ESPN staffMay 24, 2024, 08:30 AM
Welcome to ESPN India's daily blog, where we aim to bring you all the news from the dynamic world of Indian sports: from the wide variety of Olympic sports to franchise leagues.
May has plenty of sporting action taking place - which you can find listed out in ESPN India's sporting calendar.
Boxing World Qualifiers: Sachin Siwach off to winning start
Sachin Siwach took a step closer to an Olympic quota as he beat New Zealand's Alex Mukuka on the opening day of the Boxing World Qualifiers today. The Indian boxer dominated the round of 64 bout in the 57kg category to wrap up a comfortable unanimous 5-0 verdict.
Sachin went on the offensive early and took control of the bout in the first round with a couple of left-right combinations and did more of the same in the second round to firmly seize control. The third round was a mere formality as he held on to give India's 10-member contingent a winning start.
This is the last chance for boxers to earn a quota for the Paris Olympics and India has fielded seven men and three women in this competition. All boxers will have to at least make it to the semifinals to be in contention for a spot at the Paris Games.
On Saturday, senior nationals bronze medallist Abhimanyu Loura will take on Bulgaria's Kristiyan Nikolov in the opening round of the 80kg weight category, while 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Amit Panghal (51kg) and 2022 Asian Games bronze medallist Narendra Berwal (+92kg) got a bye in the opening round of their respective weight categories.
Sindhu reaches Malaysia Masters semifinal, Ashmita's run ends in quarters
PV Sindhu reached her first semifinal of the year on the BWF Tour with a confidence-boosting win against top seed Han Yue at the Malaysia Masters. The Indian had to fight for about an hour in a roller-coaster match and forced to go to a decider after a dip but dominated the third game to win 21-13, 14-21, 21-12.
Sindhu had never lost to the Chinese player before the Asia badminton Championships in Ningbo last month but found her rhythm back when needed. The start of what would be a see-saw match was more even before Sindhu pulled away and built a sizeable lead at 11-5 in the mid-game interval. Han fought back after that big start to reduce the lead to just 3 points. But Sindhu reeled off five straight points to seal the game.
The second saw Han completely dominate from the other end, heading into the break with a massive 11-3 lead and extended it 10 points before Sindhu rallied back to build some semblance of momentum and points in the second. She did well to get 14 points after being 3-13 down as the players headed into the decider.
The third game was diametrically opposite to the second and Sindhu races away to the huge 11-3 lead this time and then build it to 16-4. There was one last twist left in the game as Han fought back, like Sindhu in the second, but the Indian's early advantage helped her seal the deal.
Having taken a break to focus on Olympic preparation since the European swing in March, Sindhu looked fitter and faster on return and will look to make he most of her comeback at the Super 500 tournament. She will now face either Indonesia's Putri Kusuma Wardani or Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan for a place in the final.
However, it was the end of Ashmita Chaliha's enterprising run in Malaysia, as she went down to sixth seed Zhang Yi Man 10-21, 15-21. The 24-year-old had knocked out third seed Beiwen Zhang a day before but could not keep the momentum against the Chinese player.
Indian compound mixed team enters final of Archery World Cup Stage 2
Jyothi Surekha Vennam and compound archery finals, we know how this goes.
This time around, Jyothi and Priyansh entered the compound mixed team final while the women's team of Jyothi, Parneet Kaur and Aditi Swami also reached the final at the Archery World Cup Stage 2 in Yecheon, South Korea. Young compound archer Prathamesh Fuge is also eyeing a medal by advancing to the semifinal in the individual category.
Jyothi and Priyansh will face USA's Olivia Dean and Sawyer Sullivan in a clash of the top-two world ranked nations in the gold medal match on Saturday.
However, the recurve mixed team of Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai, who have more than 34 years of combined international experience in between them, went down in the quarters. Individual rounds in recurve start later in the afternoon and India's archers in the Olympic discipline will want to make their mark ahead of the final qualifying.
Former world number one Deepika Kumari, who is making a return to the International cicruit after embracing motherhood in December 2022, secured four back-to-back wins to enter the last-four stage and remained the only Indian recurve archer in the medal hunt.
Deepika will face home favourite and world No. 2 Lim Sihyeon in Sunday's semi-final, four weeks after the rising South Korean 20-year-old won the Shanghai Stage 1 gold by in a ruthless straight set victory.
In other recurve women's individual matches, Bhajan Kaur lost in the first round, while Ankita Bhakat could not cross the second round hurdle. In the men's individual recurve section, veteran Tarundeep Rai and Mrinal Chauhan suffered first round exits, while Dhiraj Bommadevara and Pravin Jadhav fell short in the second round.
The recurve mixed team of Deepika and Tarundeep Rai, who have more than 34 years of combined international experience between them, also returned empty-handed after going down in the quarterfinals.
FIH Pro League: India (M) and (W) go down to Belgium
The Indian men's and women's team had similar results overnight taking on Belgium in the FIH Pro League. The men's team, preparing to defend their medal at the Olympics, suffered a 1-4 loss to one of the opponents they will be facing in Paris. Abhishek scored the only goal for India.
The women's team, rebuilding with a new coach and captain after failing to make the Olympics cut, lost 0-2 in their second straight Pro League loss. Alexia 'T Serstevens (34') and Louise Dewaet (36') scored a goal each for Belgium in the third quarter to seal the tie.
ESPN India's Anish Anand will be writing on what the defeat means for India so watch this space for more.
What's on today?
Badminton: PV Sindhu face top seed Han Yue in the quarterfinals of the Malaysia Masters (at 6:30 am IST), while Ashmita Chaliha will face sixth seed Zhang Yi Man. (8.20 AM)
Archery: Archery World Cup Stage 2 is underway in Yecheon.
Boxing: World Boxing Qualification Tournament, the final chance for Indians to secure Paris Olympic sports, begins in Bangkok.
IPL: Rajasthan Royals face Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 2, with the winner to face Kolkata Knight Riders in the final.
What happened yesterday?
Badminton: PV Sindhu and Ashmita Chaliha reached the Malaysia Masters quarterfinals.
Football: Igor Stimac announced India's squad for the World Cup qualifiers with midfielder Apuia a big miss.
Football: Kerala Blasters announced Swede Mikael Stahre as their new head coach.
You can find the details of yesterday's event's here
