Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa almost went out of contention for a top place finish after a loss against Anish Giri of the Netherlands in the eighth round of the Candidates chess tournament here on Tuesday. On a day when Uzbek Javokhir Sindarov just decided to consolidate his lead and drew with tailender Andrey Esipenko of Russia, Praggnanandhaa, who had scored his sole victory over Giri in the first round, fell prey to some simple tactics from a seemingly equal position and lost his second game in the tournament. Sindarov took his tally to 6.5 points out of a possible eight and looks like headed for a victory as his lead now stands at a massive two points with six rounds remaining in the USD 700000 prize money tournament that will also select the next challenger for reigning world champion D Gukesh in the world championship match later this year. Sindarov is now followed by Giri and Fabiano Caruana of United States who both are two points behind and need a miracle to catch up with the leader. Praggnanandhaa, Wei Yi of China, Matthias BLuebaum of Germany and Hikaru Nakamura of the USA share the fourth spot on 3.5 points each, a full point clear of last placed Esipenko. It was a hard day at work for Praggnanandhaa who started off with the Vienna variation with the black pieces. After initial opening discussions, Giri enjoyed a small advantage that the Indian was able to neutralize as the game progressed. However, it was on the 35th move that Praggnanandhaa made an error, allowing Giri to unleash a sequence of moves that proved dangerous. Another mistake three moves later and it was curtains for the Indian. In another game, Matthias Bluebaum played out a draw with Wei Yi of China and the result inched them both up to 3.5 points apiece. In the big game of the day, Nakamura finally proved his mettle and scored a huge victory over American compatriot Fabiano Caruana. In the women's section, R Vaishali ensured that she remained within striking distance of the leader and drew with Bibisara Assaubayeva of Kazakhstan. While the other games were still in progress in this section, it seemed like Zhu Jiner was poised to give a knockout blow to Chinese compatriot Zhong Tan, Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine is likely to protect her half point lead on 5 points as she was headed to a draw with Divya Deshmukh while Kateryna Lagno defeated fellow Russian Aleksandra Goryachkina to match Vaishali on 4.5 points. Results round 8: Anish Giri (Ned, 4.5) beat R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 3.5); Hikaru Nakamura (Usa, 3.5) beat Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 4.5); Andrey Esipenko (Rus, 2.5) drew with Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb, 6.5); Wei Yi (Chn, 3.5) drew with Matthias Bluebaum (Ger, 3.5). Women: Anna Muzychuk (Ukr, 4.5) playing Divya Deshmukh (3.5); Kateryna Lagno (Rus, 4.5) beat Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus, 3); Bibisara Assuabayeva (Kaz, 3.5) drew with R Vaishali (Ind, 4.5); Zhongyi Tan (Chn, 2.5) playing Jiner Zhu (Chn, 3). 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 April,2026 01:26 PM IST | Paphos (Cyprus) | PTIUS tennis legend Serena Williams, 44, revealed her motherhood mantra on Instagram, highlighting how important it is for her to be around her kids Olympia (eight) and Adire (two), all the time. Serena posted pictures of a well spent Easter weekend with the little ones and her husband Alexis Ohanian. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) “I don’t share these moments often, but being their mom is my favourite place to be. I’m with them 363 out of 365 days a year — and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. This weekend was everything,” the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion captioned the post.
08 April,2026 10:21 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentFormer boxing heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury has opened up on the intimate details of his relationship with wife Paris, claiming he has sex with her “four to five times a week.” In the second series of Fury’s reality show, At Home with the Fury’s, the 37-year-old revealed: “My love life’s thriving, I’m having sex four or five times a week. Paris is my ride-or-die chick. The woman has been my wife for nearly 20 years.” Fury said he plans to have three more children, rounding up the total number of his offspring to 10. “We might have another child... No. 8. Just to see if I’ve still got it. But I want 10,” said Fury, who is a father to Venezuela (16), Prince (13), Tyson II (eight), Valencia (six), Adonis (five), Athena (four), and Rico (two).
