Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) [India], March 2 (ANI): International archer from the city Vennam Jyothi Surekha, who is representing Petroleum Sports Promotion Board, has been selected for the Indian team in the compound women’s category for World Cup which begins from April.
The Archery Association of India has conducted the selection trials at the Sports Authority Of India (SAI), Sonepat, Haryana for the last three days.
Surekha has set a new national record in the ranking round by scoring 710/720 by breaking her own national record of 709/720 which she set last year.
She secured the first rank in the ranking round by scoring total points of 2808/2880. She won all the seven matches in the round-robin round held for the top eight archers and got selected in the first place.
Last week, Indian compound archers displayed a good showing at the 7th Fazza World Ranking Tournament at the Dubai Club for People of Determination grounds.
Shyam Sunder won the compound gold whereas the mixed team of Harminder Singh and Pooja won the compound gold in the mixed team. Rakesh defeated the 9th ranked archer of France in 1/8th matches (142/140), in the quarter-final defeated the number one ranked archer Atamanenk Serhiy from Ukraine (142 vs 137).
In the semi-final, Rakesh defeated Agyan of Turkey, ranked no 5 by 143 vs 138. In the final, he defeated Sunder ranked 2 with a score of 143 vs 135.
In the Mixed Team Recurve event, India (Harvinder and Pooja) defeated in the semi Final ranked 2 Ukraine team in a tiebreaker. In the finals, they defeated the ranked 1 Turkey team in a tiebreaker.
In the process, Sunder defeated former World No. 1 in Men’s Compound Open Marcel Pavlik from Slovakia 145 vs 143 whereas Rakesh defeated Aryan Erdogan of Turkey another former medallist 143 vs 138. Jyoti defeated Dzhioeva Anastasia of Russia. (ANI)

Paris [France], March 2 (ANI): Paris Saint Germain (PSG) coach Mauricio Pochettino has said that his team treats each match as if it’s the final.
PSG are currently preparing for the game against Bordeaux, set to be played on Thursday.
“We’re going to play in three different competitions in the next three matches. We treat each match as if it’s the last, as if it’s a final. Today, we’re only thinking about Bordeaux,” the club’s official website quoted Pochettino as saying.
“Thinking like that allows us to focus on our objectives. We have 11 finals still to play. We’re thinking about us, about our performance. We need to win against the Girondins. The whole squad lives together in harmony,” he added.
PSG hold the second position on the Ligue 1 table at the moment with 57 points, two points behind table-toppers Lille. Pochettino said Ligue 1, in this season, proved that any team can beat anyone.
“Every team can win or lose against any other team. Ligue 1 has proven this season that all results are possible. Sometimes, you think it’s going to be decided by direct confrontations between title rivals but this season you need to be focused and win every game, and not just think about those matches against your direct rivals,” he said. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 2 (ANI): Mumbai will take on Saurashtra in the quarter-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy at Arun Jaitley Stadium here on March 9.
Delhi will lock horns with Uttarakhand in the pre quarter-finals on March 7 while the first match of the quarter-final will see Gujarat and Andhra facing each other. Mumbai and Saurashtra will face each other in the fourth match of the quarter-finals next week. Karnataka and Kerala will lock horns on March 8.
Earlier, the BCCI had not revealed the venue for the knockouts of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, but now it has been revealed that Delhi would be hosting the games both at the Arun Jaitley Stadium and the Palam Ground.
“Yes, Delhi would be hosting the knockout matches of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The matches will be played at the Kotla and in Palam,” Bhardwaj told ANI.
Last week, Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) director Sanjay Bhardwaj confirmed Delhi will be hosting the knockout matches of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy.
As a result, Delhi will now host eight knockout games of the Vijay Hazare Trophy: one eliminator, four quarter-finals, two semi-finals and the final. The knockouts are set to begin from March 7. The final of the tournament would be played on March 14.
The ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy has witnessed compelling action as Mumbai had registered the highest score in the history of the tournament on Thursday. Mumbai scored a mammoth 457/4 with Prithvi Shaw scoring 227 runs — the highest ever individual score in the history of the tournament.
Earlier, Ishan Kishan of Jharkhand had scored 173 runs in the ongoing edition of the tournament. Vijay Hazare Trophy had begun from March 20 and the teams were divided into six groups. (ANI)

