Indian sports report, December 1: Manika and Manav impress, but India loses again at the Mixed Team Table Tennis World Cup

TABLE TENNIS

ITTF Mixed Team World Cup: India loses to Japan, suffering second straight group stage defeat

India suffered their second straight defeat in Group 2 at the ITTF Mixed Team World Cup as they lost 4-8 to Japan at the Sichuan Gymnasium in Chengdu.

Shunsuke Togami and Miwa Harimoto gave Japan the perfect start as they defeated Akash Pal and Yashaswini Ghorpade 3-0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-5) in the mixed doubles.

However, Manika Batra and Manav Thakkar kept India alive by stunning higher-ranked opponents in their respective singles rubbers.

While Manika won 2-1 (9-11, 11-8, 11-8) against world No. 8 Mima Ito, Manav defeated World No. 8 Sora Matsushima 2-1 (11-9, 11-4, 6-11) to reduce the deficit to just one game.

But Ghorpade and Diya Chitale could not get the decisive victory in the men’s doubles as they lost 0-3 (8-11, 3-11, 5-11) to Ito and Hina Hayata.

On Sunday, India lost its first match 6-8 to Croatia.

India will take on Australia in the final group stage on Tuesday, which also lost both matches to Japan and Croatia.

Only the top two teams from the group qualify for the next round.

– Team Sportstar

ATHLETICS

Nikhil and Ashwini shine at the Ahmedabad marathon

Nikhil Singh and Ashvini Jadhav won the men’s and women’s open events at the 9th Adani Ahmedabad Marathon, which saw the participation of 24,000 runners across categories.

The half marathon event (21 km) was won by Dharmender and Farheen Firdouse respectively. The winners of the 10 km open event were Rajan Yadav and Neeta Rani.

The event had a prize pool of over ₹40 lakh. The event is recognized by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) and is listed on the Global Marathon Event List of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS).

-PTI

GOLF

The Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) on Monday announced that it will host the 2025 Jaipur Open at the Rambagh Golf Club in Jaipur from December 2 to 5, 2025.

The tournament, which carries a prize pool of Rs. At 1 crore, a total of 126 professionals will participate.

The tournament will feature some of India’s leading professionals such as PGTI ranking leader Yuvraj Sandhu, Shaurya Bhattacharya, Arjun Prasad, Veer Ahlawat, Manu Gandas, Om Prakash Chouhan, Angad Cheema, Khalin Joshi and Ajeetesh Sandhu, to name a few.

The prominent foreign names in the field are that of Bengal Hossain, Badal Hossain, Md Akbar Hossain, Md Somrat Sikdar, Czech Stepan Danek, Italian Federico Zucchetti, Nepal’s Subash Tamang and Uganda’s Joshua Seale.

-Team Sportstar

FOOTBALL

Indian forward Muhammad Suhail has signed a four-year contract extension with Punjab FC, the club announced on Monday.

Suhail’s journey at OFC began at the age of 13, when he joined the academy after impressing during trials. Since then he has made rapid progress, winning the Ballon d’Or in the Reliance Foundation Development League, helping the club win the league title, gaining promotion from his senior team and becoming a key figure in the Indian Under-23 squad with standout goals against Bahrain and Qatar.

His 2024-2025 ISL campaign included a major milestone when he became the third-youngest player in the competition’s history to register an assist.

On signing the extension, Muhammad Suhail said: «Punjab FC has been home from the moment I arrived as a child. The coaches, staff and players here have pushed me to be better every day. Extending my contract is a proud moment, and I am determined to work harder, take more responsibility and give my all for the badge and our fans.»

-Team Sportstar

Published on December 1, 2025