Manush and Diya progress in singles
India's Manush Shah and Diya Chitale booked their places in the men's and women's singles second round of the World table tennis championships in Doha on Saturday.
Manush scripted an authoritative 4-2 (11-6, 2-11, 11-7, 11-6, 5-11, 11-6) win over Tiago Apolonia of Portugal while Diya put it across Sofia-Xuan Zhang of Spain (4-0) 11-4, 11-7, 11-3, 14-12.
However, Sreeja Akula bowed out in the women's first round to Thailand's Suthasini Sawettabut, losing (4-1) 9-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-5, 11-2.
The results (first round): Men: Singles: Manush Shah bt Tiago Apolonia (Por) 11-6, 2-11, 11-7, 11-6, 5-11, 11-6. Doubles: Manav Thakkar & Manush Shah bt Peter Hribar & Deni Kozul (Slo) 11-7, 11-8, 11-6.
Women: Singles: Suthasini Sawettabut (Tha) bt Sreeja Akula 9-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-5, 11-2; Diya Chitale bt Sofia-Xuan Zhang (Esp) 11-4, 11-7, 11-3, 14-12; Doubles: Ayhika Mukherjee & Sutirtha Mukherjee bt Ozge Yilmaz & Ece Harac (Tur) 4-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-9, 11-7; Yasashwini Ghorpade & Diya Chitale bt Markhabo Magdieva & Asel Erkebaeva (Uzb) 9-11, 11-2, 11-9, 11-8.
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Hans India
an hour ago
- Hans India
Global shooting stars gather in Munich as ISSF World Cup kicks off June 10
The global royalty of Rifle/Pistol sport shooting, is set to descend on one of its most hallowed turfs Munich's Olympic Shooting range for the third International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup (Rifle/Pistol) stage, set for June 10-15. A massive 695 athletes, among them a constellation of Olympic and World champions and legends of the sport from 78 countries, will make feature in Munich World Cup. There are 10 finals on the roster and competitions begin on Tuesday. The season began with a double-header in South America where Indian Rifle and Pistol shooters picked up 15 medals, including six gold, helping the team finish a creditable second and third respectively on the standings. The Munich leg will, however, present a much tougher challenge given the much wider presence of the world's best shooters. While many stars like Li would be making their first appearance on the ISSF circuit in Munich after the Paris Olympics last year, India, who have fielded a 22-strong team across the 10 events, including the two mixed team events, will also look forward to a few anticipated comebacks. Prominent among them will be Swapnil Kusale, the Paris bronze medallist in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions (3P), who has fought his way back into the team with some great scores on the domestic circuit. Two-time Olympian Elavenil Valarivan will also be seen in international competitive action for the first time since Paris, although she did make the trip to Buenos Aires and Lima as an RPO shooter. Reigning Asian Games champion Palak in the women's air pistol, also makes it back to the team and a few world cup debuts, like that of newly crowned women's air rifle national champion Ananya Naidu and the two new faces at this level in men's air pistol-Aditya Malra and Nishant Rawat, are also to look forward to, as India look to continue to explore their depth in the two disciplines, ahead of bigger challenges later in the year. Among the constellation of stars, none shines brighter than two Chinese marksmen, the legendary Li Yuehong, reigning Olympic champion and three-time Olympic medalist in the 25m rapid-fire pistol (RFP) and Sheng Lihao, the reigning Olympic, World and Asian champion, world-record holder and a 20-year-old air-rifle sensation. In fact, in his last outing in Munich last year, Sheng set a new finals world record in his pet 10m air rifle and is coming off yet another World Cup win, in Lima. Li would be appearing at this level for the first time after his Paris Olympics gold. The Munich World Cup, set at a time when international shooters are generally nearing their peak and given its legacy and favourable location, like always has attracted the who's who of Rifle and Pistol shooting. Every strong shooting nation has sent its strongest available squads. China, outright winners of the first two legs, besides Li and Sheng, are also bringing their men's air pistol Olympic champion Xie Yu, in what is also a 22-member squad. Sheng, by the way, is also the mixed air rifle Olympic champion but his partner in Paris, Huang Yuting, will be missing in action. Hosts Germany have also fielded a strong 27-member contingent led by their pistol legend and former Olympic and World