NEW DELHI

Javelin thrower Annu Rani has qualified for Tokyo Olympics 2020 through her world ranking (18th), the Sports Authority of India (SAI) confirmed on Friday.The 28-year-old is currently sitting at the 11th position in the world ranking of women’s javelin throwers. “#AnnuRani has qualified for #Tokyo2020 in women’s javelin throw through her world ranking (18th). Many congratulations to her. #Cheer4India #TokyoOlympics,” SAI Media tweeted. Earlier in March this year, Annu rewrote her own national record with a 63.24m effort on the opening day of the 24th Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports complex. She missed the Olympic qualification mark of 64.00m by a whisker.

Earlier, SAI also confirmed the qualification of Indian ace sprinter Dutee Chand in both 100m and 200m events through her world ranking. 22 spots were available in 100m and 15 spots in 200m via the World Rankings route. Chand’s overall position of World No. 44 in 100m and World No. 51 in 200m were well within the ranks to make her eligible to fly to Tokyo this month.

Elsewhere, Maana Patel has become the first Indian female swimmer to qualify for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics through the universality quota, SAI confirmed. Maana is the third Indian swimmer who will take part in Tokyo 2020 as earlier Srihari Nataraj and Sajan Prakash earned automatic qualification (A time) for the Olympics.

LONDON

Star India player Sania Mirza and her mixed doubles partner Rohan Bopanna defeated compatriots Ankita Raina and Ramkumar Ramanathan in the first round of the ongoing Wimbledon Championships on Friday.

Sania and Bopanna beat Ankita and Ramanathan in two straight sets 6-2, 7-6. The first set was rather easy for the experienced duo as they clinched the game with a considerable margin. However, Ankita and Ramanathan gave their all in the second set, and Sania and Bopanna had to fight hard to come out with flying colours. The all-Indian contest lasted for one hour and nine minutes as Sania and her partner won 69 points, 11 more than their opponents.

On Thursday, Sania Mirza and her doubles partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands sailed into the second round of the ongoing Wimbledon Championships. Sania and her American partner easily defeated the doubles pair of Desirae Krawczyk and Alexa Guarachi in the first round of women’s doubles. Krawczyk and Guarachi gave a tough fight to Sania and Mattek-Sands in the first set however, the Indian tennis star along with her partner clinched the opening set 7-5.

Riding on the winning momentum, Sania and Mattek-Sands thrashed sixth seed pair of Krawczyk- Guarachi in the second set with a 6-3 win to kick off the quest of Grand Slam in style. Meanwhile, Sania and Ankita are all set to represent India in Women’s Doubles at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics after entries were officially announced on Thursday.

Sania will now become the first female athlete to represent India at four Olympics when she features at the Tokyo 2020, slated to get underway from July 23 while Ankita Raina will be making her debut at the showpiece event.

AHMEDABAD

Twenty-one-year-old swimmer Maana Patel has made the country proud. She will represent India at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. Maana, a native of Ahmedabad, will compete in the 100m backstroke at the Olympics. She was selected for the Olympic Gold Quest in 2015. She has won one gold and four silver medals so far.

Maana has become the first woman in the country to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Apart from this, she is only the third Indian to qualify for the Olympics in this sport. Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju also tweeted congratulating Maana for her achievement.

Rijiju tweeted, “Backstroke swimmer Maana Patel has become the first Indian woman and the third Indian swimmer to qualify for # Tokyo2020. I congratulate Maana who achieved qualification under the University Quota. Weldon.”

Maana, 21, suffered a knee injury in 2019 and has made a comeback this year. Vijay Nehra also tweeted congratulations on Maana Patel›s achievement. “Very nice Maana Patel, heartfelt congratulations to you and your coach Kamlesh Nanavati, as well as congratulations to your parents Ravjibhai and Analben, whose hard work and dedication I have seen over the last 10 years,” he wrote. You have made us all proud.

Apart from Maana, the other two swimmers to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics are Srihari Nataraja and Sajan Prakash. The university quota allows one male and one female competitor to compete in the Olympics. Talking about her selection, Maana said, «I am very happy. I’ve heard about the Olympics from my fellow swimmers and seen them on TV and seen a lot of photos, but this time staying there and competing with the world’s best swimmers makes my hair stand on end.”

NEW DELHI

The Indian team will play a warm-up game from July 20 to 22 against a team that is being arranged by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) after a request from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Speaking to ANI, sources in the know of developments said the team that Virat Kohli and boys will take on is yet to be decided, but there will be a warm-up game once the team is back from the short break they were given after the World Test Championship final. “The BCCI made a request to the ECB for a warm-up game and it will be played from July 20 to 22. The squad will be decided soon,” the source explained.

With the team wanting to test themselves in a practice game rather than two intra-squad games before the series gets underway, the BCCI spoke to the ECB and the same has been worked out. While speaking to the media in the virtual press conference at the end of the World Test Championship final against New Zealand, Kohli had said his side wanted first-class games ahead of the series against England, but they have not been given that.

“Well, that doesn’t depend on us. We obviously wanted first-class games, which I believe have not been given to us. I don’t know what the reasons for that are. But yeah, other than that I think our preparation time will be ample for us to be ready for the first Test,” said Kohli.

