New delhi, June 14

India's superstar javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra made a spectacular return to competition after his historic gold in the Tokyo Olympics, achieving a stunning throw of 89.30 metres to shatter his national record. The throw also placed him second in a star-studded field at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland, today.

The 24-year-old Chopra's first competitive event after just over 10 months was nothing short of extraordinary as he nearly touched the coveted 90m mark.

Chopra's earlier national record was 88.07m which he had set in Patiala in March last year. He had won the Tokyo Olympics gold with a throw of 87.58m.

He opened with an impressive 86.92m before sending the spear to 89.30m. His next three attempts were fouls while he came up with 85.85m in his sixth and final throw. Finland's Oliver Helander was the surprise gold winner with a best throw of 89.83m.

Antwerp (Belgium), June 11

Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh saved a penalty stroke in an exhilarating shoot-out after making some outstanding saves in the regulation time as the Indian men's team stunned the Tokyo Olympics champions Belgium 5-4 in the first of the two-legged FIH Pro League rubber here today.

India team were down 1-3 with just eight minutes left in the match but made it 3-3 to force a penalty shoot-out. Sreejesh foiled an attempt from Nicolas de Kerpel when the shoot-out was locked at 4-4 and Akashdeep Singh found the net to make it 5-4.

Earlier, the women's team lost 1-2 to Belgium. Belgium took the lead through captain Barbara Nelen in the third minute. In the 35th minute, Andre Ballenghien made it 2-0. However, India pulled one back through Lalremsiami (48th minute).

Kolkata, June 11

A stunning goal from talisman Sunil Chhetri and an injury-time strike from Sahal Abdul Samad powered India to a 2-1 victory over Afghanistan in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers here today.

The win helped India consolidate their position in the group as they seek to make a second straight appearance in the Asian Cup — and fifth overall — after having been knocked out in the group stage in the last edition in 2019. Denied for 86 minutes, Chhetri put India ahead with a brilliant free-kick from just over 20 yards, taking only a couple of steps before unleashing his shot straight into the right corner of the net. Afghanistan equalised within two minutes as Zubayr Amiri produced a sensational header in the 88th minute of the match.

The match seemed to be headed for a draw but Samad had other ideas.

Gothenburg: India's Diksha Dagar, Shubhankar Sharma and Tvesa Malik endured a rough start at the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed and run the risk of missing the cut. Dagar, with a 2-over 74, was the best of the three Indians at 114th place, while Sharma and Malik carded a 4-over 76 and were T-140th.

NOTTINGHAM

Mitchell makes a splash as New Zealand hit their stride

Daryl Mitchell scored an unbeaten 81, and splashed a six into a spectator's pint of beer, as New Zealand cruised to 318/4 from 87 overs at the end of the opening day of the second Test against England at Trent Bridge today. Missing Kane Williamson, the visitors were helped by England's fielders missing plenty of chances.

Stuttgart

Murray beats Tsitsipas, in semifinals of Stuttgart Open

Former world No. 1 Andy Murray secured his first victory over a top-five opponent in six years with a 7-6(4) 6-3 win over top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas to reach the semifinals. Agencies

Stavanger, June 10

Indian maestro Viswanathan Anand's campaign at the Norway Chess tournament suffered a setback after a loss to Azerbaijan's Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in the ninth round, while Magnus Carlsen beat Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to take sole lead in the tournament.

Anand, who had shone with a victory over Carlsen to lead the standings after the fifth round, was beaten by Mamedyarov in 22 moves in the classical match in a Petrov Millennium Attack game late on Thursday. As the tournament resumed after Wednesday's rest, the 37-year old Azerbaijan player capitalised on an error to pick up three full points. Anand, who was second behind world No. 1 Carlsen after seven rounds, slipped to third with 13 points.

Meanwhile, Carlsen defeated Vachier-Lagrave via the Armageddon after the regular classical game ended in a 79-move draw. He now leads with 15 points.

Jakarta, June 10

Double Olympics medallist PV Sindhu and rising star Lakshya Sen bowed out in the quarterfinals of their respective singles events, ending India's challenge at the Indonesia Open Super Series 500 tournament here today.

Sen was the first to be eliminated as the 20-year-old lost 16-21 21-12 14-21 to Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen. It was then down to Sindhu to carry India's hopes but the former world champion lost 12-21 10-21 to Ratchanok Intanon in a match that lasted a little over 30 minutes.

The 27-year-old Intanon was at her dominating best and looked at ease in attack and defence. The Indian was never able to fight back and suffered her fifth straight loss to her Thai rival. After pocketing the first game easily, Intanon looked even more furious in the second and sealed the issue in 33 minutes to improve her head-to-head record against Sindhu to 9-4.

Gaurav Kanthwal

Chandigarh, June 10

Punjab boys on Friday beat Utter Pradesh 3-1 to clinch the hockey title at the Khelo India Youth Games in Panchkula. The Odisha team drubbed Jharkhand 8-0 to claim the bronze medal.

For Punjab, Bharath Thakur scored in the 4th and 47th minutes, while Rajinder Singh converted a penalty corner in the 58th minute.

UP earned 10 penalty corners but could convert only one in the 11th minute through drag-flicker captain Sharda Nand Tiwari.

Punjab coach Yudhwinder Singh said, "We had finished twice on the podium, with a silver and bronze, but today the boys displayed perfect hockey and delivered."

New Delhi, Jun 10

Veteran Indian boxer MC Mary Kom was on Friday forced to withdraw midway through her Commonwealth Games 48 kg trial after sustaining a leg injury.

The six-time world champion injured herself in the first round of the 48kg semifinals.

Haryana's Nitu thus advanced to the finals of the CWG trials at the Indira Gandhi International Stadium here.

The 2018 gold medallist, Mary, fell down in the first round of the bout. The 39-year-old tried to keep going but after a couple of punches struggled to keep balance as she clutched her left leg.

She had to be carried out of the ring with referee announcing a win for Nitu by Referee Stops the Contest (RSCI). She has been taken to the hospital for scans.

The most decorated Indian boxer had given the World Championships and Asian Games a miss to concentrate on the CWG, which is to be held in Birmingham next month.

New Delhi, June 9

Tokyo Paralympics gold medallist Manish Narwal settled for a silver medal in the P4 mixed 50m pistol SH1 team event at the World Para Shooting World Cup in Chateauroux, France, today.

A day after winning the 10m mixed team gold medal, the 20-year-old Narwal, who took the P4 mixed 50m pistol SH1 gold with a Paralympics record in his debut Games, teamed up with Singhraj Adhana and Akash to aggregate a total of 1,581 to finish behind China (1,628).

New Delhi, June 9

South Africa batter Aiden Makram was on Thursday ruled out of the opening T20I against India after he tested positive for COVID-19.

Makram, who participated in the recently-concluded Indian Premier League, was unavailable for selection for the series opener of the five-match series, revealed captain Temba Bavuma at the toss.

He had cleared the first round of testing along with the rest of the South African squad last week after arriving here on June 2.

"Aiden was not available for selection as he tested positive for Covid, Stubbs comes in and it is a debut for him," Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma said at the toss here.

South Africa have handed a debut to youngster Tristan Stubbs.