Sports

On January 13, 2024, Ira Jadhav from Mumbai became the highest individual scorer in Women’s Under 19 One Day Trophy history. The 14-year-old prodigy played an unbeaten inning of 346 runs off 157 balls against Meghalaya at the Alur Cricket Stadium in Bengaluru.

Her extraordinary performance, which included 42 fours and 16 sixes, led Mumbai to a monumental total of 563 for 3 in 50 overs. Ira’s achievement surpassed the previous record held by Smriti Mandhana, who scored 224 runs off 150 deliveries in 2013 while playing for Maharashtra. This remarkable feat has set a new benchmark in women’s domestic cricket and highlighted Ira’s immense potential as a future star.

The BCCI has announced a 15-member squad for the five-match T20I series against England, starting on 22 January 2025 in Kolkata.

Suryakumar Yadav will captain the team, with Axar Patel as vice-captain. Mohammed Shami returns to the squad after over a year, joined by players like Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, and Tilak Varma.

After the T20I series, England will also play three ODIs, which serve as India’s final preparation for the Champions Trophy starting on 19 February 2025. The ODI squads are yet to be finalized, and BCCI plans to request an extension for submitting the Champions Trophy 2025 squad, which is due on 12 January.

The inaugural Kho Kho World Cup 2025 began on 13 January 2025 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, New Delhi, supported by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

The tournament features 20 men’s and 19 women’s teams. India’s men’s team, led by Pratik Waikar, is in Group A alongside Nepal, Peru, Brazil, and Bhutan.

The women’s team, led by Priyanka Ingle, is in Group A with Iran, Malaysia, and the Republic of Korea. The top two teams from each group will advance to the quarter-finals, with the finals scheduled for 19 January 2025.

Anahat Singh, a 16-year-old top-seed Indian squash player, won the Under-17 Girls’ Singles title at the British Junior Open 2025 in Birmingham, England, on 6 January 2025.

She defeated Malika El Karaksy of Egypt in the final with a score of 3-2 (4-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-5, 11-3), coming from behind twice.

This is Anahat’s third British Junior Open title, following victories in the Under-11 category in 2019 and Under-15 category in 2023.

Earlier in the tournament, she beat Ruqayya Salem (3-1) in the semi-finals and Nadia Tamer (3-0) in the quarter-finals.

In 2024, Anahat won nine PSA Challenger titles, the most by any woman globally.

In the 67th National Shooting Championship 2024, Varun Tomar of the Indian Army emerged as the national shooting champion by winning the Men’s 10-meter Air Pistol finals at Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi on January 5, 2025.

His teammate, Pradhyumn Singh, won the Silver medal, while Aakash Bhardwaj from Rajasthan secured the Bronze medal.

Varun Tomar also triumphed in the Men’s Junior 10-meter Air Pistol event, winning the Gold medal, with Nikhil from Uttar Pradesh winning Silver and Pradhyumn Singh taking Bronze.

In the Men’s Youth 10-meter Air Pistol event, Chirag Sharma from Uttar Pradesh won the Gold medal, Dev Pratap, also from Uttar Pradesh, won Silver, and Mayank Choudhary of Rajasthan secured the Bronze medal.

Inaugural Kho Kho World Cup: Scheduled in India from January 13 to 19, 2025.

Participation: Features 21 men’s teams and 20 women’s teams from 24 countries.

Trophies: Men’s trophy is blue (trust and determination), women’s trophy is green (growth and vitality).

Mascots: Tejas and Tara, gazelles representing speed, agility, and teamwork.

Significance: Aims to establish Kho Kho as a global sport.

The National Sports Awards have been announced on January 2, 2025.

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award Recipients:

• D Gukesh: World Chess Champion
• Manu Bhaker: Double Medalist in Paris Olympics
• Harmanpreet Singh: Indian Hockey Team Captain
• Praveen Kumar: Gold Medalist in Paris Paralympics

Arjuna Award:

Total recipients: 32 sportspersons, including:

• Athletes: Jyothi Yarraji, Annu Rani
• Boxers: Nitu, Saweety
• Chess Player: Vantika Agrawal
• Hockey Players: Salima Tete, Abhishek, Sanjay, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh
• Para-Sportspersons: Rakesh Kumar (Para-Archer), Preeti Pal, Jeevanji Deepthi, Ajeet Singh, Sachin Khilari

Lifetime Achievement Arjuna Awards:

• Veteran Athlete Sucha Singh
• Veteran Para Swimmer Murlikant Petkar

Dronacharya Award for Coaches:

• Subhash Rana (Para-Shooting)
• Deepali Deshpande (Shooting)
• Sandeep Sangwan (Hockey)
• S Muralidharan (Badminton)
• Armando Agnelo Colaco (Football)

Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar: Awarded to the Physical Education Foundation of India

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy: Awarded to Chandigarh University, Lovely Professional University, and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar

Award Ceremony: Awards to be presented by President Droupadi Murmu on 17th January 2025 at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

In the World Blitz Chess Championship 2024, Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi shared the title after their final match ended in a tie in New York on 31 December 2024.

World Blitz Chess Championship 2024 – Open Section:

• Carlsen led 2-0 and needed just a draw in the third game to secure the title.
• Nepomniachtchi leveled the score 2-2, forcing tiebreaks.
• After three draws in sudden-death games, Carlsen proposed sharing the title, which Nepomniachtchi accepted.

Women’s Section: Ju Wenjun from China defeated Lei Tingjie in the final to win the World Blitz Championship, completing a double after drawing five games.

India’s Performance: R. Vaishali, India’s lone hope in the knockouts, overcame an initial loss in the quarterfinals against China’s Zhu Jiner, winning 2.5-1.5 after four games. In the semifinals, Vaishali lost to Ju Wenjun in a one-sided match, 0.5-2.5.

West Bengal clinched the prestigious Santosh Trophy national football championship title by defeating Kerala 1-0 in the final held on December 31, 2024, at the GMC Balayogi Athletic Stadium in Hyderabad.

This victory marks West Bengal’s record-extending 33rd title in the tournament’s history.

The match-winner came in the added time of the second half when Robi Hansda scored from close range after Aditya Thapa‘s header into the box.

The team, led by coach Sanjoy Sen, showcased incredible performance throughout the tournament, overcoming the absence of key striker Naro Hari Shrestha due to injury.