Meanwhile, India opener Shubman Gill has been ruled out for eight weeks after he suffered a shin injury post the final encounter at Ageas Bowl in Southampton. Incidentally, pacer Ishant Sharma had suffered an injury to his bowling hand while stopping a ball during the WTC final at the Ageas Bowl and had to get three stitches. But the pacer is set to be fit in time for the England Tests.“Ishant hurt his bowling hand while stopping the ball and had to get three stitches. But he will be ready for the Tests against England which starts on August 4,” a source had said. While the Indian cricketers are currently on a break, they are set to return to the bubble for the five-Test series against England around July 14.

NEW DELHI

The second day match of the quarter finals at the Euro Championship 2021 will be played between the Czech Republic and Denmark at the Olympic Stadium in Baku—the capital and the largest city of Azerbaijan. While not many expected either of the two to reach this far in the tournament, no one can deny that they earned their place among the top 8 teams who have made their way to the quarterfinals. The two teams have locked horns 11 times in previous encounters where the Czech Republic have won 3 ties, Denmark have won twice. Coincidentally 6 fixtures between these two nations have ended in draws.

The Czech Republic have had the credit of finishing runner-up in 1996 and a semifinal finish at the 2004 edition of the Quadrennial Continental tournament. The Czechs have won both their games against Denmark at the Euros, scoring five goals and conceding none in the process. Slotted in Pool C they finished third in their pool behind England and Croatia but made it to the Round of 16 as one of the best 4 third placed teams. They started their campaign at the Euros this year on prolific note with a 3-0 win over Scotland and a 1-1 draw with Croatia followed by a loss to Pool toppers England by a solitary goal. The icing on the cake was their 2-0 win against the flying Dutchmen where their 4-2-3-1 formation and a disciplined performance booked their ticket to the quarterfinals.

Denmark have had their share of European Football glory when they were crowned champions in 1992 and reached the last four in 1984 along with a Quarterfinal finish in 2004. They even won the top prize at the FIFA Confederation Cup in 1995 and reached the Quarterfinals of the FIFA World cup in 1998. This year the Danes finished second in Pool B behind Belgium with 3 points from their 4 league matches. After losing Christian Ericson due to a mid-match collapse they had to deal with a 0-1 loss to Poland and 1-2 defeat at the hands of Belgium. The Danish Dynamites as they are fondly referred to finally lit up the tournament with a 4-1 victory over Russia at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen.

The Danes will have their strength in the goal scoring performances of Nice striker Kasper Dolberg, Atlanta full back Joakim Mæhle and Leipzig striker Yussuf Poulsen who have found the opponents net twice while, Barcelona winger Martin Braithwaite, Sampadoria’s Mikkel Damsgaard, Chelsea Central Defender Andreas Christensen have scored once for the Danes in this edition of the Euros. One cannot deny the role of Kasper Schmeichel who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Leicester City and is the son of the legendary Danish and Manchester United custodian Peter Schmeichel.Harry Kane leads this extremely talented squad that is brimming with potential and exuberance. The only challenge is that with all their talent, they were the lowest scoring team to qualify for the round of 16 – with 2 goals. The consolation that many will look to is that their defense has not been breached till date and that seems to be one of the biggest problems that has been solved. England registered a 1-0 win over Croatia in their opening game which was followed by a goalless draw with their arch rivals Scotland and a 1-0 win over the Czechs. In the round of 16 their biggest reason to cheer was when they dominated a lackluster Germany with a 2-0 win.

Manchester City striker and winger Raheem Sterling has scored thrice for England while captain Harry Kane scored against Germany. Hope springs eternal in the English hearts as their talented young players have created many chances.  Substitutes Jack Grealish and Jordan Henderson have done wonders coming off the bench while Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden have proved their ability to shackle any opposition with their pace and skill. A matter for worry for Southgate will be that four English players carry the danger of being unavailable for  next game as Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice, Maguire and Foden are all one booking away from a suspension.

Ukraine on the other hand are a very young nation and played their very first international game in April 1992.  Ukraine were slotted in Group C and finished third with 3 points. In their opening tie, Ukraine impressed with 2-3 defeat to the Netherlands while narrowly winning against tournament debutants North Macedonia 2-1. Ukraine lost to Austria by a solitary goal and clawed their way into Round of 16 as fourth best team among the 3rd placed teams in group stages.

Former England captain Alastair Cook reckons India will be in trouble if the ball moves around in the upcoming five-match Test series in the UK, notwithstanding their formidable batting line-up.

Cook pointed out India’s weakness against the moving ball.

“India are a great side. England will always fancy their chances more if that ball moves. If the conditions are like that in the month of August with moisture around, England will fancy bowling to that Indian side.

“Yes, they are a world-class batting unit. But their big weakness is the ball that moves, if it nips. You always fancy your chances against them,” Cook said on BBC Test Match Special Podcast episode.

Speaking about the World Test Championship final against New Zealand, Cook observed that India “got a bit ahead of themselves” by choosing two spinners over an extra seamer despite overcast conditions. New Zealand won the inaugural WTC by beating India by eight wickets in a rain-marred final in Southampton.

“They (India) got a bit confident in picking that side three days out before (the game) and playing two spinners where they pretty much knew it was going to rain for a lot of that game. So a lot of seam bowling was bowled. “Even though their spinners are world-class, they got a little bit ahead of themselves there,” Cook said.

Lack of match practice was another reason behind India’s defeat, according to the prolific Test opener of his time.

While the Kiwis entered the WTC title clash after a morale-boosting Test series win over hosts England, the Indians were left to depend on intra-squad matches after arriving in the UK. “I did say NZ were going to win that game purely down to the fact that they were match-hardened. Those two Test matches against England were such perfect preparation,” Cook said.