Manchester United’s Fall yet To Find an End; Amorim Continues to Defend
Manchester United’s fall has yet to find an end to it. Ruben Amorim continues to go down along with Man United. Amorim still stays rigid about this formation even after a shameful 3-0 derby defeat to Manchester City on Sunday. After last night’s disappointing defeat, the Red Devils have managed only four points from their first four Premier League matches and have already been knocked out of the League Cup by fourth-tier side Grimsby. Amorim’s formation seems to find constant beating from the opponents. Since his reign from November last year, Man U finished 15th in the Premier League, winning only eight games out of 31 in the Premier League. However, Amorim stays adamant about not compromising with his formula. Even after the horror, he stated, “I understand that, and I accept it. It’s not a record that you should have at Manchester United.” “I’m not going to change. When I want to change my philosophy, I will change. If not, you have to change the men (players)…. I play my way, and I’m going to play my way until I want to change.” United, stuck in a state of uncertainty, have gone all-in on Amorim, committing £200 million ($271 million) this summer to rebuild their forward line. However, Man U is yet to find any breakthrough. “My message is that I’m going to give everything. I will do everything, always thinking about what is best for the club,” Amorim assured. “Until I’m here, I will do my best. I really want to win games. I’m suffering more than them (the fans).”
Central Zone Ensures Seventh Duleep Trophy Title Effortlessly
Central Zone’s seventh claim of the Duleep Trophy at the BCCI Centre of Excellence. South Zone, dismissed for 149 in the first innings, staged a spirited comeback with 426 in their second, but Central’s commanding first-innings total of 511 had effectively decided the contest by the third day. Saransh emphasised the persistence of this tournament has set the tone for the season ahead. The 32-year-old all-rounder stated, “You need momentum from the start of the season. It is the first tournament, so it feels good to start well. When you dismiss established batters, you grow in confidence, and that will help throughout the season.” South Zone coach L Balaji, however, deplored the team’s first innings batting performance. “Had we scored more runs in the first innings, or if the second-innings partnership (between Ankita Sharma and Andre Sidharth) had lasted longer, it would have been a solid game. A target of 140-160 would have been ideal for the bowling unit to fight,” pointed out the former India pacer. Further, Balaji added, “The boys did their best. We played a good brand of cricket overall, and we tried our best with the inexperienced side. We were a young team with many playing their first Duleep Trophy, and they have learnt a lot from this.” Central capped a memorable tournament on the back of standout individual performances. Skipper Patidar led from the front as the tournament’s top scorer with 382 runs, followed by Rathod (374) and Danish Malewar (353). Spinner Saransh Jain, named Player of the Tournament, claimed 16 wickets in three matches and added 136 runs. Both finalists had to reshuffle their line-ups ahead of the summit clash, with several players draughted into the India ‘A’ squad.
Avoiding ‘social media’ was one of the key factors to international success after two years says Lakshya Sen
Lakshya Sen hailed keeping away from social media as a key factor behind his recent success after finishing as the runner-up in the Hong Kong Open Super 500 on Sunday, where he lost to China’s Li Sheng Feng. Lakshya’s last title in the Super 500 was in 2023 at the Canada Open. Speaking to BWF post the final, Sen shared that he maintained his set routine throughout the tournament, including avoiding social media. “I kept the routine the same as what I was doing on Day 1 [for the final],” Sen said. “I focused on recovery and everything because all the matches were very tough on the body. I even stayed away from social media a little bit,” he added with a chuckle. Reflecting on his recent results, Sen credited his good showing in Hong Kong to dedicated work over the past two or three months, particularly in preparation for the recently concluded 2025 BWF World Championships. “A lot of the things which I did, maybe two or three months back, are helping,” he said. “It’s been a good week, especially after the World Championships, where things did not go as planned. We had trained well for it and put in good work for three or four weeks. “Now it was time that I kept the momentum up. So, a lot of positives to take from this tournament,” he added. With as many as seven first-round exits this season before the World Championships, Sen was visibly short of match time. He tried to make up for it with his training camps abroad, which included a lot of training matches. Despite it, he suffered a first-round exit at the World Championships when he went down 17-21, 19-21 to world No. 1 Shi Yu Qi after a tough battle. Having finally reaped his rewards for all the hard work in Hong Kong, Sen just hopes to keep going. “I just want me to believe in myself more and keep going,” he said.
