Sports News Highlights: Records Galore At National Games; Australia Floor Sri Lanka On Day 2 Of Galle Test

A very warm welcome to all those who have joined us for today's sports dose. We have a whole lot of groun💯d to cover, soꦰ buckle up and stay with us for the entire lowdown.

The Champions League final 🍷round has concluded in a blaze of drama, with stunning twists and nail-biting moments. For the first time, the teams securing their places in the knockout stages are now officially confirmed.

Last 16: Liver🐻pool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Levꦜerkusen, Lille, Aston Villa.

Knockout phase play-offs: Atalanta, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, PSV, Paris St-Germain, Benfica, Monaco, Brest, Feyenoord, Juventus, Celtic, Manchester City, Sporting, Club 🀅Brugg💮e.

Eliminated: Dinamo Zagreb, Stuttgart, Shakhtar Donetsk, Bologna, Sparta Prague, Leipzig, Girona, Red Star Belgrade, Sturm Graz, Sa🍒lzburg, Slovan Bratislava, Young Boys.

Lewis Hamilton crashed Ferrari's 2023 car during pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Wednesday. The seven-time champion was unharmed after💜 losing control of the car on his second day of running. According to the BBC, Ferrari declined to comment on the incident, which occurred as they work to integrate Hamilton into the team ahead of the Australian Grand Prix on March 14-16.

The US Open will be a 15-day tournament in 2025, marking the first time it will begin on a weekend in the ꦬOpen era. The main draw at Flushing Meadows will start on Sunday, 24🐈 August, and conclude on Sunday, 7 September.

This move follows the trend set by the Australian Open, which expanded to a 15-day format in 2024, after꧑ the French Open made the change in 2006.

A spectator tragically lost his life after being accidentally struck by a hammer thrown by an athlete at a high school indoor athletics event in the United States. The incident took pla✱ce on Sunday during the competition at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs campus.

16 Ranඣji Trophy 2024-25 Elite Group matches start for Round 7 on Thursday in different parts of the country. Mumbai has opted to bowl against Meghalaya whereas Virat Kohli's Delhi has also opted to bowl first against Railways at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

At tea break on Day 1, Australia are firmly in control, w♈ith England at 64/3 after 26 overs. It’s been a challenging session for the English batters. Kim Garth made an early impact, dismissing Bouchier with a beautiful outswinger in the firs꧃t over. Darcie Brown followed up, sending Beaumont back with an inswinger.

England briefly found some rhythm with Sciver-Brunt and Heather Knight, but just before the drinks break, Garth struck again, removing Knight. Since then, England have steadied, but they’re playing at a slow pace, leaving🉐 plenty of balls outside off-stump.

Australia have kept up the pressure, giving the English no room to breathe. The🅺 second session is approaching – will England di𓂃g in, or will Australia tighten the grip?

Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Suraj Karkera, Princed🦩eep Singh

Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Harmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Sanjay, Jugraj Singh, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Varun Kumar, 🐷Yashdeep Siwach

Midfielders: Rajkumar Pal, Shamshe🌠r Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagꦕar Prasad, Nilakanta Sharma, Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, Rajinder Singh

Forwards: Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Angad Bir Singh, Boby ♚Sওingh Dhami, Shilanand Lakra, Dilpreet Singh, Araijeet Singh Hundal, Uttam Singh, Arshdeep Singh

The sale of teams for The Hundred by the England and Wales Cricket Boaജrd (ECB) is expected to begin at 7 PM IST on Thursday♑, January 30. There is increasing excitement amongst players and teams for the best-named companies.

On the other hand, the ECB and the Raine Group-a firm in charge for managing the selling-might find this a rath🍸er nerve-wracking and exciting stage in the league's future. The very first team up for sale is Oval Invincibles based in London, which isꦗ run by Surrey County Cricket Club.

Harmanpreet Singh will continue as captain for the Indian Hockey team, with Hardik Singh as the vice-captain. India will start its journey with matches against Spain, Germany, Ireland, and Engla🌟nd f🐬rom 15 to 25 February, playing every side twice.

Check the full fixtures HERE.

India's first professional basketball league, InBL PRO, will be officially launched on February 2, 2025, at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex in New Delhi. The inauguration will be attended by Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of Labour and Employment, Youth Aff🦩airs and Sports, Government of India, along with Bollywood actress Disha Patani, actor and basketball player Rannvijay Singha, Rupinder Brar, Chairman and Founder of InBL PRO, and Adhav Arjun, President of the Basketball Feder🍸ation of India. The event is scheduled to begin at 5:30 pm.

Virat Kohli’s presence at the Arun Jaitley Stadium during the R🐟anji Trophy clash between Delhi and Railways turned the venue into a frenzy.

Thousands of fans eagerly queued up to catch a glimpse of the cricket superstar, prompting last-minute ไadjustments by the administrators to handle the unexpected crowd.

The Delhi and Districts Cricket🍸 Association (DDCA) had anticipated around 10,000 spectators for the match, a number already impress⛦ive for a Ranji game.

