Credit: Twitter
The last 24 hours have been nothing but an exciting affair for fans across various sporting disciplines. The 12-member women's rugby team for the forthcoming Hangzhou Asian Games was announced. Not only this, but the Indian badminton superstar and national icon Saina Nehwal made it clear that she hasn't been thinking of retiring from the game anytime soon, though she knows qualifying for the Olympics 2024 is going to be difficult.
A lot more happened in the universe of sports in the past 24 hours, and in this sports wrap, we have talked about it and a lot more. Do give it a read.
Badminton
Saina Nehwal quashes rumours of her retirement
India's badminton icon and 2012 London Olympics bronze medalist Saina Nehwal smashed all the retirement rumours and said that she hasn't been thinking about hanging her badminton racquet anytime soon. Not only this, but the 33-year-old shuttler also admitted that she knows it would be difficult for her to qualify for the Olympics 2024 due to recurring knee injuries.
Lakshya Sen withdraws from Hong Kong Open Super 500
India's rising star Lakshya Sen withdrew from the ongoing Hong Kong Open Super 500 two hours before he was set to take on Su Li Yang of Chinese Taipei. With this, the eighth-seed Sen gave a first-round walkover to his opponent. Lakshya was viewed as India's biggest bet for the title as in the absence of HS Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth and PV Sindhu. Notably, the star trio is set to participate in the upcoming edition of the Asian Games.
Rugby
Rugby India announces 12-member women’s squad to compete at Hangzhou Asian Games
Rugby India announced a 12-member women's squad that will compete at the forthcoming Hangzhou Asian Games 2023. The squad will be led by Sheetal Sharma, who held the team's helm during the Borneo 7’s in Malaysia. The 12-member India's women's rugby squad is:
Sweta Shahi, Sandhya Rai (Vice Captain), Mama Naik, Kalyani Patil, Vaishnavi Patil, Lachmi Oraon, Dumuni Marndi, Hupi Majhi, Shikha Yadav, Tarulata Naik, Sheetal Sharma (Captain), and Priya Bansal.
Football
Pep Guardiola makes return to Manchester City after back surgery
Manchester City's manager Pep Guardiola made a return to the club after recovering from a back operation. As per the PA News Agency, Guardiola resumed work after staying away for more than three weeks. While the 52-year-old travelled to Spain for an operation, the Assistant Manager, Juanma Lillo took charge of the team's affairs. In Guardiola's absence, City defeated Sheffield United and Fulham and started the Premier League defence with a bang.
Igor Stimac unlikely to travel with team for Hangzhou Asian Games: Reports
Uncertainty looms over Indian football coach Igor Stimac's participation in the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games. As per reports, the Indian coach won't travel with the team due to the uncertainty of a potential clash with the Indian Super League (ISL). While India are set to open their campaign in the Asian Games on September 19, the new season of the ISL is set to begin on September 21.
Croatia faces UEFA disciplinary charges for fans' fascist flag during qualifier match against Latvia
The UEFA opened a disciplinary case against Croatia after fans displayed a World War II fascist flag at a game of European Championship qualifying game. Notably, Croatia is already under probation by UEFA for "discriminatory behaviour" by fans at the Nations League finals in June.
As per the latest UEFA investigation, Croatia might be ordered to play in an empty stadium when they take on Turkey next month.
Peru fans use black magic to 'neutralise' Brazil's Neymar
A video has gone viral of Peru fans where they could be seen performing black magic to neutralise Brazil's football star Neymar. The video is reportedly from the World Cup qualifier match between Peru and Brazil before a group of fans could be seen using knives and other things to neutralise the football star before the game.
However, it seemed that things didn't work out in the favour of the fans as Brazil ended up winning the game 1-0, courtesy of Neymar's assist.
Paul Pogba admits of taking drugs after failed drug test: Reports
Juventus and France midfielder Paul Pogba has reportedly agreed to take food-related supplements without having a knowledge of their components, which led to his positive drug test. Pogba could now face a four-year ban for his failed drug test, which detected the presence of testosterone.
Juventus released a statement and admitted the suspension of Pogba. The statement read, “Juventus Football Club announces that today, September 11, 2023, the footballer Paul Labile Pogba received a precautionary suspension order from the National Anti-Doping Tribunal following the results of tests carried out on August 20, 2023."
Tennis
Serena Williams mocks Simona Halep after latter gets four-year ban
Legendary American tennis player Serena Williams seemingly mocked Simona Halep hours after the two-time Wimbledon champion was handed a four-year ban. Williams took to her social media and wrote, " 8 is a better number."
For those who don't know, Halep stopped Williams from winning her eighth Wimbledon title in 2019. Haled defeated Williams 6-2, 6-2 in the women's singles finals.
Daniil Medvedev opens up on his US Open 2023 defeat against Novak Djokovic
Daniil Medvedev finally opened up on his defeat against the 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic in the US Open 2023 men's final. Medvedev said that in the moment he felt nothing but could have hurt himself.
He said, "Yeah, I felt nothing. Actually, when the moment I fell, I was, like, Man, this could have been not dangerous but I could have hurt myself." Medvedev added, "So for maybe 30 seconds, one minute, I was, like, does it hurt, does it not hurt? There was another problem I had. In the third set it was growing, growing, growing, and at the same time, again, that's how tennis is. Maybe I win the second set and I don't think about the other problem I had."
