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United News of India
3 days ago
- Sport
- United News of India
Mandhana scores maiden T20I ton, leads India to a 97 run win
Nottingham, June 29 (UNI) Standing in as captain for the injured Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana led from the front in style, scoring her maiden T20I century in the first match against England at Nottingham. Her brilliant 112 helped India to a commanding 97-run victory. While it marked a significant personal milestone, Mandhana admitted that T20Is don't come naturally to her due to her preference for timing over power-hitting. "It's a nice feeling because, of course, this format is something which, for me as a batter, I need to keep pushing and keep improving. "It's not a very natural format for me because I like to time the ball, not a big hitter of the ball, and for the last six years, it's always a work in progress and it's still a work in progress." The 28-year-old expressed her desire to build on this knock and notch up more big scores in the format. "So, to actually get a hundred in this format, of course, getting it before in Test cricket and One Day cricket which are more suited to my batting [was significant as well], but getting it in this format is pretty special because it's not one of my strengths. I mean, the improvement and I'm trying to work a lot on my power hitting and to see that come through, which is a really nice feeling." The captain threw her support behind opening partner Shafali Verma, expressing confidence that runs would soon follow for the young batter. Shafali returned to the Indian setup after being left out in late 2024, but her comeback got off to a mixed start as she struggled for fluency, managing 20 off 22 balls. "I've seen Shafali bat in the last seven-eight days, [she did] amazingly well in the nets," Mandhana said. "So I don't see a big knock is too far because of the way she's been hitting the ball. Sometimes coming back into the Indian team and coming into the first match, of course, there are a different kind of nerves. I'm sure this match is going to take those nerves away for her. Mandhana learned she would be captaining in the first T20I just two hours before the match, after regular skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was ruled out due to a head knock sustained in Wednesday's warm-up game. Despite the late call-up, Mandhana assured that captaincy doesn't affect her batting. "As a batter, it doesn't change a lot. You don't think that you are captaining and you bat differently. Whenever you have the bat in hand, you have to do the job for the team regardless of the position you are in, so I'm really happy that I could contribute today." UNI RKM
United News of India
4 days ago
- Sport
- United News of India
Yonex US Open 2025: Ayush stuns World No. 6 Chou Tien-Chen to reach the finals
Iowa, June 29(UNI) India's young shuttler Ayush Shetty overcame top seed and World No. 6 Chou Tien-Chen to reach the Men Singles Finals of the Yonex US Open 2025, a BWF Super 300 event, in Council Bluffs. 20 year old Ayush, produced a stunning comeback to defeat Chou Tien-Chen, securing his maiden BWF World Tour final. Ayush, who had finished third at the Orleans Masters earlier this year, bounced back from a tight opening game to outplay the top seed 21-23, 21-15, 21-14 in a high-quality semifinal that lasted 67 minutes. Ayush will take on third-seeded Brian Yang of Canada in the final match. UNI RKM
United News of India
4 days ago
- Sport
- United News of India
Yonex US Open 2025: Ayush stuns World No. 9 Chou Tien-Chen to reach the finals
Iowa, June 29(UNI) India's young shuttler Ayush Shetty overcame top seed and World No. 9 Chou Tien-Chen to reach the Men Singles Finals of the Yonex US Open 2025, a BWF Super 300 event, in Council Bluffs. 20 year old Ayush, produced a stunning comeback to defeat Chou Tien-Chen, securing his maiden BWF World Tour final. Ayush, who had finished third at the Orleans Masters earlier this year, bounced back from a tight opening game to outplay the top seed 21-23, 21-15, 21-14 in a high-quality semifinal that lasted 67 minutes. Ayush will take on third-seeded Brian Yang of Canada in the final match. UNI RKM
United News of India
4 days ago
- Sport
- United News of India
Neeraj Chopra reclaims World No. 1 rank
Lausanne, (Switzerland) June 28 (UNI) India's javelin ace Neeraj Chopra has reclaimed the World number 1 rank in the latest rankings released by World Athletics. Chopra had lost this position to Grenada's Anderson Peters in September, 2024. In the rankings released earlier this week Chopra has 1445 ranking points compared to Anderson Peters' 1431. Germany's Julian Weber is third in the rankings while Paris Olympic Gold medallist Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan is fourth with 1370 points and Czechia's Jakub Vadlejch completes the top five list. Chopra's consistent performances in 2025 has seen him climb back to the top. Neeraj won the Potch Invitational in Potchefstroom, South Africa in April and followed it up with a second-place finish at the Doha Diamond League in May. He logged a new national record of 90.23m at Doha to enter the coveted 90m club. He was second again at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial in Poland but returned to winning ways at the Paris Diamond League in June. He clocked a best of 88.16m in Paris. Neeraj also added the Ostrava Golden Spike title to his kitty earlier this week. Neeraj has Trumped Anderson Peters in all four of their meetings this year. The two elite athletes will face off again at the NC Classic 2025 in Bengaluru on July 5. UNI RKM
United News of India
5 days ago
- Sport
- United News of India
Praggnanandhaa wins UzChess Cup Masters 2025, becomes India's No 1 ranked player
Tashkent (Uzbekistan), June 28(UNI) Grand Master R. Praggnanandhaa has emerged as India's number one ranked Chess player after his victory in the UzChess Cup Masters 2025. 19 year old Praggnanandhaa secured a win against Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the final match to bag the title on Friday. As a result of this win, Praggnanandhaa, with a live elo rating of 2778.3, rose three positions to move past reigning classical chess world champion D. Gukesh (2776.6) to become the top-ranked Indian player. Praggnanandhaa is now also the World No. 4 ranked player. UNI RKM