champion Christian Reitz. Anna Janssen, their women's air rifle qualification world record holder, would also be starting on home soil. Another RFP legend Jean Quiquampoix, part of a 16-member French squad, will help complete the troika of legends who have completely dominated the RFP event over the last decade or so. The Koreans will also be there in full force with 19 shooters, among them two of their three reigning women Olympic champions Yang Jiin (25m pistol) and Oh Yejin (10m air pistol). Reigning mixed team air pistol Paris champions Damir Mikec and Zorana Arunovic will headline a 15-member Serbian squad, while women's 3P exponent Chiara Leone, will complete the line-up of reigning Olympic champions in Munich. She will accompany an equally high-quality 11-member Switzerland team. Among former Olympic champions who have entered to start for their respective nations are Javad Faroughi (Iran-10m air pistol), Nina Christen (Switzerland-women's 3P) and Greek women's pistol legend Anna Korakaki. Several Paris Olympic medallists like the USA's Sagen Maddalena, Italy's Paolo Monna and Danilo Sollazzo and Alexandra Le of Kazakhstan, are also set to start in Munich. The USA's former world champion Alison Weisz also shoots in Munich, highlighting the strong US presence. Other legendary shooters in attendance will include the likes of Ukrainian rifle specialist Serhii Kulish (two-time Olympic medalist), who is part of a 21-member squad, the Czech Republic's Petar Gorsa, Hungary's Istvan Peni and Turkiye's Yusuf Dikec. A group of 25 individual neutral athletes (AIN) are also expected to pose a strong challenge in the 10 events on the schedule.
Indian Express
9 hours ago
- Indian Express
Indian badminton's biggest current nemesis – a dosai-loving, soft-spoken Malaysian guided by Herry, the Indonesian Magician
Twitter imbeciles of sport in India, looked at Aaron Chia, watched him outwit Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty at Singapore last week, and brought out the first three-letter body-shaming word they could summon. The Malaysian doubles player, one of the finest in the world, with one World championship in 2022 and two Olympic bronzes in 2021 and 2024, is not very tall, but stocky. Neither of which has interfered with him and partner Soh Wooi Yik developing a doubles game that can trouble the best in the world. Social media trolling and fan-wars often stem from ignorant understanding of the sport, and fans from two nations have often traded vile racist and body shaming insults directed at the shuttlers, with all of Aaron Chia, Satwik and Chirag being targets. Between the pairings, cordiality and respect prevail effortlessly, and badminton is always interesting. 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Fresh from winning the Asian Championships, the Malaysian coaching group reckoned they were riding a wave against Hoki-Kobayashi. No.3 seeds Chia/Soh 🇲🇾 go toe-to-toe against Rankireddy/Shetty 🇮🇳.#BWFWorldTour #SingaporeOpen2025 — BWF (@bwfmedia) May 31, 2025 The matchups in doubles get intriguing depending on playing styles that combinations are uncomfortable with. So Satwik-Chirag rarely struggle against Hoki-Kobayashi, but the Malaysians had an eight-match losing streak, and a wretched H2H of 2-11 playing the Japanese. Losing in the Sudirman Cup 3-2 to Japan as they lost the fifth decisive game, plunged Aaron-Wooi's popularity greatly. It was a proper scandal, with soul-searching and firings of coaches demanded, the usual refrain of allowing juniors to take over and a dark time for Aaron Chia personally. Those that pick on Satwik-Chirag for their colour, are not very kind to their own either. It's why when the duo won the Singapore Open and finally reversed the scoreline, even the Malaysian deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi breathed a sigh of relief, recalled a loss from India Open and gushed on Fb saying, 'But today, they came back to redeem that defeat and proved their mettle on the final stage.' As such, the duo called 'backup pair' in Malaysia, are in the middle of a purple patch – winning three of their last five tournaments. It prompted former World No 1 Malaysian Koo Kien Keat, who formed a world No. 1 partnership with Tan Boon Heong, to challenge them to match his Malaysian record for most men's doubles titles in a calendar year — six in 2007. No matter how big your achievements in men's doubles, the top level is so punishing that every pairing has its nemeses, mental demons and injury litanies and struggles – making it mentally challenging to retain the perch. Aaron-Wooi themselves were called bottlers on the World Tour, losing six consecutive finals before finally netting the Super 750 Denmark Open in 2023. Boorish badminton fans, looking for eternal highs and dispensing judgments on Twitter, are hardly aware of how tough the grind is, with every Chinese, Danish, Korean and Indonesian pair under constant scrutiny in a teeming calendar with no respite. What will help Aaron-Wooi, not too unlike the Indians having the sagacious coaches Tan Kim Her and Pullela Gopichand with them, is the arrival of Indonesian coaching great Herry Iman Pierngadi. 