Sport

Smriti Mandhana’s 96 and Georgia Voll’s unbeaten 54 powered Royal Challengers Bengaluru to an eight-wicket win over Delhi Capitals in WPL 2026. Shafali Verma’s fighting 62 went in vain as RCB registered their fourth consecutive victory to stay unbeaten

Senior members and former players of the Hyderabad Cricket Association questioned the Apex Council over alleged bias in State team selections. They urged Justice Naveen Rao to disband the current selection panel, calling it unconstitutional and formed in violation of Lodha Committee rules

India face New Zealand in the decisive third ODI at Indore with the series tied 1-1. Rohit Sharma’s form and Virat Kohli’s consistency are under focus as India look to protect their home record against a confident Black Caps side

UP Warriorz defeated defending champions Mumbai Indians by 22 runs in WPL 2026 at Navi Mumbai. Meg Lanning (70) and Phoebe Litchfield (61) starred with the bat, while Shikha Pandey and Deepti Sharma led a disciplined bowling effort

The M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru has been cleared to host IPL and international matches again after months of suspension following the 2025 stampede tragedy. KSCA assured compliance with safety measures, while RCB’s IPL 2026 home venue remains under discussion

Hyderabad Toofans defeated Shrachi Bengal Tigers 6-0 in the Men’s Hockey India League at Bhubaneswar. Zachary Wallace and Tim Brand scored hat-tricks, while the defence held firm to secure a dominant win at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium

Jonatan Christie defeated Loh Kean Yew 21-18, 22-20 to reach the men’s singles final of the India Open 2026, extending his winning streak over Loh to nine matches. An Se Young set up a women’s final against Wang Zhi Yi

The Telangana Cricket Association has sought BCCI intervention against the Hyderabad Cricket Association’s plan to organise the Telangana T20 Premier League. TCA alleged violations of the BCCI Constitution and demanded the scrapping of HCA’s Governing Council, citing pending court cases

The Department of Sports and Youth Welfare, Assam, in collaboration with Inspire Institute of Sport, has launched high-performance training camps in Guwahati across seven sports. International coaches are leading programmes in chess, tennis and table tennis, with taekwondo starting Sunday

Nizamabad won the Kaka Venkataswamy Memorial Telangana Inter-district T20 cricket championship with a seven-wicket victory over Khammam. Harshavardhan Singh starred with 69 runs. Nalgonda finished third after P Sainadh’s explosive 121 against Adilabad at the Gymkhana Ground in Hyderabad

India defeated Nepal 8-1 in the SAFF Women’s Futsal Championship 2026 in Thailand. Diti Kanungo scored four goals, Ritika Singh added two, while Nishka Prakash and Khushbu Saroj netted one each. India now lead the table with six points

Osmania University began its campaign with a 2-0 win over Gujarat University in the All India Inter-zonal Tennis Championship at Rohtak. Hasini Davunaboina and Sama Chevika Reddy won their singles matches to seal victory. OU faces Calcutta or Maharshi Dayanand next

India’s U19 captain Ayush Mhatre and Bangladesh’s vice-captain Zawad Abrar skipped the traditional handshake at the toss in Bulawayo, continuing India’s no-handshake policy. The move reflects growing cricket tensions between the two nations amid recent disputes involving Mustafizur Rehman

Osmania University will host its inter-collegiate cross country races at the OU Synthetic Track on January 20. The 10 km event for men and women will serve as selection trials for the All India Inter-University Championships.

Sandhya Gora smashed an unbeaten 110 to guide Team A to a six-wicket victory over Team B in the HCA Senior Women’s One-Day Probables. Team C also registered a comfortable win over Team D in the day’s other match.

Mumbai Indians elected to bowl against an unchanged UP Warriorz in the 10th WPL match at DY Patil Stadium. Hayley Matthews returned to the MI lineup, while Nalla Kranthi Reddy earned her debut as both teams looked to gain momentum.

Ajinkya Rahane will miss Mumbai’s remaining Ranji Trophy matches against Hyderabad and Delhi after informing the MCA of his unavailability for the rest of the red-ball season due to personal reasons. Mumbai recently appointed Shardul Thakur as captain.

Viswanathan Anand said the World Championship could be held in Chennai if R Praggnanandhaa qualifies from the Candidates to face D Gukesh. He called such a clash “emotionally charged” and recalled Chennai’s previous hosting in 2013 against Magnus Carlsen

India may rethink their bowling strategy for the Indore ODI decider after spinners struggled in Rajkot. Kuldeep Yadav’s form is under scrutiny, while Arshdeep Singh could be considered as India aim to maintain their unbeaten record at Holkar Stadium

India, led by Ayush Mhatre, face Bangladesh in their second ICC U-19 World Cup match at Bulawayo. After beating USA, India hope to continue their winning run, while Bangladesh rely on captain Azizul Hakim and their potent bowling attack

Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt slammed the “unacceptable” conditions at the India Open, saying it is difficult to see how a World Championship could be held in Delhi. The BWF acknowledged concerns but insisted the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium is an upgrade over KD Jadhav Hall

World Champion D Gukesh begins his Tata Steel Masters 2026 campaign against Javokhir Sindarov. Arjun Erigaisi faces Praggnanandhaa, while Aravindh Chithambaram meets Matthias Bluebaum as Indian Grandmasters aim for a strong start in the prestigious Wijk Aan Zee tournament

Vishvaraj Jadeja’s unbeaten 165 powered Saurashtra to a nine-wicket win over Punjab in the Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-final. Supported by Harvik Desai and Prerak Mankad, Saurashtra chased 291 with ease to set up a final against Vidarbha

Ranchi Royals defeated JSW Soorma Hockey Club 4-1 in their final home game of the Men’s Hockey India League. Tom Boon scored twice, while Mandeep Singh and Manmeet Singh Rai added goals to secure their third consecutive win