Indian Sports Highlights, January 8: Clifford Miranda to coach Mohun Bagan at Super Cup
Highlights of Indian athletes' performances in events happening across the world on January 8.
Clifford Miranda joined Mohun Bagan Super Giant as an assistant coach in August 2023.
Welcome to The Bridge's live coverage of Indian sports, where we guide you through the performances of Indian athletes across diverse sports and global events. This daily blog consolidates sports activities worldwide that hold Indian significance, offering a comprehensive update to keep you well-informed.
As it happened:
Kush Maini, the 23-year-old racer from Bengaluru, is poised to assume the role of testing the BWT Alpine F1 car in the forthcoming 2024 season. In the recent F2 season with Campos's, he has demonstrated his prowess with multiple top 5 qualifying positions and a podium finish in Melbourne, signaling his potential for the world of Formula1
Archer Aditi Swami, who made history in August last year when she became the youngest world champion in Berlin, is facing an interesting struggle. Aditi, who hails from Maharashtra's Satara district, is searching for a suit at Delhi's Palika Bazar to attend the Arjuna Award ceremony on Tuesday after arriving in the national capital amid bitter cold.
Olympic champion Meb Keflezighi has been named brand ambassador of the 19th edition of the Tata Mumbai Marathon, a World Athletics Gold Label Race.
Meb made history as the only runner to win an Olympic medal (2004), the New York City Marathon (2009) and the Boston Marathon (2014). In 2009, Keflezighi became the first American since 1982 to win the New York City Marathon. Eight times, he has achieved the feat of being in the top 10 in the New York Marathon. In 2015, he set a TCS New York City Marathon masters event record of 2:13:32.
Mario Barco scored a brace to help Inter Kashi thrash Rajasthan United FC 5-0 and qualify for the Kalinga Super Cup 2024 group stage at the Kalinga Stadium Pitch 1 in Bhubaneswar on Monday, January 8, 2024.
All eyes, however, will be on Lakshya and Srikanth as they fight to get into the top 16 of the Race to Paris - Olympic qualification rankings after enduring contrasting fates last season.
World no. 16 Lakshya's only glimpse of fiery form came to the fore when he claimed the Canada Open Super 500 in July last year, but since then his form dipped. So much so that Lakshya had to endure a quarter-final defeat to Bharat Raghav at the 85th Senior National Championships.
World no.24 Srikanth, on the other hand, was inconsistent throughout the year. He could not even make it to a single semifinal despite playing four quarterfinals.
At the Malaysia Open, things are not going to be easy for Lakshya and Srikanth as they face tough competitors in China’s Weng Hong Yang and sixth seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia respectively in the opening rounds.
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Clifford Miranda will be in charge of the Mohun Bagan Super Giant at the start of the Kalinga Super Cup in Bhubaneswar. Miranda joined MBSG as an assistant coach in August 2023.
Mohun Bagan will play its opening Super Cup match on Tuesday against Sreenidi Deccan.
“It’s an honour and a privilege to look back at those times and think that I’m now a part of three AFC Asian Cups. It is a special tournament, probably the closest we can get to a World Cup atmosphere,” said Gurpreet.
Indian national football team is gearing up for their second consecutive AFC Asian Cup appearance, starting on January 12 in Qatar. India are placed in Group B alongside Uzbekistan, Australia, and Syria.
The Bridge looks at India's head-to-head record against their opponents.
Read: AFC Asian Cup: India's head-to-head records vs Australia, Uzbekistan, Syria
Ridhima Kapoor, now aged nine, affirmed her penchant for golf, an off-beat sport for a child in the pretext of the Indian sports ecosystem, with a sign of making it big. Starting golf at seven in 2021, she emerged as the overall champion of the Indian Golf Union in the Under-9 category in 2023.
Showing remarkable tenacity to pick up the skills, Ridhima, a resident of Bengaluru, claimed several domestic titles and made many runner-up finishes last year. It was a year when Ridhima displayed incredible consistency and game awareness.
After she made a runner-up finish at Coorg, she pledged to assert her domination over the tour, claiming four events in a row.
'Comeback is always stronger than the setback'. With this motto, Ridhima swept four IGU Sub Junior tour events, three in April and one in May, in Coimbatore, Kodaikanal, Ooty and Bengaluru, respectively.
Now she is vying for more titles, as her ultimate aim is to become an Indian golfing sensation, following her superstar idols.
"My favourite golfers are Seve and Nelly Koda, and in India Subhankar Sharma and Aditi Ashok," Ridhima told The Bridge.
The Badminton Association of India (BAI) released a list of 28 players eligible to avail of its latest facility, providing much-needed international exposure to emerging Indian shuttlers.
On January 4, BAI issued a notification, asking players ranked between 26 and 75 to send an email to the Indian federation by January 6, requesting participation in three international tournaments in 2024.
The 28 players across five categories have been chosen based on their performances across multiple tournaments. These players will be fully funded for three tournaments.