Delhi pacer Divij Mehra, who claimed 5-30 when they defeated Mumbai at home last time in the 2022-23 season, came up trumps again, taking 5-64 to bowl out the 42-time champs for 317 in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group ‘D’ encounter on Saturday. Thereafter, Delhi captain Ayush Doseja (62 not out, 6x4) and Vaibhav Kandpal (61, 7x4) helped the visitors post 206-4 in their second innings, taking a 110-run lead at stumps on Day Three at the MCA-BKC ground. Mehra, 23, who was struggling with an injury — spur in the heel of his landing foot — and playing only his second match of the season, revealed that Test pacer Ishant Sharma inspired his comeback. “I was injured after that fifer against Mumbai [in 2022-23], so it felt very good to have contributed [again]. I spent a lot of time with Ishant bhaiya in the Vijay Hazare Trophy [in December and January]. He has helped in setting my routine and the areas I have to work on before the next season. He has told me about the kind of training I have to do and what my schedule will be like as a fast bowler,” Mehra told reporters after the day’s play on Saturday. “Ishant bhaiya spoke sternly to me after one match, saying, ‘dekh bhai itne se nahi chalega [this isn’t enough].’ He made me realise the things I was not able to do by myself,” Mehra added. Delhi’s pair of Doseja-Kandpal did well to stitch a 106-run fourth-wicket stand as the visitors fought back. Earlier, when Mumbai resumed their first innings on the overnight score of 266-5, they added 51 to finish at 317 all out. Friday’s cebturion Siddhesh Lad (103) managed to add just one run before he was clean bowled by pacer Money Grewal (3-74).
01 February,2026 09:06 AM IST | Mumbai | Subodh MayureThe Villoo C Poonawalla Indian Derby (Gr 1) will run as the feature event of Sunday’s nine-race card at Mahalaxmi. There are 11 runners in the fray, but if the race is run true to recent form, it should be a straight fight between Fynbos and Baychimo, with Sovereign King having an outside chance. Fynbos (Kingda Ka-Mahali) is a filly trained by Pesi Shroff, who already has three Indian Derby successes to his name, and Baychimo (French Navy-Lady Sergeant) is a colt trained by Adhirajsingh Jodha, who will be looking for his first Indian Derby victory. The pace of the race will hold the key. Fynbos, going by her Oaks win, may not settle too well if the Derby’s initial pace is too hot; but Baychimo (who shattered the course record in his last win), on the other hand, will simply relish that scenario. On the Dynamic class factor, however, Fynboss rates decisively superior to Baychimo based on their last runs on the same day, and therefore, though I think Baychimo will be tremendously helped by champion Suraj Narredu’s brilliant current form as compared to Tom Marquand, the visiting jockey who will ride Fynbos, I have no hesitation in casting my vote in favour of Fynbos. First race at 2.15 pm. Selections: Tattersalls Million (Class IV; 1400m)Don Julio 1, Vincero 2, Savage Peacock 3. Keki D Mehta Memorial Million (For 3y, Maidens; 1600m)Puccini 1, Alexios 2, Notimeforcaution 3. Rusi Patel Trophy - Gr 3 (For 4y&o; 1600m) Santissimo 1, African Gold 2, Pride's Prince 3. Sir Homi Mehta Million (For 3y, Maidens; 1200m)Lady Scarlet 1, Highland Spirit 2, Snow Girl 3. Thackers Eclipse Stakes of India - Gr 2 (For 4y&o; 2000m)Golden Thunder 1, Psychic Star 2, Regina Memorabilis 3. Rattonsey Multi-Million (For 3y; 1400m) Buckingham 1, D'Artagnan 2, Nebula 3. Coromandel Gromor Million [powered by Coromandel International Ltd] (Class II; 1200m)Western Star 1, Social Butterfly 2, Big Bay 3. Queen's Necklace Million (Class V; 1200m)Ministry Of Time 1, Santana Row 2, Desert Classic 3. RecommendationsBest bet: Puccini ((2-3)Upsets: Majesticus (1-9), Thalassa (5-9) & Red Mist (9-8) Today's pools Super jackpot pool: 4,5,6,7,8,9Jackpot pool: I - 2,3,4,5,6; II - 5,6,7,8,9Treble pool: I - 3,4,5; II - 6,7,8; III - 7,8,9Tanala pool: All races.
