Silvis (Illinois), July 6 (IANS) England’s Aaron Rai and CT Pan of Chinese Taipei gave the scoreboard at the John Deere Classic a strong Asian flavour as they shared the lead at the midway stage of the PGA TOUR event.

Rai, whose parents have an Indian origin going back to his grandparents, shot another bogey-free round of 8-under 63 to share the lead with Pan going into the weekend at the John Deere Classic. Rai was 65-63 for two rounds and Pan was the same and the duo was 14-under.

The pair lead by two strokes from England’s Harry Hall (66), while Korean star Sungjae Im also powered into contention following a superb 64 to be tied for fourth with five others, including overnight leader Hayden Springer on 130.

A week ago Rai shared the 54-hole lead in Detroit and wound up one shot begin winner, Cam Davis. Rai, who was bogey free in his first round 65 went two shots better and was still without a bogey on his scorecard. He is looking for his maiden PGA Tour win after a lot of close calls.

Rai’s grandparents from both his mother and father’s side have Indian origins. His mother grew up in Kenya, before they migrated to UK, where Aaron was born in Wolverhampton.

The impressive performance at TPC Deere Run will certainly boost Pan’s confidence ahead of the Olympics where he won the bronze medal in Tokyo, beating the likes of Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa and Hideki Matsuyama in a seven-way playoff for the podium finish.

Pan holed out from 32 yards for an eagle en route to a flawless 8-under 63. The 32-year-old Pan, who won the 2019 RBC Heritage for his sole PGA TOUR victory, pitched in for a two on the par-4 14th hole at TPC Deere Run to post his best score of the season, complemented by six earlier birdies.

Pan’s Paris 2024 Olympic Games-bound compatriot Kevin Yu also delivered an impressive 63, improving 57 places for joint 10th. Yu chalked up 10 birdies, seven of which came on the back nine, offset by two bogeys.

Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune carded a second successive 67 to comfortably progress to the weekend rounds in T32 at 134. He is followed by S.H. Kim of Korea, who shot a 69 to sit one shot further back in T39.

Two-time John Deere winner Jordan Spieth made the weekend with 69-67.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 6 (IANS) The Copa America and the European Championships are nearing the business end of the tournament. Saturday’s fixtures will see the top four sides in both tournaments be confirmed.

All eyes will be on the battle of the heavyweights with Brazil and Uruguay set to clash at the Allegiant Stadium in Nevada. Brazil have had a topsy-turvy start to their tournament with the side finishing second in their group behind Colombia.

Uruguay on the other hand are tied with Argentina as the record winners of the tournament (15 times) with the side being in top form heading into the game having scored nine goals in their three Group stage games.

Colombia have been on a 25-game unbeaten streak and will be hoping to beat Panama in what is expected to be a one-sided encounter.

With Argentina and Canada already set up for the first semi-final of the tournament, the winners of Colombia vs Panama and Brazil vs Uruguay will face each other in the next round.

England will be facing a tough test in their quarter-final matchup against in-form Switzerland. The Three Lions have been struggling to score and just managed to scrape past Slovakia in their Round of 16 game with a 2-1 win after extra-time.

Reports suggest that Southgate may be looking to switch the formation to a back three to take on the swift counter-attacking side.

Netherlands will be full of confidence heading into their game against Turkey having breezed past Romania with a 3-0 win in the Round of 16. The Dutch have not reached the semi-finals of the Euros since 2004. Turkey on the other hand will hope to continue their dream run and make their first semi-final appearance since 2008.

Euro Cup schedule:

Saturday: England vs Switzerland 9:30 PM IST

Sunday: Netherlands vs Turkey 12:30 AM IST

Copa America schedule:

Sunday: Colombia vs Panama 3:30 AM IST

Sunday: Brazil vs Uruguay 6:30 AM IST

–IANS

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Berlin, July 6 (IANS) Netherlands have managed to carve their way through to the quarter-finals of the 2024 European Championship where they will face Turkey at the Olympiastadion.

The Dutch finished third behind Austria and France in their group and qualified as one of the four best placed third teams in the tournament. They went on to face Roumania in the Round of 16, a game which finished 3-0 and a confidence building victory.

