Sports World Today, January 8, 2024: Franz Beckenbauer Passes Away; Esha Singh, Shooters Esha Singh, Varun Tomar Bag Paris Olympics Quotas; Manchester United In FA Cup Action

Football world is in mourning as one of the world's greats and Germany football icon, Franz Beckenbauer passed away at the age of 78. In cricket, Sri Lanka edged out Zimbabwe by two wickets in the second ODI. Furthermore, Riyan Parag lit up the Ranji Trophy with a well-made century however his Assam team ended up on the losing side. In Tennis, build-up towards Australian Open 2024 continues. Follow the scores and updates of today's sporting action here. (Cricket News | Football News)

11:59pm: And With That We Say Good Night!

That's all from the world of sports, adios and good night!

11:45pm: Tennis Star Emma Raducanu Reunites With Former Coach

Tennis sensation Emma Raducanu has joined hands with her former coach Nick Cavaday before Australian Open. "I've known Nick since I was 10 years old and he was helping me out the last week at the NTC [National Tennis Centre]. Before that the LTA helped me a ton," Raducanu said while competing on the WTA Tour in Auckland last week.

11:20pm: FIA Loses Another Key Member

Formula One's governing body FIA on Monday announced that one of their senior figures in the organisation, Tim Goss has left. Goss was the technical director at FIA. He is the second key player to leave FIA within a month after the resignation of the Steve Nielsen in December.

11:10pm: Sri Lanka Beat Zimbabwe By 2 Wickets In Second ODI

Sri Lanka survived a thriller to beat spirited Zimbabwe by two wickets in the second ODI match at the iconic R. Premadasa Stadium. Chasing a tricky target of 209 runs in a stop-start Colombo clash due to rain, the hosts reached the target with an over to spare with Jeffrey Vandersay and Dushmantha Chameera taking 13 runs off the penultimate over, bowled by Faraz Akram. Player of the match, Janith Liyanage played a measured knock, scoring 95 off 127 balls. The first ended as a no result with the weather having the final say. After Thursday's third and final ODI at the same venue, the two teams will play a three-match T20I series.

10:45pm: 10 Facts You Need To Know About Franz Beckenbauer

Franz Beckenbauer was the first player to win the FIFA World Cup as captain (1974) and manager (1990). A mercurial defender during his playing days, the German legend will remain one of the most enduring figures in football

Read more about it here.

8:34pm: NFL: New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick To Discuss Future With Owner

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will sit down with the owner Robert Kraft to discuss his future aftter registering his side's 13th loss of the season.

8:14pm: Ranji Trophy 2024, Group B, Day 4 Report: Mumbai Beat Bihar

Seamers Shivam Dube (4/10) and Royston Dias (3/35) powered Mumbai’s outright win over Bihar by an innings and 51 runs in their Ranji Trophy 2023-24 season opener here on Monday. Bihar’s fate was decided on the third day evening itself when they were reduced to 91/6 following-on, having made 100 in their first innings in reply to Mumbai's 251, with Mohit Avasthi returning 6/27. Bihar could not manage a run more than that in their second attempt and lost heavily as Mumbai walked away with seven points.

Read more about it here

7:31pm: Which Footballer Is On The Move In The January Transfer Window?

It has been a slow start to the January transfer window in the Premier League. Expect that to change pretty quickly. Deals are being mooted, speculation is starting to fly, and sought-after stars — like Kylian Mbappé and Ivan Toney — have chosen to talk about their future to the media.

Read more about it here

6:14pm: Australian Open 2024

Want to know all about the year's firs Grand Slam, the Australian Open. Well, find out about the live streaming, draw, players, and much more right here.

5:26pm: BAI To Fund 28 Players

The Badminton Association of India will fund 28 Indian shuttlers, including senior national men's and women's champions Chirag Sen and Anmol Kharb, for international tournaments this year. Indian players ranked between 26 and 75 in BWF world rankings and top performers from the Senior National championships, who are not part of the national camp, will benefit from this opportunity.

4:30pm: Riyan Parag's Ranji Ton In Vain

Riyan Parag continues to impress fans and pundits with his fearless brand of cricket. After topping the scoring charts in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the premier domestic T20 cricket tournament, the 22-year-old hit a stunning 56-ball century for Assam during their Ranji Trophy match against Chhattisgarh in Raipur. During his 87-ball knock, the batting all-rounder from Guwahati scored 155 runs with the help of 11 fours and 12 sixes. But the captain's valiant effort was not enough to save Assam as Chhattisgarh chased down the 87-run target in 20 overs for a 10-wicket win on Day 3 of the match.

4:02pm: Shami Unlikely For First Two IND Vs ENG Tests

The Indian cricket team has been jolted by the news of its premier fast bowler Mohammed Shami being likely to miss the first two Tests in the five-match series against England, starting from January 25. It has been learnt that Shami hasn't even resumed bowling post his ankle injury and with the England series fast approaching, the absence of Shami could hurt Team India, given his ability and versatility with the ball on Indian conditions.

3:20pm: Esha Bags Olympic Quota #15!

