FOOTBALL

St. Xavier’s School to lock horns with some of the best youth teams in Europe

St. Xavier’s Collegiate School from Kolkata, the first Indian youth team to officially participate in the MADCUP Football Tournament 2025, will face Atlético de Madrid and SO Caillolais, an associate club of Olympique Marseille, in the group stage.

The fifth edition of MADCUP tournament, the largest federated international tournament for grassroots football, will run from June 21 to 26.

It will be hosted across 32 sporting facilities in Madrid; including iconic venues such as the Atlético de Madrid Sports Centre, Ciudad Deportiva del Real Madrid, and Ciudad del Fútbol de Las Rozas.

The young Kolkata side will test its mettle against youth teams from some of the biggest names in world football, including Real Madrid CF, Atlético de Madrid, Juventus FC, Sevilla FC, CA River Plate, Valencia CF, CD Leganés, and other leading global academies from approximately 40 countries across five continents.

“St. Xavier’s Collegiate School, Kolkata, India participating in the MadCup 2025 is not only the creation of history for our school but for Indian youth football itself,” Farino Torcato, Senior Teacher, said.

“I am not thinking of winning the tournament or something like that, but yes, we Xavierians are on a mission to show the world we also know and play football and will leave no stone unturned in making our school, city, state and country proud.”

-Team Sportstar

Mumbai City FC signs midfielder Zothanpuia

Indian Super League side Mumbai City FC, on Monday, announced the signing of midfielder Zothanpuia from Aizawl FC.

The 20-year-old joins the Islanders on a three-year contract.

He made his professional debut for Electric Veng FC in Mizoram in 2022, before featuring for Oranje FC in the I-League 2 during the 2023-24 season, following which he played for Southern Samity in the 2024 Calcutta League.

Fondly referred to as ‘Puipuia’, he joined Aizawl FC for its I-League campaign in the 2024-25 season, wherein his 20 appearances yielded three goals and two assists.

“I am thrilled to join Mumbai City. It is a club with a rich history and a record of winning trophies and titles. I am looking forward to contributing to that effort and hope to learn and grow with the experience in the squad. Playing in the ISL has been a dream of mine and I am excited to live that dream with Mumbai City,” Zothanpuia said .

-Team Sportstar

TENNIS

Chennai Open back on WTA calendar after three years

India will host the Chennai Open, a WTA 250 tournament, after three years, the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA) announced on Monday with the main draw action set to unfold from October 27.

The tournament had featured on the WTA calendar back in 2022 when the Czech Republic’s Linda Fruhvirtova had emerged singles champion.

“Finally, our efforts to get a major international sporting /tennis event to Chennai have borne fruit, thanks to the strong support of the Government of Tamil Nadu and the SDAT (Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu),” TNTA President Vijay Amritraj said.

“The event will be broadcast on a major sports channel. I look forward to the enthusiastic participation of the sporting public of Chennai in making the event a grand success,” he added.

-PTI

GOLF

Saptak Talwar finishes at tied 63rd; Jackson cruises to maiden title

Saptak Talwar played a final round of even par 71 to finish the Raiffeisenbank Golf Challenge in tied 63rd place IN Brno, Czech Republic.

The 26-year-old played rounds of 72, 70, 74 and 71 to finish the week with a score of three over par. The Indian began his final round on the back nine and had bogeys on the 12th and 17th with one birdie on the 13th.

He started the front nine by picking up a shot but had a double bogey on the eighth hole, however, an eagle on the ninth allowed Talwar to close the day with an even par score.

Palmer Jackson, who was tied for the lead at the end of the third round, played his best round of the week, a 7-under 64, to win by six shots.

The 24-year-old American began his day on the front nine and picked up three shots in his first four holes before making a bogey on the fifth.

He bounced back with an eagle on the seventh and another birdie on the ninth. His final score for the week stands at 21 under par with rounds of 65, 67, 67 and 64.

In second place six shots behind Palmer were Matthew Cheung of Hong Kong and Tobias Jonsson of Sweden.

-PTI

CRICKET

Suryansh Shedge to lead Mumbai’s emerging team on UK tour

Suryansh Shedge has been appointed captain of Mumbai’s emerging team, which will travel to England for a month, beginning June 28, the Mumbai Cricket Association said on Monday.

The team, which also features batting all-rounder Musheer Khan, Angkrish Raghuvanshi and young spinner Himanshu Singh, will play five two-day matches and four one-day games against various UK sides.

They will face off against teams from Nottinghamshire, Combined National Counties (Challengers), Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, among others.

-PTI

CHESS

Avirat Chauhan held in opening round of Aurionpro Junior International

The first round of the Aurionpro Mumbai Junior International Chess Tournament saw its first surprise as fourth-seeded Avirat Chauhan (ELO 2168) was held to a draw by the lower-rated Tanmay R.

Players in action during the first round of the Aurionpro Mumbai Junior International Chess Tournament.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Playing with the white pieces, Avirat opened with 1.e4, to which Tanmay responded with the sharp Dragon variation of the Sicilian Defence. The game remained evenly balanced, with regular exchanges of material. Despite Avirat’s experience, Tanmay held his ground with composure, and the players agreed to a draw after 29 well-fought moves.

Apart from this result, the rest of the top seeds had a smooth sailing. Top-seed FM Aansh Nerurkar, second-seed Madhesh Kumar, and third-seed Advik Agarwal notched up comfortable wins to advance to the second round of this ₹15.00 lakh prize money event.

-Team Sportstar