Sports World, January 23, 2024: India Out Of AFC Asian Cup; Novak Djokovic In Australian Open Semis; Shubman Gills Wins Polly Umrigar Award - As It Happened

The build-up towards a hotly anticipated Test series - India vs England - took a slight turn with the likes of Virat Kohli (two Tests) and Harry Brook (entire tour) opting out due to personal reasons. In football, India lost to Syria in the AFC Asian Cup 2023 and were knocked out of the competition. Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic beat Taylor Fritz in the Australian Open 2024 quarters and stormed into the semis. Also, in women's singles, Coco Gauff beat Marta Kostyuk. Here's all that happened in the sports world on January 24, 2024. (Cricket News | Football News)

Lionel Messi had three shots on goal before exiting early in the second half in Inter Miami’s 1-0 loss to FC Dallas in an Major League Soccer pre-season game at the Cotton Bowl, reports Associated Press. Messi took three shots in the first half and left the game about 15 minutes into the second half with Inter Miami trailing in front of an announced crowd of 32,221 in a game played in a drizzle and 40 degrees (4 Celsius). Forward Jesus Ferreira scored on an uncontested shot three minutes into the match to give FC Dallas an early lead that held up.

Emilio Nsue scored twice as Equatorial Guinea routed Ivory Coast 4-0 to leave the host nation in danger of an Africa Cup of Nations exit, when Egypt advanced and Ghana were likely eliminated, reports Associated Press. Ivory Coast were left to rue a host of missed chances as Nsue opened the scoring before the break, and Pablo Ganet fired in a brilliant free kick after it, two minutes before the 34-year-old Nsue capped his performance with his fifth goal of the tournament. No other player has scored more. Jannick Buyla completed the rout on a counterattack in the 88th minute.

After competing at the highest level for over two decades, Indian tennis doubles specialist Rohan Bopanna is now on the precipice of something special - the coveted world number one crown. Bopanna is just one win away from doing that. Should he win his quarter-finals match alongside trusted partner Matthew Ebden at the Australian Open, Bopanna will emulate the likes of Sania Mirza, Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes in achieving numero uno doubles status.

Read our report here to know more.

Novak Djokovic's quarter-final match against Taylor Fritz is underway at the Australian Open. The world number one from Serbia has taken the first set, though with a tight 7-6 margin via a tie-breaker (7-3). The best-of-five affair promises to be an engrossing one. Stay tuned.

Confirming what was being reported and speculated earlier, India head coach Rahul Dravid has said that KL Rahul will not keep wickets during the five-Test home series against England. Dravid has cited the conditions, which are expected to be largely spin-friendly, and the duration of the series as reasons for not going with his namesake Rahul, who did an admirably competent job behind the stumps during the Test series in South Africa. In such a scenario, specialist keeper KS Bharat might be the preferred choice for the team.

Novak Djokovic has won his quarter-final match against Taylor Fritz 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 to march into the Australian Open 2024 semi-finals. The world number one from Serbia will play either Italian fourth seed Jannik Sinner or Russian fifth seed Andrey Rublev for a place in the final.

Three months after achieving the feat for the first time, the star Indian badminton men's doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have re-ascended the world number one throne. They now have 95,861 points and have displaced China's Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang from the top spot.

Read more in our report here.

It's half-time in Al Khor, Qatar. Sunil Chhetri with the final attempt, a long ranger, as India fight hard to keep their AFC Asian Cup 2023 hopes. Goalless so far against Syria. They need a big win. In the Group B match, Australia lead Uzbekistan 1-0.

Two-time Asian Games medallist Roshibina Naorem has been named International Wushu Federation's (IWUF) female athlete of the year in the Sanda category after a month-long public voting. The 23-year-old won a bronze and a silver in the 2018 and 2022 Asian Games, polled 93545 votes to beat Shahrbano Mansouriyan Semiromi (88179) of Iran and Wu Xiaowei (46753) of China.

After 76 minutes of slugfest, India conceded. Omar Khribin, the Asian Footballer of the Year 2017, linked up with Ibrahim Hesar inside the Indian half, then beat Rahul Bheke with neat footwork. The devastating move saw a right-footed shot beat Gurpreet Sandhu for the opener. It's India 0-1 Syria.

It's over. India fought hard, but not enough. Sunil Chhetri & Co will return home with no goals and points from Asia's football showpiece. In their final group match, the Blue Tigers suffered a 0-1 defeat against Syria.

Opener Shubman Gill is the recipient of the Polly Umrigar Award for the year 2022-23. It's given to 'Best International Cricketer - Men'.

Manav Thakkar and Ayhika Mukherjee began their campaign with comfortable victories while veteran Sharath Kamal failed to qualify for the singles main draw at WTT Star Contender, reports PTI. Sanil Shetty, too, faced an early elimination from the competition.  Meanwhile, the Indian pairings fared better in the Doubles draw, as Manush Shah and Diya Chitale beat Quek Izaac and Zhou Jingyi while Sreeja Akula and Snehit Suravajjula beat Pang Koen and Wong Ru.

Liverpool have thrown their weight behind star-man Mohamed Salah, whose return to the club from Africa Cup of Nations 2023 duty to treat an affliction had caused a massive stir. 

“I've never met a guy — a player but also a human being — who is more committed to the life of being a professional football player," said Liverpool's assistant manager, Pep Ljinders, ahead of the EFL Cup 2023-24 semi-final, second leg, against Fulham.

“I know the country is devastated at losing him. We were devastated to hear he got injured. He plays their first (group) game, scores and assists and is captain. He's massively important, of course. But, the only reason why our medical team and their medical team decided for him to come back is to give him the best possible chance to be available in the final, if Egypt reach the final.”

Two weeks after the first legs, the EFL Cup semi-finals second place will take place this week, starting with a late night match between Chelsea and Middlesbrough. The Blues are trailing the second-tier outfit by a goal to nil and will be looking to overturn that deficit in front of their own fans at Stamford Bridge. 

Meanwhile, Liverpool will play Fulham in the second semi-final. The Reds have a small lead with them, having beaten Fulham 2-1 in the first leg. 

Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden will look to prolong their sensational run in the Australian Open 2024 early on January 24, 2024, when they face Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni in the Men's Doubles Quarter-finals. The match will begin at 5:30 AM IST as per the schedule at the time of writing.