08 April,2026 10:15 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentFormer Indian badminton star Jwala Gutta, 42, relishes peaceful mornings nowadays, saying her perspective on life has changed as she has gotten older. The 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medal-winner Instagrammed a photograph of herself sipping on a cup of coffee in her pyjamas as she stared out of her home window, and captioned the post: “As you get older, your idea of happiness gets quieter. It’s not constant excitement or chasing highs. It’s calm, slow mornings with a nice cup of coffee. You stop craving chaos and start protecting your peace.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jwala Gutta (@jwalagutta1)
08 April,2026 10:10 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentIndia's leading mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto advanced to the second round, but the duo of Rohan Kapoor and Gadde Ruthvika Shivani crashed out of the Badminton Asia Championships 2026, which got underway here on Tuesday. Kapila and Crasto won 21-14, 11-21, 21-15 over Thailand's Phuwanat Horbanluekit and Benyapa Aimsaard. However, Rohan Kapoor and Gadde Ruthvika Shivani went down fighting against Malaysia's eighth seeds Goh Soon Huat and Lai Shevon Jemie 13-21 19-21 in a 34-minute contest at the Ningbo Olympic Centre. The Indian duo of Kapoor and Shivani struggled to find rhythm early on, conceding the first game comfortably, but showed signs of resistance in the second before the experienced Malaysian combination shut the door in straight games. In another match, Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh also failed to cross the opening hurdle, losing 16-21 15-21 to Malaysia's Wong Tien Ci and Lim Chiew Sien in 31 minutes. The Indian pair fought hard but were unable to sustain pressure at crucial junctures against their steady opponents. The focus will shift to singles competition on Wednesday with India's top stars set to begin their campaigns. Lakshya Sen, fresh from a runner-up finish at the All England Championships, will spearhead the men's singles challenge. The country's top-ranked shuttler faces a tricky opening match against Hong Kong's Lee Cheuk Yiu, against whom the Indian has a 2-3 head-to-head record. In the women's singles, double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu returns to action after a disrupted European leg and will open her campaign against Malaysia's Wong Ling Ching. Apart from Sen and Sindhu, India will also have Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy and Ayush Shetty in men's singles, while Tanvi Sharma, Unnati Hooda and Malvika Bansod will feature in the women's draw, with all of them slated to begin their campaigns on Wednesday. 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 April,2026 10:09 AM IST | Ningbo (China) | PTIIndia's Vaishnavi Adkar faltered under the weight of unforced errors, slumping to a shock straight-set defeat against Aunchisa Chanta as the hosts trailed 0-1 against Thailand in their opening Asia/Oceania Group I tie of the Billie Jean King Cup here on Tuesday. Ranked 73 places above her opponent at 383, Vaishnavi went down 1-6, 3-6 in one hour and 13 minutes at the DLTA Centre Court after play was delayed by more than three hours due to persistent drizzle which caused unusually cool conditions. The onus is now on Sahaja Yamlapalli (384), who takes on Patcharin Cheapchandej (449) in the second singles to keep India in the contest. Vaishnavi endured a shaky start, dropping serve in the opening game amid a flurry of errors. She battled through a marathon third game, saving three break points and stretching it across seven deuces, but eventually succumbed to a down-the-line backhand winner as she fell 0-3 behind. Aunchisa, a left-hander with a rare double-handed forehand and a penetrating backhand, dictated play from the baseline to race to a 4-0 lead. Vaishnavi briefly steadied to get on the board in the fifth game, but the momentum firmly remained with the Thai player. Under sustained pressure, Vaishnavi soon faced two set points and surrendered the opener in just 23 minutes, sending a forehand long before pushing a backhand wide. She began the second set on a brighter note with an early break, only to hand the advantage straight back with another loose service game. Errors continued to flow, including a love hold conceded in the fourth game, as double faults mounted and groundstrokes repeatedly sailed long, allowing Aunchisa to get a grip over the mach. The home player raised hopes of a comeback when she managed to break Aunchisa in the seventh game, staying close at 3-4. Aunchisa saved two break points while serving for the match which ended when Vaishnavi netted a backhand. 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 April,2026 10:07 AM IST | New Delhi | PTIReigning world champions Jaismine Lamboria and Meenakshi Hooda progressed to the finals along with two others at the Asian Boxing Championships here on Tuesday, taking India's total finalists to eight. Vishvanath Suresh (50kg) and Sachin Siwach (60kg) also registered impressive semifinal wins, while Akash (75kg), Lokesh (85kg), Narender Berwal (90+kg) and Harsh Choudhary (90kg) signed off with bronze medals. India will thus have eight boxers -- six women and two men fighting in the final. In the women's 48kg semifinal, Meenakshi secured a confident 4-1 win over Thailand's Thipsatcha Yodwaree to book her place in the gold medal bout, where she will face local favourite Nomundari Enkh-Amgalan. Jaismine joined her in the finals after edging past Uzbekistan's Nigina Uktamova 3-2 in a hard-fought 57kg semifinal. The 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist will take on Thailand's Punrawee Ruenros in the title clash. In the men's section, Vishvanath, who had stunned reigning world champion and world No. 1 Sanzhar Tashkenbay of Kazakhstan in the previous round, continued his fine run with a dominant 5-0 victory over Jordan's Huthaifa Eshish to advance to the final. World Cup medallist Sachin (60kg) also impressed, posting a solid 4-1 win over Thailand's Sakda Ruamtham in his semifinal. Akash, however, lost 1-4 to Uzbekistan's Javokhir Abdurakhimov while Lokesh went down 0-5 against Jasurbek Yuldoshev of Uzbekistan. Asian Games bronze medallist Narender suffered a 1-4 defeat to China's Bayikewuzi Danabieke with the bout being stopped in the first round due to a cut. Harsh Choudhary also went down by a similar 1-4 margin to Tajikistan's Parviz Karimov. In other key finals featuring Indian boxers, Preeti (54kg) will go up against Chinese Taipei's Huang Hsiao-wen, while Priya (60kg) faces North Korea's Un Gyong Won. Arundhati Choudhary (70kg) is set to meet Kazakhstan's Bakyt Seidish in her gold medal bout. 