A houseful stadium during one of the Super League Kerala at Calicut. (Special Arrangement) NEW DELHI: For decades, Kerala has been the heartbeat of Indian football. Floodlit local tournaments draw packed crowds, school grounds produce gifted footballers, and the sport is woven into the state’s cultural identity. Yet translating that passion into a sustainable professional…
NEW DELHI: When North East Zone pacer Bishworjit Konthoujam came into the attack during the Duleep Trophy quarterfinal against East Zone, all eyes were on the batter facing him – 15-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.The expectations were clear. Boundaries. Big hits. Perhaps even a few towering sixes.And Sooryavanshi did exactly what many expected from him….
Kolkata: Swiss Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk during her match against Indian International Master Vantika Agrawal on the Day 1 of the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid 2024, in Kolkata. (PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra) PUNE: Former women’s world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk believes the rise of rapid and blitz chess has not diminished the virtues of the classical game,…
Asian Games 2026 (Reuters Photo) NEW DELHI: India’s official contingent for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games has been expanded to 768 members, with surfing added as the 36th sport. The Games will be held in Japan from Sept 19 to Oct 4.According to the sports ministry’s sanction order, the athletes’ strength has risen from originally named…
Argentina’s Lionel Messi celebrates at the end of the World Cup quarterfinal soccer match against the Netherlands in Lusail, Qatar, Dec. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan, File) Lionel Messi may have already played his final competitive match for Argentina, but reports suggest his farewell to the national team could still have one more chapter. Messi…
Pakistan Test team captain Babar Azam met UK’s King Charles III in London on Wednesday and presented him with a cricket bat signed by the entire Pakistan team, even as Pakistan’s tour of England continues to be overshadowed by defeats and drastic changes in the squad.Babar, along with the Pakistan squad and Pakistan Cricket Board…
Former Pakistan batter Mohammad Yousuf has questioned the major changes made to the Test squad and coaching staff during the ongoing England tour, saying the decisions appear to be linked to the wider instability that has affected Pakistan cricket for years.Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), led by Mohsin Naqvi, made sweeping changes after the team went…
Argentina cannot retire Messi’s iconic No.10 because FIFA requires every World Cup squad number from 1 to 26 to be assigned/ Image: file Lionel Messi’s retirement from international football has left Argentina with a question that feels almost impossible to answer: what happens to the No.10 shirt now? For many supporters, the obvious answer is…
Ignacio Buse, of Peru, serves the ball to Marcos Giron, of the United States, during the first round of the US Open tennis championships Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo) Peruvian tennis player Ignacio Buse earned his first US Open match win on Wednesday, adding another chapter to his family’s history at…
Levon Aronian opens up about R Praggnanandhaa’s GCT title NEW DELHI: A year ago, American Grandmaster Levon Aronian beat Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa in their third-place match at the Grand Chess Tour (GCT) Finals in São Paulo, Brazil. Playing fast-paced chess, he gradually came to understand one thing. Blitz and rapid, the Armenian great had apprehended, were…