Sports

Best Of Us, Unforgettable Star, Gordon, Champions Way and Thrill Of Brazil pleased when the horses were exercised here on Tuesday morning (July 22).

Inner sand:

600m: Assurance (rb), Sensational (rb) 40. Former finished six lengths ahead.

Outer sand:

600m: Star Concept (-) 44. Easy. Razzmatazz (rb) 44. Moved well. Pledge (R. Pradeep) 43. Strode out well. Striking Viking (Bhawani), Wild Cannon (Rayan) 44.5. They finished level. Kiss Of Grey (Suraj) 42. Impressed. Champions Way (Prabhakaran) 42. Pleased. Crown Drive (C.A. Brisson) 43. Moved on the bit.

1000m: Glorious Strides (Suraj) 1-14, 600/44. In fine trim. Unforgettable Star (Suraj), Gordon (Prabhakaran) 1-11.5, 600/42.5. They moved fluently. Queen Of Kings (Prabhakaran) 1-16, 600/44.5. Moved freely.

1200m: Sea Diamond (Shinde) 1-30, 1,000/1-15, 600/45. Easy. Best Of Us (Suraj) 1-27.5, 1,000/1-12.5, 600/42.5. Moved attractively. Pristine Glory (-) 1-30, 1,000/1-15, 600/46. Easy.

1400m: Zephyrine (Pavan), Imperial Blue (Arvind) 1-45.5, (1,400-600) 57. They eased up in the last part. Thrill Of Brazil (Rayan) 1-40.5, 1,200/1-25.5, 1,000/1-11.5, 600/43. Maintains form.

Outer sand — July 21:

1200m: Sherlock (rb), Prince Of Wales (Akshay) 1-30, 1,000/1-14.5, 600/43. They finished level.

Outer sand — July 20:

1200m: Mai Tai (Bhawani) 1-26, 1,000/1-9, 600/41. Moved attractively.

1400m: Casteel (Suraj) 1-43.5, 1,200/1-27.5, 1,000/1-12.5, 600/42. Moved impressively. Efficacy (Shreyas) 1-40, 1,200/1-23.5, 1,000/1-10, 600/41. A good display. Corinthian (Indrajeet) 1-40.5, 1,200/1-25, 1,000/1-10.5, 600/42. Stretched.

In an attempt to empower Indian sports, and to drive it towards a sparkling presence in the global arena, the Union Government has carefully drafted the Sports Governance Bill, relinquishing its previously perceived status as a “controller” and accepting the role of a “facilitator”.

The Bill, scheduled to be tabled in the Parliament on Wednesday, will try to lighten the load on the beleaguered judiciary by having a Sports Tribunal, headed by a Supreme Court judge, for speedy redressal of disputes.

Many National Sports Federations are caught in legal tussles that have been dragging for years, harming the growth of the sport. The Union Sports Ministry itself is supposed to be dealing with more than 300 legal cases.

After the judgment of the Sports Tribunal, as and when it is established, the matter can only be taken up with the Supreme Court.

Even though the Bill will be athlete-centric, ensuring the presence of athletes in administration, it will encourage competent administrators, allowing the National Sports Federations to align with the International Federations and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in terms of age and tenure norms.

Overall, the autonomy of the National Sports Federations would be fully respected, while ensuring the execution of fair election, selection, etc.

It is a holistic approach by the Government, which has consulted all the stakeholders and has arrived at a system to rid Indian sports of its many problems and help it grow stronger in the international arena, matching its vast potential for excellence.

Every sport will come under the Sports Governance Bill without exception, even though the Government is focused on the Olympic medals apart from hosting the Olympics itself.

India captain Shubman Gill accused England of not playing in the ‘spirit of the game’ after the home team openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley walked out late on the third evening of the third Test at Lord’s.

According to Gill, with just seven minutes remaining before the stumps were drawn, the England openers were 90 seconds late. As a result, India could only bowl one over and tensions flared between the two teams.

“The English batsmen on that day had seven minutes of play left. They were 90 seconds late to come to the crease. Not 10, not 20, but 90 seconds late. Yes, most of the teams use this (tactics). If we were in the same position, we would have also liked to play lesser overs, but there is a manner to do it,” Gill said on the eve of the fourth Test.

“We felt, yes, if you get hit on your body, the physios are allowed to come on. That is something that is fair. But to come 90 seconds late to the crease is not something that is in the spirit of the game. And just leading up to that event, a lot of things that we thought should not have happened, had happened,” Gill said.

