Expresso National and International Sports News Update at 1:30 pm on 4 April 2024

Top sports news of the day: Mumbai court orders investigation into Sapna Gill’s molestation allegations against cricketer Prithvi Shaw; Tennis player Anmol Kharb trains with Coach Kusum Singh; Athletes may find comfort food at Paris Olympics; and more.

In cricket, A court in Mumbai has addressed the police to investigate social media influencer Sapna Gill’s allegations of molestation against Indian cricketer Prithvi Shaw in 2023. According to PTI, Metropolitan Magistrate S C Tayde has instructed the police to submit a report of its enquiry by June 19. Furthermore, it has dismissed the plea from Gill to seek an action against the police for not registering a First Information Report (FIR) against Shaw. Earlier last year, Gill had raised charges against Shaw for molesting her. Shaw, however, denied all the charges made against him. The social media influencer, who was arrested in February 2023 for attacking Shaw following an argument regarding clicking selfies, is currently out on bail.

Prithvi Shaw’s performance has been about emerging as the star as he spent the first two matches of Delhi Capitals’ IPL 2024 season out of the playing XI but was finally recalled into the team for the game against the Chennai Super Kings at the ACA-VDCA stadium in Visakhapatnam on Sunday, March 31st. And he made his chance count, scoring a 27-ball 43, a knock which was studded with four boundaries and two sixes. Coming into Sunday’s game, Prithvi had one half-century in his last 14 IPL innings. He was not even part of the match squads for their first two games. Virender Sehwag said on Cricbuzz, “Maybe he was hurting from within. That’s where this innings probably came from.”

England seamer Ollie Robinson said that the recent 4-1 scoreline of their Test series defeat against India was an undeserving reflection of their performances on the tour. Having opened the series with a 28-run win in Hyderabad, England’s Bazballers had jolted the home side before Rohit Sharma and Co made a remarkable turnaround, winning all four of the remaining Tests. Robinson told Sky Sports, “We played some really good cricket and maybe on another tour it could have been 3-2 to us, who knows?” Robinson, who played a solitary Test in the series and returned wicketless, said, “We were really close to reversing that result. Obviously a catch I dropped in the fourth Test would have helped us.”

Defending the second-highest total in IPL history, the Kolkata Knight Riders bested Delhi Capitals by 106 runs at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday, April 4th. While Rishabh Pant and Tristan Stubbs scraped fifties for Delhi, Varun Chakravarthy and Vaibhav Arora’s 3-fers helped through a win for the two-time champions. Kolkata Knight Riders posted a mammoth 272/7 just missing out on Sunrisers Hyderabad’s record score of 277 from last week. Sunil Narine and Angkrish Raghuvanshi wreaked havoc with half-centuries starting the on-slaught which Andre Russell finished with a blistering cameos. The Capitals trumped an in-form Chennai Super Kings with a collective performance. In the meanwhile, a tough test awaits two-time winners KKR.

In tennis, Anmol Kharb's training with Coach Kusum Singh of Sunrise Academy is that of a measured approach, avoiding the rush to crown her as the 'next Sindhu.' Despite Anmol's recent successes, including an upset win over a top seed at the Kazakhstan International Challenge, Kusum maintains a focus on gradual progress and consistency in training. Kusum acknowledges the challenges of international competition and the need for endurance and strength in executing explosive strokes consistently. The academy's program has evolved to prioritize rest and recovery, ensuring athletes are tournament-ready only when their training standards are met. The teenager’s rise has also further smartened up the academy program. Kusum said, “We are more alert about rest and recovery.

In the Paris Olympics, the upcoming Paris Olympics could see Indian sportspersons landing some comfort food on their plates. First, in the dining halls of the Athletes Village, will be a specially curated steamed Indian-style assortment of South Asian broths. Shiva Keshavan, who was recently appointed India’s deputy chef de mission for the Olympics, said the menu was passed on to the Paris organisers of the Games during their recent meeting with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Keshavan, a former Winter Games luge athlete. Contingents from previous Games have often highlighted the need for an Indian menu, saying, “Many of our recommendations for a modified menu to include Indian dishes were accepted. Each one was cleared by a nutritionist.”

In chess, at the Candidates chess tournament, India’s Gukesh is the second youngest player ever to compete at the high-stakes event which is the last hurdle any player must cross before they get to battle in the World Chess Championship. The 17-year-old is just a year older than the legendary Bobby Fischer, who competed at his first Candidates tournament at the age of 16 in 1959. Should Gukesh beat the other seven contenders, he will be the youngest World Championship finalist. Ever. Gukesh’s father Dr Rajnikanth told The Indian Express last month, “Usually, he used to work with only one coach for any tournament. This time he has a team of his coach and some seconds.”

Lastly, former world champion Magnus Carlsen thinks that Indian grandmasters are not going to win the Candidates. Eight of the biggest names in the world of chess are jostling to get their shot at challenging Ding Liren for the World Champion’s crown. Carlsen has ranked the eight-man open Candidates field in an interview with GM David Howell for Chess.com. He said, “Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana are co-favourites to win the Candidates. He added, “I don’t think Pragg is ready to win the tournament. He’s very unlikely to win. But I also cannot see it going really poorly for him. He has weak moments, but he’s stable psychologically. He has an improving repertoire and is very serious.”

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