Jennifer Varghese and Divyanshi Bhowmick etched their names in Indian table tennis history at the ITTF World Youth Table Tennis Championship in Nova Gorcia, Slovenia. The two won the silver after putting up a tough fight against top seeded Japanese pair of Mao Takamori and Yuna Ojio in the girls U-15 category. There were 14 events in the U-15 and U-19 age categories at the youth Worlds and Jennifer and Divyanshi became the first Indian pair to reach the final. After losing the first game 5-11, the Indian pair outclassed the Takamori-Ojio pair 11-8 in the second game. The Japanese duo upped their game with aggression to regain the lead by dominating the third game 11-4. By then, Takamori and Ojio had sensed that Jennifer and Divyanshi were gasping for answers. The Japanese pair cruised to an 11-2 win in the game to pocket the gold. Of the 58 medals up for grabs at the eight-day meet, the Indian contingent won just three medals with Jennifer accounting for two.
Bangladesh beat New Zealand
Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam grabbed his second 10-wicket haul in Tests as Bangladesh defeated New Zealand by 150 runs in the first Test last week, taking a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. Resuming on the fifth and final day at 113-7 with another 219 needed for victory, New Zealand added 68 runs for their last three wickets, ending at 181. Taijul claimed the last two wickets to finish with 6-75, adding to his 4-109 in the first innings. Off-spinner Nayeem Hasan gave Bangladesh their first breakthrough on the day, after New Zealand’s overnight batting pair of Daryl Mitchell and Ish Sodhi survived nine overs. Mitchell top-edged Nayeem to long leg after making 58. Brief scores: Bangladesh 310 (Joy 86; Phillips 4-53) & 338 (Shanto 105; Patel 4-148) beat New Zealand 317 (Williamson 104; Taijul Islam 4-109) & 181 (Mitchell 58; Taijul Islam 6-75) by 150 runs.
Delhi didn’t keep promise to retain me in 2010: ABD
One of the greatest batters of modern era, AB de Villiers has revealed that he was snubbed by Delhi Capitals, formerly known as Delhi Daredevils, after spending three seasons at the IPL franchise. Before making it big at the Royal Challengers Bangalore, the South African batting legend had three lukewarm season with Delhi Capitals. But in a team meeting, also attended by Australian opener David Warner, de Villiers was told that he was going to be “retained” but it happened otherwise as the franchise released him before the 2011 auction. “When I played in the 2010 season, I got called into the office and was told ‘you are going to get retained, young AB de Villiers'.” “I sat alongside David Warner in that meeting. It came as a huge surprise to me a week or two later when I realised I had been released.”
PCB in deadlock with ACC on compensation
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was caught in a deadlock with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) for demanding additional compensation on organising chartered flights between Pakistan and Sri Lanka during the Asia Cup, which it co-hosted in August-September. The Asia Cup 2023 was organised in a hybrid model in Pakistan and Sri Lanka after the ACC accepted PCB’s hybrid model, with majority of the matches organised in the island nation. PCB sources said apart from seeking the tournament hosting fees - around $250,000 - as well as shares from ticketing and sponsorship fees, they have also demanded additional compensation.
