Rafael Nadal said on Wednesday he will only play at the upcoming French Open if he feels "capable enough to compete well". The 14-time Roland Garros champion conceded that if the action in Paris were to kick off today, he would not be able to participate but vowed to keep fighting for the chance to play at his most successful tournament one last time. "I don't know what's going to happen in the next three weeks. I will keep fighting and doing the things I believe I have to do so I can try to play in Paris, and if I can play, I play, if I can't, I can't," the former world number one told reporters at the Madrid Open on Wednesday. "I will not play in Paris if I am the way I am now. If Paris were today, I wouldn't take to the court. That's the reality. I will only play in Paris if I feel capable enough to compete well." Nadal returned to tennis in Brisbane in January after spending almost an entire year on the sidelines nursing a psoas injury. But his comeback was short-lived as he sustained a muscle problem in Australia and has competed in just five matches so far this season. Also Read: Nadal’s comeback ends in second round defeat The Spaniard kicked off his clay campaign in Barcelona last week, where he lost in the second round and is set to face 16-year-old American Darwin Blanch in his Madrid opener on Thursday. "I don't think I'm ready to play at my 100 percent but I'm prepared to go out and play tomorrow. It's important for me to play one last time here in Madrid, for me it means a lot," said the 37-year-old Nadal. As he attempts to resume his 'Last Dance' in Madrid and say goodbye to one of his favourite tournaments on court, rather than on the sidelines, the 22-time major champion admits his farewell tour hasn't been as enjoyable as he would have hoped. "A few weeks ago, I didn't know if I will be able to play again on the professional tour, so today I am playing," he added. "It's not perfect, of course not perfect, but at least I am playing and I can enjoy again, especially in the few tournaments that are so emotional for me. I'm able to enjoy the fact that I can say probably good-bye on court." Nadal says he's hitting the ball well when he is able to be on court but "it's about more body limitations. I went through a lot of things last year and a half, two years". "So body feelings are not enough good to feel myself playing with freedom enough in terms of body issues. That's not allowing me to compete the way that I would like to compete." (With agency inputs)
24 April,2024 07:25 PM IST | Madrid | mid-day online correspondentThe 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic is eyeing a significant achievement, the last big career milestone he has yet to achieve in his already legendary tennis career, an Olympic gold medal. Djokovic was named the 2023 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for his outstanding exploits last year, which included titles at the Australian Open, French Open, and US Open. He also won the Western & Southern Open, the Paris Masters, and the ATP Finals, and finished 2023 as the World No. 1. The Serbian will head into the upcoming Paris 2024 with an aim of adding the gold medal to his illustrious trophy cabinet. "I hope I can play my best tennis at the Olympics," Djokovic told reporters after being awarded the Sportsman of the Year honour for the fifth time at the Laureus Awards as quoted by Olympics.com. World No. 1 stated that he sees the French Open, Wimbledon, the Paris 2024 Olympic and the US Open as "the most important block of tournaments" in 2024, with a special emphasis on his fifth Olympics appearance. "At the end of the day, who knows if I will get another chance to play at the Olympic Games, they only come every four years. I said recently that I really wanted to play at least until the L.A. Olympic Games [in 2028], but you never know, at this stage. What can happen or how far I can go," he added. Also Read: Novak Djokovic withdraws from Madrid Open The 36-year-old won a bronze medal at the Beijing 2008, however, the Serbian was not successful in finishing on the podium in three more Olympic appearances. "I will try to use this chance as best as possible," Djokovic added. He plans to play the Rome Masters before Roland-Garros, which begins on May 25. "If I didn't think [a gold medal] was possible, I probably wouldn't be playing the Olympic Games. You have to believe that everything is possible in life," Djokovic added about his pending fifth Olympic appearance. "The Olympics Games are the oldest and most prestigious sporting event in the history of sport. It's a huge honour to represent Serbia at the Olympic Games. I hope I can be healthy and fit," the World No.1 said. (With agency inputs)
