Expresso National and International Sports News Update at 4:30 pm on 9 July 2024

Let's begin with our top story in cricket, Having led West Indies to a historic Test win at Gabba earlier this year, pacer Shamar Joseph is hoping to spoil James Anderson’s retirement Test starting July 10, Wednesday at the Lord’s Cricket Ground. Joseph told reporters, “He is such an amazing player. Someone I have looked up to... You could say he’s perfect because he has a lot of wickets at this level. Definitely, I would want to ruin that farewell for him.” The last time West Indies toured England for a Test series, the tourists managed to beat the hosts in the first of three Tests but went on to lose the series.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Monday, 8th July appointed former skipper Sanath Jayasuriya as the interim head coach of the senior men’s team. According to the statement released by SLC, Jayasuriya will be the interim head coach until September 2024. Jayasuriya will take charge after the ongoing T20 Lanka Premier League on July 21. The Sri Lankan team are then slated to play a limited-overs series at home against India and a tour to England in August. Former England coach Silverwood had stepped down from the role citing personal reasons. Sri Lanka had won only one game at the T20 World Cup and finished third in their group behind South Africa in Bangladesh.

Abhishek Sharma, who smashed eight sixes and seven fours against Zimbabwe on Sunday, 7th July, revealed he used the bat of his childhood friend and captain of the current Indian squad, Shubman Gill. Abhishek told BCCI.tv, "I am doing this since our U-14 days, whenever I play with his bat I do well... It is very difficult to get a bat from him, he doesn’t give away that easily." The youngster also revealed that Yuvraj Singh was happy when he got out on zero on his debut and said, that's a good start. The third T20 match is scheduled for Wednesday, 10th July.

In other sports news: Four-time Olympian and 2012 Olympic Games men’s 10m Air Rifle bronze medalist Gagan Narang was on Monday, 8th July chosen by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to replace Mary Kom as the Chef-de-Mission of the Indian contingent to compete in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games starting on July 26. In a press release, IOA President PT Usha also said, "I am delighted to announce that India’s only woman to win two Olympic medals, PV Sindhu, as the female Flag-bearer alongside Table Tennis ace A. Sharath Kamal in the opening ceremony." In April, Mary Kom resigned as the Chef de Mission citing ‘problems’ that have ‘partly crippled’ her.

In football news: England vs Switzerland Quarter Final, UEFA Euro 2024 Highlights: In a pulsating draw at Dusseldorf, Breel Embolo gave the Swiss the advantage in the 75th minute by scoring off a low cross. However, England scored all of their spot-kicks to beat Switzerland 5-3 in penalties to make their way into the Euro 2024 semi-finals. The advantage was nullified by Bukayo Saka five minutes later as he scored a stunner from outside the box. England will play the winner of the game between the Netherlands and Turkey.

English winger Jadon Sancho lauded Bukayo Saka following his ‘redemption’ in England’s penalty shootout win over Switzerland in the Euro 2024 quarterfinal on Saturday, 6th July. Stepping up in the shootouts after England were locked 1-1 with Switzerland after extra time, Saka turned in the fourth goal as England won 5-3 on penalties following a save from goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. Sharing an Instagram story with Saka holding the PoTM award, Sancho wrote: “I’m so proud of this guy, Bukayo Saka! You did it for me and Marcus [Rashford] brother!” Sancho and Rashford, currently with Manchester United, were earlier excluded from Gareth Southgate’s England squad for this edition of the Euros.

In tennis news: World No. 2 and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic raised the need for tennis to increase its innovation factor on Saturday, 6th July. After winning against Alexei Popyrin in a Wimbledon third-round match that lasted four sets, Djokovic told reporters, “Tennis is a very global sport and it’s loved by millions of children that pick up a racquet and want to play. But we don’t make it accessible. We don’t make it so affordable. Especially in countries like mine that doesn’t have a strong federation, that has Grand Slam or history or big budgets." Djokovic admitted that the lack of marketing and engagement of young audiences is hampering the sport’s progress.

Lastly, In wrestling news: Vinesh Phogat's final stretch of preparation for the Paris Olympics kick-started in the best possible way after the former Asian Games champion and world championship bronze medallist won the 50 kg category against Mariia Tiumerekova at the Grand Prix of Spain on Saturday, 6th July. The gold medal will come as a boost given she is still getting used to her new weight category, having moved down to 50 kg from her usual 53 kg class. The title in Spain won’t have any bearing on Vinesh’s prospects for the Paris Olympics. After her training-cum-competition stint in Spain, Vinesh will travel to France for a 20-day camp.

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