Table Tennis: Sharath, Manika Seal Olympic Berth in Mixed Doubles
India got its best shot at a maiden table tennis medal at the Olympics on Saturday when Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra became the first Indian pairing to qualify for the mega event in Tokyo, beating world no. 8 duo of Sang-Su Lee and Jihee Jeon 4-2 in the final of the Asian Qualification Tournament.
Lee Zii Jia Win All England Open Men's Single Title
Malaysia's 22-year-old Lee Zii Jia won the All England Open men's title after beating defending champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the summit clash.
Lee Zii Jia, who had defeated world number one Momota Kento on Friday, beat Axelsen 30-29, 20-22, 21-9 in a more than thrilling match which lasted for one hour and 14 minutes.
The win for Lee Zii Jia also meant that he became the first Malaysian since Lee Chong Wei in 2017 to win the title.
In the women's single final, Japan's Nozomi Okuhara defeated Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong in straight games (21-12, 21-16).
Ronaldo Italian League Player of the Year
Cristiano Ronaldo was named the Italian league player of the year for the second successive time.
Ronaldo won the prize in 2019 after his debut season at Juventus. The awards did not take place last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ronaldo scored 31 goals in 33 league matches last season and helped Juventus to a record-extending ninth successive Serie A title.
Juventus forward Cristiana Girelli received the best female player award.
Mar 21, 2021
Vijender Singh's Unbeaten Run in Professional Boxing Ends
Indian professional boxer Vijender Singh was handed his first defeat in professional boxing by Russian Artysh Lopsan. Vijender lost via technical knockout in the fifth round of an eight-round bout on the rooftop of the Majestic Pride Casino Ship in Goa.
With this loss, Vijender's unbeaten-run in professional boxing came to an end. Before this match, the Olympic bronze medal winner pugilist enjoyed a 12-game winning streak in the professional boxing career since starting his career in 2015.
Kamalpreet Makes Olympics Cut
Punjab discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur booked her ticket for the Tokyo Olympics with a new national record on the final day of the Federation Cup National Athletics.
With a throw of 65.06, Kamalpreet became the first woman discus thrower from India to breach the 65 m mark.
Seema Punia finished second with a throw of 62.64 m while Sonal Goyal took the bronze medal with the best effort of 52.11 m. This was Seema's first event after the 2018 Asian Games, where she won a bronze.
Mar 20, 2021
Tokyo Olympics: Sharath Kamal, Manika Batra, G Sathiyan among 4 Indians to Qualify
The seasoned Achanta Sharath Kamal became the first Indian paddler to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games after a dominant win over Pakistan's Muhammad Rameez at the Asian Olympic Qualification tournament in Doha.
Sutirtha Mukherjee also qualified for the Games after a win against her top-ranked Indian compatriot Manika Batra.
Despite her defeat against Sutirtha, Manika is also set to make the cut because of her ranking.
Mar 19, 2021
All England Championship
Lakshya Sen became the youngest Indian male shuttler to reach All England Championship quarter-finals, where Olympic silver medallist P. V. Sindhu joined him with an easy win at the Super 1000 tournament.
Sindhu, the reigning world champion, recorded a dominant 21-8 win over Denmark's Line Christophersen in a completely lop-sided second-round match.
Lakshya from Almora, who had claimed five titles in 2019, saw off France's Thomas Rouxel 21-18 21-16 to make it to his maiden quarter-finals.
'Girl Gang' Official Song of ICC Women's World Cup 2022
Girl Gang, a track by New Zealand singer Gin Wigmore, has been announced as the official song of the 2022 ICC Women's World Cup. The tournament is set to be hosted in New Zealand from March 4 to April 3, 2022.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) made the announcement in an event at Mt Maunganui Beach with Wigmore skydiving to the beach with the World Cup trophy in her hands.
Originally scheduled to be held from February 6 to March 7, 2021, the World Cup was postponed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Rohit Second Indian to Complete 9000 Runs in T20 Cricket
Senior opener Rohit Sharma became the second Indian to complete 9000 runs in T20 cricket after skipper Virat Kohli.
Rohit achieved the feat during the fourth T20 International against England at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Rohit, who is one of the modern-day greats in white-ball cricket, is the ninth highest-run getter in the T20 format.
Mar 18, 2021
P.V. Sindhu Wins; Kidambi Srikanth out of All England Badminton Championships
World champion P.V. Sindhu made an impressive start at All England Badminton Championships but compatriots Kidambi Srikanth and Parupalli Kashyap suffered early exits after losing their respective opening round men's singles matches.
The Indian women's duo of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy and the men's doubles a pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also progressed to the second round with straight-game wins.
Olympics silver medallist Sindhu gave a good account of herself as she beat world No. 32 Soniia Cheah of Malaysia.