Sports World: Odisha FC Go 2nd With Win Over Punjab In ISL - As It Happened

Bologna blanked Salernitana 3-0 to take another step towards UEFA Champions League qualification. The eighth win in nine games for Thiago Motta's side pushed it to within two points of third-placed Juventus. A fourth-place finish would ensure Bologna of a Champions League berth for the first time.

Devin Booker amassed 52 points with a fabulous shooting display that carried the Phoenix Suns to a 124-111 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans in NBA 2023-24 to tighten the Western Conference play-off race.

The win moved Phoenix within one game of New Orleans in the battle for the important No. 6 seed in the West. The top six teams in each conference are guaranteed a spot in the quarter-final round of the post-season, while teams seven through 10 will be forced to compete in the play-in tournament.

Sri Lanka have declared the third innings at 157/7, setting Bangladesh an improbable target of 511 runs on Day 4 of the second Test in Chattogram. Though the visitors kept losing wickets at regular intervals, their massive 353-run lead after the first essay has kept them in the driver's seat in this match. The Lankans lead the two-match series 1-0 and are eyeing a clean sweep.

Dinesh Chandimal has withdrawn from the Sri Lanka team playing the 2nd Test match against Bangladesh with immediate effect due to a "family medical emergency." He will return home immediately, a statement by Sri Lanka cricket board read.

"Sri Lanka Cricket, his teammates, and the coaching staff fully support Dinesh Chandimal at this moment of need and request that the public respect his and his family's privacy," the statement added.

The Indian men's doubles duo of Anirudh Chandrasekar and Vijay Prashanth progressed to the quarter-finals at the US men's clay court championship ATP tour event after a straight-sets win in Houston.

The Indian pair beat American wild card entrants Michael Mmoh and Frances Tiafoe 6-3 6-4 in a round of 16 match that lasted one hour and 19 minutes. Chandrasekar and Prashanth face fourth-seeded Australian duo of M Purcell and J Thompson in the quarter-finals.

The Indian men's hockey team has left for Australia to compete in a five-match Test series beginning April 6, an important assignment ahead of the Paris Olympic Games 2024 in July-August. The Harmanpreet Singh-led side left on Monday night.

The team has been in good form and recently won three out of its four matches during the FIH Pro League in Bhubaneswar.

After the opening game on April 6, the series features matches on April 7, 10, 12 and 13.

Powered by a half-century from Georgia Wareham (57 off 30 balls) and a handy knock from opener Grace Harris, Australia Women have posted a total of 161 runs against Bangladesh in the 2nd T20I in Mirpur. The visitors had swept the ODI series 3-0 and lead the three-match T20I leg 1-0.

Newcastle are set to renew their interest in Aaron Ramsdale, according to the Daily Mail. The Arsenal goalkeeper previously played under Eddie Howe at Bournemouth, and the Newcastle manager is said to be a big admirer of the 25-year-old, with the club seeking a younger goalkeeper this summer.

Staying with Newcastle, The Sun reports the club is braced for transfer bids from Arsenal and Tottenham for Alexander Isak. The 24-year-old striker could attract as much as £100million.

Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya has asserted that the former champions will not give up and will continue to fight in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2024 despite slumping to a hat-trick of defeats.

"If there's one thing you should know about this team, we never give up. We'll keep fighting, we'll keep going," Hardik posted on X.

England's talismanic all-rounder Ben Stokes has opted out of the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in June.

“I’m working hard and focusing on building my bowling fitness back up to fulfil a full role as an all-rounder in all formats of cricket.

“Opting out of the IPL and the World Cup will hopefully be a sacrifice that allows me to be the all-rounder I want to be for the foreseeable future," Stokes said in a statement released by the England and Wales Cricket Board.

The Indian Premier League fixture between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals, which was earlier scheduled to take place on April 17 at Eden Gardens will now be played a day prior on April 16.

Meanwhile, The Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad was earlier scheduled to host the match between Gujarat Titans and Delhi Capitals on April 16. The fixture will now be played on April 17, 2024.

The All India Football Federation has suspended Deepak Sharma, the executive committee member accused of assaulting two female players, from participating in any football-related activities until further notice. The matter has been referred to the AIFF disciplinary committee.

AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey said, “The AIFF is determined to promote women's football in a safe and enabling environment and will take all necessary steps to ensure this. The incident in Goa during IWL 2, should not be amplified to undermine the AIFF’s developmental efforts in women’s football. The particular case has now been referred to the disciplinary committee and will be taken up emergently."

About 10 years after its last edition was played, "active conversations" are taking place between cricket boards of India, Australia and England to revive the Champions League, a club-based international T20 competition.

The last edition of the CLT20 was held in India in 2014. (PTI)

Mikel Arteta accepts Arsenal may have to win each of their nine remaining Premier League fixtures to be crowned champions as he prepares for the c“most beautiful part of the season”. (Stats Perform)

Chasing 511 to win, Bangladesh were 243 runs away at stumps on Day 4 of the second Test match against Sri Lanka.

Grandmaster Koneru Humpy will spearhead the Indian challenge in the Women’s candidates’ chess tournament that will get underway in Toronto, Canada from Wednesday.

While Grandmaster Aleksandra Goryachkina of Russia starts as the rating favourite for the crown and former women’s world champion Lei Tingjie of China is a close second, a lot will depend on how these two fair against the rest of the six participants, including Humpy.

While on paper Indian challenge is spearheaded by Humpy, the significance of R Vaishali in the tournament cannot be ruled out thanks to her never-say-die approach and unique uncompromising style.(PTI)

“The next morning (after the final) I opened my hotel room door on my way to breakfast and Kumar opened his door at the same time and he said, ‘did you see we made a massive error?’ That’s when I got to know about it," Marais Erasmus told 'The Telegraph'.

Lucknow Super Giants XI: Q de Kock (wk), D Padikkal, KL Rahul (c), M Stoinis, N Pooran, A Badoni, K Pandya, R Bishnoi, Y Thakur, M Yadav, N Ul Haq

Royal Challengers Bengaluru XI: F du Plessis (c), V Kohli, R Patidar, G Maxwell, C Green, D Karthik, A Rawat (wk), R Topley, M Dagar, M Siraj, Y Dayal

READ FULL STORY HERE

Bindyarani Sorokhaibam takes bronze in the women's 55kg category at the Weightlifting World Cup in Thailand

Diego Mauricio for Odisha and Madih Talal for Punjab are the scorers

Diego Mauricio scores twice as Odisha beat Punjab 3-1.

Read match report here

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has upheld the IOC decision to remove the International Boxing Association from the Olympic family.

The court announced Tuesday that it dismissed the IBA appeal because the organization “had not complied with the conditions set down by the IOC for recognition.”

The Russian president of the IBA, Umar Kremlev, said in November they would appeal at Switzerland's supreme court if they lost their appeal at CAS, sport's highest court. (AP)

English Premier League continues with the midweek action as the likes of Newcastle United, Burnley, Tottenham and West Ham in action.

We bring curtains to our live sporting coverage. Till then, good night!