Sports News

Former captain Manpreet Singh expressed strong confidence in India’s Hockey World Cup prospects, citing the team’s recent 3-1 victory over world champions Germany as proof that the squad can challenge for a historic tournament medal. ormer India captain and the country’s most-capped hockey player Manpreet Singh has expressed confidence in the national team’s prospects at the upcoming Hockey World Cup, saying the squad has every reason to believe it can mount a strong challenge for a medal. According to Manpreet, India’s recent performances against top international sides have boosted the team’s confidence ahead of a crucial period that also includes the FIH Pro League and the Asian Games. “We are very excited about the World Cup and the Asian Games because the team’s performance has been very good. I personally have a lot of hope that we will perform very well in the World Cup,” Manpreet replied to IANS query in a media interaction. The veteran midfielder believes the current Indian team has shown encouraging signs in recent outings and is steadily building momentum ahead of the marquee event. “The team’s performance was very good. Our last match against Germany was also very good, and the team performed very well. We lost the first match against the Netherlands, but overall the team’s performance was good,” he said. The Indian men’s hockey team produced a solid performance to defeat world champions Germany 3-1 in their second match of the FIH Hockey Pro League 2025-26 Rotterdam leg on Wednesday. Goals from Mandeep Singh (7′), Shilanand Lakra (13′) and Nilakanta Sharma (35′) led India’s impressive win, which also highlighted the team’s strong defensive structure. Midfielder Hardik Singh was named ‘Player of the Match’ for his excellent display in shepherding play from the midfield. For Manpreet, the World Cup represents an opportunity for India to end a lengthy wait for success at one of hockey’s biggest tournaments.

Hockey India League franchise Hyderabad Toofans have signed internationally renowned high-performance coach Paul Revington as Head Coach. Revington, a former FIH Coach of the Year, takes over the only franchise to reach the playoffs in both HIL seasons. Hyderabad Toofans named internationally acclaimed coach Paul Revington, “Revs” as Head Coach as the Hockey India League franchise looks to build on its bronze-medal finish in its latest second season. Widely regarded as one of hockey’s foremost high-performance architects, Rivington brings more than two decades of elite coaching experience to Hyderabad. He guided Great Britain and England to silver medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the 2023 European Championships, consecutive podium finishes in the FIH Pro League and a rise to World No. 2 in the FIH rankings. A former FIH Men’s Coach of the Year, he has also led South Africa to Olympic qualification and helped Ireland qualify for the Olympic Games after more than a century.

Skipper Tilak Varma, Priyansh Arya, and Kumar Kushagra struck half-centuries before Nishant Sindhu’s lethal $4/31$ propelled India A into the tri-series final with a dominant 101-run win over Afghanistan A in Dambulla on Wednesday.  Riding on a strong batting display led by skipper Tilak Varma and left-arm spinner Nishant Sindhu’s four-wicket haul, India A stormed into the final of the 50-over tri-series with a commanding 101-run victory over Afghanistan A at the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday. Dambulla, June 17 (IANS) Riding on a strong batting display led by skipper Tilak Varma and left-arm spinner Nishant Sindhu’s four-wicket haul, India A stormed into the final of the 50-over tri-series with a commanding 101-run victory over Afghanistan A at the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.

The Telangana Basketball Association will launch the inaugural Telangana Junior Basketball League on June 19 in Hyderabad. Featuring Under-15 and Under-18 boys’ and girls’ categories, the league has attracted nearly 3,000 registrations and will involve six city-based franchises. The Telangana Basketball Association will organise the inaugural edition of the Telangana Junior Basketball League (TJBL), a first-of-its-kind professional basketball league in the State dedicated exclusively to identifying, nurturing and showcasing young talent, from June 19 at the Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy Indoor Stadium (Yousufguda) here. “The objective behind TJBL is to nurture talent from the grassroots level, provide access to quality coaching and professional infrastructure, and create a sustainable ecosystem for basketball to thrive in Telangana. We want to identify promising players at a young age and provide them with a clear pathway to excel at the State, national and international levels,” A Prudhvishwar Reddy, TBA general secretary, said.

The Cricket Association of Telangana has urged the Hyderabad Cricket Association to disclose details of district players selected for the inaugural TG20 League. CAT also reiterated its demand for greater investment in district cricket and infrastructure development. Cricket Association of Telangana, which was formed in 2012 with the specific objective of promoting talented cricketers of Telangana region in the then united Andhra Pradesh and who were not given due importance and exposure, appealed to the Hyderabad Cricket Association and in particular to the Governing Council of TG20 League to give complete details of the players picked from the districts for the inaugural edition of the League starting from June 21. “As we all know HCA is notorious for various misdeeds over the years and even failed badly in organising summer camps in the districts over the years should furnish details of only the number of district players who participated in the open selections and more importantly the selected players for the TG20 League,” Sunil Babu Kolanpaka, Secretary of CAT, said on Thursday.