Sports News Highlights: Nadal Loses To Hurkacz In Italian Open; KKR Qualify For Playoffs In IPL 2024

Aman Sehrawat became the first Indian male wrestler to qualify for the Paris Olympics 2024, whereas Deepak Punia was eliminated from the World Olympic Games Qualifiers in Istanbul. In football, Manchester City climb to the top of the Premier League table after beating Fulham 4-0. Tottenham beat Burnley 2-1 and Chelsea defeated Nottingham Forest 3-2 in other matches of PL. Defending champions Real Madrid beat Granada 4-0 in the La Liga. In tennis, Rafael Nadal lost to Hubert Hurkacz in the Round of 64 match in the Italian Open 2024. In the IPL, KKR beat MI by 18 runs in Eden Gardens to qualify for the playoffs of the IPL 2024. Catch all the highlights for today's sporting news from around the globe, right here.

Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic got hit on the head whilst signing for autographs during the Italian Open 2024. Read more about it here -

Manchester United midfielder Casemiro, who has won 75 caps for Brazil, has been left out of coach Dorival Jr's 23-man squad for next month's Copa America. The 32-year-old has endured a difficult season at Old Trafford.

Rory McIlroy clarifies that there's no strain in his relationship with Tiger Woods, though they have differing views on the future of men's professional golf. The disagreement stems from ongoing negotiations between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabian backers of LIV Golf.

Tadej Pogacar solidified his lead in the Giro d'Italia by winning the stage-seven time trial, while Geraint Thomas slipped to third overall. Pogacar, the overwhelming favorite, powered up the final climb to overtake Filippo Ganna's time. Despite trailing by 47 seconds at the start of the climb, the Slovenian claimed his second stage win of the week, finishing the 40.6km stage in 51 minutes and 44 seconds.

Andy Murray has accelerated his return from an ankle injury and is set to compete at an ATP Challenger event in Bordeaux next week. The 36-year-old Briton, who has been sidelined since late March due to ruptured ankle ligaments sustained at the Miami Open, has decided to make an earlier comeback than anticipated.

Murray, who is expected to retire this season, intends to participate in the French Open, which begins on May 26.

Great Britain's men's team is set to defend their World Team Cup title after defeating France to reach this year's final. Gordon Reid defeated Frederic Cattaneo 6-4, 6-0, while world number one Alfie Hewett secured a victory against Stephane Houdet with a score of 6-0, 6-2, maintaining their perfect record of not dropping a single rubber this week. They will now face Spain in Sunday's final in Turkey.

Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill has been fined Rs 24 lakh for maintaining slow over rate during the IPL match against Chennai Super Kings.

British welterweight Conor Benn has had his provisional suspension reinstated following successful appeals by UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) and the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC). UKAD appealed against the independent National Anti-Doping Panel's decision to clear Benn after he failed two voluntary drug tests in 2022 and was subsequently suspended in March 2023.

After a journey that began with forty clubs from around the AFC confederation, only two remain: Yokohama F. Marinos, aiming for their maiden AFC Champions League title, and Al Ain, seeking to reclaim the title for the first time since 2003. The first leg will take place at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama on May 11, with the final showdown scheduled for May 25 at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain.

The match starts at 3:30pm IST.

In a thrilling encounter, Jharkhand registered their first win in the Senior Women's National Football Championship (NFC) for the Rajmata Jijabai Trophy by defeating Maharashtra 2-1. The match, saw Jharkhand's determination as they fought hard to secure the victory. With this win, Jharkhand has started their NFC campaign on a positive note, while Maharashtra will look to bounce back in their next fixture.

Nikola Jokic, who recently claimed his third NBA Most Valuable Player award, showcased his brilliance once again, scoring 24 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, and dishing out nine assists to lead the Denver Nuggets to a commanding 117-90 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. With this victory, the Nuggets narrowed the series gap to 2-1 in the Western Conference semi-finals of the playoffs.

Here's Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) chances explained of qualifying for the IPL 2024 playoffs

Fulham XI: Leno, Castagne, Diop, Bassey, Robinson, Iwobi, Palhinha, De Cordova-Reid, Pereira, Willian, Muniz.

Subs: Rodak, Tete, Reed, Jimenez, Wilson, Broja, Cairney, Traore, Ream

Man City XI: Ederson, Akanji, Dias, Ake, Gvardiol, Rodri, Kovacic, Silva, De Bruyne, Foden, Haaland.

Subs: Walker, Stones, Doku, Ortega, Alvarez, Gomez, Luiz, Bobb, Lewis.

The captain of Delhi Capitals Rishabh Pant will miss Sunday's crucial match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru after he was handed a one-match suspension for maintaining a slow over-rate. It was for the third time this season that Pant breached the Code of Conduct. He was also fined Rs 30 lakh.

The 19-year old from Mewat, Parvej Khan qualified for the final rounds in both 800m and 1500m races at the 2024 SEC Championships Relay clocking 1:48:23 and 3:44:98.