Ahead of their match against Turkey, head coach Ronald Koeman talks about every game at this stage of the tournament being difficult and has stated that the team will have to ‘fight for it.’

“The last match was at a really good level football-wise, if we keep that level then it can be a really good tournament for us. Every match is difficult, all the big teams have struggled in different matches to win them. England scored in the last seconds, Portugal won on penalties. You have to fight for it,” said Koeman in the pre-match press confrence.

The Netherlands have progressed from five of their last seven major tournament quarter-finals, with the most recent being a penalty shootout loss to Argentina at the 2022 World Cup.

Koeman also went on to suggest that the Turkish fans are great and it will be imperative to make them quiet as the game progresses.

“I’ve got some experience against Turkish teams, the atmosphere is always great. We just need to keep the ball and they will become quiet. You need to be cool, business-like and play your game,” added the former Barca head coach.

–IANS

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Morrisville (USA), July 6 (IANS) The Major League Cricket (MLC) 2024 season commenced on Friday as MI New York began their title defence with a commanding six-wicket win over Seattle Orcas at the Church Street Park Stadium.

All eyes were on Nicholas Pooran at Church Street Park in Morrisville as the West Indian wicketkeeper-batter continued his form from the 2023 edition. His unbeaten 62 off just 37 balls helped MI New York chase down a total of 109 runs in just 14.2 overs.

With the early wickets of Ruben Clinton (6) and USA’s national team skipper Monank Patel (8), the initial momentum seemed to be in the Seattle Orcas’ favour. Cameron Gannon was the main bowling aggressor, getting both batters in the third over and giving his team a ray of hope.

But then, Pooran proceeded to hit Gannon for two sixes and as many fours in his next over. This turned the tide in MI New York’s favour.

Eventually, Pooran’s power-hitting abilities proved to be too much for the Seattle Orcas. They got the wickets of Shayan Jahangir (3) and Tim David (12) as well, but the left-handed Pooran and his countryman Kieron Pollard (8*) took their team over the line for their first win of MLC 2024.

Earlier in the day, the skills of the MI New York bowlers were on display as they bowled out the Seattle Orcas for just 108 runs. Rashid Khan and Trent Boult bagged three wickets each, never really allowing their opponents to settle into the match.

New Zealand’s star pacer Boult got the early breakthrough in the opening over itself, sending Nauman Anwar back to the pavilion for a duck. The Pakistan batter’s late attempt to cut the ball away caught a faint edge which travelled to the wicketkeeper and eventual match-winner Pooran.

With Quinton de Kock (5) still at the crease, the Seattle Orcas could still hit a competitive score, but he was also removed by Boult in the next over. His attempt to hit the ball through the leg side was met with a top edge, and Pooran did well to get underneath it and send de Kock back to the pavilion.

From then on, MI New York were in the driving seat, getting the regular wickets. For the Seattle Orcas, Shubham Ranjane ended as the highest run-getter with a tidy innings of 35 runs in 31 balls. Finding the boundary regularly, Ranjane proved to be a threat before he tried to hit Rashid Khan for consecutive sixes but fell short in his second attempt, hitting the ball to Tim David instead.

Harmeet Singh, who recently featured for the USA in the T20 World Cup, played a 20-run cameo as the side set a target that was eventually chased down by the defending champions with 34 balls to spare.

Brief scores: Seattle Orcas 109 in 19.1 overs (Shubham Ranjane 35, Harmeet Singh 20; Rashid Khan 3/22) lost to MI New York 111/4 in 14.2 overs (Nicholas Pooran 62, Tim David 12, Cameron Gannon 2/40) by six wickets.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 6 (IANS) The Paris Olympics are fast approaching and we’re just 20 days away from the start of the world’s biggest sporting carnival. India will be sending a contingent of close to 120 sportspersons to the Olympics, including an Athletics team led by the defending champion in the men’s javelin Neeraj Chopra, a 21-member Shooting team and a 16-member men’s hockey squad.

IANS takes a look at the Top 10 medal prospects for India based on their recent performance and fitness.