After Varun Tomar had bagged a Paris Olympics quota earlier in the day, Esha Singh followed suit in the afternoon with a gold medal in the women's individual 10m air pistol event. The 18-year-old Esha notched up a score of 243.1 to come up trumps. This is India's 15th quota booked in shooting.

3pm: Klaasen Retires From Tests

South Africa wicket-keeper batter Heinrich Klaasen has announced his retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect. Klaasen has represented South Africa in four Test matches and in eight Test innings, he had made just 102 runs with an average of 13. However, he will continue to play for South Africa in ODIs and T20Is. He played his last Test against West Indies at the Wanderers last year. He was not picked for the recently concluded two-Test series against India. South Africa's Test coach Shukri Conrad selected another wicket-keeper batter Kyle Verreynne over Klaasen.

2:02pm: ZIM vs SL Toss Update

Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine has won the toss and opted to bat first in the second one-day international against Sri Lanka at R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. The first match at the same venue on Saturday was declared a 'no result' with weather having the final say. The weather forecast for today is also not good with more than a 50 per cent chance of rain with thunderstorms. Check out the playing XIs and other details in our report here.

12:50pm: Mourinho Gets Red Card For Dissent

AS Roma manager Jose Mourinho is facing another touchline suspension. The 60-year-old Portuguese tactician was sent off during Giallorossi's 1-1 draw against visiting Atalanta at Stadio Olimpico, Rome. The incident happened in the 94th minute of the Roma vs Atalanta Serie A match when Mourinho protested at the officials following a foul on Romelu Lukaku. Mourinho, who was already booked, was sent off by referee Gianluca Aureliano. You can watch the video of the incident here.

11:30am: Anahat Finishes 2nd At British Junior Open

Rising Indian star Anahat Singh signed off with a runners-up finish in the girls’ under-17 category at the British Junior Open squash tournament in Birmingham. The top seed Anahat went down 2-3 to Egyptian second seed Nadien Elhammamy in a tense 68-minute cliffhanger at the University of Birmingham.

10:20am: Olympic Quota #14 In Shooting!

India's Varun Tomar has bagged the country's 14th Paris Olympics shooting quota, winning gold in the 10m air pistol men's individual final at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Jakarta. He earlier combined with Arjun Singh Cheema and Ujjawal Malik to clinch the team gold for India as well.

9:31am: Serie A Update

A stoppage-time header by Dusan Vlahovic helped Juventus come from behind to grab a 2-1 win at Salernitana in Serie A after the hosts were reduced to 10 men early in the second half. The win allowed Juventus to keep pace with leaders Inter Milan in the title race as they reached the halfway mark in the campaign in second spot in the standings on 46 points. They are two points behind Inter, who beat lowly Verona 2-1 in a drama-filled clash on Saturday, and seven above third-placed AC Milan.

9:16am: PSG Win 9-0 In French Cup

Kylian Mbappe netted a hat-trick as Paris St-Germain thrashed sixth-tier amateurs Revel 9-0 in the French Cup. The France striker, 25, opened the scoring in the 16th minute and added another just before half-time to become PSG's all-time top scorer in the cup. A Marco Asensio strike and Revel own goal put PSG 4-0 up at the break. Mbappe then completed his hat-trick in the 48th minute, with further goals from Goncalo Ramos, 19-year-old Cher Ndour and two from Randal Kolo Muani.

8:58am: Barcelona Into Copa Del Rey Pre-QFs

Barcelona were made to work hard against fourth-tier opponents as they booked their place in the last 16 of the Copa del Rey with a 3-2 win at Barbastro, while Sevilla, Real Sociedad and Valencia earned narrow victories to progress. Fermin Lopez opened the scoring for Barca in the 18th minute with a tap-in from a low cross from Raphinha, who then made it 2-0, collecting a fine long ball from young debutant Hector Fort in the 51st minute. Substitute Robert Lewandowski made no mistake from the penalty spot to extend Barca's lead with two minutes to go.

8:25am: Major Crash In Dakar Rally

The Spanish motorcycle rider Carles Falcon was flown to hospital with serious injuries after he crashed near the end of Sunday’s second stage of the Dakar Rally in the deserts of Saudi Arabia. The race director, David Castera, told reporters that Falcon, an experienced off-road rider, had lacked a pulse but was resuscitated by the first doctor to arrive on the scene. Falcon, riding for the Twintrail Racing Team, was 76th after Saturday’s opening stage. The second stage, raced over jagged rocks and winding sand dunes in the Saudi desert, was almost complete when Falcón suffered the accident.

Preview!

Hello and welcome to the sports world live blog on January 8, 2024. With Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma included in India's T20I squad for the Aghanistan series, fans and experts are having their say, what with the ICC T20 World Cup around the corner. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka take on Zimbabwe in the second ODI after the first was a washout. In football, FA Cup's third round continues as Manchester United travel to Wigan Athletic. January also sees football clubs involved in transfers as stars like Kylian Mbappe, Jadon Sancho among others could be on the move. As the build-up to the Australian Open continues, tennis lovers are still processing the news that Rafael Nadal has pulled out of the year's first Grand Slam