As Crawley slowed things down, Gill got into an animated conversation.“It was not something that I am very proud of. But there was a build-up to that. We had no intention of doing that whatsoever. But you are playing a game, you are playing to win and there are a lot of emotions involved. And when you see things that should not happen happening, sometimes the emotions come out of nowhere,” Gill added.

Batter Karun Nair is set to return to his home state of Karnataka for the upcoming domestic season, having obtained a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA). 

Karun, who is currently with the Indian Test team in England, spent two fruitful seasons with Vidarbha. The 33-year-old made runs aplenty in Vidarbha’s Ranji Trophy title run earlier this year. Karun also led Vidarbha to the Vijay Hazare Trophy final. His fine form earned him a Test cap after a gap of eight years. 

Karun will add experience to a young Karnataka batting lineup, which includes the likes of Devdutt Padikkal, R. Smaran and K.V. Aneesh. Karnataka suffered a disappointing 2024-25 Ranji Trophy campaign, failing to make it to the knockout stages. 

Karun made his senior debut with Karnataka in 2012 (in a List A game), and last featured in a First Class match for Karnataka in 2022.  

The Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) is all set to host the JSK1 Gaming Trophy, the feature event of the races scheduled to be run here on Friday, July 25.

Scheduled as the third race, the race to be run over 1000m is for maiden three-year-olds only has a field of 12 runners.

Racegoers will have the chance to participate in a lucky draw with attractive prizes on offer. The winner will get a Samsung Galaxy A15 5G smartphone, while JBL bluetooth speaker and Accede Air 4 wireless earbuds would given to the second and third place winners.

Racegoers need to head to the JSK1 Gaming desk at the race course and fill in their details for a chance to win.

India Women’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and elected to bat against England in the third and final ODI on Tuesday (July 22, 2025).

The series is currently tied 1-1 after India won the opening match by four wickets at Southampton and England claimed the rain-truncated second ODI by eight wickets at Lord’s.

Radha Yadav replaced Arundhati Reddy in the Indian playing XI while England brought in Alice Davidson-Richards and Lauren Filer for Em Arlott and Maia Bouchier.

Teams:

India: Pratika Rawal, Smriti Mandhana, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Radha Yadav, Sneh Rana, Shree Charani, Kranti Goud.

England: Tammy Beaumont, Amy Jones (wk), Emma Lamb, Nat Sciver-Brunt (c), Sophia Dunkley, Alice Davidson-Richards, Charlie Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Linsey Smith, Lauren Filer, Lauren Bell.

Little John, Cellini and Divine Star showed out when the horses were exercised here on Tuesday (July 22) morning.

Inner sand:

600m: Siege Courageous (Ajinkya) 41. Easy. Impulsive (Bharat) 40. Easy. Divine Star (A. Gaikwad) 37. Moved well. Bohemian Rhapsody (Shahrukh) 42. Easy. Caliph (Bhawani) 39. Moved freely. Kissed By The Sea (Kirtish) 1200/600m 39. Moved fluently.

800m: Cellini (T.S. Jodha) 49, 600/37. Worked well. Flashman (S. Amit), Viennoise (T.S. Jodha) 54, 600/39. Pair moved level freely. Son Of A Gun (Umesh) 56, 600/42. Easy. Misty (Shahrukh) 52, 600/37. Good. Baleno (Bhawani) 53, 600/39. Urged. Nostalgia (Yash) 53, 600/39. Shaped well. Santissimo (Kirtish) 56, 600/42. Easy. Balthazar (Bhawani) 55, 600/42. Easy. The Flutist (Merchant) 56, 600/43. Slightly urged. Little John (Navnath) 49, 600/36. Impressed. Matisse (A. Prakash) 56, 600/42. Easy.

1000m: Speak The Breed (Mosin) 1-8, 800/52, 600/39. Moved well. Crystal Clear (Neeraj) 1-11, 800/55, 600/42. Easy. Azrinaz (Sandesh) 1-8, 800/53, 600/40. Moved freely. Ekla Cholo (Merchant) 1-9, 800/54, 600/40. Worked freely.

1200m: Red Mist (Ramswarup), Gold Bar (Sandesh) 1-26, 600/42. They were easy. El Greco (Ajinkya) 1-22, 600/42. Worked well.

Noted on July 21 — Gate practice (Inner sand):

1000m: Alaricus (Umesh) 1-6, 800/52, 6000/40. Jumped out well and moved freely.