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 April,2026 10:03 AM IST | Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) | PTIIndian shooters Palak and Mukesh Nelavalli shattered the world record on way to winning a gold medal in 10m air pistol mixed team competition at the ISSF World Cup for rifle and and pistol here on Tuesday. The Indian duo aggregated 487.7 to clinch the top prize, which is also a junior world record. The pair showcased strong form in the qualification round too, securing a spot in the medal match with a score of 581-17x. China's Qianxun Yao and Kai Hu bagged the silver medal with 484.8, while Hungary's Veronika Major and Akos Karoly Nagy settled for bronze with a combined total of 414.9 in the final. While Palak hit 243.0 in the final, Mukesh scored 244.7. Palak and Mukesh were second in the qualifications, behind the Chinese duo that scored 586-23x. Palak, 18, first gained prominence by winning the 10m air pistol individual gold and team silver medals at the 2023 Asian Games. By setting an Asian Games record of 242.1 points, she also secured a 2024 Paris Olympic quota. Mukesh is another rising star in Indian pistol shooting, and is a junior world champion. 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 April,2026 10:01 AM IST | Granada (Spain) | PTIIndian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa will be desperate for an elusive win in his bid to stay afloat in the Candidates Tournament when he takes on Dutchman Anish Giri in the eighth round here on Tuesday. The 20-year-old from Chennai, who currently occupies the third spot with Giri after logging 3.5 points in seven rounds, just has another seven rounds to turn the tide at the halfway stage. Starting off with a victory over Giri in the opener, Praggnanandhaa has been looking for a second win that is just not forthcoming. It has been a tough ride in which he has drawn five games and lost one against tournament leader Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan, who has enjoyed a fairytale journey since last October when he won the World Cup against a highly competitive field. At the start of the tournament he was, at best, a dark horse according to pundits but he has proved himself way stronger than the rest. He has, so far, clocked the most impressive performance in the history of the tournament by winning five and drawing the remaining two games. With Sindarov on six points, the nearest contender and only one within striking distance is Fabiano Caruana of United States and he too is 1.5 points behind the leader. The eighth round will see Praggnanandhaa take on Giri with white pieces while Sindarov has to fight it out against Esipenko. Wei Yi of China is on the joint fifth spot with Matthias Bluebaum of Germany on three points while Hikaru Nakamura closely follows them half a point behind. Andrey Esipenko of Russia is in the last spot in the USD 700,000 prize money tournament that will decide the challenger to reigning world champion D Gukesh later this year. The women's event being held simultaneously is comparatively open but the surprise package has been Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine who leads on 4.5 points out of her seven games. Muzychuk, who replaced Koneru Humpy after the latter withdrew citing security concerns, was probably least prepared for the event but has thus far given a good account of herself. Praggnanandhaa's sister Vaishali seems to have caught the rhythm and is in second spot on four points, half a point clear of Divya Deshmukh and Russian Kateryna Lagno. The fourth spot is held by Ziner Zhu of China along with Kazakhstan's Bibisara Assaubayeva and Aleksandra Goryachkina of Russia on three points each. They are half a point ahead of former world women's champion Zhongyi Tan of China. Vaishali will have black pieces against Assaubayeva and Divya will also be black against leader Muzychuk. 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
07 April,2026 11:23 AM IST | Paphos (Cyprus) | PTITiger Woods’s ex-wife Elin Nordegren has expressed concern for the golfer after his recent car crash while Driving Under Influence in Florida. Woods, 50, and Nordegren, 46, who share daughter Sam, 18, and son Charlie, 17, were divorced in 2010 after six years of marriage. “The kids are close with Tiger, so of course Elin cares too. She wants him to be well. Both kids are great and love spending time with their dad. Elin’s concerned that he had another car crash and got arrested,” a source close to Nordegren told the PEOPLE magazine. Woods was arrested for driving under the influence on March 27 after his SUV rolled over. “[Elin] just wants him to make the best choices for himself. It’s about his health and being there for the kids,” added the source.
07 April,2026 09:57 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentIndia’s 2020 Olympic bronze medal-winning wrestler Bajrang Punia, 32, has gifted his wife Sangeeta Phogat, 28, who is also a wrestler, a new SUV car.Phogat Instagrammed a series of pictures to her 3.61 lakh followers of the couple standing alongside their new mean machine. “Some gifts are not just things… they are emotions. Thank you Bajrang for making this moment so special for me,” a grateful Phogat captioned her post which garnered over 62,000 ‘likes’ within a few hours. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sangeeta Phogat (@sangeetaphogat57)
07 April,2026 09:55 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentADVERTISEMENT
