
Asian Games silver medallist long jumper Ancy Sojan qualify for finals in WUG
The 24-year-old Sojan fouled her first attempt and then jumped 5.97m next. She was languishing at seventh at that time in the Group A qualifications but her last round effort of 6.20m took her to the fourth spot and 10th overall.
China's Xiong Shiqi ended on top in the Group A qualifications with 6.41m effort, while Samantha Dale of Australia was second with 6.38m. Samira Attermeyer (6.22m) of Germany was third.
Sojan, who also won a silver in the Asian Championships in South Korea in May, has a season's best of 6.54m and a personal best of 6.71m.
Meanwhile, Ruchit Pratapbhai Mori made it to the semifinals of the men's 400m hurdles after finishing third in his heat race with a time of 50.58 seconds.
The opening day of athletics competition saw only two events involving Indians.
Tennis player Vaishnavi Adkar entered the women's singles quarterfinals after beating Angella Okutoyi of Kenya 6-3 6-4 in the round of 16 match. It was a mixed day for the Indians in the table tennis arena with the women's doubles pair of Murad A and Vaghela D, and the men's doubles duo of Kotecha T and Wani S winning their respective round of 64 matches. Ayaz Murad and Devarsh Vaghela lost his singles group matches.
In beach volleyball, the Indian women's team of Kanimozhi and Gowshika lost to Latvia in a pool C match.
In fencing, the women's foil team lost to Poland 18-45 in a round of 16 match, while the men's Epee team suffered 33-45 defeat to Poland in a round of 32 match.
In Taekwondo, only Rishita Dang won her bout, defeating Celine Askarjian of Lebanon 2-0.
India lost to Latvia 55-111 in the men's preliminary Group B basketball match.
India had dished out its best performance in the last edition of the Games, winning 26 medals — 11 gold, 5 silver and 10 bronze — and had finished seventh in the overall medal tally. PTI PDS PDS ATK
view comments
First Published:
July 21, 2025, 23:30 IST
Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Indian Express
14 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Meet Divya Deshmukh, the 19-year-old IM taking the world of chess by storm
It's been a barnstorming campaign in Batumi for the 19-year-old Divya Deshmukh, who became the first-ever Indian player to enter the FIDE Women's World Cup final in the Georgian city on Wednesday after defeating Tan Zhongyi, a former women's world champion. 102 other players started the FIDE Women's World Cup hoping to be in the position Divya finds herself today: a finalist which also ensures she gets a spot at the FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament. The win over China's Tan also ensures Divya seals the first of the three norms needed to become India's only fourth woman to be a grandmaster. Divya's challenger in the final will be decided on Thursday, when the veteran Koneru Humpy and China's Lei Tingjie fight in the tiebreaks, which means there could be an India vs India fight for the title. The win over Tan Zhongyi was particularly memorable for the girl from Nagpur: after ending the first game with a quick draw, Divya and Tan duelled for over five hours, making just over 100 moves each to emerge triumphant. Tan has been a women's world champion as late as 2018 and just earlier this year was fighting in the women's world chess championship to reclaim the crown. 'What's the fun of going into the final the easy way? Wouldn't be me if it wasn't dramatic,' Divya wrote on her social media after the win over Tan. Remarkably, while her opponent was fighting for the greatest title of all in women's chess this year, it was only in June last year that Divya became the world junior champion. It's taken her 13 months to find herself on the cusp of winning one of the most treacherous tournaments in chess. Divya's run to the final can only be compared to the one that Praggnanandhaa made in 2023 at the FIDE World Cup as an 18-year-old, defeating players like Arjun Erigaisi, World No.3 Fabiano Caruana and World No.2 Hikaru Nakamura before losing the final to Magnus Carlsen. Just like Pragg's 2023 moment, at the ongoing World Cup, Divya had dispatched Serbian IM Teodora Injac, world No.6 from China Zhu Jiner, veteran Indian grandmaster Dronavalli Harika before beating a former women's world champion. 'This is a huge achievement. The fact that she beat players like Zhu Jiner, Tan Zhongyi and Harika is quite impressive. She's someone who has a lot of potential, so I wouldn't say this is unexpected. But people were waiting for this and it's nice that she's delivered,' five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand told The Indian Express. 'Personally, this represents a breakthrough. Because her results at the FIDE Women's Grand Prix events (which she played recently) weren't at this level. This will be a huge boost to her confidence,' added Anand. Divya has attended multiple sessions at Anand's Westbridge Anand Chess Academy (WACA) to sharpen her game play. As late as 2023, Divya wasn't even certain she wanted to pursue chess full-time. Divya had told The Indian Express in an interaction after winning the title at the Tata Steel Chess India's rapid tournament in Kolkata, that she was 'still exploring' if she wants to continue playing chess full time or focus on further studies. 'A lot fascinates me. I'm not sure which field to choose,' she had said then. Divya's tryst with chess started almost accidentally. As the teenager had recounted in 2023: 'I started playing the sport accidentally. My sister used to go to badminton classes, one day my parents took me as well. But I was just four or five years old then, and I didn't even reach the badminton net. There was a chess class happening in the same building, so my parents took me there. I liked the sport. Then, I just stuck with chess.' While her elder sister stopped playing badminton a while back, Divya's conquests on the board have brought her closer to becoming the fourth Indian woman to become a grandmaster. Ask grandmaster Abhijit Kunte, who has seen Divya's rise from close quarters, what her best attributes are, and he says: 'She has always been very brave, someone never afraid to experiment.' But Kunte points out that she didn't have too much exposure to elite top-level chess before this year, when she played in multiple events of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix. Anand, meanwhile, praises Divya for her penchant for attacking chess. 'She does lean (towards) aggressive (chess). But that seems to be the general trend in women's chess these days,' he said. Kunte, on the other hand, is impressed by Divya's maturity at the age of 19. After the first game with Tan ended in a draw, Divya was almost disappointed with herself, even though she had held one of the strongest players in women's chess to a draw with black pieces. Then after the 101-move rollercoaster in the second game which saw her beat Tan, Divya was again thinking of ways she could have done better. 'I could have played much better. I was winning at one point, then I messed up in the middle game. I should have had a much smoother win,' Divya admitted in an interview right after the win. 'This kind of maturity at 19 is not easy to get. It's very rare in women's chess,' Kunte had said.


Indian Express
14 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Watch: Rishabh Pant walks out to bat with a broken toe, receives hero's welcome at Old Trafford – ‘Remarkable man'
Rishabh Pant has braved the pain and discomfort from a broken toe to continue his innings in the fourth Test between India and England at Old Trafford. While it had initially looked like Pant may not travel to the ground at all, he was eventually spotted in the dressing room in full gear and he then hobbled out after Shardul Thakur was dismissed shortly before Lunch. The spectators at the stadium gave him a rousing reception as he made his way gingerly down the stairs, passed Thakur, who gave him a pat on the back, touched the boundary and then his had respectfully as he usually does and then walked onto the ground. 'The noise from the ground because here comes hobbling down the steps, Rishabh Pant!' former England captain Michael Atherton said in the commentary box. 'He has managed to get that damaged foot into a normal cricket shoe and he is making way gingerly into the middle. This is quite remarkable. Good for him because he is obviously still in great discomfort. Now anything can happen,' Atherton's co-commentator and former England player Ian Ward said. 'Continues to enthrall us with everything he does, Rishabh Pant. Remarkable player. Remarkable man.' Here comes Rishabh Pant… A classy reception from the Emirates Old Trafford crowd 👏 — England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 24, 2025 Pant has been advised six weeks' rest for the fractured toe. Batting on 37, Pant had tried a pre-determined reverse sweep against seamer Chris Woakes but missed, taking a hit on his right boot. The ball hit the boot after taking an inside edge. With one man short in the playing XI, the Indian team management had asked the medical team to check if Pant can bat after taking a painkiller if the need arises. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) later confirmed that Pant won't be keeping wickets but he will be available to bat 'as per team requirements'. Pant will not keep wickets in this match and is confirmed to be ruled out for the fifth and final Test. Ishan Kishan was initially considered as his eplacement but he informed the selectors that he has an ankle injury and won't be able to recover in time or gain full match fitness. KS Bharat was seen as an alternate option, it is understood that the selectors were not keen on going back to him after the Andhra wicketkeeper failed to grab his chances during the home Test series against England. As a result, Tamil Nadu's N Jagadeesan, who is next in line, has been added to the squad. The 29-year-old has been part of the India A set up in recent times. In 52 first-class matches, he has scored 10 centuries and 14 fifties at an average of 47.50 for a tally of 3373 runs.
&w=3840&q=100)

First Post
14 minutes ago
- First Post
‘Rishabh Pant you fighter': Indian wicketkeeper hailed for heroically walking out to bat at Old Trafford despite fractured foot
Not only did Rishabh Pant walk out to bat on Day 2 of the fourth Test against England in Manchester despite having suffered a fracture on his right foot the previous day, he ended up completing his 18th Test half-century and guiding India to 350. read more Rishabh Pant added 17 runs to his overnight score of 37, brinigng up his 18th Test half-century in the process. AP India were dealt a massive blow after talismanic wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant was struck on the foot while attempting to reverse sweep a yorker from Chris Woakes on the opening day of the fourth Test against England at Lord's. Pant was confirmed to have due the blow, which resulted in him having to be driven off the ground in a buggy ambulance, and the 27-year-old was expected to miss the remainder of the match, if not the series. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The fracture, however, did not stop Pant from heroically walking out to bat on Day 2 in an attempt to get India as close to 400 as possible not matter how much pain he was in. As if that wasn't heroic enough, he would go on to complete a memorable half-century, his 18th in Test cricket, reaching the milestone with a flurry of boundaries after a couple of wickets fell in quick succession at the other end. 'As emotional as anything I have seen' Pant didn't just receive a standing ovation at the home of the Lancashire County Cricket Club, former and current cricketers as well as fans applauded him for his brave gesture on social media. Here are select reactions: Rishabh pant you fighter. #respect — Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) July 24, 2025 When you represent your country at any level, that's the kind of courage and fighting spirit you show. Hats off to Rishabh Pant for walking out to bat despite the injury. 🇮🇳💪 #RishabhPant #INDvsENG — Yusuf Pathan (@iamyusufpathan) July 24, 2025 I have been fortunate to have seen some great moments in cricket. But to see #RishabhPant walking out to bat with a broken toe and seeing the warmth with which everyone reacted was as emotional as anything I have seen — Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) July 24, 2025 STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD I had seen Anil Kumble come out to bowl with a broken jaw in Antigua and didn't think I would see anything like that again. But this Rishabh Pant act of courage is right up there. Just Rishabh being Rishabh. #ENGvsIND — Deep Dasgupta (@DeepDasgupta7) July 24, 2025 STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD If you aren't watching, pl do. Pant coming out to bat with a broken toe is probably the most courageous from an Indian cricketer after Kumble bowling in WI with a broken jaw. Stokes aiming for that right toe, I suppose is how this unforgiving game is played…#INDvsENG — Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) July 24, 2025 I really have no words of appreciation for the guts pant has shown to bat after a broken foot... but the way he is limping and fighting his pain it may lead to some serious problems...I am also wondering how did the medical team allowed to play who actaully has a say in… — Samip Rajguru (@samiprajguru) July 24, 2025 STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Ricky Ponting just called Rishabh Pant as "Lazarus" in commentary [which means the biblic figure whom Jesus raised from the dead] — Noah (@PantasticNoah) July 24, 2025 Vivek Razdan words on Rishabh pant's bravery 🔥🔥 Goosebumps at its peak @RishabhPant17 #RishabhPant — Harsh shekhawat (@wordofshekhawat) July 24, 2025 STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Pant, who was batting on 37 when struck by the Woakes yorker on Wednesday, walked out to bat after all-rounder Shardul Thakur was dismissed for a patient 41 that helped India cross the 300-mark with plenty of wickets left. Thakur, replacing the injured Nitish Reddy at Manchester, had forged a 48-run partnership with fellow all-rounder Washington Sundar after India had lost the wicket of Ravindra Jadeja in just the second over of the morning session. The second act of Pant's innings, meanwhile, would help India reach the 350-mark. The Test vice-captain was eventually castled by Jofra Archer for 54 off 75 balls with India losing their ninth wicket for 349. India were eventually bowled out for 358 with Jasprit Bumrah becoming the last Indian batter to fall after getting caught-behind off Jofra Archer's bowling. Captain Ben Stokes finished as the pick of the English bowlers with figures of 5/72 while Archer collected 3 for 73. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Left-arm spinner Liam Dawson (1/45) and Chris Woakes (1/66) collected a wicket each, the former making his first Test appearance in eight years.