Paris, July 29 (IANS) Harmanpreet Singh, captain of the Indian men’s hockey team, on Monday admitted that his players need to hone their finishing skills after a 1-1 draw against Argentina in a Pool B match at the 33rd Olympic Games here on Monday. Harmanpreet scored the all-important equaliser on the penalty corner in the dying minutes as India and Argentina shared one point each. India conceded in the 22nd minute of the match and failed to find the back of the net till the 58th minute.

“The team is playing really well. We’re strong defensively, with or without the ball. With the ball, we’re creating a lot of chances and getting into the opponent’s circle. We can improve the outcome and the finishing in the upcoming games. We have a plan, we’re creating chances, but our finishing needs to be better,” Harmanpreet said in an exclusive interview with JioCinema.

The ace drag-flicker also acknowledged the team’s poor penalty corner conversion against New Zealand and Argentina and said they have to come up with better planning after the team only scored one out of ten penalty corners against the 2016 Rio Olympics gold medallist on Monday.

“We had our discussions with the coach on where to flick, and we were just following that. To be honest, if you look at the rushers today and during the match against New Zealand, and even our rushers, the first rushers are playing a very important role for every team. We need to devise a plan and strategy on how to beat them. Hopefully, in the next match, we will come up with a better plan and finish well,” Harmanpreet said.

On scoring the all-important equaliser just before the final hooter, Harmanpreet said, “The coach tells us where to flick the ball for every penalty corner. They’re sitting outside and analyzing the game, so we just follow the planning. But we fought and created chances until the last whistle. You definitely feel relieved when you score the equaliser, but the result wasn’t in our favour as we wanted to win the match.”

India will next lock horns with Ireland, who have lost both their matches in the tournament so far, on Tuesday but the captain is in no mood to take the opponents lightly.

“We plan to focus on one match at a time. Till now, we were focused on the Argentina match. Now, whatever time is left before tomorrow’s match, we will analyse Ireland’s game because they’re a great team as well. They have played well so far and we know that no team is easy to beat,” Harmanpreet concluded.

–IANS

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Wantage (UK), July 29 (IANS) Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz has signed a two-year contract with Williams Racing with options to extend which will come into effect from the next Formula 1 season. The Spanish driver will race alongside Thailand’s Alex Albon in the 2025 season after losing his current Ferrari seat to seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

In his Formula 1 career to date, the 29-year-old has achieved three race victories, 23 podiums, over 1,100 career points and is currently sitting fifth in this season’s Drivers’ Championship.

After becoming the only non-Red Bull Racing driver to achieve a race victory in 2023, Sainz most recently took victory at this year’s Australian Grand Prix, just ten days after surgery for appendicitis, and has scored four further podiums so far this season. Sainz has had no shortage of suitors, with Williams, Sauber/Audi and Alpine all keen to get his signature – but it was James Vowles’ Williams project that ultimately got the Spaniard’s seal of approval.

Sainz said Williams is the right place for him to continue his Formula 1 journey and vows to bring the team to the front of the grid. “I am very happy to announce that I will be joining Williams Racing from 2025 onwards. It is no secret that this year’s driver market has been exceptionally complex for various reasons and that it has taken me some time to announce my decision. However, I am fully confident that Williams is the right place for me to continue my F1 journey and I am extremely proud of joining such a historic and successful team, where many of my childhood heroes drove in the past and made their mark on our sport,” he said in a statement.

“The ultimate goal of bringing Williams back to where it belongs, at the front of the grid, is a challenge that I embrace with excitement and positivity. I am convinced that this team has all the right ingredients to make history again and starting on January 1 I will give my absolute best to drive Williams forward alongside every single member of the team,” Sainz added.

Williams Team Principal, James Vowles said, “In Alex and Carlos we will have one of the most formidable driver line-ups on the grid and with huge experience to guide us into the new regulations in 2026. Their belief in this organisation’s mission demonstrates the magnitude of the work going on behind the scenes. People should be in no doubt about our ambition and momentum as we continue our journey back to competitiveness – we are here, we are serious and with Dorilton’s backing we are investing in what it takes to return to the front of the grid.

“I also want to thank Logan for everything he has done for the team and know he will continue to fight hard for us in the races ahead.”

–IANS

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Paris, July 29 (IANS) Former World No.1 pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made history on Monday as they became the first Indian men’s doubles combine to reach the quarterfinals at the Olympics.

After their Group C match against the German pair of Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel was called off in the morning following their opponent withdrew due to injury, Satwik and Chirag got the good news later in the evening when the French pair of Lucas Corvee-Ronan Labar’s defeat against Muhammad Rian Ardianto-Fajar Alfian of Indonesia.

The Indian combine ranked third in the world, had beaten Lucas Corvee-Ronan Labar in their first match in Paris. With the group reduced to three teams following the withdrawal of the German pair, Satwik and Chirag and the Indonesian combine have won one match and both have made it to the last-eight stage as two teams are to qualify from each group. The Indian and Indonesian pairs will clash in the final match in Group C to decide the group topper.

