There is excitement and anticipation in the air ahead of Saturday's Villoo C Poonawalla Indian Oaks (Grade 1), where champion filly Fynbos aims to redeem her reputation after a Guineas debacle that left tongues wagging. Trained by Pesi Shroff, Fynbos was the darling of the turf until she faltered in the Indian 1000 Guineas, losing to trainer MK Jadhav's Kavya, ridden by David Allan. The defeat came laced with drama, prompting inquiry, and jockey Trevor Patel copped a fine and suspension for his ride. Now, in a twist juicier than a soap opera, Trevor swaps saddles to partner Shroff's other contender, Namiri, sporting the same Dhunjibhoy silks as Fynbos, fulfilling his retainer duties, while Vivek G, Shroff's other preferred rider, has been asked to ride Fynbos. Will the filly forgive the jockey merry-go-round and gallop to glory as the likely hot favourite in the Oaks? That's the question on everyone's mind which will be answered on Saturday afternoon. Interestingly, of the eight four-year-old fillies in the Oaks line up, four hail from Pesi Shroff's yard: Fynbos, Namiri, Kings Gambit and Azalea. Of the remaining four, Ravishing Beauty, trained by Prasanna Kumar who missed the Indian 1000 Guineas on account of precautionary Glanders rules, is worth a serious look as she has kept herself fit by participating in two mock races, and must be looking to crash the party now that she has set her foot in the door. To add to the complexity of the Oaks, jockey David Allan, who had a hand in Fynbos' 1000 Guineas defeat when he gave a perfect ride to Kavya, will be riding MK Jadhav's Dreamer; and Sandesh will steer Golden Dancer, trained by Dallas Todywalla. The Villoo C Poonawalla Indian Oaks on Saturday at Mahalaxmi racecourse surely promises more drama than a Bollywood climax!
09 January,2026 09:16 AM IST | Mumbai | Prakash GosaviOlympic champion Zheng Qinwen announced on Thursday that she was withdrawing from the Australian Open later this month due to a lack of physical conditioning. “After careful evaluation by my team and following medical advice, I will be withdrawing from the Australian Open,” Zheng wrote on Instagram.” Picture Courtesy/Zheng Qinwen's Instagram account She underwent elbow surgery after a first-round loss at Wimbledon in July, and later withdrew from the third round of the China Open in September, admitting she had rushed her return. 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
09 January,2026 09:14 AM IST | Paris | AFPStar shuttler PV Sindhu produced an impressive performance, defeating Japan’s Tomoka Miyazaki to book her spot in the women’s singles quarter-finals at the Malaysia Open Super 1000 badminton tournament here on Thursday. Sindhu, returning after a long injury lay-off, defeated Miyazaki 21-8, 21-13. Reflecting on her win, Sindhu said, “Today I was prepared for long rallies and her shots as well. Overall, it was important for me to be alert all the time and give my 100 per cent because it’s my first tournament of the season.” Sindhu had not participated in any tournament since October due to a foot injury, and opted to give herself a longer period of time to recover. Meanwhile, the Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also advanced to the last-eight by downing Malaysia’s Junaidi Arif and Roy King Yap 21-18, 21-12. 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
09 January,2026 08:31 AM IST | Kuala Lumpur | PTIIn the All India Inter-University Baseball Tournament, Mumbai University's team has managed to claim a bronze medal. The tournament was organised at the Savitribai Phule Pune University from January 2 to 6. A total of 64 students across the country participated in the event. The Mumbai University team performed well and managed to clinch a medal after many years in the baseball event. The side registered victories by 10-0 against LMCT Bhopal, 10-0 against Jalgaon, 4-1 against Amravati University, and 5-1 against Nanded. In the qualifying matches, the Mumbaikars delivered a top performance and secured a 2-0 victory to seal the berth in the final four stage. They clinched a bronze medal by handing a defeat by 3-2 to Delhi University. Coach Nandan Parab played a crucial role in the team's success in the All India Inter-University Baseball Championship. Mumbai University players also showcased immense determination and skills throughout the tournament. The team consisted of the likes of Chaitanya Bhamale, Tushar Lalwani, Chirag Sonawane, Ajay Khedkar, Shantanu Surve, Gaurav Lalwani, Ashish Pandey, Surya Kaunder, Vaibhav Khatikmare, Anish More, Asrar Sheikh, Mehul Tate, Mihir Khuman, Prathamesh Shinde, Ritik Yadav and Vedant Naik. Satish Rajguru was the team manager. Following the success in the tournament, Mumbai University's Vice Chancellor Prof. Ravindra Kulkarni, Pro-Vice Chancellor Principal Dr Ajay Bhamre, Registrar Dr Prasad Karande and Director of Sports and Physical Education Dr Manoj Reddy congratulated the players and extended their good wishes.
