India go 2-0 up in their T20I series in New Zealand after Tilak Varma and Nitish Kumar Reddy finished a tense chase in Christchurch. In Paris, PV Sindhu took the first game off An Se Young but lost the French Open final, and India’s para athletes closed the Asian Para Games with a record haul.
Tilak and Nitish put India 2-0 up in New Zealand
India beat New Zealand by four wickets with a ball to spare in the second T20I in Christchurch to lead the five-match series 2-0. Chasing 181, India slipped to 112 for six against Mitchell Santner’s four for 21. Tilak Varma (51 not out off 26) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (26 not out off 13) then added an unbroken 69. Read our full report.
Source: The Tribune
Sindhu loses French Open final to An Se Young
PV Sindhu lost the French Open final in Paris on Sunday, going down 21-16, 11-21, 12-21 to world No. 1 An Se Young. Sindhu won the first game, only the second time she has taken a game off the South Korean. An has now won all 11 of their meetings. No Indian woman has won the French Open title since Aparna Popat in 1998.
Sources: The Tribune, Deccan Herald
Harmanpreet and Deepti hit hundreds against Zimbabwe
Harmanpreet Kaur made 126 off 121 balls and Deepti Sharma an unbeaten 106 off 86 as India posted 328 for six in the second women’s ODI against Zimbabwe in Vadodara. It was Harmanpreet’s eighth ODI hundred and Deepti’s second. The pair added 153, after Harmanpreet and Pratika Rawal (61) had put on 124. New captain Smriti Mandhana fell in the first over.
Source: Deccan Chronicle
PM Modi hails India’s record 114 medals at Asian Para Games
India finished the Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya with 114 medals: 30 gold, 35 silver and 49 bronze. That beats the 108 won in Hangzhou, and came from a much smaller team of 168 athletes against 309 last time. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it an occasion of immense pride. Double gold medallist Mona Agarwal led the contingent at the closing ceremony.
Source: The Tribune
Neeraj Chopra targets May 2027 return
Neeraj Chopra hopes to compete again in May 2027, when the Diamond League season starts. The javelin star hurt his ankle at the Lausanne Diamond League before the Asian Games and is in rehab. He expects to start running in a few weeks and throwing in just over a month. Speaking at a children’s athletics event in Sonepat, he said he is not retiring.
Source: The Tribune
Vani Kapoor second as Phatlum wins Women’s Indian Open
Vani Kapoor finished runner-up at the Women’s Indian Open in Gurugram, her best result on the Ladies European Tour. She closed with a 70 for seven under. Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum shot 65 to win by four shots, her fourth title in the event. Defending champion Shannon Tan was third, Pranavi Urs tied fourth and Tvesa Malik tied seventh.
Source: The Tribune
Arshdeep breaks Bhuvneshwar’s calendar-year T20I record
Arshdeep Singh now has the most T20I wickets by an Indian bowler in a calendar year. His two for 33 in Christchurch, including Tim Seifert, took him to 38 wickets in 2026. That passes the 37 Bhuvneshwar Kumar took in 32 matches, a record that had stood for about four years. Arshdeep’s best figures this year are five for 51.
Source: The Tribune
Pollard replaces Jayawardene as Mumbai Indians head coach
Mumbai Indians have named Kieron Pollard head coach for IPL 2027, replacing Mahela Jayawardene. The 39-year-old moves up from batting coach. He played only for Mumbai in the IPL, scoring 3,412 runs and taking 69 wickets in 189 matches before retiring as a player in 2022. The five-time champions have not won the title since 2020.
Source: The Tribune
Rahul and Sudharsan out for ducks as India A fold for 113
India A were bowled out for 113 in under 40 overs on the first day of the unofficial Test against New Zealand A in Lincoln. KL Rahul and Sai Sudharsan both made ducks. Yash Rathod top-scored with 44 not out, and Devdutt Padikkal made 32. Simon Keene took five wickets and Zak Gibson three.
Source: The Tribune
Sanathoi Singh’s late goal gives Punjab FC win in Goa
Nineteen-year-old Konsam Sanathoi Singh scored deep in stoppage time as Punjab FC beat Churchill Brothers 3-2 in the Indian Super League in Margao on Sunday. Messi Bouli scored a penalty and set up both Alfred Planas’s goal and the winner. Sebastián Gutiérrez scored twice for Churchill. Sanathoi struck after Bouli beat two defenders and passed to him. Read the match report.
Sources: The Tribune, Deccan Chronicle
Boxing awardees back Pramod Kumar in BFI dispute
Several Dronacharya and Arjuna awardees, including Manoj Kumar, backed Boxing Federation of India secretary general Pramod Kumar at a press conference in New Delhi. They questioned the federation’s leadership under president Ajay Singh and called for regular national championships and transparent selections. A no-confidence motion against Singh is due at a special general meeting on 28 October.
Source: The Tribune
India men and women win at Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship
India’s men beat Uganda 44-30 and the women beat Singapore 32-16 at the first Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship in Ahmedabad. The matches were played at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Naranpura. The men’s next opponents are Malaysia, while the women play Uganda.
Source: The Tribune
Anahat Singh’s Silicon Valley Open run ends in semi-final
Anahat Singh lost 3-1 to Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam in the semi-finals of the Silicon Valley Open in Redwood City, California. The Indian won the first game 11-5 before Sivasangari took the next three. It was the first semi-final by an Indian woman at a PSA Gold-level event since 2019.
Source: The Tribune
