Indian sports wrap, October 9: UK Prime Minister hails Premier League’s programme in India

FOOTBALL
Keir Starmer hails Premier League’s programme in India
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has lauded the Premier League’s long-term commitment to supporting grassroots football in India through a Community Coach Development Programme in Mumbai.
The three-day programme was central to the league’s week-long fan and community engagement initiatives in India—its first major milestone since the opening of its Mumbai office earlier this year.
Delivered in partnership with the British Council, the three-day programme was led by coaches from the Premier League, Brentford and Newcastle United, who provided expert training to 30 community coaches, helping expand access to football across India.
The activity culminated in a showcase event at the Cooperage Football Ground in Mumbai.
The community coaches put the skills they have learned into practice with 80 children from the Oscar Foundation, highlighting how the programme empowers local leaders to inspire the next generation through football.
Among the special guests in attendance were UK PM Starmer and Premier League legend Michael Owen, who interacted with the coaches and the young players.
Starmer said: “I’m hugely proud of our national sport—it brings communities together and changes lives. That’s why the Premier League’s training programme in India is so impressive—not only is it one of our most successful exports, but it’s training the game’s future coaches, inspiring young people, and showing the world what British sport can do.”
-PTI
CRICKET
Mumbai Cricket Association elections to be held on November 12
The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has announced November 12 as the date for elections of its office bearers, apex council members as well as governing council of the T20 Mumbai League.
Last year, MCA had to hold elections for the post of president following the demise of Amol Kale, and he was succeeded by Ajinkya Naik, who had defeated Sanjay Nail for the coveted post.
With Naik taking charge as the president, Abhay Hadap had won the election for the secretary’s post.
“The Apex Council has appointed Mr. J S Saharia, former Chief Secretary & former State Election Commissioner of Maharashtra, as the Electoral Officer to conduct the elections,” the MCA said in a statement.
-PTI
MOTORSPORT
India’s Dean Mascarenhas to make international debut in French Gravel Rally
Indian rally driver Dean Mascarenhas is set to make his international debut in the French Gravel Rally Championship from October 10 to 12.
Mascarenhas of TSI Racing will be driving a Peugeot 208 GT Line in the FRC4 group’s Rally4 class.
The Mangaluru driver will be the only Indian in the field, with experienced Brazilian co-driver Gabriel Morales.
Started in 1984, the Rallye Terre des Cardabelles is a round of the French Gravel Rally Championship, with about 150 km of timed competitive stages on gravel roads around Millau.
Mascarenhas recently won the Coimbatore round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC). His move to European rallying came through a partnership between TSI Racing, Sidvin Energy Engineering, and MRF Tyres.
Mascarenhas will compete in car number 66 against 125 other drivers. The event will run over two days across the Aveyron region, with liaison and special stages covering rural and forest sections near Millau.
-PTI
TENNIS
ITF Kunshan: Ankita Raina loses in singles but reaches doubles semifinals
India’s Ankita Raina had mixed results at the women’s ITF USD 30,000 event in Kunshan, China, on Thursday.
Raina went down 6-1, 6-3 to local player Fangzhou Liu in the second round in singles. However, later in the day, along with compatriot Rutuja Bhosale, she beat Liu and Jiaqi Wang 6-3, 6-1 to progress to the doubles semifinals.
The top-seeded Indian duo will be up against third-seeded Koreans Dayeon Back and Eunhye Lee on Friday.
RESULTS
ATP 125 Jinan (China)
Doubles, Quarterfinals: [1] Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli/Arjun Kadhe bt. Kaito Uesugi (JPN)/Seita Watanabe (JPN) 6-3, 6-3; [4] Jisung Nam (KOR)/Takeru Yuzuki (JPN) bt. Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan/Jason Jung (TPE) 7-6(5), 6-3
ATP 125 Valencia (Spain)
Singles, Quarterfinals: [Q] Henri Squire (GER) bt. [Q] Sumit Nagal 7-6(5), 6-4
Doubles, Quarterfinals: Trey Hilderbrand (USA)/Mac Kiger (USA) bt. [4] N. Sriram Balaji/N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth 6-4, 6-4
ATP 100 Roanne (France)
Doubles, Quarterfinals: Hendrik Jebens (GER)/Joshua Paris (GBR) bt. Anirudh Chandrasekar/Reese Stalder (USA) 6-4, 6-4
Women’s ITF USD 30,000 Kunshan (China)
Singles, Round of 16: Fangzhou Liu (CHN) bt. Ankita Raina 6-1, 6-3
Doubles, Quarterfinals: [1] Ankita Raina/Rutuja Bhosale bt. Fangzhou Liu (CHN)/Jiaqi Wang (CHN) 6-3, 6-1
Women’s ITF USD 30,000 Redding (USA)
Singles, Round of 32: KrishaMahendran bt. Mao Mushika (JPN) 6-2, 6-3
Men’s ITF USD 30,000 Kigali (Rwanda)
Singles, Round of 16: [7] Rodrigo Alujas (MEX) bt. Udit Kamboj 6-1, 6-1
Singles, Round of 32: Udit Kamboj bt. Laurin Aerne (SUI) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
Doubles, Round of 16: [3] Ishaque Eqbal/Maan Kesharwani bt. Yash Yadav/Marc Van Der Merwe (RSA) 6-4, 6-1; Aditya Balsekar/Darrshan Suresh (MAS) bt. Gift Ivan Ngarambe (RWA)/David Oringa (UGA) 6-0, 6-4
– Nihit Sachdeva
Fenesta Open National Tennis Championships: Snigdha, Agarwal qualify for semifinals
Snigdha Kanta and Mannan Agarwal delivered standout performances to make the semifinals of the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship here on Thursday.