Neeraj Chopra (Javelin throw):

The javelin superstar Neeraj Chopra will strive to make history by becoming the first Indian athlete to win back-to-back gold medals. Chopra was last in action at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland, on June 18 and currently training in Germany. With a best throw of 85.97m, he won the gold medal there. This week’s Paris Diamond League is not part of his competition calendar, meaning the next time he takes the field will be at the Olympics.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (Badminton):

Satwik and Chirag haven’t competed since the Singapore Open in May, where they lost in the first round. This has also affected their ranking as they dropped to World No. 3 from the top spot. The duo had narrowly missed out on a quarterfinal berth in the last Olympics despite winning two of their three group matches.

Lovlina Borgohain (Boxing):

Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina was recently in action at the Grand Prix tournament in the Czech Republic. She lost two bouts and won once, which was enough for her to win silver. Along with Nikhat, she is also in Saarbrucken, Germany, for a month-long training camp. After finishing the camp on July 22, Lovlina will head to Paris in search of her second Olympic medal.

Men’s hockey team:

Head coach Craig Fulton had recently named the final squad that will travel to Paris. As expected, Harmanpreet Singh will lead the side and PR Sreejesh will be the only goalkeeper in the team. The Men in Blue didn’t have a great run in the Europe leg of the Pro League, which saw them finish seventh, only above Spain and Ireland. The team is currently training in Bengaluru and will fly to Switzerland soon for a team bonding camp. They are also expected to play a few friendlies before reaching Paris. India won a bronze medal in Tokyo after 41 years. Now, a bigger drought awaits them as the country has not won back-to-back medals at the Olympics since 1972 in Munich.

Vinesh Phogat (Wrestling):

Phogat will be in action soon when she competes in the Spain Grand Prix. Training in Bengaluru, she sought help from the Sports Ministry on Tuesday to help in her visa process and duly received the visa a few hours later. After the event in Spain, she will be off to France for a 20-day training stint in preparation for the Olympics. She was last in action at the Budapest Ranking Series in June, where she lost to China’s Jiang Zhu 5-0 in the 50kg quarterfinals.

Nikhat Zareen (Boxing):

Nikhat, already a two-time world champion, will aim for greater glory in Paris where she will be making her Olympic debut. She was last in action at the Elorda Cup in May where she took top honours. At the moment, Nikhat along with five other boxers, is on a month-long training at the Olympic Centre in Saarbrucken, Germany. She will be there till July 22 and will then head to Paris.

PV Sindhu (Badminton):

Sindhu is currently training with her coach Agus Dwi Santoso and her team in Saarbrucken, Germany. She has not been in action since the Indonesia Open last month and hasn’t been in prime form in her recent tournaments – losing in the early rounds of both the Singapore Open and Indonesia events – but remains among India’s brightest medal hopes. If she medals in Paris, she would become India’s most successful Olympian with three medals, after a silver in Rio 2016 and a bronze in Tokyo 2020.

Mirabai Chanu (Weightlifting):

Mirabai is looking to get on the Olympic podium once again in Paris after her scintillating performance in Tokyo earned her a silver medal. It has not been an easy journey for Mirabai since the Tokyo glory as she endured a tough period due to injuries. Nevertheless, she’s one of the strong favourites in her category in Paris and she can climb the podium if she lifts in the range of 200-210kgs. She has been training at the NIS Patiala and will be heading to France next week to acclimatise to the conditions before her big competition.

Sift Kaur Samra (Shooting):

Sift, the Asian Games gold medallist, made it to the Paris squad in women’s 50m rifle 3 positions after outstanding performance in the four-stage Olympic selection trials. She was in action at the Munich World Cup earlier last month where she won the bronze medal, missing silver by only 0.1 point to Han Jiayu of China. She had recently finished a national camp in France and will be seen next at the Olympics.

Aditi Ashok (Golf):

Aditi will represent India for the third time at the Olympics. Her participation was never in doubt but was confirmed recently via Olympic Golf Rankings. Aditi, ranked 60th in the world, qualified for the Games as she was placed 24th. She has not been in great form as she failed to secure a top-10 finish this season but she’ll be hoping to repeat her Tokyo heroics and also go a step further in terms of clinching a medal.

–IANS

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