24 April,2024 05:12 PM IST | Madrid | mid-day online correspondentThe Indian men's and women's compound archery teams assured the country of a podium finish by nailing down final berths in the season-opening Hyundai Archery World Cup on Wednesday. The fourth-seeded men's team comprising the experienced Abhishek Verma, newcomer Prathamesh Bhalchandra Fuge and reigning U-21 world champion Priyansh defeated the Philippines and Denmark before displaying ominous form to upset top qualifiers South Korea to book a title showdown against the Netherlands on Saturday. The Indian women, who are the reigning world champions and seeded No.1 here, set up a title clash with Italy, defeating Turkey and Estonia to confirm their status as the leading side in the category. The trio of reigning U-18 and senior champion Aditi Swami, Asian Games gold-medallist Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Parneet Kaur dropped just 10 points through the two matches to confirm their superiority. Also Read: From birth to rebirth, how World No. 2 Deepika is mastering the juggling act of motherhood The Indian men's team created a major upset defeating Korea by just two points at 235-233. Tied at even after two ends, the Indians grabbed a point after the third and finished with a 59 to secure the final spot. "Our coordination was good today and we read the wind well," said Abhishek after the nerve-wracking semifinal contest against the Koreans. The semifinals are always tight matches. We were prepared to shoot well and happy to make it to gold," he added. An elated Priyansh said after the match against Korea that he was thrilled to be competing against the strong opponents, who he had so far seen only on social media. "We played alongside players that we used to watch on YouTube," said Priyansh, who trains with Abhishek in Delhi. "We could have shot even better," he added. The Indian women's team defeated Estonia 235-230 and Aditi attributed the performance to the process the side has been following for long. "We maintained our shooting process and it worked well," said Aditi. "I hope we can repeat the success of the Archery World Cup in Paris last year where both the Indian men and women won the team gold medals." The squad here is without their charismatic Italian coach Sergio Pagni, who is currently in the national camp back home. India's opponents in the final, Italy, overcame Kazakhstan in a semifinal shoot-off after the scores were tied at 227 points. The 10th seeded Dutch men also won a tie-break -- against France -- to book their ticket to the final. Mike Schloesser, Sil Pater and Stef Willems shot three perfect X-ring 10s, compared to their opponents' standard 10s, to survive the match. Kazakhstan's women and the Korean men's team secured bronze medals at the end of the session. (With agency inputs)
24 April,2024 04:38 PM IST | Shanghai | mid-day online correspondentFormula One fans could be treated to the sight of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton roaring around the steamy streets of Bangkok, with Thailand keen to host a race. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin hosted F1 boss Stefano Domenicali on Monday to pitch the government’s vision of bringing a Grand Prix to the sprawling, traffic-clogged Thai capital. No timeframe or detailed plans have been announced, but Thai officials told local media they envisage the race being run on a street circuit, possibly around the city’s historic centre. “Thailand has the capacity to host Formula One in Bangkok,” Srettha posted on X, after meeting Domenicali. 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
24 April,2024 06:40 AM IST | Bangkok | AFPCWG mixed doubles champion Sreeja Akula on Tuesday became the top-ranked Indian woman table tennis player after rising to career-high rank of 38 in latest ITTF Chart, replacing Manika Batra. Sreeja climbed a spot while Manika, who had been India’s No. 1 TT player for a while now, slipped two places to 39 in the latest update. Yashaswini Ghorpade and Archana Kamath held on to their 99th and 100th spot in the rankings. Sharath continues to be the top-ranked male player, occupying the 37 spot in the rankings, while G Sathiyan and Manav Thakar have interchanged places to be 60th and 61st respectively. 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
24 April,2024 06:38 AM IST | New Delhi | PTIThe All India Chess Federation (AICF) is assessing the possibility of hosting the World Chess Championship in India with the 17-year-old chess Grandmaster (GM) D Gukesh qualifying to challenge world champion China’s GM Ding Liren, its chief said on Tuesday, AICF President Nitin Narang also said the federation will provide a handsome financial reward to Gukesh in recognition of his recent success. Gukesh created history on Monday by becoming the youngest player to win the FIDE Candidates tournament in Canada’s Toronto, scoring nine points in 14 rounds, half a point ahead of several other players, and qualifying as the challenger for the world chess title. “We are assessing the situation. There will be more clarity on the subject in a couple of days. Once we understand what is needed to host the event, then we will decide,” said Narang. 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
