with my coaches,” Sinner said when asked about how he was feeling. “Talking about general physical [condition], you know, I feel like, especially when you are young, you recover very fast,” he added. In front of a patriotic home crowd, he broke for a 3-1 lead after a draining 24-shot baseline rally. The agile Sinner’s big ball-striking proved hard for the Australian to counter and De Minaur struggled to create chances, managing just four winners in the opening set. “Days like this and you break quite early in each set, it’s a little bit easier,” said Sinner. Semi-finalist Shelton ‘shocked’ by ‘disrespectful’ Melbourne TV hosts Australian Open semi-finalist Ben Shelton said on Wednesday he was “shocked” by on-court TV interviews at Melbourne Park, slamming them as “disrespectful.” A leading TV presenter apologised on air to Novak Djokovic for mocking the 24-time Grand Slam winner and Serbian fans. The 37-year-old great had said he would refuse to do on-court interviews until he got an apology. “I don’t think that the guy who mocked Novak, I don’t think that was just a single event,” Shelton told reporters. “I’ve noticed it with different people, not just myself. I noticed it with Learner Tien in one of his matches. I think, when he beat Medvedev, his post-match interview, I thought it was kind of embarrassing and disrespectful. I’ve been a little bit shocked this week with how players have been treated by the broadcasters,” he added. 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
23 January,2025 06:28 AM IST | Melbourne | AFPIndia’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stormed into the second round of the USD 475,000 Indonesia Masters super 500 badminton tournament with a clinical 21-16, 21-15 win over Chinese taipei’s Chen Zhi Ray and Lin Yu Chieh here on Tuesday. Also Read: Crafty Praggu beats Arjun to share lead India’s World No. 19 women’s doubles combination of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa beat Thailand’s Ornnicha Jongsathapornparn and Sukitta Suwachai 21-6, 21-14 in their opening round. 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
22 January,2025 08:08 AM IST | Jakarta | AgenciesIndia Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa scored a finely-crafted victory over compatriot Arjun Erigaisi to share the lead with Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov after the third round of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament here. Also Read: Gauff ‘not crushed’ despite shock loss Both Praggnanandhaa and Abdusattorov have 2.5 points each. It turned out to be an excellent day for the 19-year-old Indian as he handled the Catalan opening to perfection, getting a tiny advantage and squeezing out the defensive resources right from the early middle game stage. 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
22 January,2025 08:05 AM IST | Wijk Aan zee (the Netherlands) | PTICoco Gauff said she was “disappointed but not completely crushed” after her scintillating start to the year came to an abrupt halt in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Tuesday. The World No.3 had her dreams of a maiden Melbourne Park crown dashed in a 7-5, 6-4 defeat to Spain’s 11th seed Paula Badosa on Rod Laver Arena. Gauff’s nine-match winning streak to start 2025 was ended in style by Badosa, who dominated after taking a tight first set. Also Read: Sabalenka keeps Melbourne hat-trick hopes alive The 20-year-old American said she was more mature now after playing in her ninth Grand Slam quarter-final and would not be beating herself up about the loss. “The way I played, even though it wasn’t my best, I gave it my all on the court,” said Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion. “Some matches are going to go my way, some are not. Maybe a couple of years ago I would feel a lot more crushed and feel like the world is ending type sadness,” she said. Gauff said it was a very different feeling to her last Slam defeat, a fourth-round three-setter to Emma Navarro in New York last year. “Today I feel like I’m playing with solutions. I know what I need to work on. Even though I lost today, I feel like I’m in an upward trajectory.” 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
22 January,2025 08:03 AM IST | Melbourne | AFPADVERTISEMENT