In the girls’ U-16 singles quarterfinal, Snigdha held her nerve in crucial moments and defeated Diya Chaudhary 6-4, 6-4 to move to the next round.
Snigdha was behind at 2-4 at the halfway stage after Diya broke her serve with a sublime forehand. The Karnataka player came roaring back as she won four consecutive games to secure the first set.
The second set was tightly contested with both players trading break points twice to reach 4-4. However, Snigdha’s speed and aggression ultimately proved decisive as she claimed the next two games and sealed the match.
Agarwal had a smooth sailing in the boys’ U-16 quarterfinals as he defeated Yashwin Dahiya 6-1, 6-3 to reach the next round.
Yashwin won the first game in the opening set, but the seventh seeded Agarwal came into his groove and broke his opponent’s serve thrice to win the first set. Agarwal broke Yashwin’s serve thrice in the second set as well to clinch the match.
The eighth seed Tavish Pahwa continued his winning run to reach the semifinals of the boys U-16 singles after beating Shaurya Bhardwaj 3-6, 7-6, 6-3.
Meanwhile, top seed Padma Rameshkumar beat Krishika Gautam 6-4, 6-1 to reach the last four stage of the girls U-14 singles category, and Aarav Mulay defeated Kabir Parmar 6-3, 6-1 to move into the semifinals of the boys U-14 singles category.
-PTI
RUGBY
Shikha Yadav to lead India Women in Leg 2 of Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series
Shikha Yadav will lead India in Leg 2 of the Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series to be held in Colombo on October 18 and 19.
The Indian squad, which had made its debut in Hangzhou, finishing sixth, was announced by the Indian Rugby Football Union (IRFU) here on Thursday.
Having entered Leg 1 of the competition as the 10th seed, India finished among the top six and heads to Leg 2 with its confidence bolstered by the previous show.
India had beaten the Philippines (24-5) and the UAE (19-12) in Leg 1.
“The Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series features Asia’s 12 top national teams competing across multiple legs, with cumulative points determining final rankings,” IRFU said in a release.
“We took valuable lessons from Leg 1 – both in execution and in consistency. The focus now is on converting those learnings into results in Colombo. The players have shown great commitment, and we’re eager to see them perform with confidence and clarity once again,” said head coach Paul Delport.
Squad
Shikha Yadav (c), Dumuni Marndi (vc), Amandeep Kaur, Ujjwala Ghuge, Guriya Kumari, Sandhya Rai, Bhumika Shukla, Sandhyarani Tudu, Nirmalya Rout, Arti Kumari, Kalyani Patil, Vaishnavi Patil, Tarulata Naik.
-PTI
ATHLETICS
National Junior Athletics Championships: Deepika, Kiran K, Yvuraj S among the exciting talents to watch out for
National under-20 record holder and defending champion javelin thrower Deepika, 110m hurdlers Kiran K. and Yuvaraj S., pole vaulter S. Kavinraja and under-18 sprinter Aarti Siwach will be among the exciting talent who will be seen in action at the National Junior Athletics Championships, starting at the Kalinga Stadium here on Friday.
More than 2000 athletes, including 950 women, will compete in four age groups during the five-day competition.
Those who perform well here will earn their places in the Indian side for the South Asian athletics championships to be held in Ranchi from October 24 to 26.
“The South Asian meet will be an excellent exposure for the junior athletes,” said World Athletics (WA) vice-president and Athletics Federation of India (AFI) spokesperson Adille Sumariwalla here on Thursday.
In order to tackle issues of overage and impersonation, the AFI has introduced Unique Identification (UID) numbers and QR codes on the athletes’ bibs.
-Team Sportstar
MORE SPORTS
Chief Minister’s Trophy Games 2025: Kanyakumari College Girls, Chennai College Boys dominate in chess
The eighth day of the Chief Minister’s Trophy Games 2025 saw Dindigul College Girls clinch gold in Ball Badminton, while Chengalpattu College Boys emerged victorious in the boys’ section.