However, Kohli’s maꦏgnetic pull far exceeded those expectations, leaving organizers scrambling to manage the rush. The buzz around his h💎omecoming was proof of the cricketing icon's unparalleled influence.

Britain's Emma Raducanu, who captured the 2021 US Open title in a fairytale run, will competꦫe in a qualifying draw for the first time since then, after receiving a w♒ildcard for next week's Abu Dhabi Open.

The 22-year-old is traveling🉐 with her fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura but is currently without a coach following Nick Cavaday's departure for health reasons.

The tragic plane crash near Washington DC's💙 Reagan Airport on Wednesday also had several figure skaters and their coaches, US Figure Skating has confirmed.

Among the passengers were Spencer Lane, who had posted an Instagram story hours before the crash, along with Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, a married couple and 1994 World Pairs F🍷igure Skating champions.

American Airlines confi🌸rmed 60 passengers and four crew members were on board the plane. A training helicopter with thr🏅ee soldiers on board was also part of the accident.

US Figure Skating officials expressed deep sorrow and verified that countless members of their skating community and families were on board this flight returning from a post-cha🌌mpionship camp to Wichita, Kansas.

Read the full story HERE.

Afghanistan's female cricketers hope their first competitive match in Australia will inspire positive change for women in Afghanistan, opening up opportunities in education, sport, and beyond.

The Afghanistan Women's XI played a 20-over exhibition match against Cricket Without Borders at Melbourne's Junction Oval on Thursday, just before the Women's Ashes Test.

Since the Taliban have come into power in Afghanistan since 2021, most of the Afghan players are living in Australia as the participa⛦tion of women in sports is prohibited in their home country.

The former world N🌃o 1 Kidambi Srikanth and S Subramanian from India claimed victory in their respective matches at the Thailand Masters BWF Super 300 tournameꦏnt in Bangkok today to reach men's singles’ quarterfinals.

Australia's Historic Test Performance in Sri Lanka:

• Usman Khawaja's 232 is Australia's third-highest score by a visiting batter💃 in Sri Lanka.

• Josh Inglis became the 21st Australian to score a century on Test𝄹 debut, making 102 off 90🅠 balls.

• The Khawaja-Smith partnership of 266 is the highest for Australia in Sri Lanka, and third-h♔ighest in Asia.

• Australia's 654/6 declared is their highes🐼t Test total in Asia, surpassing their 617 in Faisalabad in 1980.

Vijay Kumar has clinched the National Games gold in t𒁏he 55kg men’s category. The Chhattisgarh native’s moment of glory comes after a lift of 143kg in the clean and jerk, equaling the national record. He lifted a total of 248kg with a 105kg snatch and a record-tying 143kg clean and jerk to claim the top spot on the podium.

Day 2 has drawn to a close in Galle, and the hosts have stuttered to 44 for three after 15 oversꦐ, in response to Australia's towering 654 for six declared in the first innings. The Sri Lankan bowlers were made to toil all day, with Usman Khawaja scoring his maiden Test double hundred and debutant Josh Inglis racing awaඣy to a century too.

Maharashtra athletes have delivered a top-notch performance at the 38th National Games' triathlon events, securing s𝐆ix medals including two gold, two silver, and as many bronze. The state's medal tally was boosted by the recently-concluded duathlon (individual) event, where Maharashtra bagged one silver and a bronze. The state also triumphed in the mixed🐓 relay event, winning gold and cementing their position at the top of the triathlon medal standings.

Former World Cup winner Narmada Nithin Raju has prevailed in a strong field, which included Asian Games medallist Ramita Jindal and Olympian Elavenil Valarivan, to not only create a national record but miss equalling the world mark by a fraction of a point on her way to clinching gold in the women's 10m air rifle event at the 38th National Games. Narmada, representing Tamil Nadu, clinches the top podium finish with a score of 254.4, beating the challenge from Maharashtra's Arya Borse (252.5) and Ramita (230.4) in the eight-shooter final. In the process, she breaks the national mark of 252.9 set by Olympian Apurvi Chandela at the 2019 World Cup in New De🌃lhi. (PTI)

Former world No 1 Kidambi Srikanth and S Subramanian have won their respective matches to reach the men's singles’ quarterfinals of the Thailand Masters BWF Super 300 tournament in Bangkok. Srikanth needed only 42 minutes to get the better of the 20-year-old Jason Gunawan from Hong Kong 21-19, 21-15 in ౠhis round of 16 contest. Subramanian had to work hard for✅ his victory over Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo from Indonesia. He lost the opening game before sealing the issue 9-21, 21-10, 21-17.

At 1:30am IST, the matchday 8 fixtures of Europa League will get underway, with the standout game being the one between Ruben Amorim's Manchester United and FCSB. Knockout phas💫e spots are up for grabs as the league phase is set for a thrilling conclusion.

That brings us to the end of our covera💧ge for today. We will be back tomorrow with all that is current in the world of sports. Until then, goodbye.