'Fire Dragon' is a 68-year-old Indonesian legend who trained Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan to thumping the Chinese at home in the Beijing Olympics final and shepherded Chandra Wijaya-Tony Gunawan. He faced a barrage of criticisms after the Sudirman exit, but stayed calm and unfazed knowing he knew better. Coach Herry has put an end to the Aaron-Wooi iffiness and hesitation especially in crunch scenarios against the Chinese. 'They now stick to their gameplan, even under pressure, and that's a huge step forward,' says Kein Keat, as quoted by Straits Times. The duo tended to panic and snatch at shuttles in crunch situations but that has drastically reduced. The coach has polished their game that can now launch comebacks from brinks of defeats, something Malaysians, considered brittle, were not known for. At the All England they lost in the first round, and Herry would call it the worst day of his coaching career. But the last month has seen them gain solidity. An example of Aaron and Wooi getting even more formidable since Herry's coaching was in a tournament semifinal when he told them they had come quite far so they could afford to play on like a training game. Freed of pressure, Aaron hit the high notes. Herry told FMT he was pleased to watch them displaying much improved tactical maturity, especially when under immense pressure from their opponents. For Satwik-Chirag, who progressed at Indonesia even after Aaron-Wooi slumped in Round 1 after three good weeks, the next battle gets interesting. Coach Tan is equally astute and will pit his planning wits against Herry IP, a legend whenever the two pairs meet. When fully fit, Satwik-Chirag can outgun Aaron-Wooi though the intricacies of strategy on both sides are a delicious prospect. The retired Indonesians Ahsan-Setiawan are role models for both the Malaysians and Indians. And both Satwik-Chirag will tell you they can counter Aaron Chia, but will see no reason to disrespect the amiable genius who has never been obnoxious on court. Wins and losses will get traded on court, but fans would do well to respect Aaron Chia as a formidable opponent whose shuttle skills deserve awe – a better three letter word than ones they foolishly throw his way for being stocky.
The Hindu
20 hours ago
- The Hindu
Archery World Cup Stage 3 set to experiment rule changes for scoring and time conservation
The Archery World Cup Stage 3, starting in Antalya on Wednesday, will have some experimental rule changes, which will reduce the time and make the scoring clearer. Among the changes, two are significant: the number of arrows will reduce from 72 to 60 in the qualification round, and 11 points, instead of 10, will be allocated for an arrow hitting the 'X' ring. The existing system, offering a maximum possible score of 720, requires an archer to shoot 72 arrows with a break (at the halfway stage) in the qualification stage. Under the new rule, offering a maximum of 660, one needs to shoot 60 arrows without a break. Now, because of the 11-point shots, the situation can change drastically in match-plays. 'For Antalya, Atanu (Das) and Deepika (Kumari) practised shooting with more perfection and tried hitting the X more often. This required aggressive shooting. We shot for 14-15 rounds at one go instead of 10,' said the archer couple's personal coach Rahul Banerjee. RELATED | Archery World Cup Stage 3: Parth Salunkhe's rise fuels Indian hopes 'The changes have both positive and negative sides. The qualification round will be a challenge as it will test one's endurance. In elimination rounds, one can fight back even after shooting a below-par score, say an eight, by getting two 11s. 'The changes will help compound competitions, as several archers were getting high scores. Now, there will be fewer ties.' Olympian archer B. Dhiraj shared his views. 'I am not too bothered about the experimental changes. It will be challenging to switch back to the old format after two days and compete in the selection trials for the World championships,' said Dhiraj.
