Indian Sports Highlights, January 12: Sumit Nagal qualifies for the main draw of Australian Open after three years

Malaysia Open 2024: Satwik and chirag through to semis after a dominant win

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made light work of China's He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu to reach the semifinal of the Malaysia Open Super 1000 in Kuala Lumpur.

Satwik-Chirag won the match 21-11, 21-8 in 35 minutes.

In the opening game, the second-seeded Indian pair claimed a massive 13-6 lead despite defending against the agile Chinese shuttlers. Satwik and Chirag drew benefits from He and Ren's mistakes as they rushed for points.

While Chirag moved to the front court, Satwik sent a high lift from the rear court to create a space for himself before finishing the game with a deft whip from the net, leaving the Chinese duo on the same side.

REPORT

Past performances of Indian Football team at the AFC Asian Cup

The Indian National football team is participating in the biggest football competition of the continent, The AFC Asian Cup in Qatar, starting from the 12th of January. The team is placed in Group B alongside Australia, Syria, and Uzbekistan.

This will be the first time that India has qualified for back-to-back editions of the Asian Cup. The team, led by Sunil Chhetri, who is participating in his third Asian Cup, aims to qualify for the knockout stage after the 2019 heartbreak.

The Indian team will kick off their campaign on the 13th of January with a match against Australia. This is the fifth time the Indian team has qualified for this continental showpiece; the first time was in the 1964 Asian Cup, and the last one was in the previous edition of the 2019 Asian Cup in the UAE.

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East Bengal faces fine and points deduction in U-17 Youth League age fraud scandal

East Bengal, the Kolkata-based football club, is set to incur a Rs 60,000 fine and potential point deductions after allegedly fielding an overage player in the ongoing AIFF U-17 Youth League as per a report from News 9. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is yet to finalize the player's suspension period.

The controversy arose when it was discovered that the player in question had two names registered in the AIFF’s Central Registration System (CRS), a mandatory online database for players and clubs participating in organized football. The player participated in East Bengal's tournament opener against Mohammedan SC on December 14, which they won 3-2.

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Khel Ratna Award row: Why Jyothi Surekha Vennam moved to court- Explained

India’s best-performing athletes were conferred with the national sports awards by President Droupadi Murmu on January 9 in a regal ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi.

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna winners Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty couldn’t be present at the grand ceremony due to their participation in the ongoing Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur.

The build-up to the National Sports Awards was controversial much like every other thing in Indian sports.

India's number one compound archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam moved to Andhra Pradesh High Court and filed a writ petition questioning her snub for the Khel Ratna award despite her exception performance in past few years and at the Asian Games 2022.

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Asian Shooting C'ships: Akhil Sheoran takes the gold in 50m rifle 3P event

India sweeps Gold and Silver as Akhil Sheoran and Aishwary Tomar finished 1-2 respectively in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions at the Asian Shooting Championship.

Another Indian Swapnil Kusale ends with 6th position in the final. Earlier, the three of them combined to take the team gold in 50m 3P event.

Sumit Nagal into the main draw of Australian Open after straight-set win

Sumit Nagal qualifies to the main draw of the first grand slam of the year, The Australian Open after a straight-set (6-4, 6-4) victory over higher ranked Alex Molcan of Slovakia.

He will play his first round match against a very tough opponent, the world no.31 Alexander bublik of Kazakhstan.

He is now the first Indian player to qualify for a grand slam event in the singles category after three year and more than ten grand slam. He last played the main draw clash in the 2021 Australian open.

What to follow today?

Kalinga Super Cup continues with group D matches, FC Goa will go head-on against I-League side Inter Kashi FC at 2:00 PM IST while Odisha FC will face Bengaluru FC at 7:30 PM IST.

First round of 25m Pistol men and 50m rifle 3 positions men event will take place at the Asian Rifle & Pistol championships.

Satwik-Chirag, Ashwini-Tanisha will play their quarterfinal matches at the the Malaysia Open Super 1000 tournament.

Sonam Malik, Radhika and Sunil Kumar will took part in the women's wrestling and the Greco-roman categories at the day-3 of the Zagreb Open wrestling ranking series.

What happened on January 11?

Sumit Nagal moves into the Australian Open Qualifying Final Round after he defeated Edward Winter of Australia by 6 - 3 , 6 - 2 in Qualifying Round 2. He is just one win away from what could be his-second ever appearance at the main draw of Australia open.

Rhythm Sangwan confirmed the 16th Paris Olympic quota for the Indian shooting contingent after winning the bronze medal in the final of the women's 25m Pistol event at the Asian Shooting Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia - REPORT

Ashwini Ponnappa & Tanisha Crasto get the better of WR 9 pair Mayu Matsumoto & Wakana Nagahara of Japan to advance to the quarterfinals of Malaysia Open Super 1000 tournament while Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also into the quarterfinals with a 21-11, 21-18 win over Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar of France - REPORT

El Khayati scores an injury time winner after winning a penalty to gave Mumbai City full three points to start their campaign at the Kalinga Super Cup whereas Punjab FC (PFC) were held on to a 1-1 draw by Chennaiyin FC in their first match.

Vicky fought hard but lost 5-8 in the bronze medal match to reigning U23 world champion Isaac Trumble of USA in the men's 97 kg freestyle category at the Zagreb Open wrestling ranking series tournament.