Indian Sports Live, November 25: Satwik-Chirag bid to enter final, Boxing Nationals begin

With Indian sport running non-stop through the day, ESPN India’s daily live blog is here as a one-stop-destination to help you keep up with the latest developments in the India’s sportingverse. The blog runs throughout the day and is frequently updated, so do check back often.

Here are all the key updates from November 25, Saturday:

Pankaj Advani completes grand double in Billiards Worlds for world title No 27

Pankaj Advani won a staggering 27th World title as he completed his fifth grand double with a dominating 5-0 win over compatriot Sourav Kothari in the final of the IBSF World Billiards Championship (point-format) in Doha on Friday.

The 38-year-old, who had defeated Kothari recently in the longer format of 1000-point, won the earlier editions in 2005, 2008, 2014, and 2018. This is in addition to the snooker double he won in 2015. The short format was a best-of-9 contest of 150-point frames.

Advani will now head back home for 10 days before travelling to Chennai for the National Billiards and Snooker Championship.

What’s in store today?

• All eyes will be firmly on Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in the men’s doubles semifinal of China Masters Super 750. They face He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu of China, with an all-Chinese semifinal in the other half of the draw as well. Satwik-Chirag face quite the task, since Yu-Ting defeated the likes of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in their path to the semifinal. The Chinese pair had won the Kumamoto Japan Masters last week and are in red-hot form.

• Elsewhere, the Indian Super League will restart on Saturday after the international break with a double header. Chennaiyin FC vs East Bengal will start things off at 5:30pm, while Kerala Blasters face Hyderabad FC at 8 pm.

• The National Boxing Championships also begin, with the likes of Shiva Thapa and Amit Panghal hoping to bounce back from their most recent disappointments.

What happened yesterday?

• Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were the only Indians left at the China Masters after defeating Leo Rolly Carnando and Daneil Marthin 21-16, 21-14 in their quarterfinal.

• HS Prannoy lost in straight games to the in-form Kodai Naraoka in his quarterfinal.

• The ISSF World Cup in Doha, Qatar saw Anish Bhanwala bag bronze in the men’s 25m rapid fire piston event, while Akhil Sheoran finished fifth in the final of the 50m 3 Positions rifle event

You can check all the details of Friday’s news events here.