Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram continued his rampaging run at the Korea Open notching up a sensational straight-game upset victory over world No 7 Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei to storm into the finals of the $ 600,000 Super Series event, in Seoul, on Saturday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Four Chinese soldiers were killed in the fierce clash with the Indian Army in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh in June last year, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) acknowledged for the first time on Friday.
The sixth seed and world No. 6 Indian needed 42 minutes to get the better of Beiwin Zhang of the United States, ranked eight places below her, 21-14, 21-17.
Three-time champion Lee Chong Wei was sensationally beaten by India's B Sai Praneeth in the first round of the All-England Championships on Wednesday, putting a firm dent into his preparations ahead of the Rio Olympics . The Malaysian second seed was beaten 24-22 22-20, which ended a promising few months where he had won his last four events. "I can't believe I lost in the first round," Lee told reporters. "I had pressure to win but I made mistakes and I'm shocked at how well he played. "This is a real learning curve for me." Lee, the former world number one, was playing his first All-England since 2014 following his eight-month drug suspension ended last year. Praneeth, however, clawed his way back from 11-3 and 15-7 deficits in the first game to take control of the match and hailed the win as his best result. "It is a big shock for me too and after the last rally I cannot believe that I won," said Praneeth, who set up a last 16 clash with Denmark's Hans-Kristian Vittinghus.
An armed gunman on Monday took several people hostage at the Lindt Chocolat Cafe in Sydney and forced two people to hold what appeared to be a black flag bearing Islamic slogans written in Arabic in the store's window.
Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, who was at the centre of a recent Sino-United States diplomatic row, said he was thankful that Beijing had dealt with the situation with "restraint and calm" as he arrived in the US with his family.
Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guancheng on Thursday pitched for democracy in his homeland as he accused the government of China of retaliating against his family after he fled house arrest to leave for the United States.
World champion P V Sindhu was beaten 18-21, 12-21 by Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu-Ying in the semi-finals of the Olympics badminton and will play for the bronze medal now.
India Amit Panghal (52kg) bowed out of the Olympics boxing after a surprising 1-4 defeat to Rio Games silver-medallist Yuberjen Martinez in the pre-quarter-finals, on Saturday.
Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng, who was at the centre of an extraordinary diplomatic crisis between China and the United States, on Saturday left for New York with his family after the Chinese government granted them passports. Chen, along with his wife and two children boarded a flight to Newark, near New York, after being taken from a Beijing hospital to the airport.
Rediff.com introduces you to the athletes who have brought India glory in Birmingham.
Sindhu has said while there will be a lot of expectations on her going into the Tokyo Olympics
Fifth seeded Sindhu, who made early exits from China and Korea last month, has been pitted against Michelle Li, who remains a tricky customer despite the fact that Sindhu has a 5-2 head-to-head record against the world no 9 Canadian.
Returning to action after nearly two months, Saina, who made last-minute withdrawals from Indonesia Open and last week's Japan Open because of injuries, got past Chaiwan 21-17, 21-19 in her opening round contest.
The photo published by the People's Liberation Army Air Force showing a long-range strategic bomber flying within visible range of Yushan, Taiwan's highest mountain, has caused great concern in Taiwan amid debate about whether the mainland will reunify the island by force, state-run Global Times reported.
China has ordered all Buddhist monasteries in Tibet to display China's national flag as part of its efforts to maintain social stability in the restive Himalayan province, which experienced self-immolation protests against the Communist party rule.
India's Sania Mirza and her Czech partner Barbora Strycova defeated China's Chen Liang and Zhaoxuan Yang 6-1, 6-1 in the final to win the women's doubles titles at Toray Pan Pacific Open, in Tokyo, on Saturday.
Pranab Bardhan became the oldest man in Indian contingent to win a medal at the 18th Asian Games as he joined forces with Shibhnath Sarkar to clinch gold in men's pair event of the bridge competition.
Sindhu hardly had to break a sweat as she posted a comfortable 21-14 21-7 win over the third seeded Japanese shuttler in just 44 minutes.
Glasgow World Championship bronze medallist Saina got the better of two-time World champion Marin 22-20, 21-18 and in the process avenged her second round defeat to the Spanish ace at the Japan Open.
After losing the first game, the 24-year-old Indian rebounded strongly to clinch a 15-21, 21-13, 21-13 win over Wan Ho in a gruelling second-round clash that lasted almost an hour.
The suspect in a deadly bus fire that killed 47 people and injured 34 others in China's southeastern city was an angry and deeply disgruntled man who planned the arson to vent personal grievances.
That's our jaws on the ground!
Join us in congratulating Srikanth on his wonderful achievement.
Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng, 50, and Chen Dong, 37, were blasted off into space by Shenzhou-11 (heavenly vessel) spacecraft.
"As so far, 12 people died and another 125 were injured," China Daily reported.
India's star women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashiwini Ponnappa also made the last eight stage, but it was curtains for the men's doubles duo of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar.
Sindhu said she has to watch out for the Chinese players as well since they have been missing from the circuit for some time.
While Olympic and two-time World Championship silver medallist, Sindhu stamped her authority with a 21-12, 21-15 win over Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the second round, Srikanth got the better off Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto in a three-game match.
India's P V Sindhu took a firm step in her quest for Olympic gold in the women's singles badminton, easily disposing off the challenge from Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in the women's singles badminton quarter-final in Tokyo, on Friday, July 30, 2021.
Young men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty too entered the quarter-finals after getting past Chinese Taipei's Liao Min Chun and Su Ching Heng 21-17, 21-16 in the second round.
The unseeded Indian duo stunned local favourites Li Jun Hui and Liu Yu Chen 21-19, 21-15 in a 43-minute quarter-final clash.
Xi's visit to Nyingchi, bordering Arunachal Pradesh, signals China's opening of another front to India in the eastern sector, observes Srikanth Kondapalli, the leading China expert.
This year's All-England Championships is likely to mark the final appearance of five-time champion Lin Dan at the sport's oldest event, as the garlanded Chinese player bids for a berth at the Rio Olympics before a possible retirement.
H S Prannoy stunned World No 10 Kanta Tsuneyama while ace Indian women shuttlers PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal also sailed into the second round of the Malaysia Masters, in Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday. World Championships bronze-medallist B Sai Praneeth and the seasoned Kidambi Srikanth, though, bowed out of the men's singles events.
Yuki Bhambri recovered from cramps just in time to down Tsung Hua Yang but Somdev Devvarman's fate was hanging in balance in the marathon unfinished second singles, suspended due to fading light, as India lead 1-0 in the Asia/Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie in Indore.
Chinese golfers told to pull out of Taiwan event
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it had disqualified weightlifting gold medallists Cao Lei (75kg), Chen Xiexia (48 kg) and Liu Chunhong (69kg) from the Beijing Games after they tested positive for prohibited substances.
As China continues to wobble from the global recession -- with real estate as well as the entrepreneurial index considerably down, especially around the Pearl Delta -- new windows of opportunities are opening for India to enhance its own market leverage over China, analysts say.