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          Indian Sports Highlights, December 10: Sports news, commentary, scores and updates

          Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto's recent good form continues as they bid to win the Guwahati Masters. Deepak Gupta/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
          • ESPN staffDec 10, 2023, 02:40 AM

          ESPN India's daily live blog is your handy guide for everything to do with the wide world of Indian sport. We have the latest updates and analysis from the entire bouquet of Olympic and franchise sports with an Indian bent. The blog is updated throughout the day, so keep checking back to catch up on news you may have missed.

          Here are all the key updates from December 10, Sunday:

          Steelers win 2 in 2, Warriors defeat Thalaivas

          Haryana Steelers cruised to their second win as many days as they rode on Siddharth Desai's Super 10 to beat Dabang Delhi 35-33 in the Pro Kabaddi League on Sunday. Dabang Delhi captain Naveen Kumar was brilliant yet again as he scored 16 raid points, but his side's defence was a let down as they managed just six tackle points. The result sees Haryana Steelers leapfrog to the sixth spot, while Dabang Delhi are placed seventh.

          In the first game of the evening, Maninder Singh played a captain's role as he scored 16 points to power Bengal Warriors to a 48-38 win over Tamil Thalaivas. Maninder found plenty of support from Nitim Kumar in raid, while Shubham Shinde produced one of the best defensive performances in PKL history to finish with 11 points. Bengal Warriors' unbeaten streak sees them climb to the second slot on the table, while Tamil Thalaivas, who have a game in hand, are placed #9.

          Sir Sicoma Perugia retain their Club World Championships crown

          Italian club Sir Sicoma Perugia's "Indian Dream" came true on Sunday evening as they beat Brazil's Itambe Minas 3-0 [25,23, 25-21, 25-19] in the final to hold on to their Club World Championships title.

          Perugia, drawn in the same group as India's Ahmedabad Defenders, went unbeaten through the tournament and did not drop a single set in the four games they played. They began with a win over Itambe Minas, then got past Ahmedabad defenders before beating Turkey's Halkbank Spor Kulübü in Saturday's semifinal.

          Perugia are one of the greatest volleyball clubs in the world. Here's a brief list of their major achievements -

          • Two-time Club World Champions [2022, 2023]

          • One silver and five bronze finishes at the CEV Champions League

          • Italian Champions [2018]

          • Three-time Coppa Italia winners [2018, 2019, 2022]

          • Five-time Italian Super Cup champions [2017, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023]

          NorthEast United held to 1-1 draw by Hyderabad

          Hyderabad FC remained rooted to the bottom of the ISL standings after a 1-1 draw against NorthEast United in Guwahati. The hosts dominated the game, and were rewarded very early on, as Nim Dorjee Tamang's own goal in the 8th minute gave them the lead. Pettteri Pennanen equalised for Hyderabad just before the break.

          NorthEast were the better side and had 24 shots in the game, compared to Hyderabad's 11. But a mixture of good defending and poor finishing meant that the hosts couldn't quite get the goal that would've given them the three points.

          Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa win Guwahati Masters

          The women's doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa underlined their superb form by winning the Guwahati Master Super 100 - defeating Sung Shuo Yun and Yu Chien Hui of Chinese Taipei by a scoreline of 21-13, 21-19 in the final. Tanisha-Ashwini had not dropped a single game throughout the entire tournament, continuing their good run from last week, where they reached the final of the Syed Modi International.

          This is the newly-formed duo's second BWF Super 100 title this year after winning the Abu Dhabi Masters in October, and their third title overall after winning the Nantes International Challenge in June. The pair have climbed up to 24th in the world rankings, just five spots behind India's no.1 women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand.

          East Bengal begin IWL with a bang

          It took all of 96 seconds for East Bengal to open their account in the 2023-24 Indian Women's League, as Sibani Devi pounced on a deflected effort from Margaret Devi in the box and stunned Sports Odisha with a neat finish into the bottom corner. The home side did not have much of a response and Margaret Devi ensured the points went the visitors way with a peach of a goal from the edge of the box to make it 2-0 in the 59th minute - which was how it ended after 90 minutes.

          India finish ninth at Junior Women's hockey World Cup

          The Indian women's hockey team finished ninth at the Junior Women's hockey World Cup in Santiago, with a 3-2 win over USA in sudden death in a thrilling classification match.

          Goalkeeper Madhuri Kindo made the difference in the penalty shootout after both India and USA played out a gritty 2-2 draw in regulation time. Kindo then produced an amazing save in sudden death, while Rutaja Dadaso Pisal calmly converted her shot to lead India to victory.

          During the allocated 60 minutes, India's Manju Chorsiya (11') and Sunelita Toppo (57') scored a goal each, while Kiersten Thomassey (27', 53') netted a brace for the USA. The tense penalty shootout witnessed Mumtaz Khan and Rutaja Dadaso Pisal successfully converting their chances for India, while the latter also scored in sudden death to secure the win for India.

          What's in store today?

          • The Indian men's cricket team takes on South Africa in their opening T20I in Durban.

          • The Indian women's cricket team takes on England in the third T20I in Mumbai.

          • NorthEast United FC face crisis club Hyderabad FC in the ISL.

          • PKL and IWL action continues.

          • Sir Sicoma Perugia face Itambe Minas in the FIVB Club World Championship final in Bengaluru.

          What happened yesterday?

          • UP Yoddhas, Haraya Steelers picked up wins in PKL as Bengaluru Bulls slumped to their fourth consecutive loss.

          • East Bengal played out a goalless draw against Punjab FC at home.

          • Sir Sicoma Perugia defeated Halkbank SK to reach the final of the FIVB Club World Championship, with Itambe Minas who defeating Suntory Sunbirds in the other semifinal - a thrilling 3-2 win.

          • Kickstart opened the scoring in IWL 2023-24 with a 3-0 win over HOPS FC.

          • Mumbai City FC named Petr Kratky as their new head coach.

          • Bengaluru FC parted ways with Simon Grayson after their 0-4 loss to Mumbai City.

          • India lost the second T20I against England by four wickets.

          You can check all the details of yesterday's news events here.