Long Night Story

  Amandeep Drall dropped two late bogeys on the back nine but still had a share of the lead with Pranavi Urs at the end of day one of the second leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour 2023 on Wednesday. The duo shot 1-under 69 each at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club and were one ahead of Mysore golfer Disha Kavery (70), who is only in her third season as a pro. Two amateurs, Vidhatri Urs (71) and Nishna Patel (72), were third and fourth, while Vani Kapoor, who will shift her focus to the Ladies European Tour next month, carded 73 after a rough front nine of 3-over. She shot 3-over 73 as did Asmitha Sathish and Afshan Fatima. Four others -- Sneha Singh, Lakhmehar Pardesi, Khushi Khanijau and Ananya Datar -- were tied ninth with 75. Amandeep, playing for the first time since the season-ending events on the LET Tour in 2022, had an early bogey on the second but three birdies in a row from sixth to eighth and another on the 11th saw her go 3-under. She then dropped shots on the 14th and...

 It would have been inconceivable at lunchtime on Sept. 8 to think there was even the tiniest bit of concern about the UFC’s position in the sports landscape. It was a juggernaut and it was only growing. It was — and still is — in the midst of a lengthy sell-out streak for full arena shows. It was setting gate records regularly. It was attracting new sponsors who pumped millions into the company’s coffers. Its primary source of talent acquisition, "Dana White’s Contender Series," had been such a hit ESPN plans to move it in a prime position on free-to-air TV for the 2023 season. The news conference for UFC 279 was held mid-afternoon on Sept. 8 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and turned out to be a disaster. Fights began backstage between a number of the fighters on the show and UFC president Dana White was forced to cancel it. He was blunt when he said the UFC screwed up by not anticipating trouble and subsequently not having enough security. The next day, Khamzat ...

 Top seeds Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni beat Dan Added and Michael Geerts 4-6, 7-5, [10-5] in the doubles quarterfinals of the $80,000 Challenger tennis tournament in Nonthaburi, Thailand, on Thursday. In the semifinals, the Indian pair will meet fourth seeds Marek Gengel and Adam Pavlasek who pipped Anirudh Chandrasekar and Vijay Sundar Prashanth 10-8 in the super tie-break of their quarterfinals. In the $40,000 ITF women’s event in Nonthaburi, third seed Ankita Raina was beaten in the singles pre-quarterfinals by Haruka Kaji, but Rutuja Bhosale made the doubles semifinals in partnership with Erika Sema of Japan. Timofei Derepasko of Russia played an athletic all-round game to tame the second seed Amir Milushev of Uzbekistan 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in the quarterfinals of the ITF junior tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex on Thursday. After pulling through tough matches in the earlier two rounds, Milushev found his match in the tenacious Derepasko. In the semifinals, the Russian will pl...

 FOOTBALL I-League: Mohammedan Sporting holds Aizawl FC to 2-2 draw: A brace each from Marcus Joseph and Henry Kisekka produced one of the best games of this season as Mohammedan Sporting held Aizawl FC to a 2-2 draw in an I-League match on Friday. It was Aizawl, which came to life at the half-hour mark, taking the lead through a towering header from Henry, which was later matched by a scintillating left-footed strike from the home team captain Marcus just seconds from half-time. The two strikers added a goal each from set-pieces in the second half, with Joseph’s equaliser coming from the last kick of the match to salvage Mohammedan’s unbeaten home record. TENNIS Arystanbekova and Nupbay wins women’s doubles: Jangjun Kim of Korea knocked out top seed Adhithya Ganesan 7-5, 6-3 in the boys semifinals of the ITF junior tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex on Friday. Moving with energy and hitting with intensity, the Korean stopped the American of Indian origin with a clinical perform...

  Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper has defended his club after they were criticised for flying to and from Blackpool for Saturday's FA Cup tie. The club took the 20-minute flight to Lancashire, a journey of about 135 miles, to avoid a road trip of about two hours 45 minutes. Forest were knocked out of the FA Cup, losing the match against the Championship strugglers 4-1. "I think it is pretty normal," Cooper said on Monday. "Whether it is right or wrong, I think it is pretty normal for a team, in the Premier League particularly, and for a lot of Championship teams, to fly distances like that. "It's probably not just a question for Nottingham Forest. It is probably a question for the whole of the Premier League. "We are no outliers here. In fact, because of where we are situated in the country, we probably fly less than most." Should Premier League clubs stop flying to domestic matches for environmental reasons? In November 2021, Manchester United...

  The 22-time Grand Slam champion will enter his own team for the inaugural season, which is set to get underway later this year and will see up to 10 teams and 20 pilots racing on the water in iconic cities around the world. Nadal, who has expressed support for E1’s mission to accelerate clean mobility and restore marine ecosystems, joins a growing list of sports personalities to own an E1 team, including current Formula 1 driver Sergio Perez’s team affiliated with his native Mexico.Nadal commented, “I’m really excited to be getting involved with a project like E1 that values sustainability and will make a positive impact on society as a whole, especially in coastal communities. I also like the fact that E1 has a clear mission and is committed to preserving marine ecosystems. “As a professional athlete, I recognise how making marginal gains has a positive impact on performance. To see this same competitive spirit and approach being applied at E1 to optimise the performance and eff...