Spain banking on family feeling, says Pedri

Berlin

Spain’s dressing room is filled with leaders and their biggest asset at this month’s European Championship will be the strong bonds between the players, midfielder Pedri said. Spain’s young and talented core of players have worked extensively with manager Luis de la Fuente, who was part of the national team’s youth set-up between 2013-2022 before taking charge of the senior team.”I think that these last few days we have talked about it, that the greatest asset we have is that we are a team, we are a family both on and off the field,” Barcelona’s Pedri told reporters on Tuesday. “The leader is the team as a whole. There are many players that are captains that help us a lot, they act as leaders, but I think the big difference with all the teams is that we are a team and there is no leader.” reuters

Perugia (Italy)

Nagal wins thriller to enter Perugia quarterfinals

Indian tennis star Sumit Nagal continued his fine form as he entered the quarterfinals of the ongoing Perugia Challenger here today. The sixth-seeded Indian toppled unseeded local Alessandro Giannessi 0-6 7-5 7-6(7-5).

Dalian (China)

Paddlers make bright start at Asian Team Championships

The Indian men’s and women’s teams started their campaigns in the Asian Team Squash Championships 2024 with comprehensive wins in Dalian, China. The men beat Kuwait 2-1 as veteran Velavan Senthilkumar led them well. The women, spearheaded by Rathika Suthanthira Seelan, beat Macau (2-1) and Mongolia (3-0).

Brisbane

Titmus sets a women’s 200m freestyle world record

Ariarne Titmus set a world record in the women’s 200-metre freestyle today at the Australia’s Olympics swimming trials. Titmus finished in 1 minute, 52.23 seconds in the final, taking almost two-thirds of a second off Mollie O’Callaghan’s world mark of 1:52.85 set at last year’s world championships.

Sydney

Prannoy enters last-16 of Australian Open

Prannoy blanked his Brazilian opponent Ygor Coelho in straight sets to move in to the Round of 16 at the Australian Open Super 500 tournament here on Wednesday. In the women’s singles, Aakarshi Kashyap beat Ukraine’s Polina Buhrova 21-14 21-11.

New Delhi

Mendiratta in line to make final at ISSF World Cup

Paris Olympics quota winner Bhowneesh Mendiratta shot a three-round qualification score of 74 out of 75 in men’s trap and remained in contention for a top-six final berth at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup here today.

New Delhi

Lovlina wins opening round in Grand Prix

Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist boxer Lovlina Borgohain registered a hard-fought split decision win in the first round of the Grand Prix in Czech Republic today. The lone Indian in the tournament, Borgohain eked out a 3-2 win over England’s Chantelle Reid in the 75kg class.

Gandhinagar

Divya maintains sole lead in World Junior Chess

International Master and top seed Divya Deshmukh maintained a slender half-point lead while outclassing compatriot Sachi Jain in the 10th and penultimate round of the World Junior Girls’ chess Championship today. — Agencies