Satwik-Chirag, the reigning Asian and Commonwealth Games champions, were scheduled to play the German pair on Monday. However, Lamfuss pulled out of the tournament due to a knee injury.

“German men’s doubles player Mark Lamsfuss has withdrawn from the Olympic Games Paris 2024 badminton competition due to a knee injury. Lamsfuss’ and teammate Marvin Seidel‘s remaining Group C matches against India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty (Court 3, 8.30 am local time, 29 July 2024) and Lucas Corvee/Ronan Labar of France (Court 1, ‘Not Before’ 2.50 pm local time, 30 July 2024) will not be played,” the Badminton World Federation statement read.

Lamfuss-Seidel’s remaining two Group C matches, including Monday’s game, have been cancelled. The German duo’s result against Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto, world No. 7 in men’s doubles, has also been deleted as per BWF General Competition Regulations for group stage play.

“Matches on these courts in each respective session have been rescheduled. As per BWF General Competition Regulations for group stage play, the results of all matches played, or yet to be played, involving in Group C are now considered deleted,” it added.

Satwik-Chirag’s next Group C match will be against the Indonesian pair, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto on Tuesday (July 30) at 5:30 pm IST.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) Jonathan Trott, the former England batter who currently coaches Afghanistan, will be taking over as Pretoria Capitals’ head coach in the upcoming SA20 season. Trott replaces Graham Ford, who left the role at the franchise earlier this month.

Under Ford, the Capitals became runners-up in season one of SA20, but had a difficult time and finished in fifth place in the second season of the tournament. This is the second major shake-up in the Capitals’ franchise world after Ricky Ponting parted ways with Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Trott comes into the role ahead of Season 3 of SA20 on the back of delivering spectacular results with a much-improved Afghanistan in two consecutive World Cups.

In the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup, Afghanistan beat teams like New Zealand, Bangladesh and Australia to enter the semifinals for the first time, before losing to South Africa in Trinidad, making this their best-ever performance in the global trophy of the shortest format.

In the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup, Afghanistan beat England, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the Netherlands in an impressive campaign in India. The SA20 coaching stint with the Capitals also marks Trott’s return to South Africa, the country of his birth.

He attended the prestigious Rondebosch Boys’ High School in Cape Town and represented South Africa at U-15 and U-19 levels, as well as played for Western Province and Boland before pursuing an international playing career for England (52 Tests, 68 ODIs and 7 T2OIs) and being associated with Warwickshire County Cricket Club in Birmingham.

Meanwhile, two-time champion Sunrisers Eastern Cape have confirmed the Netherlands’ all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe will come back to the side for SA20 Season 3 after being unavailable for the previous edition.

In the inaugural season, van der Merwe was the joint leading wicket-taker with 20 scalps, coming at an economy rate of just 5.62, including taking 4-31 against the Capitals to win the Player of the Final award.

–IANS

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Paris, July 29 (IANS) The Indian men’s archery team of Tarundeep Rai, Dhiraj Bommadevara and Pravin Jadhav lost to Turkiye 2-6 in the quarterfinals and was knocked out of the Paris Olympics on Monday. Bommadevara and veteran Rai were the weakest links of the Indian team as Jadhav scored the most points in the quarterfinal clash. India lost the opening two sets as the young Turkish trio came out all guns blazing.

However, the Indians made a comeback in the third set and won 55-54 before going down miserably in the next set. Turkiye comfortably sealed the match with a scoreline of 57-53, 55-52, 54-55, 58-54.

Bommadevara shot a seven in the First End and made up for it with a 10 while Rai could manage only nine and eight in two rounds. Türkiye had four arrows in the 10-point zone while the Indians had only two. In the second set, Rai shot two eights while Jadhav had a 10 and a nine while Bommadevara shot a eight and nine.

They did better in the third set with two 10s, three 9s and one eight while Türkiye’s Berkim Tumer shot a seven. In the fourth set, Bommadevara shot a seven, which ended India’s hopes.

On Sunday, the Indian women’s archery team of Ankita Bhakat, Bhajan Kaur and Deepika Kumari lost to the Netherlands in the quarterfinal and ended their campaign.

The Indian team lost 51-52, 49-54, 48-53 to the Dutch team after putting up a dismal show. Ankita and Deepika failed to cope with the pressure as they were unable to get their shots right from the start and the team fell behind 51-52 in the opening set.

Things did not change in the second as well as they went down in the set after two six-point shots from Ankita and Deepika to finish 54-49 and were trailing 0-4 to the Dutch team.

Ankita’s costly four-point error in the third set added further misery to and ended India’s hopes of progressing to the semifinals as the Netherlands, seeded 12th compared to India’s fourth, won the match 6-0.

The Indian women’s team had earned a direct entry into the quarterfinals after finishing fourth in the qualification.

–IANS

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