Sport

Top seeds Manish Sureshkumar and Vaidehee Chaudhari survived three-set battles to reach the semi-finals of the 31st Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship in Delhi. Sureshkumar beat Parth Aggarwal, while Chaudhari defeated Aditi Rawat in contrasting quarter-final contests

India defeated Syria 2-0 in their second Group E match of the AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup China 2027 Qualifiers, with Anushka Kumari scoring either side of half-time. The victory gave India six points ahead of their final match against Malaysia

Prithviraaj Yodhas have announced their eight-member squad for Season 2 of the Archery Premier League, featuring World No. 1 compound archer Andrea Becerra and World No. 3 recurve archer Matias Grande alongside leading Indian archers across both categories

Overnight leader Ishnidh Singh Virdi carded a one-over 73 to retain a one-shot lead after 54 holes at the IGU Rotary Southern India Bio-Gen Sansera Amateur Golf Championships. Harjai Milkha Singh moved to second, with Anas Khan third

West Indies legend Chris Gayle hailed the fearless approach of modern batters, saying their aggressive mindset has positively revolutionised cricket. Former all-rounder Dwayne Bravo backed the view, urging bowlers to innovate and improve as scoring rates continue to rise

Telangana’s eighth-seeded Naresh Gotte defeated top seed Naveen Siddam 338-321 in the final to win the South Zone Tenpin Bowling Tournament. Naresh overcame a 32-pin opening-game lead and held on despite Naveen’s spirited fightback

Former India batter Cheteshwar Pujara backed Sanju Samson ahead of the second T20I against West Indies, saying there should be no questions over his place in the playing XI despite recent low scores and urging the team to support him

Fresh from defending their Asian Games hockey title, India will turn their attention to the Asian Champions Trophy Punjab 2026, scheduled from October 27 to November 5. Six teams will compete in Jalandhar and Mohali for continental honours

Harmanjot Singh and Kiran Matre will lead a 42-member Indian elite field at the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon on October 18. Former champions Lili Das and Kavita Yadav headline the women’s field, alongside steeplechaser Ankita Dhyani

Carlos Alcaraz heads into the Shanghai Masters mentally refreshed after winning the Japan Open in Tokyo. The Spaniard, who returned from a wrist injury earlier this season, is seeking a strong finish to 2026 after struggling in previous Shanghai appearances

Australia return to South Africa for their first Test series there since the 2018 ball-tampering scandal. Six players from that series remain in the squad, while South Africa have five survivors, setting up a potentially tense three-Test contest

Arunachal Pradesh will miss the Vinoo Mankad Trophy amid a legal and administrative deadlock within its cricket association. The crisis has already affected junior tournaments and threatens Ranji Trophy participation, leaving players across age groups without opportunities to represent the state nationally

Hyderabad’s Saatvic Kumar Singh strengthened his lead at the IGU Western India Junior Boys Golf Championship with a three-under 69 in the second round. His seven-under 137 total gives him a four-shot advantage, while Shaurya Dagar climbed to joint second

PV Sindhu began her Arctic Open campaign with a straight-game win over Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang, but India suffered several women’s singles exits. Tanvi Sharma also advanced, while two Indian men secured main-draw spots through qualifying

Former India captain Harmanpreet Kaur has backed Smriti Mandhana to lead the team forward, saying their decade-long understanding will remain valuable. Harmanpreet, who stepped down after India’s Asian Games gold, said she wants to focus on her game and family

National record holder Nirbhay Choudhary will target a personal best at the 65th National Open Athletics Championships in Delhi. The four-day meet will also feature comeback-bound sprinter Manikanta Hoblidhar and leading race walkers Servin Sebastian and Paramjeet Singh Bisht

Fresh from winning gold at the Asian Games, Telangana archer Chikitha Taniparthi is looking forward to competing on home soil as Archery Premier League Season 2 begins in Hyderabad. The league features 48 archers across six teams in a fast-paced format

Local golfer Ishnidh Singh Virdi carded a three-under 69 to take a two-shot lead at eight-under 136 after 36 holes of the IGU Rotary Southern India Bio-Gen Sansera Amateur Golf Championships in Bengaluru. Anas Khan and Harjai Milkha Singh share second place

Brilliant Chess Academy will host the 245th Brilliant Trophy Chess Tournament on October 10 and 11 at Brilliant Grammar High School, Dilsukhnagar, with Rs 10,000 in prize money. A separate open rapid tournament will be held at A2H Chess Academy on October 10

The Hyderabad Golf Association is looking to build on its partnership with the AM Green IGPL by attracting more professional golf events to the city. The Krishna Invitational 2026 is being held at Hyderabad Golf Club from October 7 to 10

Indian women boxers are targeting early Olympic qualification at the 2027 World Championships in Kazakhstan after a successful 2026 season. Head coach Santiago Nieva said securing quotas early would allow the team more time for focused preparation ahead of the Los Angeles Games

New India captain Smriti Mandhana and batter Jemimah Rodrigues paid tribute to outgoing skipper Harmanpreet Kaur after she stepped down from leadership across formats. Smriti hailed Harmanpreet’s decade-long leadership, while Jemimah thanked her for her contribution

JioStar has launched ‘Beyond Boundaries’, an initiative aimed at connecting advertisers with regional-language cricket audiences through live feeds and pre- and post-programming partnerships. The company highlighted rising regional-language consumption and strong digital engagement during TATA IPL 2026

Newly appointed Delhi Capitals head coach Sourav Ganguly said he was excited about his new role and vowed to give his best to make the franchise successful. Ganguly said the squad has enough talent to compete with the best teams