Man City 1-0 Up Against Fulham After 30 minutes

Yokohama 2-1 Al Ain

Nadal loses 1-6 in first set.

Pakistan Women won the toss and decided to bowl first against England Women in Edgbaston, Birmingham.

Playing XIs:

Pakistan Women: Sidra Ameen, Sadaf Shamas, Muneeba Ali(w), Nida Dar(c), Gull Feroza, Fatima Sana, Natalia Pervaiz, Rameen Shamim, Tuba Hassan, Waheeda Akhtar, Sadia Iqbal

England Women: Maia Bouchier, Danielle Wyatt, Alice Capsey, Heather Knight(c), Freya Kemp, Amy Jones(w), Danielle Gibson, Charlotte Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Lauren Bell

Manchester City defeated Fulham with a big margin of 4-0 in the Premier League clash on Saturday. Josko Gvardiol opened the account for City with the only goal of the first half in the 13th minute. Phil Foden doubled their lead with a 59th-minute goal and Gvardiol's second goal of the match in 71st minute gave them an unassialable lead. But it was Julian Alvarez's penalty goal in the extra time that sealed the match for Man City.

Pakistan women have taken four early wickets of the English side in the first T20I match of the three-game series. Waheeda Akhtar bowled a two-wicket maiden over to left the England women reeling in the powerplay.

Gujarat Titans have roped in right-arm pacer Gurnoor Brar as replacement for the injured left-arm quick Sushant Mishra, according to PTI reports.

Gurnoor plays for Punjab in domestic tournaments, and this will be his second stint in the Indian Premier League, having previously featured for Punjab Kings.

Deepak Punia's Olympic qualification hopes suffered a heavy jolt following his crushing first-round defeat at the World Qualifiers but young Aman Sehrawat moved to the 57kg semifinals to stand one win away from locking a Paris Games quota in Istanbul on Saturday.

Sujeet Kalkal (65kg) and Jaideep Ahlawat (74kg) moved to the quarterfinals in their respective categories. No Indian male wrestler has yet qualified for the Games and this is the last chance to secure berths, according to PTI reports.

The BCCI is likely to split the prestigious Ranji Trophy into two halves with white-ball tournaments Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy being held in between for the 2024-25 season.

It is learnt that a draft proposal for the restructuring of domestic cricket calendar for the 2024-25 season has been sent to the the Board’s apex council, according to PTI reports.

Indian-American golfer Sahith Theegala made a superb recovery to force his way into the Top 10 at the Wells Fargo Championship, the PGA TOUR's USD 20 million Signature event, according to PTI reports.

Theegala, who carded 73 in the opening round, shot 6-under 65 on day two to rise to T-7 from T-49. He is 4-under after two days.

Sheffield United made unwanted history on Saturday. By conceding in the 31st minute at Everton, Sheffield United became the first team to let in 101 goals in a single Premier League season, according to AP reports.

Deepak Punia was eliminated from the Paris Olympic Games qualification race following his crushing first-round defeat but young Aman Sehrawat and Sujeet Kalkal got closer to securing quotas by reaching the semifinals at the World Qualifiers in Istanbul on Saturday, according to PTI reports

Sujeet, who competes in a category which the celebrated Bajrang Punia had made his own, expectedly put up a fighting show, winning 3-2 against Uzbekistan's Umidjon Jalolov and followed that up with a technical superiority victory against Korea's Junsik Yun.

Pakistan women team have been defeated by English side by 53 runs in the first T20I match of the series. Nida Dar won the toss and invited England to bat first. England were once reeling on 11/4 in 2.5 overs but captain Heather Knight (49 off 44 balls) and Amy Jones (37 off 27 balls) stitched a partnership. Danielle Gibson and Sophie Ecclestone's unbeaten cameos take England Women side to 163/6 after 20 overs. Pakistan kept losing wickets at regular intervals and in the absence of any big partnership, they eventually lost the match by 53 runs.

India's Aditi Ashok shot a bogey-free round to make the cut comfortably after a tough first round at the Cognizant Founders Cup, according to PTI reports.

Aditi, who had a superb 2023, is still searching for her first LPGA win after seven years on the world's biggest pro golf tour for women. Aditi shot 3-over 75 on the opening day with two birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey.

Aman Sehrawat lived up to the high expectations by locking the Paris Olympics quota in the men's freestyle 57kg category but Deepak Punia was eliminated from the qualification race following his crushing first-round defeat at the World Qualifiers in Istanbul on Saturday, according to PTI reports.

Aman, the U23 world champion and also the senior Asian Championship title winner, was expected to put up a strong show and he did not disappoint.

Kolkata Knight Riders entered the IPL playoffs with an 18-run victory over Mumbai Indians in Kolkata on Saturday, according to PTI reports.

The match was reduced to 16 overs a side contest after a late start due to rain. Batting first in the rain-curtailed match, KKR scored 157 for 7. In reply, MI were stopped at 139 for eight.

That's all from our side for today. We will join tomorrow. Goodnight!