Indian Sports Highlights, March 7: Sindhu in French Open QF, wrestling trials fixed, Nagal replaces Nadal in IW | Top Vip News

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Here on ESPN’s daily blog, we bring you all the news from the dynamic world of Indian sports, from the wide variety of Olympic sports to franchise leagues.

There is a lot of sporting action taking place in March, which you can find listed on ESPN India’s sports calendar.

These are the key events for Thursday, March 7:

ISL update: Punjab beat NEUFC 1-0

Punjab FC recorded their fourth win in their last six ISL matches by defeating NorthEast United FC 1-0 in Guwahati.

Punjab FC tied with NorthEast United in the race for the final playoff spots, moving up to ninth place in the table with 20 points, tied with Jamshedpur (seventh) and NEUFC (eighth).

The visitors won the match thanks to a Wilmar Jordan penalty in the 63rd minute, earning them crucial points in the playoff race, now just one point behind Bengaluru FC in sixth place.

French Open update: Sindhu, Treesa-Gayatri in quarterfinals, Srikanth out

PV Sindhu emerged victorious in a three-game battle for the second day in a row to continue her positive comeback from injury, while Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand beat the seventh seeds to reach the quarter-finals of the ongoing French Open Super 750.

Playing her first BWF Tour event since returning from a knee injury, Sindhu recovered from a game down to beat world No. 10 Beiwen Zhang, 13-21, 21-10, 21-14. Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also advanced after beating injured Japanese duo Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota 21-18, 21-13.

However, it was the end of Kidambi Srikanth’s campaign as he lost to Lu Guang Zu 21-19, 12-21, 20-22.

However, the going gets tougher for the Indians as Sindhu will face Olympic champion and second seed Chen Yu Fei in what will be the toughest tests since her comeback, while the women’s doubles pair will face top seeds Qing Chen Chen and Yi Fan Jia of China. the next round.

Wrestling Update: Trials for Asian Championships and Olympic Qualifiers remain on March 10-11

The ad hoc committee running the Wrestling Federation of India will go ahead with its trials to choose the teams for the upcoming Asian Championship and Olympic qualifiers on March 10 and 11 in Sonipat and Patiala.

The trials will be held at SAI Sonipat for male wrestlers (freestyle and Greco-Roman) and at NIS Patiala for female wrestlers and will be held in all 30 weight categories.

The winner of the Olympic weight category will represent India at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers (April 19-21) and World Olympic Qualifiers (May 9-12), the Bhupender-led ad hoc committee said on Thursday. Singh Bajwa in a statement. Additionally, winners in non-Olympic weight categories will represent India at the Asian Championships. Antim (53kg) will receive a direct entry to participate in the 2024 Asian Championships.

It should be noted that the quota won there will belong to the country and not to the fighter. Once wrestlers secure a quota in the Asian Olympic Qualifier or World Olympic Qualifier, the quota winner will face a challenger on June 5, which is likely to be the final Olympic event.

To determine the challenger, a trial will be held on May 31, where only the top four wrestlers in 53kg and the top three wrestlers in other categories (where India won a quota) emerging from the trials on the 10th and 11th will compete. of March.

These challengers will play in the Nordic format and the winner will be able to fight against the quota winner to determine who will represent the country at the Paris Olympics.

WFI will withdraw circular on conducting tests

The Wrestling Federation of India, which has been suspended by the Sports Ministry, told the Delhi High Court that it will withdraw its circular on conducting selection tests.

Taking note of the statement made by the WFI lawyer, Justice Sachin Datta said the trials will be held as per the circular issued by the ad hoc committee, constituted by the Indian Olympic Association, which oversees the affairs of WFI.

On March 4, the top court had sought responses from the Centre, WFI and the ad hoc committee on a petition filed by wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and her husband Satyawart Kadian seeking to declare the December 2023 elections held illegal. by the sports body and leave it aside. Wrestlers were at the frontline of last year’s protest against former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for alleged sexual harassment of seven female wrestlers.

The plea contended that the WFI elections, held on December 21, 2023, were in flagrant violation of the Sports Code and sought a direction to the federation to “cease and desist” from carrying out any activity related to the sport of wrestling.

The petition also sought a direction to the Center and WFI ad hoc committee to bring the wrestling federation into compliance with the National Sports Development Code, 2011, and to conduct national selection trials for all international events under the supervision and monitoring of the court.

Sanjay Kumar Singh, a close aide of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, was elected the new president of the WFI during the elections.

Soccer: AFC Cup

Central Coast Mariners easily beat Odisha FC 4-0 in the first leg of the AFC inter-zonal semi-final in Gosford, Australia. Goals from Mikael Doka (two), Storm Roux and Ronaldo Barcellos gave the Mariners a huge lead in the two-legged tie.

