Author: Abhishek Mishra

Day 2 at the French Open 2025 turned out to be disappointing for India’s shuttlers and fans. Defending champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty faced an early exit, losing in straight games. India’s rising singles stars, Ayush Shetty and Anmol Kharb, also went down in the opening round while Unnati Hooda put up a strong performance to reach the pre-quarterfinals. Satwik and Chirag, India’s top men’s doubles pair and ranked No. 3 in the world, lost to Indonesia’s Muhammad Rian Ardianto and Rahmat Hidayat in straight games, losing 18-21, 20-22 in a closely contested Round-of-32 match. This marked a rare…

India’s top men’s singles shuttler, Lakshya Sen suffered yet another first-round exit in a BWF event in 2025. Facing Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen at the French Open, Lakshya lost 7-21, 16-21 in just 43 minutes. He is ranked 16th in the world and Nguyen 29th. For Sen, this has been a season of inconsistency. It was his 11th capitulation on the first hurdle this year. The 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist looked off-colour right from the start at Glaz Arena in Cesson-Sevigne. He failed to read Nguyen’s returns properly and made multiple judgment errors. This helped the player from Ireland build…

Tanvi Sharma did something special in Guwahati at the BWF Junior World Championships 2025, becoming the first Indian in 17 years to win a girl’s singles medal. In the summit clash, the top-seeded Indian shuttler lost to Thailand’s second seed, Anyapat Phichitpreechasak, 7-15, 12-15, and finished as a runner-up. The National Centre of Excellence was full with a passionate crowd cheering for the new star of Indian badminton. In the initial phase of the first game, Tanvi played percentage badminton but made multiple judgment errors. She committed unforced errors while attempting crosscourt smashes from the baseline and ended up hitting…

The world of international sports is once again grappling with the knock-on effects of geopolitics. The Indonesian authorities have refused to grant visas to the Israeli gymnasts for the upcoming 53rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, which is scheduled to be held from 19 to 25 October in Jakarta. The denial bars the six Israeli gymnasts, which includes Double Olympics medalist and Defending Champion Artem Dolgopyat from participating. “The government will not grant visas to Israeli gymnasts who intend to attend the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Jakarta,” said senior Indonesian law minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra. The reason cited was…

Day 3 of Denmark Open 2025 at the Jyske Bank Arena in Odense saw the Indians dominate the courts. They eased past their opponents and stormed into the quarterfinals. In men’s singles, Lakshya Sen caused a major upset by smashing past world No. 2 and local favourite Anders Antonsen 21-13, 21-14. Sen, who has been in the top 10 in the past, is ranked 21st at the moment. The destructive men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also finished their match in straight games. They beat Chinese Taipei’s Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po Hsuan 21-19, 21-17 in 41…

Para-athlete Simran Sharma’s guide runner Umar Saifi has tested positive for the banned steroid Drostanolone. He has been provisionally suspended, according to a list of athletes who failed the tests, released by National Anti Doping Agency ( NADA ) on October 9. Simran recently clinched two medals at the World Para Athletics Championship in New Delhi, which concluded on October 5. She won gold with a personal best of 11.95 in T12 women’s 100m and silver in T12 women’s 200m clocking a stunning 24.46s with her guide Saifi. After his failed test, Simran is staring at the prospect of being…

New Delhi, October 7: When Markus Rehm prepares for the jump, the question has never been who will win it, but rather about how long the jumps will be. Sometimes, even gravity seems optional when he takes off. The legendary German jumper lit up the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi when he stepped on the runway and soared to a gold medal in the men’s long jump T64 (athletes with a leg amputation, who compete with prosthetics) at the World Para Athletics Championships with an impressive leap of 8.43m. In the process, he also set a new Championship Record…

Abhishek Mishra in New Delhi On Friday, at the World Para Athletics Championship in New Delhi, where India clinched 4 medals, an unprecedented incident made the headlines. At around 9 AM, stray dogs entered the JLN Stadium Complex’s warm-up area and bit Kenyan sprint coach Dennis Mwanzo and Japan’s coach Meiko Okumatsu, while they were supervising their athletes’ training. Both coaches were immediately taken to the Medical Room, and they received on-spot first-aid treatment. And then they were transferred to Safdarjung Hospital for further treatment. “We have been here in New Delhi for the Para Athletics Competition. In the morning,…

On Monday in the humid conditions of New Delhi, egged on by an enthusiastic crowd, the 26-year-old Rinku Hooda from Haryana lit up the JLN Stadium staging the World Para Athletics Championships. With an impressive hurl of 66.37m, he won the gold medal in men’s javelin F46 category and claimed his first Worlds title by breaking the championship record, held by Guo Chunliang of China for 10 years. Rinku edged compatriot Sundar Singh Gurjar, the world record holder in the F46 category. Sundar claimed silver with a season’s best effort of 64.76m, achieved in his fifth attempt. Cuban Guillermo Varona…

The spirited campaign of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty wasn’t good enough to get over the line, as they went down against world number one South Korean pair Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae at the China Masters S750 final, losing the match 19-21, 15-21. Kim and Seo are also the newly-crowned world champions. At the start of the opening game, Chirag made a few mistakes which gave Kim-Seo a 3-0 lead but moments after, Satwik-Chirag levelled the scoreline with powerful smashes. A few points were exchanged after that till 7-7. Then the game saw the Indians winning 7…