01 February,2026 08:56 AM IST | Mumbai | Prakash GosaviWhile still out of action, serving a ban for breaching anti-doping rules, Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk is busy trying to woo US TV star Jordyn Jones. The Ukrainian has been contacting Jones on social media since last September, when he first made a cheeky comment on one of her posts, asking his fans: “Should I try [dating her]?” According to British tabloid The Sun, Mudryk allegedly did land a date with Jones to Disneyland Paris soon after. Now, four months on, the pair continue to make flirtatious advances towards each other. On Jones’s recent Instagram post, Mudryk commented: “Flowers suit you,” to which she replied: “Why thank you darling.” 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
01 February,2026 08:53 AM IST | Disneyland | AgenciesHistory is on the line in the Australian Open men’s final on Sunday with tennis gladiators Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz each vowing no surrender. Separated by 16 years, the pair stand at opposite ends of their careers and are pursuing significant but different milestones. The 38-year-old Djokovic is striving to win a record-extending 11th Melbourne crown and with it a 25th major title to finally surpass Margaret Court’s long-standing landmark. Should he do so, he will also become the oldest man to lift the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup at the Australian Open. The 22-year-old Alcaraz is bidding to become the youngest man to complete a career sweep of all four majors. Fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal did it at 24. “For me, I think also obviously for Carlos because of his age and everything that he was able to achieve so far, history is on the line for both of us every time we play,” said Serbia’s Djokovic. Both men conjured Houdini-like escapes in gripping five-set semi-finals. Djokovic survived two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner after 4hrs 9mins for his first win in six encounters against the World No. 2. Alcaraz spent even more time on court to tame Alexander Zverev in a titanic 5hrs 27mins, the longest semi-final in tournament history with both matches instant classics. 5-4Novak Djokovic’s win-loss record against Carlos Alcaraz 38No of Grand Slam singles finals entered by Novak Djokovic; he has won 24 SixNo of Grand Slam singles titles won by Alcaraz; he is yet to win the Oz Open 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
01 February,2026 08:47 AM IST | Melbourne | AFPElena Rybakina stifled her emotions to take revenge over World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and win the Australian Open on Saturday for her second Grand Slam title. The big-serving Kazakh fifth seed fought back from 0-3 in the deciding set to triumph 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena here in 2hrs 18mins. It was payback after the Belarusian Sabalenka won the 2023 final between two of the hardest hitters in women’s tennis. Rybakina, 26, who was born in Moscow, adds the Melbourne crown to her Wimbledon win in 2022. Rybakina has a reputation for being unflappable, but she said she was nervous about losing the second set, even though she did not show it, and again as she served for the match. She sealed the championship with her sixth ace of the final. “Well, the heart definitely was beating too fast, even if maybe my face did not show it,” she told local broadcasters. “Inside was a lot of emotions.” A disappointed Aryna Sabalenka drops her racquet during her defeat to Elena Rybakina It was more disappointment in a major final for Sabalenka, who won the US Open last year for the second time, but lost the French Open and Melbourne title deciders. She was into her fourth Australian Open final in a row and had been imperious until now. The 27-year-old top seed had tears in her eyes at the end and draped a towel over her head to hide her feelings. “Let’s hope maybe next year will be a better year for me,” Sabalenka said ruefully. “She played an incredible match and I tried my very best. I was fighting until the very last point,” she added. Mertens-Zhang, Harrison-Skupski win doubles titles Belgium’s Elise Mertens marked her return to the No. 1 ranking in women’s doubles by combining with China’s Zhang Shuai to win the Australian Open title on Saturday at Melbourne Park. They beat Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan and Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic 7-6 (4), 6-4. Meanwhile, American Christian Harrison and Britain’s Neal Skupski won the men’s doubles trophy. Harrison served an ace on match point for a 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over the Australian pair of Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans. Numbers game Sabalenka Rybakina5 Aces 62 Double faults 362 1st serves in (%) 5575 1st serve pts won (%) 7648 2nd serve pts won (%) 4825 Break pts won (%) 5034 Receiving pts won (%) 3335 Winners 2826 Unforced errors 2592 Total points won 92 One Elena Rybakina becomes the first-ever player from Kazakhstan to win the Australian Open singles title Five Consecutive number of games won by Elena Rybakina in the final set after trailing 0–3 SixRybakina becomes the sixth woman in the Open Era to win her first two Grand Slam titles on different surfaces (grass at Wimbledon and hard court in Melbourne) OneRybakina becomes the first woman in seven years (since Naomi Osaka in 2019) to defeat three top-10 players en route to her Oz Open title (No. 1 Sabalenka, No. 2 Swiatek, and No. 6 Pegula) TwoConsecutive Australian Open finals lost by Aryna Sabalenka 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
