India: Last News

After his opening round victory in the Indian Wells Open tennis tournament a few days ago, Daniil Medvedev scribbled a sarcastic message on the camera lens.

BARCELONA: Lamine Yamal and Raphinha dazzled as Barcelona thumped Benfica 3-1 on Tuesday, reaching the Champions League quarter-finals 4-1 on aggregate. Raphinha netted either side of a stunning Yamal strike as the Catalans dominated in the first half, building on their 1-0 last 16, first leg win in Lisbon. Nicolas Otamendi had quickly levelled Raphinha’s opener but the visitors were blown away at the Olympic Stadium as Barcelona progressed comfortably from the tie and produced some moments of brilliant attacking football. Hansi Flick’s side will face Borussia Dortmund or Lille in the quarter-finals as they aim to win the competition for the first time since 2015 and the era of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez. “We are candidates to win everything,” Raphinha told Movistar, with the club in the hunt for a potential treble. “For me the most important thing is what we did as a team and I am very happy with this victory,” he continued, before praising teenager Yamal. “His goal was spectacular, it shows what Lamine is — he’s a spectacular player with tremendous quality.” Flick said Barca would play for late club doctor Carles Minarro, who died suddenly on Saturday ahead of the team’s match against Osasuna, which was postponed, and the players observed a silence in his honor before kick-off. “What happened made us arrive at this game even more determined to win,” added Raphinha. Five-time Champions League winners Barca took the lead after 11 minutes when Spain international Yamal burst into the area, chopped his way past Florentino and then mishit the ball across to Raphinha for a simple finish. Benfica levelled within two minutes when Otamendi escaped Ronald Araujo to head home from a corner. Barcelona goalkeeper

Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru ended an otherwise disappointing season on a positive note, denying Mumbai Indians a direct entry into the final of the Women's Premier League with an 11-run win on Tuesday. The result helped table toppers Delhi Capitals secure a direct berth in the final of the competition, which will be held here on March 15, while MI will take on Gujarat Giants in the eliminator on March 13 at the same venue. DC have now entered the summit clash for the third consecutive time and would hope that coveted title doesn't elude them. Batting first, RCB rode on skipper Smriti Mandhana's 37-ball 53 and useful contributions from Ellyse Perry (49 off 38 balls), Richa Ghosh (36 off 22) and Georgia Wareham (31 off 10) to post a commanding 199 for three.

Former India captain MS Dhoni, along with his wife, Sakshi, arrived in Mussoorie on Tuesday evening for the wedding of Rishabh Pant's sister. Sakshi Pant is set to tie the knot with long-time lover Ankit Choudhary on Wednesday. Sakshi shared a post on her Instagram on January 6 last year to announce that she got engaged with Ankit and added a hashtag in her caption nine years and still counting, indicating that they have been together for nine years. Earlier, Dhoni joined the Chennai Super Kings camp ahead of the upcoming edition of the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, which will begin next week.

Mumbai City FC qualified for the playoffs of the Indian Super League with a 2-0 win against Bengaluru FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Tuesday. The Islanders thus finish the league season at the sixth spot with 36 points, whereas the Gerard Zaragoza-coached side end their league campaign with 38 points. The Islanders were blazing across the Bengaluru FC backline from the onset. Their entire attacking unit came to the fore and functioned in coordination, with Jorge Ortiz receiving a pass from Lallianzuala Chhangte inside the 18-yard box and rattling the crossbar with a left-footed shot.

India made a clean sweep in the men's discus throw F11 event on the opening day of World Para Grand Prix Athletes as Sagar clinched the gold medal with a throw of 34.84 metres here on Tuesday. He was followed by Balaji Rajendran, who secured silver by hurling the discus at 26.98 metres, and Janak Singh Harsana bagged bronze with 25.13. In the women's 100 metres across T35, T36, T38, and T44 classifications, Australia's Rhiannon Clarke emerged victorious, clocking 13.14 seconds. India's Preeti Pal impressed with a silver in 14.85 seconds, while Germany's Nicole secured bronze in 15.35 seconds. Brazil's Joeferson Marinho de Oliveira dominated the men's 100 metres T11 and T12 category with a stellar timing of 11.17 seconds.

India wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant feels the lure of the IPL is understandable but budding cricketers should always focus on playing for the country as "everything else" follows thereafter. Pant, who was part of India's triumphant Champions Trophy squad but did not get a game, made his international debut back in 2017. "Since childhood, I had only one dream—to play for India. I never even thought about playing in the IPL. I think today, people are more focused on the IPL. Of course, it's a great platform, but I believe that if your goal is to play for your country, everything else—including the IPL—will eventually fall into place," Pant told JioHotstar.

LONDON: Manchester United on Tuesday announced plans to build a new 100,000-capacity stadium close to their historic Old Trafford home, which co-owner Jim Ratcliffe promised would be the “world’s greatest” football ground. The momentous decision by the Premier League club comes after an extensive consultation process on whether to develop their creaking current ground or move. The stadium, which will be built on land surrounding Old Trafford, will cost around £2 billion ($2.6 billion) and the project timescale is five years. United, 20-time English league champions, are one of the world’s most iconic football clubs but have fallen behind rivals such as Manchester City and Liverpool over the past decade. They are having a dismal season under current manager Ruben Amorim, languishing 14th in the Premier League table and knocked out of both domestic cup competitions. Ratcliffe himself this week told the BBC some of the club’s players are “not good enough” and some are “overpaid.” Scaled models and conceptual images for United’s new stadium were revealed on Tuesday at the London headquarters of architects Foster + Partners, appointed in September to design the stadium district. “Today marks the start of an incredibly exciting journey to the delivery of what will be the world’s greatest football stadium, at the center of a regenerated Old Trafford,” Ratcliffe said in a club statement. “Our current stadium has served us brilliantly for the past 115 years, but it has fallen behind the best arenas in world sport.” United said the stadium and a wider regeneration project had the potential to deliver an additional £7.3 billion per year to the UK economy, including the possible creation of 92,000 new jobs. Old Trafford, which has