‘D Gukesh has not been that good at any Grand Slam': Freestyle Chess CEO brutally claims Las Vegas absence ‘expected'
Avinash Sable, India's top 3000m steeplechaser, aims to improve his personal best ahead of the World Championship in September after recovering from a year-long calf injury. Currently training in Ooty and Bengaluru, Sable has already achieved an 8:20.92 at the Asian Championships. He plans to compete in multiple Diamond League events leading up to the championship, targeting a sub-eight-minute finish.
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News18
8 hours ago
- News18
Neeraj Chopra Classic: Kishore Jena Out Due To Ankle Injury; Replacement Named
Last Updated: Kishore Jena, Asian Games silver medallist, is out of the Neeraj Chopra Classic 2025 due to an ankle injury. Yash Vir Singh replaces him. India's highly anticipated Neeraj Chopra Classic 2025 will miss one of its star attractions, as Asian Games silver medallist Kishore Jena has been ruled out due to an ankle injury. This setback, confirmed just days before the event, has led the organisers to replace Jena with Yash Vir Singh in the elite javelin lineup for the competition scheduled for July 5. Jena, who achieved a personal best of 87.54m to secure silver behind Neeraj Chopra at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, was expected to be a strong contender against the world's best at this landmark event. His absence is a disappointment not only for Indian fans but also for a meet designed to showcase the finest javelin talent on Indian soil. Yash Vir Singh, ranked 41st in the world, steps in with his own credentials, having recorded a personal best of 82.57m at the 2025 Asian Championships in Gumi, Korea. He joins compatriots Neeraj Chopra, Sachin Yadav, Rohit Yadav, and Sahil Silwal in the Indian contingent. What Is Neeraj Chopra Classic? The Neeraj Chopra Classic 2025, India's first international javelin competition, is a collaboration between Neeraj himself, JSW Sports, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), and World Athletics (WA). The event promises to be the highest-tier international athletics meet ever staged in India. Leading the star-studded field will be Neeraj Chopra, the Olympic champion and reigning world titleholder. Joining him are global heavyweights such as Anderson Peters (Grenada), two-time world champion Thomas Rohler (Germany), and Rio 2016 gold medallist Julius Yego (Kenya). Originally scheduled for May 24, the event was postponed due to security concerns and will now take place on July 5 at Bengaluru's Sree Kanteerava Stadium. Expectations remain high as the stage is set for a historic evening of javelin excellence on Indian soil. Neeraj Chopra has prepared for the event named after him by winning his first Diamond League leg in two years. Earlier in the season, he surpassed the 90m mark for the first time in Doha, finishing second. Recently, he won the Ostrava Golden Spike meet with a throw of 85.29m. (With inputs from IANS) First Published: June 30, 2025, 23:19 IST
Time of India
15 hours ago
- Time of India
Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard: Saina Nehwal
If you thought badminton icon Saina Nehwal 's secret was talent gifted by the gods, think again. The former World No. 1, who recently spoke at a school, served up a masterclass not just in sport, but in grit, graft and good old-fashioned gumption. What followed was an hour of refreshingly honest, often humorous insights into the making of India's shuttling superstar. Here's how Saina smashed stereotypes and inspired a hall packed with students—and perhaps a few bashful adults too. From Haryana to Hyderabad: Destiny with a side of discipline 'I didn't set out to be anything. I just loved working hard,' Saina said, recalling how life changed overnight when her father got a promotion and the family moved from Haryana to Hyderabad. What started as a girl simply playing for fun turned into a journey of endless bus rides, crack-of-dawn wake-up calls, and training miles away from home. There was no master plan, no prophecy—just a mother's unwavering belief. 'My mother decided I'd be an Olympian when I was nine. I laughed. She didn't.' It turns out mum knew best. More than talent, tenacity matters Saina is under no illusion about her path. 'I'm not someone like Federer or Tiger Woods. I didn't have that kind of wrist. So I decided, if they train six hours, I'll train ten.' If there was ever a philosophy to pin on your wall (or locker), this was it. Her daily grind involved 25-km commutes (twice a day), training, school, more training. Sleep, repeat. And somewhere in that blur of shuttles and sweat, history was made: Super Series titles, World Championship medals, Olympic glory. The Steffi Graf connection Before badminton, there was karate. 'I'm a brown belt, but getting hit every day wasn't fun at eight,' Saina confessed with a grin. Cue mum's love for tennis and Steffi Graf, and Saina's eventual nickname—Steffi. 'In Haryana, they still call me Steffi,' she laughed. Her entry into badminton was as accidental as it was magical. 'The first shot I played was a smash. Even I was shocked!' Fate, it seems, had a wicked sense of timing. The hidden cost of each medals Behind the medals stood sacrifices most can only imagine. The family took loans to afford equipment and air tickets so Saina could compete without the fatigue of long train journeys. 'My father never let me see the struggles until I was 18,' she shared. And yet, even as she rose through the ranks, Saina never let comfort dull her hunger. From ice baths she loathed to missing movies and shopping trips, it was all part of the package. 'You hate everything at some point—the routine, the sacrifices—but when you're on that podium, nothing else matters.' Beating the boys, not chasing the stars Role models? 'I didn't have any. I just wanted to beat the boys in training,' she said. While the world fawned over sports idols, Saina's world was simpler: work harder, run longer, lift heavier. Only later did she become a fan of Roger Federer and Serena Williams. But if you ask her about her ultimate inspiration, she doesn't blink: 'My mom. She was the one who believed first.' Box: From Badshah to India's President: Saina's unforgettable matches
Indian Express
a day ago
- Indian Express
US Open: Tanvi Sharma loses final 11-21, 21-16, 21-10 to Beiwen Zhang
Saina Nehwal won the Philippines Open crown at 16, and PV Sindhu had a World Championship bronze medal at 17. Tanvi Sharma, 16, following in their footsteps, showed she has the game to fit the prodigy billing, but didn't quite have the gameplan in her first big Tour final. Beiwen Zhang, the 34-year-old American needed to stick to basics and wasn't stretched too much as Sharma couldn't take the fight deep in the Super 300 US Open final at Council Bluffs. There is little doubt that Sharma has both the talent and temperament to wade into battles in seniors, for she showed in the mid-set that she could turn the knife and close out, once she found a toehold. But it was on either side, playing from the trickier faster side that the shuttle control went missing, and the bird sailed out far more frequently than she would have liked. Sharma's Plan A is always maxing her ability to play criss-cross, and her wide repertoire grants her the capability to pull off making opponents run this way and then that, chasing the shuttle on either flanks. She also has dependable smashes and drops that can make use of the open court once she sets it up with a flank attack. But Beiwen Zhang correctly nailed down the youngster's still uncertain defense when she's forced to run behind and needs to haul back to the mid court. Catching her out of position, brought Zhang most of the Sharma errors. Sharma doesn't entirely commit at the net, where she has much work to do. So if her straightforward attack from the midcourt or the back doesn't reel in the points from her attack, she is prone to hacking at a few shots from impatience and piling up unnecessary error counts. Drifts can be make-or-break on most courts and Zhang showed Sharma that her attack, though fairly smooth in converting defense to offense, isn't quite pacy enough when she's forced to parry a faster flurry from the opponent. She simply got caught up in responding to Zhang's quicker strokes, and accuracy on the lines expectedly suffered. But she's only 16. She will learn in due course to not get dragged into a pace set by the opponent and to slow things down when they start dictating rallies. Sharma's defense didn't exactly crumble, but against the Top 10s (or event former Top Tens), anticipating can get mighty blurred, once they succeed in hurrying and harrying their opponents. It's how Sharma's game came undone in Set 1 & 3. In what has generally been many seasons in the doldrums for Indian women's singles, Sharma making finals after a week of good wins will count as heartening. But how she responds to this defeat and continues the momentum, will determine if Tanvi Sharma can make the breakthrough this year. Both Sindhu and Saina lost plenty and hustled before they settled into Top 10. But faltering at the finals will need urgent remedies than contentment over making finals, even if Sharma is 'just 16.' The duo's hunger and drive was as insatiable as their proclivity to attack. It's what Tanvi Sharma will need to learn.
