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Indian Sports highlights, May 23: Stimac announces squad for crunch Kuwait clash; Sindhu, Ashmita reach Malaysia Masters quarters

File photo of Ashmita Chaliha BAI

Welcome to ESPN India's daily blog, where we aim to bring you all the news from the dynamic world of Indian sports: from the wide variety of Olympic sports to franchise leagues.

May has plenty of sporting action taking place - which you can find listed out in ESPN India's sporting calendar.


Stimac announces India squad for crunch World Cup qualifier against Kuwait

India head coach Igor Stimac named a 27-member squad for the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qualifiers against Kuwait on June 6.

A total of 32 players had been camping in Bhubaneswar, out of which Phurba Lachenpa, Parthib Gogoi, Imran Khan, Muhammad Hammad and Jithin MS have been released from the camp.

Stimac said, "All of them were very professional and hard-working. The competition is really strong amongst them, especially in the positions of Jithin and Parthib. Parthib and Hammad suffered minor injuries a few days back and will need 7-14 days of rest."

Full India squad for matches against Kuwait and Qatar:

Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Vishal Kaith.

Defenders: Amey Ranawade, Anwar Ali, Jay Gupta, Lalchungnunga, Mehtab Singh, Narender, Nikhil Poojary, Rahul Bheke, Subhasish Bose.

Midfielders: Anirudh Thapa, Brandon Fernandes, Edmund Lalrindika, Jeakson Singh Thounaojam, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Liston Colaco, Mahesh Singh Naorem, Nandhakumar Sekar, Sahal Abdul Samad, Suresh Singh Wangjam.

Forwards: David Lalhlansanga, Manvir Singh, Rahim Ali, Sunil Chhetri, Vikram Partap Singh.

Kerala Blasters announce Mikael Stahre as new head coach

Kerala Blasters today appointed Swede Mikael Stahre as their new head coach, replacing Ivan Vukomanovic, with whom they parted ways at the end of last season.

Vukomanovic had steered the Blasters to the playoffs in each of the three seasons that he spent at the club, and infused new life into them after a few years of mediocrity. Even though the Serbian didn't win any major titles for the club, he had done enough to become the beating heart of the club, which entirely began to revolve around him.

Stahre now takes over that role, and it is an unenviable position for him to be in. He comes to Kerala with a fanbase that expects nothing other than success, but also now, there is the additional pressure of having to replace the personality that Vukomanovic was for the Blasters.

Malaysia Masters update - Sindhu made to battle, Ashmita stuns Zhang

PV Sindhu was made to battle for almost an hour against Sim Yu Jin but prevailed 21-13, 12-21, 21-14 to reach the quarterfinals of Malaysia Masters Super 500 tournament.

But the more striking result of the day was Ashmita Chaliha knocking out third seed Beiwen Zhang. The Indian world No 58 beat the American world No 10 21-19, 16-21, 21-12 in one of the bigger win of her young career. She next faces sixth seed Zhang Yi Man.

For fifth-seeded Sindhu, the next challenge is top seed Han Yue, a player she had never lost to before the Asia badminton Championships in Ningbo last month. This quarterfinal will give the Indian a chance to test herself against a top player after taking a brief break from the BWF World Tour after the European swing.

In other results, the mixed doubles pair of B Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy lost 9-21 15-21 to top-seeded Malaysian pair of Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei, while Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker went down 17-21 11-21 to second-seeded Malaysians Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan in women's doubles.

Sports Ministry approves foreign training for Lakshya and Sindhu ahead of Olympics

Lakshya Sen and P V Sindhu will train in France and Germany respectively as part of their Olympic preparations after the Sports Ministry's Mission Olympic Cell approved financial assistance to cover the cost for both of them.

Sen had sought financial assistance for a 12-day training session in Marseille, France. Sen, who will compete in the men's singles event in Paris, will train at The Halle des Sports Parsemain with his coach and support staff from July 8 to 21 ahead of the Olympic Games.

Sindhu's proposal was for Saarbrucken, Germany to train at the Hermann-Neuberger Sportschule. She will practice there for over a month along with her coach and support staff before heading to Paris.

MOC also approved inclusion of Table Tennis player Harmeet Desai and Women's 4x400 Relay Team in TOPS Core group and the promotion of wrestlers Nisha (68kg) and Reetika (76kg) to Core group.

Tejas Shirse sets men's 110m hurdles national record, Jyothi Yarraji equals hers

Tejas Shirse broke the men's 110m hurdles national record with a time of 13.41 seconds, winning gold at the Motonet GP series, a World Athletics Continental Tour Challenger level event in Finland.

The 21-year-old Shirse broke the previous national record of 13.48 seconds set by Siddhanth Thingalaya in 2017. His earlier personal best is 13.56 seconds which he had clocked on May 9 at Vught, the Netherlands.

In the same meet, Jyothi Yarraji won the women's 100m hurdles final race, equalled her national record time of 12.78 seconds. She missed the Paris Olympics qualification time of 12.77 seconds by a whisker.

She is, however, well on course to making the Olympic cut as she is currently at 28th sport in the Road to Paris list out of the 40 athletes taking part in the Games.

What's on today?

  • Badminton: PV Sindhu and Co will play the second round of the Malaysia Masters - starting 7.30 AM

  • Hockey: India men and women's team face Belgium in the FIH Pro League, a day after their contrasting results against Argentina. - 1 AM

  • Archery: Archery World Cup Stage 2 is underway in Yecheon.


What happened yesterday?

  • Badminton: PV Sindhu strolls to opening round victory in Malaysia Masters.

  • Hockey (W): Argentina beat India women 5-0 in the FIH Pro League.

  • Hockey (M): Indian men take bonus point against Argentina in the FIH Pro League.

You can find the details of yesterday's event's here