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Here are all the key updates from November 30, Thursday:
Bengaluru battle back to earn 3-3 draw against Punjab
Bengaluru FC battled back from two goals down to earn a draw against Punjab FC at home, but the result leaves them still eighth in the table, while Punjab are second from bottom. Simon Grayson will be pleased with his side’s ability to claw their way back, but Staikos Vergetis will rue two errors from goalkeeper Ravi Kumar that robbed them of their first win of the season.
Nikhil Prabhu opened the scoring in the 19th minute as the BFC defence fell asleep from a set-piece, but Punjab’s lead only lasted two minutes as Harsh Patre scored the equaliser after excellent interplay from Sunil Chhetri and Javi Hernandez. Dimitrios Chatziisaias’ header (26′) and Luka Majcen’s stunner (30′) put Punjab firmly in control, but some poor goalkeeping from Ravi Kumar in the Punjab goal saw Curtis Main grab a goal back before the half-time interval. BFC’s half-time changes had the desired effect as they took control of the game in the second half. Their dominance told in the 67th minute as Chhetri sent Javi through on goal in the left channel, with the Spaniard’s shot at the near post going through Kumar’s legs and into the Punjab goal to make it 3-3. The hosts had their chanches to win the game late on, but had to make do with a point.
Syed Modi International – Day 3 update
Priyanshu Rajawat was the only Indian singles player to reach the quarterfinals in men’s singles, while Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand advanced in women’s doubles at the Syed Modi Super 300 badminton tournament in Lucknow.
Priyanshu, who won the Orleans Masters this year, advanced after compatriot Sathish Kumar Karunakaran retired at 18-21 6-11 in the second round match. The world no. 31 Indian will next face Indonesian qualifier Alwi Farhan.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Treesa and Gayatri, seeded fourth, defeated compatriots Dhanyaa Nandakumar and Ridhi Kaur Toor 21-9, 21-5 and are set to face another Indian pair next, Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponappa next.
As many as 10 Indians had participated in the men’s singles draw which has world no. 12 Japanese Kenta Nishimoto and world no. 14 Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei as the top two world-ranked players. While HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen had withdrawn at the last-minute, the rest of the, apart from Priyanshu, failed to cross the second round at home.
Things were gloomier in women’s singles as none of the Indian players could cross the second round, though as many as 11 of them were in action. The draw has Japan’s world no. 17 Aya Ohori as the top ranked player.
Here are the other major Indian results from today:
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Kiran George lost to Chia Hao Lee of Taiwan 16-21 21-18 20-22
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Unnati Hooda lost to Nozomi Okuhara 9-21 13-21
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Ashmita Chaliha lost to Aya Ohori 21-7 21-13
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Janani Ananthakumar lost to Wong Ling Ching 15-21 12-21
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Anupama Upadhyaya lost to Sung Shuo Yun 16-21 17-21
Neeraj Chopra at ISL today – here’s what he had to say
A certain Neeraj Chopra is in the stands watching Bengaluru FC take on Punjab FC, and had some words to say to the crowd at half-time. He was pleased to see the size of the support for football in India, and also took pride in his excellent 2023 season – which saw him overcome injuries to win the Worlds and Asian Games gold medals. On his preparation for Paris 2024, the superstar noted he will start in full earnest soon, saying “I was very happy to spend some time with my family recently, but I will resume training in the first week of December. The focus will completely be towards the Paris Olympics – and I hope that just like I had made India proud in the Tokyo Olympics, I will do the same [in Paris]. Please do support me.”
Defences leaking like a sieve as Bengaluru and Punjab split 5 goals in first half
Punjab are leading away at the Kanteerava by a 3-2 scoreline, but it is anyone’s guess how this game will end. Nikhil Prabhu opened the scoring in the 19th minute as the BFC defence fell asleep from a set-piece, but Punjab’s lead only lasted two minutes as Harsh Patre scored the equaliser after excellent interplay from Sunil Chhetri and Javi Hernandez. Dimitrios Chatziisaias’ header (26′) and Luka Majcen’s stunner (30′) put Punjab firmly in control, but some poor goalkeeping from Ravi Kumar in the Punjab goal saw Curtis Main grab a goal back before the half-time interval.