01 February,2026 08:43 AM IST | Melbourne | AFPAfter being left out of the 33 core probables squad for the upcoming FIH Men’s Pro League over disciplinary issues, it is learnt that senior midfielder Manpreet Singh, forward Dilpreet Singh and goalkeeper Krishan Pathak could face further action from Hockey India (HI). A day after it was reported that the trio were not picked among the probables on disciplinary grounds, a Hockey India official confirmed to mid-day that the sport’s national governing body will be further probing the matter. “Yes, there was some disciplinary issue on the South Africa tour [India played two Tests and a friendly between December 7 and 10 in South Africa] and that’s the reason the three players have been left out of the Indian team,” the HI official told mid-day on Friday. It is learnt that forward Sukhjit Singh had been supplied some drug-laced eatables by Manpreet, Dilpreet and Pathak during the South Africa tour, and after consuming it, he became nauseous and behaved abnormally. “All three, being senior players, must realise that they cannot do such things and that too in a foreign country. For now, the team’s focus is the FIH Pro League, but we [HI] will be investigating this matter further and initiate disciplinary action after thoroughly going through the details of all that happened in South Africa,” added the HI official. Interestingly, with Manpreet on 411 international caps and current HI president Dilip Tirkey holding the record for most international caps (412), there were suggestions that the HI chief was deliberately keeping Manpreet out of the team since he wanted to safeguard his record. However, that’s definitely not the case, clarified the HI official: “Dilip Tirkey has been a reputed India player and captain, and will only be proud if another player breaks his record. There’s no way Dilip will even think of dropping Manpreet for this.” Meanwhile, Manpreet, on Friday, released a statement, saying that he “had been meaning to request for a break” which is why the coach spoke to him and has allowed “this much-needed rest.”
31 January,2026 08:51 AM IST | Mumbai | Ashwin FerroFresh from his victory over Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus of Turkey, world champion D Gukesh will start the final laps of the Tata Steel Masters with a match against compatriot Aravindh Chithambaram in the 11th round here. With just three rounds to come in the first super tournament of the year, Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan is firmly in front with 6.5 points in his bag and has teammate Javokhir Sindarov, Matthias Bluebaum of Germany and local star Jorden van Foreest following him a half point adrift. 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
31 January,2026 08:51 AM IST | Wijk Aan Zee (The Netherlands) | PTIIndia’s Devika Sihag pulled off a big upset at the Thailand Masters Super 300 badminton tournament, stunning home favourite and top seed Supanida Katethong in straight games to reach the women’s singles semi-finals here on Friday. The 20-year-old unseeded Indian, who claimed her maiden BWF International Challenge title at the Malaysia International last year, kept her composure to seal a 21-19, 21-18 victory in the quarter-finals that lasted just 40 minutes. 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
31 January,2026 08:51 AM IST | Bangkok | PTIThe Dr SC Jain Sprinters' Championship (Gr 2), slated as feature event of the Saturday card at Mahalaxmi, has nine top class sprinters in the fray. The Adhirajsingh-trained Time And Tide, who was blocked for a clear run in his last start on Sep 7 last year at Pune, proved his class beyond doubt when even his cruising speed, after he got an opening, proved far superior to the flat-out effort of his rivals, some of which he will face again on Saturday. The only horse, who chalked out a parallel career as a sprinter of repute, by winning all four of his races since last February (though getting disqualified due to a drug positive in last start) is the Nazzak Chenoy-trained Shambala (P Trevor up), and may try to extend Time And Tide (Suraj Narredu up). Miss American Pie and Jade, who have resumed winning ways can add pep to the finish. My choice is Time And Tide. First race at 2.30 pm.Selections: Forest Flair Trophy (For 5y&o, Class V; 1000m)Ekla Cholo 1, Sussing 2, Arbitrage 3. Enigma Trophy (Class III; 1600m)Zafferano 1, Matisse 2, Tyrannus 3. Dancing Prances Trophy (For 3y, Maidens; 1000m)Spectra 1, Gunfire 2, Ghost Of Victory 3. Oyster Cove Trophy (Class IV; 2400m)Ekatarina 1, Harrison 2, Little John 3. Dr SC Jain Sprinters' Championship - Gr 2 (For 4y&o; 1200m)Time And Tide 1, Shambala 2, Miss American Pie 3. Weizhou Trophy (Class V; 1600m)Azalea 1, Algonquin 2, Magical Moments 3. Captain Courage Trophy (Class IV; 1200m)Mulan 1, Skandha 2, Heavenly Rhythm 3. RecommendationsBest bet: NoneUpsets: Ananya (1-10), Lucky Diamond (3-2), Diego Garcia (4-4) & American Eagle (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.