08 January,2026 03:01 PM IST | Mumbai | Aditi AlurkarA prominent member of India's shooting coaching staff, Ankush Bhardwaj, has been accused of sexual harassment by a minor shooter, prompting the national federation to suspend him. NRAI (National Rifles Association of India) confirmed that an FIR has been filed against Bhardwaj in Faridabad. "NRAI has suspended him and we will issue a show-cause notice," NRAI secretary Rajiv Bhatia told PTI. "He has been suspended on moral grounds. Now, he has to prove himself innocent. Till the inquiry is not completed, he will not be associated with any coaching activity," he added. Bhatia said NRAI had recommended Bhardwaj for a place in the 37-strong coaching team after the Paris Olympics in 2024. "It was on the recommendation of the NRAI that he was appointed by SAI as one of the coaches. It is a case of sexual harassment which happened in Surajkund," said Bhatia. Bhatia did not say when the incident took place but according to the FIR filed by the victim, she was targetted last month after a training session at the Karni Singh Range. The girl, who has been training with Bhardwaj since August last year, stated that she was left traumatised by the incident and spoke up in front of her mother on January 1 after being persistently probed. Bhardwaj, a former pistol shooter, had served a doping ban in 2010 for the use of a beta-blocker during his competitive 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.
08 January,2026 02:56 PM IST | New Delhi | PTINational record-holder and Asian Games gold-winning Indian middle-distance runner Jinson Johnson announced his retirement on Wednesday, after a 15-year career shaped by “relentless training, quiet struggles, and painful injuries”. View this post on Instagram A post shared by jinson Johnson (@jinson__johnson) The 34-year-old has not competed since winning a 1500m bronze in the Hangzhou Asian Games in October 2023. His best moment was winning the 1500m gold in the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games with a time of 3 minutes 44.72 seconds. He also won a silver in the 800m race in the same tournament. “From a boy with dream started the journey from Kolkata and reached up to Asian Games podium in Hangzhou 2023. Thank you Athletics,” Johnson wrote on his Instagram. During the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia, Johnson broke Bahadur Prasad’s 23-year-old 1500m national record (3 mins 37.86 secs). He improved on it in 2019 (3 min 35.24 secs). 3 mins 35.24 secs The 1500m national record time set by Jinson Johnson during the ISTAF Berlin meet in 2019 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
08 January,2026 08:58 AM IST | New Delhi | PTIIndian shuttlers have been handed a tricky draw at the India Open Super 750 tournament here later this month, with former world champion PV Sindhu set to face Vietnam’s Thuy Linh Nguyen, against whom she had lost twice recently, in the women’s singles first round. Lakshya Sen, the 2022 champion, will open his campaign against compatriot Ayush Shetty. The tournament will be played from January 13 to 18 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. 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
08 January,2026 08:52 AM IST | New Delhi | PTIIndian top seed Anahat Singh finished as the runner-up in the women’s U-19 category at the British Junior Open after she succumbed to French second seed Lauren Baltayan here on Tuesday. Anahat lost 9-11, 11-7, 3-11, 9-11. This was her ninth time featuring at the tournament across various age groups. The Delhi-based player had a breakout year in 2025, reaching her highest world ranking of 28 in just her second season on the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Tour. She also defeating two top-20 players during the season. 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
08 January,2026 08:50 AM IST | Birmingham | IANSMick Schumacher, son of F1 legend Michael, may not be in the best position professionally, having failed to secure a Formula One seat for the upcoming season, but his personal life seems to be on the right track with reports suggesting that he is dating Portuguese model Clara Ramos. German newspaper Bild recently published photographs of the former Haas driver with his arms around Ramos at a golf course in Camp de Mar on the Spanish island of Majorca — Schumacher also owns a villa there — with a report suggesting the pair are dating. Ramos, who has 1.13 lakh followers on Instagram, is also a PHD student at the University of Barcelona. Interestingly, it was reported last year that Schumacher’s ex-girlfriend Laila Hasanovic also found new love in tennis superstar Jannik Sinner.
08 January,2026 08:48 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentReturning from a prolonged injury lay-off, PV Sindhu began the new season on a winning note along with the formidable men’s doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy as they entered the second round of the Malaysia Open Super 1000 badminton tournament here on Wednesday. The 30-year-old former world champion, who had opted to withdraw from all BWF World Tour events in October last year to recover from a foot injury, defeated Chinese Taipei’s Sung Shuo Yun 21-14, 22-20. The 18th-ranked Sindhu will face Japanese World No. 9 Tomoka Miyazaki in the Round-of-16. Later, the duo of Satwik and Chirag saw off Chinese Taipei’s Yang Po-Hsuan and Lee Jhe-Hue 21-13, 21-15. 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
08 January,2026 08:45 AM IST | Kuala Lumpur | PTIThe New Year appears to have heralded new love for National Football League (NFL) superstar Tom Brady. The seven-time Superbowl champion was seen enjoying his time at a yacht party in the Caribbean waters near Saint Barthelemy with social media influencer Alix Earle on New Year’s Day, leading to speculation that the two are dating. American magazine Cosmopolitan stated that the two were seen engaging in public displays of affection during the party. Brady, 48, was previously married to model Gisele Bundchen (2009-2022), and have two children together: Benjamin Rein Brady (16), and Vivian Lake Brady (13). The former quarter-back also has a son — Edward Thomas Moynahan (18) — with Hollywood actress Bridget Moynahan. The pair dated each other from 2004 to 2006. Meanwhile, Earle, 24, was in a relationship with NFL player Braxton Berrios, but they recently broke up after two years of dating. She had previously dated baseball player Tyler Wade for three months in 2022.
07 January,2026 08:56 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentADVERTISEMENT
