Sports News Highlights: Nadal-Ruud Into Swedish Open SFs; PT Usha 'Shocked' At IOA Criticism

The French football federation pledged on Tuesday to file a complaint with FIFA over “racist and discriminatory remarks” by Argentina players in post-match chants about France’s team after their Copa America title win.

Trinbago Knight Riders

Deandra Dottin, Chedean Nation, Kycia Knight, Shamilia Connell, Kyshona Knight, Jahzara Claxton, Zaida James, Jannielea Glasgow, Anisa Mohammed, Shunelle Sawh, Samara Ramnath, Meg Lanning, Jess Jonassen, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shikha Pandey

Guyana Amazon Warriors

Hayley Matthews, Chinelle Henry, Afy Fletcher, Aaliyah Alleynne, Rashada Williams, Shabika Gajnabi, Cherry Ann Fraser, Trishan Holder, Qiana Joseph, Djeneba Joseph, Naijanni Cumberbatch, Chamari Athapaththu, Amanda Jade Wellington, Laura Harris, Georgia Redmayne

Barbados Royals

Stafanie Taylor, Shemaine Campbelle, Natasha McLean, Karishma Ramharack, Shakera Selman, Sheneta Grimmond, Ashmini Munisar, Kate Wilmott, Kaysia Schultz, Nyia Latchman, Realeanna Grimmond, Shabnim Ismail, Erin Burns, Chloe Tryon, Lauren Winfield-Hill

Asian Games silver medallist javelin thrower Kishore Jena says he was on verge of quitting the sport in 2023 after a string of poor performances but he heeded to his father's advice, leading to a revival of his career.

"When Neeraj won at the Olympics, we celebrated and enjoyed his victory. But honestly, the victory also left me dejected because I too was playing the same sport. I felt it was time for me to achieve something in sports," Jena said.

"When Neeraj won at the Olympics, we celebrated and enjoyed his victory. But honestly, the victory also left me dejected because I too was playing the same sport. I felt it was time for me to achieve something in sports," Jena said.

Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, a former NBA player and father of Basketball Hall of Fame guard Kobe Bryant, has died at the age of 69, La Salle University announced on Tuesday.

Bryant played at the Philadelphia school from 1973-1975 and coached the Explorers from 1993-96 after a career that saw him play from 1975-1983 for the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, then-San Diego Clippers and Houston Rockets as well as in Europe.

Lionel Messi is likely to miss at least the next two matches for Inter Miami, his Major League Soccer team, after injuring his right ankle during the Copa America final, Miami coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino said.

The team said Tuesday that Messi suffered a ligament injury in his right ankle, and his availability will be assessed periodically as rehab progresses.(AP)

Rafael Nadal's name has been found on the U.S. Open entry list released via a protected ranking. However, this doesn't ensure his participation in in the year's last Grand Slam tournament.

England has made only one change for the second test against the West Indies as they recalled pacer Mark Wood to replace the retired James Anderson.

The second match of the ENG vs WI three-test series starts Thursday at Trent Bridge.

Rafael Nadal will face the World No.2 Cameron Norrie in the men's singles round of 16 at the 2024 Swedish Open on July 18, Thursday. The Spaniard holds the superior head-to-head record against the former British world no.1, winning four of the five matches played.

In the men's doubles event, the 22-time Grand Slam winner paired with Casper Ruud will go against Theo Aribage and Roman Safiullin, today at around 5:10 PM in Bastad.

With the Paris Olympics less than two weeks away, a question hangs over the Games: Will the Seine River be clean enough for athletes to swim in?

Triathlon and marathon swimming are scheduled to take place in the Seine, where it has been illegal to swim for more than a century. Despite the city's efforts to clean up the long-polluted river, the water has tested unsafe for humans in recent weeks, and cleaner on other days. The Games run from July 26-Aug. 11.(AP)

The final contingent for India in Paris as released by Indian Olympic Association (IOA) features 117 athletes and 140 support staff and officials. Among these, 72 individuals, have been approved with cost covered by the Government to meet the requirements of the travelling sportspersons.

The second Test between England and West Indies will be held between July 18-22. As per Weather.com, the first day will be partly cloudy and the temperatures will be around 25 degrees Celsius. However, showers are expected to play a part on the third day and the final day.

England are leading the three-match Test series 1-0.

The largest group within the Indian contingent for the Paris Games 2024 consists of 29 members in Athletics (11 women and 18 men). Next comes shooting with 21 members, Hockey closely follows with 19 members.

In addition:

• Table Tennis will be represented by eight players.

• Badminton will feature seven shuttles, including two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu.

• Wrestling, archery, and boxing will each have six representatives.

• Golf will be represented by 4 athletes, while tennis will have 3 players.

• Swimming and sailing will each have 2 athletes, with equestrian, judo, rowing, and weightlifting each having 1 athlete.

India's first woman Paralympic medallist Deepa Malik has been named sub-regional representative for South Asia by the Asian Paralympic Committee (APC).

This appointment, which was confirmed during the 34th Executive Board meeting of the APC, signifies a significant step forward for gender diversity and athlete-centric leadership in para-sports. She will take up her post immediately. (PTI)

Olympic bound Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal and his Polish partner Karol Drzewiecki faced straight-set loss in the Swedish Open in men's doubles event .

The Indo-Polish pair suffered a 3-6 4-6 defeat in the hands of the French duo of Alexandre Muller and Luca Van Assche in a 59 minute round of 16 contest on Tuesday.

Argentina's successful Copa America title defence has unwanted fallout in the Chelsea camp thanks to Enzo Fernandez's singing of a celebratory song -- one which has been branded by his club team-mate in England, Wesley Fofana as "uninhibited racism."

Some of the verses from the song were: "They play for France, but their parents are from Angola. Their mother is from Cameroon, while their father is from Nigeria. But their passport says French". The song also had references to Kylian Mbappe's apparent connection with transgender model Ines Rau.

St Kilda's Lance Collard became the third player to be suspended over “unprompted and highly offensive homophobic slurs” this year in Australian Football League. The 19-year-old forward will serve a six-game ban after being investigated into his remarks directed towards two Williamstown opponents during a VFL game.

Chelsea has begun disciplinary action after midfielder Enzo Fernandez was involved in a video where members of Argentina's Copa America-winning squad appeared to sing about French players with African heritage.

FIFA also said it was also looking into the incident after the French soccer federation pledged to file a complaint with the sport's world governing body over “racist and discriminatory remarks.”

Fernandez said he was “truly sorry” and Chelsea said discriminatory behaviour was “completely unacceptable.” (AP)

'Mr 360' Suryakumar Yadav is the highest-ranked Indian at the second spot, while 22-year-old opener Yashasvi Jaiswal holds the sixth position in the latest ICC T20I batting rankings. Ruturaj Gaikwad has dropped a place to the eighth position in the T20 batters' list, which has been updated after India's recent 4-1 series triumph over Zimbabwe.

Third seed Casper Ruud has been knocked out of Swedish Open in the second round. Thiago Monteiro beats Ruud in straight sets to enter the quarter-finals. The Brazilian takes just an hour and a half to see off the second seed 6-3, 6-3 in Bastad.

Croatian midfielder Luka Modric has signed a one-year contract extension with Real Madrid, which will keep him with Los Blancos until June 2025. The 38-year-old's previous contract expired at the end of June, but he has reached an agreement to play a 13th season at the Santiago Bernabeu. Modric signed for Madrid from Tottenham in 2012 and has since made 534 appearances in all competitions, scoring 39 goals and providing 83 assists.

England women's football team defender Lucy Bronze has joined Chelsea from Barcelona on a two-year deal. Bronze, a five-time UEFA Women's Champions League winner, completes her move to the Women's Super League holders after two years with Barcelona.

The high-profile men's doubles pairing of Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud has won the first set 6-4 against Theo Arribage and Roman Safiullin at the Swedish Open quarter-finals. The Indo-Polish combine of Sumit Nagal and Karol Drzewiecki had earlier crashed out in the first round after a straight-sets loss to French duo of Alexandre Muller and Luca Van Assche.

Alexander Zverev has sailed into the second round of the Hamburg Open with a comfortable straight-sets victory over Jesper de Jong. The top seed takes one step closer to defending his title with a 6-2, 6-2 win and will next face Hugo Gatson in the round of 16. 

It took a tie-break in the third set, but Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud are into the Swedish Open men's doubles semi-finals. They beat Theo Arribage and Roman Safiullin 6-4, 3-6, 12-10 in a match that lasts 93 minutes.

Denmark's mixed doubles badminton player Mathias Christiansen has withdrawn from Paris Olympic Games 2024, a decision his national federation has called the result of multiple unintentional errors made in reporting his whereabouts in line with anti-doping regulations. The Badminton World Federation has confirmed Christiansen's absence from the field and the removal of his team with partner Alexandra Boje from the mixed doubles draw.

New Zealand women's cricket team captain Sophie Devine has won the toss and elected to bowl against England in the fifth and final T20I at Lord's. The Kiwis are unchanged from the previous game, while England make four changes in the dead rubber. Sarah Glenn, Linsey Smith, Sophia Dunkley and Danielle Gibson are out and in come Maia Bouchier, Freya Kemp, Charlie Dean and Lauren Filer. Hosts England have already taken an unassailable 4-0 lead in the series and had swept the ODI leg 3-0 before this.

Playing XIs

New Zealand Women: Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine (c), Brooke Halliday, Maddy Green, Isabella Gaze (wk), Jess Kerr, Lea Tahuhu, Eden Carson, Fran Jonas.

England Women: Danielle Wyatt, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Heather Knight (c), Amy Jones (wk), Freya Kemp, Charlotte Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Lauren Bell.

La Liga titan Real Madrid has said that a Spanish court has given a suspended eight-month jail term to a person who racially abused football stars Vinicius Junior and Antonio Rudiger in the comments section of a Spanish sports news website. The club has said that the offender, whose name is not given, was found guilty of harming the moral integrity of the players, both of whom are Black.

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