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Kamal defeated Tiago 4-2 in Round 2 of the men's singles event. The entire match lasted for 48 minutes. Tiago was in top form in Game 1 and as a result, he won it 11-2, creating pressure on Sharath at the very start. India's Kamal staged a comeback in Game 2, winning it 11-8, and as a result, the match came on level terms at 1-1. Kamal continued with his momentum and he quickly went on to take a 5-0 lead in Game 3. The 39-year-old did not let go of this opportunity and he quickly took a 2-1 lead in the match. Portugal's Tiago staged a comeback in Game 4, and as a result, the match was poised evenly at 2-2. However, Kamal held his own in the following two games, and as a result, he progressed to the next round. Later in the day, Manika Batra will play her Round 3 match in the women's singles event in the Olympics. Sutirtha ousted India's Sutirtha Mukherjee lost to Portugal's Fu Yu 11-3, 11-3, 11-5, 11-5 in the women's singles second round and crashed out of Olympics. . . .

Chakravarthy looked returned with decent figures of 4-0-28-1 in his debut game and his maiden international wicket on debut was that of Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka. Shanaka was stumped by Ishan Kishan for 16 after the Sri Lankan batsman failed to read the line of the ball and missed it completely. Ishan was alert and dislodged the bails the moment Shanaka left the crease. Chakravarthy started brilliantly for India as the right-arm spinner from Tamil Nadu - who plays for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL - conceded just a couple of runs from his first over. India vs Sri Lanka 1st T20I: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suryakumar Yadav star in India's 38-run win over Sri Lanka He later went on for a few runs but Chakravarthy finished with an economy of 7 and even received praise from skipper Shikhar Dhawan and many others. Former India cricketer VVS Laxman too seemed pretty impressed with the spinner's performance in his maiden game. Laxman said, "Firstly, I am glad that . . .

Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, who won the silver medal in women's 49kg category at Tokyo Olympics, arrived in Delhi on Monday. She was pictured at the airport. News agency ANI reported that she underwent a mandatory RT-PCR test upon arrival at the airport. Chanu brought home India's second medal in weightlifting as she lifted a total of 202kg (87kg+115kg), finishing behind China's Hou Zhihui. Chanu ended India's 21-year wait for a weightlifting medal at the Olympics. Previously, Karnam Malleshwari had won the bronze medal at 2000 Sydney Games. Delhi: Olympic silver medallist Mirabai Chanu arrives at the airport from Tokyo. #Olympics pic.twitter.com/c3wvvrI07A — ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2021 Chanu's total of 202kg was behind Zhihui's 210kg (94kg+116kg) even as Windy Cantika Aisah of Indonesia took home the bronze with an effort of 194kg (84kg+110kg). Earlier on Monday, Chanu tweeted on her departure from Tokyo. "Heading back to home. Thank you #Tokyo2020 for memorable . . .

Sumit Nagal was blown away by world number two Daniil Medvedev's thunderous strokes and serves in the men's singles second round as India's tennis challenge all but ended at the Tokyo Games , here on Monday. The Russian did not even need his 'A' game as he cruised to a 6-2 6-1 win in just 66 minutes against 160th ranked Nagal at court 1 of the Ariake Tennis Centre. The gap between a world class Medvedev and Nagal, who is still struggling to play the ATP Tour events regularly, was pretty clear. The Australian Open runner-up easily controlled the game even as Nagal tried hard. Nagal had earned his moment under spotlight when he took a set off Swiss great Roger Federer at the 2019 US Open on his Grand Slam debut. Nagal began by dropping his serve in the very first game of the match when he netted a backhand and match ended when his forehand sailed over the baseline on match point while serving to stay in the contest. Medvedev's powerful strokes from the baseline overwhelmed . . .

India star paddler Manika Batra bowed out of the women's singles event after losing her Round 3 match against Austria's Sofia Polcanova here at Tokyo Metropolitan Gym -- Table 1 in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics on Monday. Sofia Polcanova defeated Batra 4-0 as the match lasted just 27 minutes. Batra and Polcanova did exchange some great points to start the match but it was Austrian who prevailed against Manika's rally and took the first set 11-8. The second set was all Sofia from the start who cleverly neutralised Batra's reverse spin and took the round in a blink of an eye. The 11-2 set lasted for just 4 minutes. Batra's lethal forearm continued to be missing in the third round against the Austrian's stern defence as she again failed to put any fight and her opponent took the set 11-5. In the next one, the Indian tried to delay the inevitable by playing some quality long rallies but the end result remained the same. Polcanova claimed the set 11-7 and marched into the next round. . . .

