Indian Sports Report, October 22: Spaniard Dani Ramirez joins Punjab FC ahead of Super Cup

FOOTBALL

Punjab FC has strengthened its squad with the signing of Spanish attacking midfielder Dani Ramírez Fernandez ahead of the upcoming Super Cup starting in Goa on Saturday.

He becomes the club’s second foreign signing of the season after Samir Zeljkovic. The 33-year-old has signed a one-year contract with Punjab FC.

Ramirez last played for Manisa FK in the Turkish TFF First League.

Ramirez started his youth career at his hometown club CD Leganes before moving to Real Madrid, where he developed through the youth set-up for four seasons, playing for Real Madrid C.

In 2014, he joined Valencia CF B, where he continued his progression in Spain’s competitive lower divisions. During his journey, Ramirez also represented Getafe CF and Internacional de Madrid before moving to Polish club Stomil Olsztyn SA.

He also played for ŁKS Łodz for two seasons before signing for Lech Poznan, where he won the Ekstraklasa title in the 2021-2022 season.

Ramirez also had a spell in Belgium with Zulte Waregem before returning to LKS Łodz.

Most recently, with Manisa FK in Turkey during the 2024-2025 season, he made 34 appearances, contributing seven goals and four assists, demonstrating his creativity and experience in midfield.

-PTI

BADMINTON

I am talking about the Badminton Asia and U-15 Championships.

Indian shuttlers made a strong start to their campaign at the 2025 Badminton Asia U-17 & U-15 Championships with several players notching key victories on the opening day, including notable victories against Chinese opponents.

In the U-15 boys’ singles, SL Dhakshan Sugumaran made a spirited comeback to beat China’s Lyu Ke Ting 18-21, 21-14, 21-13, while Wazir Singh also had a tight three-match battle to beat Xia Jun Long 21-18, 18-21, 21-17. Pushkar Sai and Prabhu Dhyani registered back-to-back wins over their Thai rivals to emerge smoothly from the round of 64. In the girls’ singles, Anvi Rathore looked dominant as she cruised past UAE’s Anishka Anu 21-4, 21-9.

The Indian U-17 contingent also started confidently. Mixed doubles pairs Punith Suresh/Aditi Deepak Raj and Jangjeet Singh Kajla/Jananika Ramesh advanced to the Round of 16, defeating Chinese and Japanese opponents respectively. In the boys’ singles, Nischal Chand defeated Laos’ Souphaxay Simmanong 21-8, 21-7, while Hardik Divyansh impressed with a 21-14, 21-14 win over Japan’s Issei Matsuhita.

India had won gold and bronze in 2024, and one gold, one silver and one bronze in 2023, with both editions taking place in Chengdu. This time, a team of 36 members will compete for silverware in two age categories.

-Team Sportstar

RUGBY

Prashant Singh leads the Indian Rugby Sevens team in an Asian tournament

Prashant Singh will lead a 13-member Indian men’s team seeded third for the Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Trophy to be held in Muscat from October 25 to 26, the Indian Rugby Football Union (IRFU) announced on Wednesday.

The tournament will feature Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Syria.

India comes third in the competition and has been placed in Group C alongside Lebanon and Afghanistan. India will start its campaign against Lebanon on October 25.

India is coached by former England Rugby Sevens star Ben Gollings, who recently led Chennai Bulls to the maiden edition of the GMR Rugby Premier League (RPL) title in June.

Previously, he also served as head coach of the Fiji team from 2022 to 2024.

-PTI

Published on October 22, 2025