The inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic, originally set to take place on May 24 in Bengaluru, has been postponed indefinitely due to the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. India’s celebrated javelin star and double Olympic medallist, Neeraj Chopra, had previously announced that the high-profile athletics meet was being relocated from its initial venue in Panchkula to Bengaluru. On Friday, Chopra confirmed the postponement via a post on X (formerly Twitter), sharing an official statement issued by the NC Classic organising team. STATEMENT. pic.twitter.com/S6EdZ87ITh — Neeraj Chopra Classic (@nc_classic) May 9, 2025 "In the light of the current situation, the inaugural edition of the NC Classic stands postponed until further notice," the statement read. "This decision has been made after careful thought and consultation, with the well-being of athletes, stakeholders, and the broader community as the top priority." "We believe in the unifying power of sport. But, in this critical moment, standing firm with the nation matters most. All our gratitude and thoughts at this point are only with our Armed Forces, who are at the forefront for our nation. Jai Hind," he added. This decision follows closely on the heels of a controversy that erupted last month, when Chopra revealed that he had received a barrage of online abuse and criticism for inviting Pakistan’s javelin star Arshad Nadeem to participate in the Bengaluru event. Chopra clarified that, in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed the lives of 26 civilians, mostly tourists, Nadeem’s involvement was 'completely out of the question'. “After all that has taken place over the last 48 hours, Arshad’s presence at the NC Classic was completely out of the question. My country and its interests will always come first,” Chopra stated in a heartfelt post on X. pic.twitter.com/yMsX8ggnLA — Neeraj Chopra (@Neeraj_chopra1) April 25, 2025 “I usually am a man of few words, but that doesn’t mean I will not speak up against what I think is wrong. More so when it comes to questioning my love for our country, and the respect and honour of my family. The invitation I extended to Arshad was from one athlete to another — nothing more, nothing less,” he added. Chopra also noted that the invitations had been issued on April 21, a day before the devastating attack in Jammu and Kashmir. A revised schedule for the NC Classic will be announced at a later date, depending on national circumstances.
09 May,2025 09:56 PM IST | Bengaluru | mid-day online correspondentYoung Indian shuttler Ayush Shetty stunned former World No.1 Kidambi Srikanth in their Round-of-16 clash at the Taipei Open Super 300 badminton tournament here on Thursday. Shetty, 20, a 2023 World Junior Championships bronze medallist beat Srikanth 21-16, 15-21, 21-17. Also Read: “I congratulate him on a wonderful career”: Dev on Rohit Sharma Shetty’s victory comes on the back of dispatching third seed Lee Chia Ha — the runners-up at the All England Open — in the previous round. Shetty will face the seventh-seeded Canadian Brian Yung in the quarter-final Earlier, in a women’s individual category match, Unnati Hooda, the 2022 Odisha Masters and 2023 Abu Dhabi Masters champion, made short work of Chinese Taipei’s Lin Sih Yun, winning 21-12, 21-7. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
09 May,2025 08:12 AM IST | Taipei | PTIIndian compound archers continued their strong run at the Archery World Cup Stage Two with Rishabh Yadav and Madhura Dhamangaonkar entering the individual category sem-finals. Also Read: “I congratulate him on a wonderful career”: Dev on Rohit Sharma Yadav emerged as one of the standout performers of the day, defeating Denmark’s Mathias Fullerton in a quarter-final shoot-off. Locked at 147-147, the fourth-seeded Yadav held his nerve to win 10*-10 in the shoot-off. He will now face Dutch World No.1 Mike Schloesser in the semi-final. In the women’s individual compound category, third-seeded Dhamangaonkar downed multiple World Cup gold medallist and compatriot Jyothi Vennam 142-141 in the quarter-final. She will take on Turkey’s Hazal Burun in the semi-finals. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
09 May,2025 08:10 AM IST | Shanghai | PTIDefending champs Champions Training Centre (CTC ) will take on a spirited Union Bank of India while Mumbai Port Trust will face Central Railway in the semi-finals of the Hockey Mumbai Super League at the Don Bosco High School turf in Matunga today. Also Read: Kothari storms into quarter-finals The league, which resumed after a gap of two years, despite a dearth of sponsors, has seen a decent spectator turnout so far and Hockey Mumbai City secretary Dhananjay Mahadik, who is organising the competition, believes this number will only swell for the high octane semi-finals. “All four semi-finalists are well balanced teams, so it’s difficult to predict a winner, but the good thing is that competitive hockey is back in Mumbai, something the city’s hockey lovers were missing badly,” said Mahadik.
09 May,2025 07:49 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentSourav Kothari beat Dhvaj Haria 6-1 in a pre-quarter-final match of the Rs 32 lakh NSCI Baulkline 4.0 All India snooker tournament at the NSCI Dome on Thursday. Kothari, dropped the first frame but was in command throughout the match thereafter, winning 50-70, 54-34, 100-0, 103-12, 84-45, 75-52, 70-46. Also Read: India women to face Uzbekistan in friendlies In another last-16 encounter, Digvijay Kadian outwitted S Shrikrishna 6-3. Kadian, 22, is among the brightest talents in the country currently, and after nudging out Kreish Gurbaxani in a Round-of-32 match, he went on to show his wherewithal by beating Shrikrishna 24-113, 65-60, 60-21, 64-49, 2-105, 73-21, 72-43, 50-66, 63-27. In another pre-quarter-final match, Himanshu Jain breezed past Shoaib Khan 6-0. Jain never looked in trouble during his 81-21, 72-49, 61-46, 65-61, 59-17, 68-17 win.