The day also brought new entries into the CM Trophy Medal Tally: Kallakurichi claimed silver in Badminton and Nagapattinam marked its presence with a bronze in Beach Volleyball.
Meanwhile, in chess, Kanyakumari College Girls and Chennai College Boys showed their dominance.
Chief Minister’s Trophy Games 2025 results
CHESS
College Female, Individual — Gold: Rebecca Jesumarian, Kanniyakumari; Silver: Diya Bharath M, Chennai; Bronze: Femil C, Coimbatore
College Men, Individual — Gold: Arnav Maheshwari, Chennai; Silver: Rutherford S, Kanniyakumari; Bronze: Selvamurugan B, Thoothukudi
School Girls, Individual — Gold: Sahana S, Madurai; Silver: Shanmathi Sree S, Chennai; Bronze: Shiyonika J, Theni
School Boys, Individual — Gold: Aakash G, Coimbatore; Silver: Malvin Joshua, Cuddalore; Bronze: Yashwanth B, Madurai
BALL BADMINTON
College Men — Gold – Chengalpattu (Points – 7); Silver – Chennai (Points – 7); Bronze – Trichy (Points – 4)
College Women — Gold – Dindigul (Points – 6); Silver – Salem (Points – 5); Bronze – Madurai (Points – 4)
WEIGHTLIFTING
School Boys 79kg — Gold: S Karuppaswamy, Thoothukudi (Snatch – 113, Clean & Jerk – 147, Total – 260); Silver: G Jerwish Franklin, Vellore (Snatch – 106, Clean & Jerk – 130, Total 236); Bronze: S Akash, Mayiladuthurai (Snatch – 100, Clean & Jerk – 118, Total – 218)
School Boys 88kg — Gold: B Praveen, Vellore (Snatch – 96, Clean & Jerk – 121, Total – 217); Silver: S Jeevankumar Suresh, Vellore (Snatch – 95, Clean & Jerk – 115, Total 210); Bronze: M Siva, Mayiladuthurai (Snatch – 80, Clean & Jerk – 95, Total – 175)
School Boys 98kg — Gold: G Baranidharan, Pudukottai (Snatch – 110, Clean & Jerk – 135, Total – 245); Silver: I Pramothraj, Ranipet (Snatch – 63, Clean & Jerk – 76, Total 139); Bronze: S Yogesh, Pudukottai (Snatch – 57, Clean & Jerk – 76, Total – 133)
School Boys +98kg — Gold: S Sriranjan, Coimbatore (Snatch – 110, Clean & Jerk – 132, Total – 242); Silver: S Vigneshwaran, Vellore (Snatch – 85, Clean & Jerk – 112, Total 197); Bronze: P Jeno Harrison, Tirunelveli (Snatch – 64, Clean & Jerk – 86, Total – 150)
JUDO
College Boys 73kg — Gold: P Ajesh Kumar,(Ariyalur); Silver: M Yogeesh, (Theni); Bronze: S Nithish, (Dindigul); Second Bronze: Varoon Raja U S, (Chennai)
College Boys 81kg — Gold: B Naveen Raj,(Madurai); Silver: Hemanth Sachin E, (Tirunelveli); Bronze: S P Tharun, (Madurai); Second Bronze: Rohith B, (Chennai)
College Girls 57kg — Gold: Ramathilagam, M (Chennai); Silver: A Kaviya, (Coimbatore); Bronze: Shobana S, (Chennai); Second Bronze: Rahamathun Nisha S R, (Coimbatore)
College Girls 63kg — Gold: Monisha C,(Chennai); Silver: K Kishanthini, (Coimbatore); Bronze: K Kesava Priya, (Madurai); Second Bronze: A Thamarai Selvi, (Tirunelveli)
FENCING
Boys Epee School — Gold: Bright Bejino Steffin (Kanniyakumari) def. T Sarathi (Chennai) 15-7; Silver: T Sarathi (Chennai); Bronze: R Harish (Madurai); Second Bronze: A Dhanesh (Kanniyakumari)
Girls, Epee School — Gold: L Porchelvi (Chennai) def. S A Aswini (Kanniyakumari) 15-2; Silver: S A Aswini (Kanniyakumari); Bronze: S C Subhashini (Chennai); Second Bronze: Baranisree (Salem)
-Team Sportstar
ARCHERY
Archery Premier League 2025: Mighty Marathas enter semifinals, unbeaten Rajputana Royals stunned by Prithivraaj Yodhas
The round-robin stage of the inaugural Archery Premier League (APL) moved into its business end in New Delhi on Thursday, at the Yamuna Sports Complex, with Mighty Marathas (MM) booking a spot in the semis.
Meanwhile, Prithviraj Yodhas stunned Rajputana Royals, which lost its first match of this season after seven consecutive wins.
-Team Sportstar
Published on Oct 09, 2025