31 January,2026 08:50 AM IST | Mumbai | Prakash GosaviNovak Djokovic has ensured it will not be ‘Sincaraz’ but ‘Djokaraz’ in the Australian Open final after being “pushed to the very limit” in stunning Jannik Sinner in a five-set marathon to move to the brink of history. The Serb, 38, rolled back the years to beat two-time reigning champ Sinner 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in four hours and nine minutes of nail-biting action. Djokovic kneeled on the court and was lost for words. “It feels surreal, to be honest,” said Djokovic, who had lost the five previous matches to Italian Sinner, 24. He added: “The level of intensity and quality of tennis, was extremely high, and I knew that was the only way to have a chance to win tonight against him. Jokes aside, I told him at the net, thanks for allowing me at least one [win] in the last couple of years. I have tremendous respect for him. He pushes you to the very limit; he did tonight to me.” With age and injuries catching up with Djokovic, Sunday may represent the Serb’s best chance of seizing that elusive 25th major, although his gritty display against Sinner shows he still has plenty left in the tank to beat Carlos Alcaraz. 38Novak Djokovic’s age — making him the oldest man in the Open era to reach a title match at the Rod Laver Arena 2024The last time Novak Djokovic appeared in a Grand Slam final — at Wimbledon against Carlos Alcaraz 0No. of losses for Novak Djokovic in the Aus Open final across 10 appearances 104No. of wins for Novak Djokovic at the Aus Open — the most by any player 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
31 January,2026 08:24 AM IST | Melbourne | AFPAn ailing Carlos Alcaraz said “believing” helped him pull through one of the most demanding matches of his career to down Alexander Zverev in five epic sets and reach his first Australian Open final on Friday. The World No. 1 outlasted the German third seed 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (3/7), 6-7 (4/7), 7-5 over a titanic 5hrs 27 mins in hot conditions. The Spaniard only narrowly avoided crashing out after a huge fright at 4-4 in the third set when he pulled up in pain with what appeared to be cramp. He was allowed to have treatment at the changeover, leaving Zverev furious and angrily remonstrating with officials. Medical timeouts are not permitted solely for muscle cramping. Despite not being at 100 per cent, the 22-year-old clawed back from a break down in the fifth set as the crowd roared him on. “Believing all the time,” Alcaraz, into his eighth major final and fourth in a row, said of how he pulled through. “It was one of the most demanding matches I’ve ever played in my short career,” he added. Zverev said Alcaraz shouldn’t have been allowed a timeout for cramps: “He was cramping. You can’t take medical timeout for cramping.” 5 hr 27minThe match between Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev is the longest semi-final in Australian Open history, surpassing the previous record of 5hr 14min, set by Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco in 2009 22 years 258 daysCarlos Alcaraz is now the youngest man in the Open Era to reach the finals of all four Grand Slams, beating American Jim Courier’s mark by exactly 50 days 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
31 January,2026 08:23 AM IST | Melbourne | AFPADVERTISEMENT