You can relive all the important moments of the match in our blog here.

India likely for FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Afghanistan

Meanwhile, in other football-related news, India men’s senior team coach Igor Stimac announced a list of 35 probables for the two matches against Afghanistan in Round 2 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 Joint Preliminary Qualification.

The team will play its first away match against Afghanistan on March 21, 2024 in Abha, Saudi Arabia. India’s home match against Afghanistan will be played in Guwahati on March 26, 2024.

Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Phurba Tempa Lachenpa, Vishal Kaith.

Defenders: Akash Mishra, Lalchungnunga, Mehtab Singh, Pritam Kotal, Rahul Bheke, Nikhil Chandrashekhar Poojary, Subhasish Bose, Narender, Anwar Ali, Roshan Singh Naorem, Amey Ganesh Ranawade, Jay Gupta.

Midfielders: Anirudh Thapa, Brandon Fernandes, Liston Colaco, Mahesh Singh Naorem, Sahal Abdul Samad, Suresh Singh Wangjam, Jeakson Singh Thounaojam, Deepak Tangri, Lalthathanga Khawlhring, Lalengmawia Ralte, Imran Khan.

Forward: Sunil Chhetri, Ishan Pandita, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Manvir Singh, Vikram Partap Singh, Rahul Kannoly Praveen, Nandhakumar Sekar, Isak Vanlalruatfela.

Indian Wells Open: Nadal out, Nagal in

Rafael Nadal withdrew from the Indian Wells Open…and that gave Sumit Nagal a spot in the main draw! And guess who Nagal faces in the first round? Former world number 3 and Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic.

Nagal has enjoyed a fantastic 2024 on tour, with highlights including reaching the Australian Open main draw and victory over Alexander Bublik, breaking into the top 100 in the rankings, winning the Chennai Open Challenger and runner-up at the Bengaluru Open Challenger and now a main draw appearance at an ATP Masters 1000 event. Sumit is also the first Indian since Prajnesh Gunneswaran (in 2019) to reach the main draw of a Masters.

Olympic Boxing Qualifiers: Another day, another Indian comes out

India’s dismal run in the Olympic boxing qualifiers continues as Sanjeet becomes the latest Indian boxer to exit in the first round. He lost by unanimous verdict to Kazakhstan’s Aibek Oralbay in the first round of the men’s 92kg. Six Indian boxers failed to make it through the first round of these qualifiers.

Nishant Dev (71kg) is the only Indian to advance to the next round by beating British great Lewis Richardson in their last-16 bout on Wednesday.

While none of the male boxers have made the cut for the Paris Olympics, four of India’s female boxers have sealed their quotas for the Paris Olympics: Nikhat Zareen (earned the quota by winning bronze at the Games Asian Games), Lovlina Borgohain (silver at the Asian Games), Preeti. Pawar (Asian Games bronze) and Parveen Hooda (Asian Games bronze).

What is there currently?

  • AFC Cup: Odisha vs Central Coast Mariners in the inter-zonal semi-final (1:30 p.m. Eastern Time)

  • Badminton: The 2024 French Open continues (matches start at 2.30 pm IST): Kidambi Srikanth faces Lu Guang Zu (court 3, match one), PV Sindhu vs Beiwen Zhang (court 2, match 2), Treesa-Gayatri vs Fukushima-Hirota (court 2, match 5), Sat-Chi vs Man -Kai (court 2, eighth match), Lakshya Sen vs Li Shi Feng (court 1, penultimate match)

  • ISL: NorthEast United vs Punjab FC (7:30 pm Eastern Time)

  • PVL: Kolkata Thunderbolts vs Mumbai Meteors (6:30 p.m. Eastern Time)

  • Boxing: Indian boxers are in action in the Olympic qualifiers.

What happened yesterday?

  • Badminton: PV Sindhu dug deep to show that while she may still have more than a few flaws in her game, the old fight that marked her champion will has returned, beating Michelle Li in three games to advance. And Kidambi Srikanth also advanced, who defeated Chou Tien Chen. However, HS Prannoy does not advance, who lost to Lu Guang Zu.

  • Hockey: Men’s Hockey Schedule Revealed – And We Had Anish Anand Giving His Opinion On It (Scroll Down To Last Point For Link To Yesterday’s Blog)

  • Football: FC Goa remain in the hunt for the league shield thanks to Noah’s winner against East Bengal, as the battle for the top five draws ever closer.

  • PVL: Bengaluru Torpedoes came back from 1-2 down to beat fellow heavyweights Calicut Heroes 3-2

  • Boxing: India finally got a win in the Olympic qualifiers: Nishant Dev beat British great Lewis Richardson to become the first (of six, so far) Indian boxer in these qualifiers to clear the first hurdle.

  • You can find more details of yesterday’s events, here.

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