World Sports: Red Bull Suspends Christian Horner's Accuser; PV Sindhu Enters BWF French Open Quarter-Finals - As It Happened

Welcome to the highlights of our coverage of sports news and events on March 7, 2024. The Indian men's cricket team bowled out England for 218 runs and then began strongly with the bat on Day 1 of the fifth and final Test in Dharamsala. Canada beat Scotland by five wickets in match 11 of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 in Dubai, and Islamabad United defeated Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League. Back home, Mumbai Indians thumped UP Warriorz by 42 runs in match 14 of the Women's Premier League 2024. Catch the highlights of all the sporting action here. (Cricket News | Football News)

Former World number one Rafael Nadal has pulled out of Indian Wells tournament. The tennis star posted the news on his X feed.

In the UEFA Champions League last night, Real Madrid are through to the quarter-final after drawing their game against RB Leipzig but winning the tie 2-1 over two legs. Manchester City defeated FC Copenhagen 3-1 as Pep Guardiola's side too entered the quarter-final stage with a 6-2 aggregate victory.

India will bowl first in Dharamsala as England won the toss and elected to bat first in the fifth and final Test match.

Mercedes driver George Russell has called for transparency following a report alleging that the president of Formula 1’s governing body intervened to overturn a penalty last season. Russell finished fourth behind Fernando Alonso in last year’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix but was briefly upgraded to third when Alonso was given a 10-second penalty because Aston Martin’s pit crew touched the car with a jack while serving an earlier penalty. That ruling was later overturned. (AP)

Indian wicketkeeper-batter and RCB player Dinesh Karthik is all set to hang up his IPL boots post the 2024 season. As per a report in ESPNCricinfo, 'DK' will also make a final decision soon on his international future.

Indian Super League club Odisha FC will lock horns against Australian powerhouse Central Coast Mariners in the first leg of the AFC Cup 2023-24 inter-zone play-off semis at the Central Coast Stadium in NSW, Australia on Thursday. The match starts at 1:30 pm IST.

Two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu has been named the goodwill ambassador for this year's 'Earth Hour India', an 18-year-old movement that seeks to raise awareness for environmental issues. Earth Day will be celebrated on March 23. "I am joining WWF-India's Earth Hour by making strides towards a more sustainable lifestyle and spending more time in nature," Sindhu said in a statement. "I am giving an hour for Earth by stepping out of the gym and working out in nature once a week. Join me this Earth Hour to create a more hopeful and resilient future by doing something positive for the planet. Let's make this the Biggest Hour for Earth," she added. (PTI)

Top Indian high jumper Tejaswin Shankar has questioned the sports ministry's decision to make Khelo India medal winners eligible for government jobs, saying it may prompt athletes to use "unfair means" as the policy seeks to reward single achievement over consistent performance. (PTI)

Mikael Doka's goal gave Central Coast Mariners the lead against Odisha FC. The ISL side are 1-0 down and will look for a comeback in the 2nd half.

Odisha FC have been thumped 4-0 by the Australian side Central Coast Mariners in the first leg. The ISL side need a miracle to turn this deficit around in the second leg.

In match 11 of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 in Dubai, Scotland hold the upper hand against Canada as of now. Though Richie Berrington's Scotland were bowled out for 197, they have come back strongly with the ball themselves, picking up four Canada wickets in the first 10 overs to leave them tottering at 42/4. Nicholas Kirton and Harsh Thaker are at the crease, and Canada still need 156 runs with six wickets in hand at the time of writing.

Arshad Nadeem, Pakistan's lone real hope for a medal in this year's Olympic Games in Paris, has said that he has not been able to get a new international standard javelin for many years, PTI reports. Nadeem, who recently underwent surgery for an elbow issue, said he owned just one javelin and had been using it for the last seven-eight years. "It has now got to a stage where the javelin is damaged and I have asked the national federation and my coach to do something about it before the Paris Olympics," he said.

Star Indian para shooters Avani Lekhara and Manish Narwal will spearhead a 31-strong Indian contingent in the Para Shooting World Cup, the first-ever in the country, which gets underway in New Delhi on Friday. Lekhara made history at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, becoming the first female athlete from India to top the podium at the Paralympic Games, while Narwal clinched the mixed 50m pistol (SH1) gold at the quadrennial showpiece, PTI reports. With the 2024 Games round the corner, this would be another opportunity for the two ace shooters, who have qualified for Paris, to gauge their preparations ahead of the mega event.

Two Brighton fans are in hospital in Rome after being stabbed on the eve of their team's Europa League match in the Italian capital, Associated Press reports. As per Italian media, a restaurant worker called police saying two fans came in asking for help after being stabbed nearby. One had three wounds to his left thigh, while the other was stabbed in the right thigh. They had also allegedly had a backpack stolen that contained a wallet and documents.

Indian badminton torchbearer PV Sindhu has clawed her way back into her round of 16 match at the BWF French Open in Paris. After losing the first game 13-21, the 28-year-old from Hyderabad has taken the second game with a resounding 21-10 margin against Beiwen Zhang of the USA. The decider is now underway, and the winner of this game will advance to the quarter-finals of the prestigious BWF Tour event.

Easy does it for PV Sindhu. The Indian badminton star wins the third game 21-14 to defeat the United States' Beiwen Zhang in the round of 16 and progress to the quarter-finals of BWF French Open 2024 in Paris.

Harsh Thaker has won it for Canada. The 26-year-old all-rounder has excelled with both bat and ball to almost single-handedly take his side across the finish line against Scotland in match 11 of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 in Dubai. Chasing a target of 198, Canada were struggling at 34/4 at one stage, but Harsh combined forces with Nicholas Kirton and Shreyas Movva to forge a five-wicket win for his team. Harsh stayed unbeaten on 105 off 150 balls, and also bagged a three-wicket haul in the first innings to boot.

While PV Sindhu advanced to the quarter-finals, Kidambi Srikanth bowed out in the round of 16 stage at the French Open 2024. Srikanth, who showed his mastery over Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen on Wednesday, hit a roadblock against Guang Zu, someone he held a flawless 5-0 record against ahead of the match. The former world No. 1 Srikanth lost 21-19, 12-21, 20-22 to the world No. 17 Chinese after battling for 78 minutes.

Some of the world's best stand-up paddlers, including World No. 2 Fernando Perez and reigning national champion Sekar Patchai, will be vying for top honours at the first-ever India Paddle Festival, beginning in Mangaluru on Friday. The three-day event has garnered support from celebrities and sportspersons such as Indian cricketer KL Rahul and ace Indian badminton doubles player Chirag Shetty, who have been roped in as the Goodwill Ambassadors, PTI reports.

Afghanistan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz has struck a dazzling century (121 runs off 117 balls; 4x8; 6x6) to propel his team to a strong total of 310/5 in the first ODI against Ireland in Sharjah. Gurbaz's ton was complemented by his opening partner Ibrahim Zadran's half century (60 runs off 93 balls) as the duo compiled 150 runs for the first wicket. Skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi later came up with the final flourish, smashing a quickfire 33-ball 50 to power the team past 300.

This was Gurbaz's sixth ODI ton, making him the joint-highest centurion for his country alongside Mohammad Shahzad.

The woman who accused Red Bull team principal Christian Horner of inappropriate behaviour has been suspended by the Formula One racing team. Horner refuted the allegations, and Red Bull's board dismissed the complaint after an internal probe. BBC reports that the the reason given by Red Bull to the employee was that she had been dishonest. "The company cannot comment on this internal matter," a Red Bull spokesperson said.

Rakesh Kumar secured two medals as Indian archers returned with one gold, one silver and one bronze at the 8th Fazza Para Archery World Ranking Tournament in Dubai. Rakesh Kumar beat Ken Swagumilang of Indonesia 147-143 to win the gold medal in the compound men's open event, PTI reports. Rakesh secured a double when he partnered Sheetal Devi to defeat their rivals from Korea 155-152 to bag the compound mixed team open bronze medal. India also pocketed a silver medal through Pooja who lost to Elisabetta Mijno of Italy 0-6 in the women's recurve open final.

Sweden midfielder Kristoffer Olsson, hospitalized for two weeks with an acute brain condition, is in a stable condition in intensive care, his Danish club has said. Doctors will slowly take him off a ventilator, FC Midtjylland said in a statement. Olsson “has been affected by several small blood clots on both sides of the brain, as a result of an extremely rare inflammatory condition in the vessels of the brain,” Associated Press reports.

Goa bounced back from two goals down to beat Manipur 2-1 in extra time to ensure their 14th appearance in the Santosh Trophy final, in Itanagar. While Ngangbam Pacha Singh put Manipur in the lead in the 18th minute, Necio Maristo Fernandes (90+6', 116) struck twice to take Goa into the final, where they will clash with Services, who got the better of Mizoram 2-1, PTI reports.

A second-half penalty from Wilmar Jordan Gil ensured a solitary goal win for Punjab FC over NorthEast United FC in a crucial Indian Super League match in Guwahati, PTI reports. With this win, Punjab FC jumped to ninth position in the table and are only a single point behind Bengaluru FC, who occupy the final play-off spot.

That's all from us tonight. We will be back tomorrow morning with all that's current in the world of sports. Until then, goodbye.