24 April,2024 06:36 AM IST | Chennai | IANSIt’s “the Indian earthquake in Toronto”, said Russian chess legend Garry Kasparov as he lauded teen Grandmaster D Gukesh for becoming the youngest ever challenger for the world title, a triumph which marks the “shifting tectonic plates” in the game’s global order. Gukesh, 17, bettered the record created by none other than Kasparov 40 years ago. The Russian was 22 when he qualified in 1984 to clash with compatriot Anatoly Karpov, making him the youngest challenger of that time. D Gukesh. Pic/PTI “Congratulations! The Indian earthquake in Toronto is the culmination of the shifting tectonic plates in the chess world as the 17 year old Gukesh D will face the Chinese champion Ding Liren for the highest title,” wrote Kasparov on X, obliquely referring to the Russian domination of the past. Gukesh played out an easy draw with American Hikaru Nakamura in the 14th and final round to finish with nine out of a possible 14 points in the tournament that is held to decide the challenger to the world champion. The triumph entitles Gukesh a clash against reigning world champion Ding Liren of China in the last quarter of the year. India’s five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand has spawned a chess culture in India and the country is reaping the rewards of the Grandmaster’s success with thousands of youngsters taking up chess. Kasparov acknowledged Anand’s contribution to Indian chess, saying, “The ‘children’ of Vishy Anand are on the loose!” 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
24 April,2024 06:34 AM IST | New Delhi | PTIIndia squash star Saurav Ghosal, who announced his retirement from the professional circuit, insists he still has the fire to play for the country a bit longer. And with the workload of playing the pro circuit off his shoulders, he is now keen to devote his time in creating processes and systems to elevate the value of coaching and expertise that are made available to the next generation. “Playing in the PSA [Professional Squash Association] takes around 20-25 weeks a year. That’s a lot of workload, while playing for India is possibly twice or thrice a year at events like the World teams, Asian teams and Commonwealth Games. “My body and mind is still there, having played at the highest level for 21 years, but now I need to figure out how to pace my training in a way to be as sharp as possible to produce results for India. I’ll give my best and still produce results for India,” Kolkata-based Ghosal, 37, told mid-day on Tuesday. Also Read: Saurav Ghosal goes down to World No. 1 Ellias at World Championships Aspirations for the future The multiple-time Asian Games and Commonwealth Games gold medallist, who also bagged gold at the 2022 World Doubles Championships in the mixed doubles category at Glasgow, is also keen to prepare the next generation of Indian squash stars. “I won’t be coaching every day of the year at this moment, but I want to help certain players who are in the high performance category. As far as little kids are concerned, my value additions will be creating processes and systems at the grassroots level which elevates the value of coaching and expertise available to them. I want to devise a program where kids are able to graduate into becoming top players. I want to spend time going to schools, especially in smaller cities. This decision [professional retirement] gives me a bit more time to be able to do all that,” added Ghosal, who has won 10 PSA titles having reached 18 finals and winning 281 of his 511 matches on the pro circuit. Olympics remain a dream An Olympic medal though will be sorely missed by Ghosal as the sport has finally earned a spot at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. “It’s always been a dream to be an Olympian. Only if the Olympics [inclusion] had happened a bit earlier... I could’ve won a medal and that would’ve been the cherry on the cake. But we [squash] did get in finally and are grateful,” added Ghosal, who also holds a record 13 National titles and is the only Indian men’s player to reach the world’s Top 10 ranking, having achieved the career-high in April 2019.
24 April,2024 06:31 AM IST | Mumbai | SUNDARII IYERKhar Gymkhana’s ace swimmers Zara Bakshi (five gold medals and one silver) and Nimesh Muley (four gold medals, one silver and two bronze) excelled on the final day of the 37th Otters Club Open swimming championships, making a clean sweep in their women’s and men’s sections respectively. Zara won five of the six events she participated in and finished second, behind Rujuta Khade, in the 50m freestyle event. The seasoned Muley won the 100m butterfly, 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle and 200m freestyle events. Muley finished second best to Ashwin Jaiswar of MGMO in the 200m individual medley. Meanwhile, MGMO’s Archit Morvekar’s broke two records—100m breast stroke (01:09.03) and 100m freestyle 00:53.18)—in the boys U-21 events while Forest Club’s Naishi Ruhil also excelled for three gold and two silver medals.