On Monday, India spinner Yuzvendra Chahal had two special guests - Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar - on his show 'Chahal TV' after they won the first T20 International (T20I) against Sri Lanka. The official Twitter page of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) posted a short clip of a grilling session of the two guests. "What happens when #TeamIndia's swing kings Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar are Chahal TV's special guests? Yuzvendra Chahal tickles their funny bone & it's laughter galore in Colombo," BCCI captioned the 38-second-long clip on Twitter. The footage starts with Chahal welcoming Bhuvneshwar to the show and then accusing him of not appearing on Chahal TV. Responding to Chahal's allegations, Bhuvneshwar says that he was upset with the leg spinner as he never invited him on his show. "Always wanted to feature in Chahal TV," Bhuvneshwar adds. The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) pacer also revealed his bowling plan, saying that it "was to . . .

Dutch tennis player Jean-Julien Rojer was forced to withdraw from the Olympics after testing positive for COVID-19 even as the organisers announced 16 new infections at the ongoing Games here on Monday. Rojer and his doubles partner Wesley Koolhof, who were scheduled to play Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus of New Zealand, pulled out of their second-round match on Monday following Rojer's positive test result. "The ITF has been informed that the athlete Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands Olympic Committee and Netherlands Sports Federation has tested positive for COVID-19 and placed in isolation as per the set procedures," the tennis governing body said in a statement. "Rojer and his partner Wesley Koolhof have been withdrawn from the men's doubles event, and their opponents Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus of New Zealand receive a walkover into quarterfinals. We wish Jean-Julien a speedy recovery." The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Dutch delegation thus . . .

Ariarne Titmus toppled decorated American great Katie Ledecky to clinch the 400m freestyle gold medal on Monday at the Tokyo Games as untouchable breaststroke king Adam Peaty became the first British swimmer to successfully retain an Olympic title. Ledecky came to Japan on the back of winning four gold and a silver at Rio in 2016, but Titmus has been snapping at her heels, ousting her as world champion in 2019 and topping the timesheets this season. And when it came to the crunch at the Tokyo Aquatics Center, it was the Australian who prevailed, hitting the wall in 3mins 56.69secs, the second fastest ever swum. Only Ledecky has gone better, when she set the 3:56.46 world record at the Rio Olympics. She had to settle for silver this time in 3:57.36 with China's Li Bingjie a distant third. "I tried to stay as composed as I could and use the speed that I have," said an ecstatic Titmus. "To pull it off in the backend against someone who has an amazing second half of her . . .

The Indian team will want Sanju Samson to translate his phenomenal talent into consistent performances when they try to wrap up the T20 International series against Sri Lanka by winning the second match here on Tuesday. Having beaten Sri Lanka hollow by 38 runs in the opening encounter, the Indians are unlikely to ring in changes to the winning combination unless the team management decides to rest Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav, who are getting ready to link up with the red-ball team in the United Kingdom. However, it is expected that both will at least play tomorrow and may be rested for the last game once India have sealed the series. In case there is an alternate plan then Devdutt Padikkal and Ruturaj Gaikwad might get a look-in rather than an out-of-form Manish Pandey. But on Tuesday, there will be focus on Samson, who has always been rated highly and as the "next big thing" but has flattered to deceive in an India jersey in all the chances that he has got. An . . .

The coach of Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus delivered one of the moments of the Tokyo Olympics so far on Monday by launching into a spectacular celebration after his pupil clinched gold in the women's 400m freestyle. As Titmus touched the wall ahead of fierce American rival Katie Ledecky, her coach Dean Boxall turned feral, much to the delight of thousands on social media. The roaring Boxall kicked the air and hammered his fists before finally ripping off his mask and thrusting against the barrier in front of him. At one point a Japanese girl working as a volunteer appears to make an attempt to restrain Boxall, but he remained undeterred. Ariarne Titmus's coach after she beat Katie Ledecky in the 400m free ?? #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/7vypTbv1sZ — Ben Porter (@Ben13Porter) July 26, 2021 Boxall later broke into tears as Titmus collected her gold medal on the podium at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, with no fans present due to coronavirus restrictions. "I could see . . .