Defying All Odds Athletes Thrilled to Showcase Their Excellence
India is all set to host the biggest World Para Athletics Championships! The event will set a mark of more than 100 nations participating at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium opening on 27th September. However, a glaring fact is nuancely summed up by javelin icon Navdeep Singh: “Before Paris, no one. After Paris, champion.” India has performed remarkably well on the Paris Paralympics stage, returning home only after sealing 29 medals, including 17 in athletics. Now, it’s time for India to show the world the strength of their home ground. Simran Sharma, while talking to the Times of India, stated, “There is definitely pressure on the home ground. Where there is support, there are also expectations. I won gold at the last World Championship, so somewhere I have to defend that medal.” If Simran shoulders the weight of expectation, Navdeep embodies the calm of detachment. “Preparations are going well. Earlier, I had some disturbance with the runway, but now it’s fine. I still have time to make corrections and will keep working to perform even better,” he further stated. While talking further, he noted how he deals with negative comments: “Winning gold is fine, but the negative comments that people pass, I don’t keep them in my mind or my heart. I listen to some music; it relaxes me. I never let negative thoughts overpower me.” Needless to say, the positive approach of life being led in the present while not contemplating the past and bitterness is the secret sauce of making a champion. And completing the picture is Preethi Pal, India’s first Paralympic track medallist, who has been honoured as the Indian flagbearer for the Championships. She stated, “Preparations are going well. But as it is with exams, only the result will tell what will happen on the day,” she says with a broad smile. However, for Preethi it’s more than a competition; one of the reasons might be the new addition of the Mondo track, recently laid at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, contemplating the standards of the world’s greatest sporting arenas. Preethi further added, “This is our first Mondo track at the JLN Stadium, and it feels really good. Earlier, we trained on synthetic surfaces, and suddenly moving to Mondo feels different. It feels like guests are coming home, and we will be competing with them right here.” The Mondo track offers para-athletes a chance to prove their mettle on a world-class, Olympic-standard surface. Yet, even at her peak, Preethi cannot shake off the heartbreak of the last Asian Games, where she missed a medal by just milliseconds. “I missed a medal in my very first international tournament by just milliseconds.” “It felt terrible. But people told me, ‘The World Championships and Paralympics are still ahead.’ I laughed at first, thinking if I couldn’t win at the Asian Games, how would I ever win at a World Championship? But they said, ‘Trust yourself.’ When you trust yourself, your body responds accordingly. That’s why I believe we must always think positive,” the Arjun Awardee reveals. “Some say we are just running for timepass, that our medals come easy. They should come see us train: we throw up, we fall sick, and we push ourselves to the limit. They only see the medal and the prize money, never the sweat and struggle behind it.” For Preethi, as for her teammates, actions speak louder than words — loud enough to silence the critics. “After Paris, my confidence soared. The hesitation is gone. The more tournaments we play, the better we perform,” she says.
India to stick with ‘no handshake’ policy against Pakistan in Asia Cup
It is learnt that Indian cricket team have decided to carry on with the ‘no handshake’ policy with Pakistan even if both teams meet again in the Super-4 stage of the ongoing Asia Cup. India captain Suryakumar Yadav and his players showed a symbolic protest, leaving the ground directly without handshaking with the Pakistani cricketers after drubbing them in the group league match on Sunday. According to reports published in The Economic Times, it is believed that India will not shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts, both in the Super 4 stage and in the final, if they meet. According to the reports, the decision of not exchanging the sporting gesture through handshakes after the match was taken after Team India received an instruction from the BCCI. It is also believed that the BCCI and the team management were reportedly involved in a discussion over the recent demand from a section of fans and political parties to boycott the game against Pakistan. Defending the decision, a BCCI official explained while speaking to PTI, “Look, if you read the rule book, there is no specification about shaking hands with the opposition. It is a goodwill gesture and a sort of convention not law that is followed globally across the sporting spectrum. If there is no law, then the Indian cricket team is not bound to shake hands with an opposition with whom there is a history of strained relationship,” the BCCI official said. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board has officially lodged a complaint to the Asian Cricket Council, mentioning India’s gesture as ‘unsporting’.