24 April,2024 06:27 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentThe national shooting federation, which is fighting a court battle to uphold its selection criteria in the ongoing trials for the Paris Olympics, seems to have bent the rules for one marksman recently, allowing him to participate despite lower-than-requisite scores. Trap marksman Karan missed the National Rifles Association of India's (NRAI) criteria for shotgun selection trials by two points but was allowed to compete, while several others, who shot identical scores during last year's National Championships, were not considered. A letter issued by NRAI in November announcing "Selection Trials as per Shotgun Selection Criteria 2024 & Olympic Selection Criteria 2024 for Shotgun event" states that shooters with a score of 110 in senior men's trap during the 66th National Championship (October-November, 2023) were eligible for the exercise held between December 2023 and March 2024. Karan, an Army marksman, shot 108 in the National Championships but his was the only recommendation accepted by the NRAI, while the same exception was not made for a dozen more shooters, who shot identical scores. Also Read: IPL 2024 | "You have to have a big heart": Sandeep on bowling death overs The shooter competed in a series of four selection trials and is currently ranked 15th, thus failing to make the national squad.NRAI secretary Rajiv Bhatia told PTI that since Karan is a "budding" shooter and his "recommendation had come from the Army", an exception was made for him. "We did give an exception as he is a budding, good shooter. There was a difference of just two points and he has been shooting good scores. That's why we introduced him in the trials for selecting the teams for World Cups, World Championships, everything (including Olympics)," said Bhatia. "We cannot simply go by the rule book (lakeer ke fakeer nahin ban sakte). There was a recommendation from the Army to allow him (for national trials) because he had shot very well at the National Games (in Goa). Karan, representing Services Sports Control Board, was the first to be eliminated in the trap finals at the National Games in Goa, finishing sixth. The NRAI, ironically, is locked in a legal battle with some Olympic aspirants in the Delhi High Court, where it is insisting that no more than top five shooters in rifle and pistol would be allowed in the ongoing trials. The process has come under criticism from no less than former national coach and legendary pistol shooter Jaspal Rana, who has said that the federation is not following international norms. Asked why the trials were not opened for marksmen who shot identical scores at the Nationals, Bhatia said, "I think we allowed him under a special criteria because of his previous scores." Bhatia added that giving an exception in trials didn't mean he was selected in the national squad for international competitions like the World Cups and World Championships. "So, was he selected for the World Cups? 'No', we just gave him an opportunity," he said. "Every state recommends shooters to be included (in trials), and we go by the merit. A marksman can shoot a bad score in a competition. One day you can shoot a bad score." Asked what NRAI would have done had he topped the trials, Bhatia said, "If somebody is performing, then why not (name him in the Olympic squad). How can we not consider him (for Olympics if he had performed)? Aim is to select the best athlete. "But he is not going for any competition. As on today, he is nowhere in the national ranking. I think his ranking is very low (after the trials). But if he had beaten the field, he would have been (in contention)." He added that an exception had also been made for the shooter to promote shotgun shooting as it is not as popular as pistol and rifle. "Shotgun, we have to promote as (the numbers are very less) compared to pistol rifle and other categories... it was a recommendation of the Army Marksmanship Unit, which is an affiliate unit of the NRAI. "It was only one case, we did not open it for everybody. Just one time exception." 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 April,2024 04:48 PM IST | New Delhi | PTIFor most athletes victory is usually the biggest motivator but not for history-making teen Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh, who said he got the “energy” to become the youngest Candidates chess champion thanks to his seventh-round loss to Iran’s Firouzja Alireza. The 17-year-old from Chennai, whose father is an ENT surgeon and mother a microbiologist, drew his 14th and final round game against American Hikaru Nakamura to win the prestigious tournament and become the youngest challenger for the world championship title. Also Read: Swimming: China slams ‘fake’ dope result He will take on China’s Ding Liren in that match later this year. “I was feeling really good from the start but after my seventh round loss against Alireza, I was really upset. It was a painful loss. But the next day I had a rest day and was feeling my absolute best,” Gukesh told PTI videos in a zoom interview from Toronto.“The loss kind of provided me with the energy and motivation. After the loss I really felt that if I continue doing the right thing, and I am in the right mental state then I can really go for the wins,” he added. Gukesh became only the second Indian after five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand to win the Candidates. In the process, he bettered a 40-year-old record by the great Garry Kasparov, who became the youngest to challenge for the world title in 1984 at 22. Reflecting on how the tournament went for him, the world’s third youngest Grandmaster said, “The focus from the beginning of the tournament was to trust the process, to be in the right mindset and play the right chess. I think throughout the tournament, I managed to do that well and consider myself fortunate enough to have the results go my way.” 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 April,2024 07:52 AM IST | New Delhi | PTIADVERTISEMENT