09 May,2025 07:46 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentThe Indian men’s and women’s compound archery teams stormed into the finals of the World Cup Stage 2 with commanding wins here on Wednesday. Also Read: Five-star Central Railway rout Mumbai Police to enter semis The men’s team featuring Ojas Deotale, Abhishek Verma and Rishabh Yadav defeated Great Britain 239-232 in the quarters before beating the Danes 232-231 in the semis. Meanwhile, the women’s team comprising of Madhura Dhamangaonkar, Chikitha Taniparthi and Jyothi Vennam beat Kazakhstan 232-229 in the quarter-final, before defeating Great Britain 232-230 in the last-four. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
08 May,2025 08:07 AM IST | Shanghai | PTICentral Railway (CR) stormed into the semi-finals of the Hockey Mumbai Super League with a commanding 5-0 win over Mumbai Police (MP) at the Don Bosco turf, Matunga, yesterday. CR blitzed the MP defence as soon as the match began, scoring all five goals within the first 18 minutes. Also Read: Srikanth, Shetty enter Round-of-16 at Taipei Open Rajendra Pawar opened the scoring in the fourth minute with a precise strike into the bottom-left corner, setting the tone of the game. Aditya Rasal then converted a penalty corner, sending the ball soaring into the top-right corner to double the lead in the 11th minute.Two minutes later, Love Singh extended the margin to 3-0 with a skillful reverse-hit into the top-left corner. In the 16th minute, Mayur Nalavde made it 4-0 with another successful penalty corner conversion. Zaid Mohammad then completed thr rout (18th min) by slotting the ball into the bottom-right corner to give CR a 5-0 win. Earlier, in another quarter-final, Mumbai Port Authority beat Police Boys 5-2.
08 May,2025 08:05 AM IST | Mumbai | Rufus VedanayagamStar Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth started his campaign on a bright note with a straight game win over compatriot Sankar Subramanian, while Ayush Shetty stunned third seed Lee Chia Hao of Chinese Taipei at the Taipei Open on Wednesday. Also Read: Bomb threat mail triggers security alert at Eden Gardens Srikanth dispatched Subramanian, a 2022 world junior championships silver medallist, 21-16, 21-15. Srikanth will face Shetty, who beat Lee 21-17, 21-18, in the Round-of-16. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
08 May,2025 08:03 AM IST | Taipei | PTIZhao Xintong became the first Chinese player to win the World Snooker Championship as he completed his stunning march to the title with a 18-12 win against three-time champion Mark Williams in the final on Monday. Also Read: India’s compound archers dominate “I can’t believe what I’ve done. It’s very exciting. I was so nervous tonight,” a jubilant Zhao said. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
07 May,2025 07:54 AM IST | Sheffield (UK) | AFPLess than a week after mid-day reported that the Hockey Mumbai Super League (HMSL) was resuming after a gap of two years without any sponsors, the organisers, Hockey Mumbai City (HMC), have been assured financial assistance. “A couple of days after the mid-day article, a former local hockey player-turned-businessman Mahesh Makhija got in touch with us and has kindly agreed to bear the total cost of the hockey turf [which amounts to Rs 80,000]. This is a huge relief for us as we can continue the tournament without too much financial strain,” Dhananjay Mahadik, secretary of HMC, told mid-day on Tuesday. Also Read: India’s compound archers dominate The eight-team HSML being played at the Dom Bosco High School turf in Matunga from May 1 to 11, carries a winner’s prize purse of R1 lakh while the runners-up stand to gain Rs 50,000. Additional expenses include match officials fees (Rs 38,000 approximately) and administrative costs (Rs 25,000 approx) besides a cash award of Rs 1000 for every man of the match (19 matches). Makhija, who owns QMS, a medical allied services company, is an ardent hockey lover. “Sport is a true community unifier and hockey, in particular, has brought joy to millions of Indians over the years. We are only happy to do our bit to help the game at the domestic level,” said Makhija.
07 May,2025 07:52 AM IST | Mumbai | Ashwin FerroChampions Training Centre (CTC) booked their spot in the semi-finals of the Mumbai Hockey Super League with a thrilling 5-4 win over Mumbai Customs at the Don Bosco turf in Matunga, yesterday. Customs drew first blood as Mohammed Anas opened the scoring in the 8th minute with a simple tap-in after a swift move into the circle. CTC equalised four minutes later with Affan Yusuf’s strike into the bottom-left corner. Also Read: India’s compound archers dominate Capitalising on their momentum, CTC took the lead in the 17th minute as Ajay Naidu scored via a penalty corner to put them ahead 2-1, after which Prathamesh Dhuri extended their lead to 3-1, seven minutes later. After the break, Customs’s Ritendra Pratap Singh cut the deficit to 2-3 (40th min) but CTC hit back twice in quick succession — first through Chelsea Meddappa (43rd min) off a penalty corner and then through Ahmed Saddam (46th min) to go up 5-2. However, Customs refused to give up. Dharambir Yadav converted a penalty corner in the 50th minute, while Nikhil Pardeshi found the net four minutes later as the exciting encounter finished 5-4.
07 May,2025 07:50 AM IST | Mumbai | Rufus VedanayagamADVERTISEMENT
