Sports World, January 25, 2024: India U-19 Beat Ireland; Virat Kohli Bags ODI Cricketer of the Year 2023 Award; Rohan Bopanna-Matthew Ebden Enter Australian Open Final - As It Happened

India commenced their five-game Test bout against England in Hyderabad sans Virat Kohli, who was confirmed to be missing the first two matches due to personal reasons; the Men in Blue were well on the way to overtaking England's total at the end of Day 1. Down Under, Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden played and won the men's doubles semi-finals in the Australian Open 2024, continuing a sensational run of form that has taken the former to the top of the charts. Meanwhile, the AFC Asian Cup 2023 continued, but with no Indian football team to partake in it any further; India were knocked out on January 23 after a loss to Syria. Elsewhere, the Africa Cup of Nations and the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup hosted key games, with India beating Ireland in the latter. (Cricket News | Football News)

The Indo-Australian combine of Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden have won the first set in their Australian Open 2024 semi-final against Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic and Zhizhen Zhang of China. Bopanna-Ebden took the first set 6-3 but are currently trailing 2-5 in the second set. Looks like this one is going to a decider. Stay tuned! 

He has annexed the world number one crown, and become the oldest-ever to do so at 43. But Rohan Bopanna is not done yet. The Indian tennis titan has stormed into the men's doubles final of Australian Open 2024 alongside trusted partner Matthew Ebden after a thrilling semi-final victory against Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic and Zhizhen Zhang of China. 

More details in our report here. 

The India vs England Test series has started off in engrossing fashion. It was billed as Bazball vs 'Spinball' and that's exactly how things have panned out so far. Despite being asked to bowl first, India have made good early use of the spin-friendly conditions on Day 1 in Hyderabad and left the visitors three down at lunch. But Ben Stokes' men have refused to take the foot off the pedal and have rattled off 108 runs in the 28 overs of play, despite testing circumstances.

Head over to our blog here for live updates.

Former Spanish football president Luis Rubiales will face trial for kissing forward Jenni Hermoso without her consent at the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023, an investigative judge said on Thursday, reports Associated Press. Judge Francisco de Jorge ruled that his probe points to Rubiales' kiss “being unconsented and carried out unilaterally and in a surprising fashion,” the court said.

Avani Prashanth, the only Indian ranked inside top-50 amateurs in the world, will lead a six-member contingent from the country at the prestigious Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) championship in Thailand, starting February 1, PTI reports.  The other Indian players are Mannat Brar, Heena Kang, Vidhatri Urs, Keerthana Rajeev Nair and Saanvi Somu.

India's Lakshya Sen and Priyanshu Rajawat suffered straight-game defeats in their respective pre-quarterfinal matches to crash out of the men's singles competition of  the Indonesia Masters, a BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament, in Jakarta on Thursday. Taking on eighth-seed Anders Antonsen of Denmark, Sen came up with a strong fight but went down 19-21 18-21. He had beaten Weng Hongyang of China in the opening round 24-22 21-15, PTI reports. Rajawat was up against Brian Yang of Canada after his conquest over Rasmus Gemke of Denmark in the first round 21-18 21-19.

Siblings Sarfaraz and Musheer Khan scored a ton each for their respective India sides on the same day on a remarkable day of cricket. While the elder Sarfaraz hit a century - and then some - for the India A side against England Lions, the younger Musheer lodged a ton for the India U-19 team partaking in the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup in South Africa. 

Read more here. 

Indian star batter Virat Kohli was named the ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year in the ICC Awards 2023, while Australia's Pat Cummins took home the top honours. Cummins, who successfully lead Australia to victories in the World Test Championship and the ICC ODI World Cup, was crowned the Men's Crickter of the Year 2023. 

Read full list of winners here. 

India Under-19 cricket team have beaten Ireland in their latest ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup group match by 201 runs. Batting first, India scored a whopping 301, thanks in large parts to Sarfaraz Khan's younger sibling, Musheer Khan, before returning the entire opposition side for just 100 runs. With their second win in two games, and due to the fact that Bangladesh will play Ireland next, India have qualified for the next round!

Korea Republis stumbled into the round-of-16 with a thrilling 3-3 draw against the much lower-ranked Malaysia. Jurgen Klinsmann's side led at the break but two goals in 11 minutes from Malaysia turned things around and it needed two late goals for the Koreans to re-establish their lead, which finally happened deep into second-half stoppage time. However, a goal 15 minutes past the 90 helped Malaysia earn a respectable 3-3 draw against the World Cup frequenters. 

Paris Saint-Germain have secured the signing of much sought-after prospect, Gabriel Moscardo, from Brazil's Corinthians. The 18-year-old central midfielder, who was being eyed by heavyweight European clubs over a transfer move, has penned a contract until 2028, but will spend the remaining half season back on loan at his former club. 

Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev, and Alexander Zverev will be in action on Friday, January 26, 2024, in the Australian Open 2024 Men's Singles semi-finals. Their draw takes place a day after Aryna Sabalenka and Qinwen Zheng confirmed their place in the Women's Singles Final by beating their respective opponents.