Basel [Switzerland], March 2 (ANI): Bulgarian badminton player Mariya Mitsova on Tuesday pulled out of the Swiss Open 2021 after an entourage member tested positive for coronavirus.
Mitsova was identified as a close contact of the entourage member and has been asked to quarantine in the official hotel.
The entourage member produced a positive result to the mandatory on-arrival PCR test conducted on Monday and is currently in self-isolation.
“Badminton World Federation (BWF) can confirm Bulgarian women’s singles player Mariya Mitsova has been withdrawn from the YONEX Swiss Open 2021 (New Dates) after a Bulgarian entourage member tested positive for COVID-19,” the BWF said in an official statement.
The next player on the reserve list, Laura Sarosi (HUN) has been promoted into the women’s singles main draw.
Meanwhile, testing protocols continue to be implemented by the Swiss health authorities, Swiss Badminton, and the BWF is ensuring the health and safety of all participants. (ANI)

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], March 2 (ANI): England batsman Zak Crawley said India spinner Axar Patel is “extremely accurate” and does not allow batsmen to score runs.
Riding on brilliant spells of spin bowling from Axar and Ashwin, India had registered a comprehensive 10-wicket win over England in the pink-ball Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium last week to go 2-1 up in the four-match series.
In the match, Crawley was dismissed by Axar in both innings. While Crawley had managed to score a half-century in the first innings, he got out on the very first delivery in the second innings.
“He (Axar) is a very good bowler, especially in these conditions. He is extremely accurate and does not give you much to score,” Crawley said during a virtual press conference.
The third Test saw both India and England batsmen failing to shine and getting out to balls that did not turn and skidded through from the spinners. But critics have looked to blame the pitch for the failure of the batsmen. However, India batsman Rohit Sharma had clarified that he did not think the pitch had any demons. Even skipper Virat Kohli was vocal about the dreadful batting display from the two teams.
Crawley said the wicket for the fourth Test will be “very similar” to that of the third match.
“I think it will be a very similar pitch this week… It was not easy to score for sure but it was the same for both sides and they played really well. We did not play as well as we needed to,” he said.
With that defeat, England got out of the race for a place in the final of the ICC World Test Championship. England, who are 2-1 down in the four-match series, needed to win the four-match series 3-1 to play the final against New Zealand.
If India manage to win or draw the final Test against England, then the side will qualify for the final of the WTC and they will take on New Zealand in the summit clash.
Although England is out of contention for the WTC final, Crawley stressed that it won’t change their mindset as to how they go about the match.
“It does not change anything for us. It is a massive game. Obviously, it is a big game for them as well. They want to be in the Test Championship final. There is a lot to play for. Whether it is a Test championship or not, you want to win every Test match you play,” Crawley said.
The fourth Test will begin on Thursday. (ANI)

By Baidurjo Bhose
New Delhi [India], March 2 (ANI): Ahead of the upcoming fourth Test against England, pacer Jasprit Bumrah was relieved from India’s squad due to personal reasons, and now it has come into knowledge that the bowler has asked for some days off as he is getting married.
Speaking to ANI, sources in the BCCI in the know of developments have confirmed that the pacer is set to get married soon and has taken a leave to prepare for the same.
“He informed the BCCI that he is getting married and has taken the leave to help in preparations for the big day,” the source said.
The 27-year-old Bumrah played two Tests in the ongoing four-match series against England and he returned with four wickets.
Bumrah was rested for the second Test against England at Chennai and he returned wicketless in the fourth Test as spinners did a majority of the work.
The pacer has also been rested for the upcoming five-match T20I series against England in order to do proper workload management.
India is 2-1 up in the four-match Test series against England and if the hosts win or draw the last match, then they would qualify for the finals of the World Test Championship. (ANI)