India outside top 10 in latest FIFA rankings
The Indian men’s team continued to be ranked 102 in the world in the latest FIFA rankings. Igor Stimac’s side also remained 18th in Asia, following an international break where they won one game and lost one.
Read more here
NSFs must have prepared a detailed programme ahead of Olympics: IOA chief Usha
Indian Olympic Association president PT Usha has said that all the national sports federations should have prepared a training-cum-competition roadmap for athletes bound for Paris Games, adding that “proper planning” was vital for their success.
“Proper planning is important to ensure all aspects of the preparation are taken care of during the buildup months to the Olympic Games,” said Usha in a press release on Thursday. “All the NSFs must have prepared a detailed programme for the international exposure-cum-competition plan for next year,” she added.
The IOA will conduct a special seminar for its core group of athletes to educate them on the anti-doping rules in order to avoid doping violations ahead of the Olympics. The seminar will be conducted in coordination with the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) sometime in the coming months.
I-League players approached for match manipulation: AIFF
The All India Football Federation on Thursday revealed that several I-League players were recently approached for “match manipulation” and promised to investigate the matter.
AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey did not elaborate on how they received the information, which players were approached and who contacted them but insisted that the federation is committed to save the integrity of the game.
“We have received information of multiple approaches to our players. We will thoroughly examine the incidents, investigate, and take all necessary action,” Chaubey said in a statement. “We will also continue to strengthen our institutional capacities to not only counter such threats but also educate our players and officials on how to recognise, respond to, and report incidents of this nature,” he added.
The 2023 I League season began in October and more than 40 matches have already been played in the 13-team competition.
Amit Panghal in semis
Amit Panghal, the 2019 World Championships silver medallist (51kg), and 2021 Asian champion Sanjeet (92kg) secured their places in the semifinals with commanding victories in the quarterfinals along with 10 other boxers representing SSCB on day five of the 7th Elite Men’s National Boxing Championships in Shillong.
Amit Panghal, who represents SSCB faced Mohammad Aarif of Jammu and Kashmir in his quarterfinals bout. He dominated the proceedings throughout and ultimately won the bout comfortably in a unanimous decision. He will next face Ankit of RSPB.
Sanjeet took on 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Naman Tanwar of RSPB in the 92kg quarter-final and also won with a unanimous decision. Sanjeet will take on All India Police’s (AIP) Vicky in the semifinals.
The other 10 SSCB boxers who qualified for the semifinals include Barun Singh (48kg), Pawan (54kg), Sachin (57kg), Akash (60kg), Vanshaj (63.5kg), Rajat (67kg), Akash (71kg), Deepak (75kg), Lakshya (80kg), Jugnoo (86kg).
In other significant bouts, Shiva Thapa, representing Assam, beat Shashank Pradhan of Delhi with a commanding 5-0 victory and will square off against Harivansh Tawari of Maharashtra in the semifinals.
2022 Commonwealth Games silver medallist Sagar (92+kg), who represents RSPB, was up against Navjot Singh of Chandigarh and was through in the first round only when the referee stopping the contest. He will fight it out against Vishal Kumar of Delhi next.
What’s in store today?
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Bengaluru FC take on Punjab FC in the ISL and will have the ‘Special One’ in the stands: Neeraj Chopra.
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Day five of the men’s National Boxing Championships.
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Action from the third day of the Syed Modi badminton tournament.
What happened yesterday?
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Kerala Blasters played out an entertaining 3-3 draw with Chennaiyin FC in the ISL.
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Kidambi Srikanth lost in the first round of the Syed Modi badminton tournament.
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Reigning Asian Games gold medallist Sift Kaur Samra and India’s best skeet shooters, Ganemat Sekhon and Anantjeet Singh Naruka, won gold at the National Shooting Championship in New Delhi.
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Amit Panghal and Shiva Thapa moved into the quarterfinals of the men’s National Boxing Championships.
You can check all the details of Wednesday’s news events here.
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