Para Swimming Nationals: Simran, Sharanaya win golds

Panaji: Simran and Sharanaya claimed gold medals in the women’s 50m backstroke S6 and S7 categories respectively on the second day of the National Para Swimming Championship here on Monday. Simran clinched the gold with a time of 1:00.35, while Kabita of Odisha and Gajapriya of Tamil Nadu took the silver and bronze respectively in the 50m backstroke S6 class. Sharanaya claimed another gold for the state in the 50m backstroke S7 category with a time of 1:01.46, while Dimple of Rajasthan and Pankaja of Karnataka completed the podium.

New Delhi

Sabalenka pips Swiatek to return to top in WTA rankings

Aryna Sabalenka surpassed Iga Swaitek to climb back to the No. 1 spot in the latest WTA rankings released on Monday. Neither player was in action last week, but with continuing year-end adjustments for falling short of certain tournament quotas, Sabalenka dropped fewer points than Swiatek. Sabalenka has 9,706 points compared to second-placed Swiatek’s 9,665, taking a narrow 41-point lead.

Dhaka

Rabada fastest to 300 Test wickets by balls bowled

South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada on Monday scripted history by becoming the fastest bowler to reach the 300 Test wickets with less than 12,000 deliveries taken to achieve the landmark. The speedster achieved the feat in the first Test against Bangladesh at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur. Rabada became the sixth South African bowler to complete 300 wickets in the red-ball format.

Melbourne

Hockey likely to be axed from 2026 Glasgow CWG

Hockey is set to be axed from the 2026 Commonwealth Games as the host city of Glasgow looks to cut costs, several media reports here stated but both the the International Hockey Federation and the Commonwealth Games Federation remained tight-lipped on the matter. Organisers have reduced the number of sporting disciplines from 19 (in 2022 Birmingham) to 10 with only four proposed venues -- Commonwealth Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, Scotstoun Stadium, Tollcross International Swimming Centre and Scottish Events Campus. None of these venues have a hockey turf.

Al Amerat

India beat UAE by 7 wickets to qualify for semifinals

Opener Abhishek Sharma struck a scintillating half-century after an excellent performance by the bowlers as India defeated UAE by seven wickets to enter the semifinals of the Emerging Teams Asia Cup on Monday. This was the Indian team's second win in as many matches in the tournament, having beaten traditional rivals Pakistan by seven runs in the opener. Abhishek smashed 58 before Ayush Badoni completed the formality of chasing down a target of 108 with a six and four.