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Dhindhi Desinghu along with seasoned campaigner Srihari Nataraj reserved their berths for the Paris Olympics 2024 under the University quota. On the other hand, Real Madrid have confirmed that their defender and captain Nacho Fernandez will leave the club after 12 seasons and will play in Qatar.
Read below to learn more about the latest events in sporting world in last 24 hours.
Football
Lautaro Martinez’s late winner sends Argentina into quarterfinals
On Tuesday, June 25, Lautaro Martinez scored a late winner for Argentina against Chile in the COPA America 2024 Group A clash at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. With this 1-0 win, the defending champions Argentina secured a spot in the quarterfinals of the tournament while ensuring a top spot for themselves in Group A as well. In the 88th minute of the pulsating contest, Chile were unable to clear the corner from Lionel Messi, who had quite an eventful night in front of goal. Lautaro Martinez was at the right place at the right time at the back post, lashing the ball inside the net, to put Argentina in a 1-0 lead, which they managed to keep till the end.
Nacho Fernandez leaves Real Madrid
Real Madrid have confirmed that their defender and captain Nacho Fernandez will leave the club after 12 seasons and will play in Qatar. The statement by the club read, “Real Madrid C. F. announces that our captain Nacho has decided to end his career as a Real Madrid player. Real Madrid wants to express its gratitude and affection to Nacho, one of the great legends of our club. Nacho joined Real Madrid in 2001, at just 10 years old, and has played in all categories of our academy until becoming a first-team player in 2012. Since then, he has defended our shirt for 12 seasons in one of the most successful periods in Real Madrid’s history.”
Table Tennis
Sreeja Akula attains career-best ranking of world number 24
India’s emerging table tennis star Sreeja Akula attained the career-best ranking of world number 24 after she won the WTT Contender Lagos tournament. As per ANI, with this accomplishment, Akula has become the highest-ranked Indian player in the women’s singles category, surpassing Manika Batra. The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) released the latest rankings on Tuesday, June 25, where she climbed 19 positions to grab her new rankings. Recently, she also became the first Indian to win a singles title at a World Table Tennis (WTT) Contender event.
Badminton
Indian squad for Badminton Asia Junior Championships announced
Indian junior badminton team is all set to participate at the Badminton Asia Junior Championships 2024 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, starting on June 28. The squad is currently led by senior national finalist Tanvi Sharma. In the championship, India is grouped with Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines in Pool C. Here’s what the squad looks like:
Boys singles: Pranay Shettigar, Dhruv Negi, Rounak Chouhan and Pranauv Ram N
Boys doubles: Arsh Mohammad/Sanskar Saraswat and Bhargav Ram Arigela/Viswa Tej Gobburu
Girls singles: Tanvi Sharma, Navya Kanderi, Aalisha Naik and Adarshini Shri NB
Girls doubles: Gayatri Rawat/Mansa Rawat and Navya Kanderi/Reshika U
Mixed doubles: Bhargav Ram Arigela/Vennala K and Vansh Dev/Shravani Walekar
Tennis
Iga Swiatek to enter as number 1 seeded; Coco Gauff second at 2024 Wimbledon Championships
Five-time Major champion Iga Swiatek got the top seed for the 10th consecutive Grand Slam tournament in a row as she is set to participate at Wimbledon 2024. Her streak started during the 2022 French Open. Coco Gauff, on the other hand, became the world number 2 for the first time following the French Open earlier this month, and for Wimbledon, she is the second seeded. Talking about the third seed, Aryna Sabalenka, a two-time Australian Open winner got the third spot while Elena Rybakina will be the 4th seed.
Squash
Yusha Nafees and Dhruv Bopana get off to winning start at Junior Individual Squash Championships 2024
Yusha Nafees and Dhruv Bopana won their opening-round matches at the 31st Asian Junior Individual Squash Championships in Islamabad on June 25. Nafees beat Ubaid Ullah of Islamabad 11-7, 10-12, 11-5, 11-4 in the boys’ U-17 category while Bopanna moved past Iranian Amirreza Alvansaz Yazdi 11-4, 11-2, 11-7 in the boys’ U-13 category. On the other hand, Lokesh Subramani lost to Sim Yeak Wei in the U-15 boys’ division with the latter registering a 7-11, 11-4, 11-2.
Boxing
Five Indian boxers to train in Germany
Five Indian boxers, who are set to compete at the Olympics 2024 will train in Saarbrucken, Germany from June 27 to July 22. The list of boxers includes Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg), Jaismine Lamboria (57kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg), male boxer Nishant Dev (71kg). The camp will also include eight sparring partners along with 16 support staff, six coaches, two physiotherapists, two masseurs, a doctor, a strength and conditioning expert, a psychologist, a nutritionist, a chef and a video analyst. On the other hand, Amit Panghal has opted to train in India.
Dressage
Anush Agarwalla surpasses Shruti Vora to represent India in dressage at 2024 Paris Olympics
Indian athlete, Anush Agarwalla, who won the Asian Games medal in Hangzhou, China, has pipped compatriot Shruti Vora to qualify for 2024 Paris Olympics. The Equestrian Federation of India (EFI) on Wednesday, June 26 confirmed Anush’s participation at the upcoming Summer Games, where he will be featuring in the dressage event. The Indian athlete edged out close rival Shruti Vora on the basis of the superior average scores. Anush Agarwalla’s appearance in the 2024 Paris Olympics, marks a historic moment for India as it will be the inaugural entry at the Games in dressage category.
Swimming
Dhindhi Desinghu secures India's swimming spot for Paris 2024
Dhindhi Desinghu secured her berth for the Paris Olympics 2024 on Wednesday, June 26. The 14-year-old along with seasoned campaigner Srihari Nataraj reserved their berths for the quadrennial event under the University quota. With this, Desinghu became the youngest member of the Indian contingent at the forthcoming edition of the tournament. In February, Dhindhi clocked the Best Indian Time in the girl’s 100m freestyle event. She finished fourth at the 11th Asian Group Aquatics Championships in the Philippines. With her performance, she broke the previous record of 57.35s set by Kenisha Gupta and clocked the new Indian best time of 57.33s by competing in the ‘C’ category at New Clark City in Capas, Philippines.
