Indian Sports LIVE, November 21: Satwik-Chirag start with with win, Divya in ISSF World Cup Final
ESPN India’s daily live blog is all you need to keep up with the latest developments in Indian sport. The blog runs throughout the day and is frequently updated, so do check back often.
Here are all the key updates from November 21, Tuesday.
ISSF World Cup Final update
Only one Indian makes it to the final on the first day of the season-ending ISSF World Cup Final.
Divya TS is into the women’s 10m air pistol final, to be held later today at 3 PM.. She finished 6th with 576 points in the qualification. Esha Singh, the other Indian in the fray, finished 13th.
In the men’s 10m air pistol, Sarabjot Singh narrowly missed out on the final. He finished ninth with 581 points, just one point behind the last qualifier.
Excitement builds up for India vs Qatar
It’s a big match for the Indian men’s football team today and Bhubaneswar is ready to fill the Kalinga Stadium entirely with a sold-out crowd. Our correspondent Sunaadh Sagar is in the city and watching India practise and answer questions in the press conference a day before, the overwhelming sense was that this Indian team is different. They may be the underdogs but vintage has it within itself to surprise people. Why is that? Because this is a team worth watching now, and not just a group of good players.
Read more: India are a team, Qatar better believe it
Neeraj Chopra at the World Cup final
Olympic and world champion Neeraj Chopra was in Ahmedabad for the Cricket World Cup final between India and Australia on Sunday. Here’s what he had to say after:
Team India, you made us proud. Hard luck in the final. It wasn’t our night, but a tournament that we’ll never forget. ���� pic.twitter.com/mDfeSINJHH
– Neeraj Chopra (@Neeraj_chopra1) November 20, 2023
Satwik-Chirag start with a win
Some good news to start the day. India’s top doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty open their China Masters campaign with a straight-games win. They beat England’s Ben Lane and Sean Vendy 21-13, 21-10 with ease. This was a repeat of last year’s Commonwealth Games final, which the Indians had won too.
The Indians are the top seeds here, after reaching the world No 1 spot after the Asian Games. However, early exits at the French Open and Japan Masters saw them fall down the rankings. (Note: the draws were made in advance, which means they retain the top seed position)
What’s in store today?
A huge day for Indian Football, as the mighty Asian champions Qatar come to town. The Kalinga Stadium is sold out, India are full of confidence, can the hosts pull off one of the great upsets?
In badminton, the China Masters Super 750 begins today, where Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will open their campaign against England’s Ben Lane and Sean Vendy. Aakarshi Kashyap and HS Prannoy will also be in action on Tuesday.
In shooting, the season-ending ISSF World Cup Finals get underway in Doha. The top 15 ranked shooters in each discipline qualify for this event and India have a 12-shooter strong contingent.
What happened yesterday?
You can check all the details of Monday’s news events here. Here are the cliff notes:
Football: Arsene Wenger landed in India and called Indian football a goldmine that needs to be explored.
Football: Manvir Singh, who scored the goal that won India the opening game in the group against Kuwait, missed training ahead of Qatar game.
