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Here are all the key updates from December 17, Sunday:
AIFF President's bold World Cup plan
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is considering an audacious plan to host a few matches of the 2034 FIFA World Cup, set to be held in Saudi Arabia, according to a PTI report.
The report claims an internal circular had AIFF President, Kalyan Chaubey, planning for such a scenario. "The president informed the house that India should think or plan to work towards being a co-host for the World Cup in 2034," the draft minutes of the AIFF Executive Committee held on November 9 said.
However, there is the not-so-small stumbling block of FIFA regulations that dictate that co-hosts cannot be added to a bid after approval, only before. However, with certain procedures being side-stepped resulting in Saudi Arabia being the sole bidder for the 2034 World Cup, there could still be hope that India could host a few of the 104 matches of the 48-team World Cup in 2034.
PKL: Jaipur Pink Panthers, U Mumba post wins
Defending champions Jaipur Pink Panthers edged past Patna Pirates by a single point as they claimed a 29-28 win. Interestingly, it wasn't last season's MVP Arjun Deshwal who won the game for the Pink Panthers but it was Ajith Kumar who shone with 16 points, which included two tackle points. Every member of the Pirates' starting 7 got on the scoresheet, but that wasn't enough to stop the three-time champs from slipping to their third loss on the trot.
In the second game of the evening, U Mumba's raiders made merry as the side posted a 46-33 victory over Tamil Thalaivas. Guman Singh [11 points] and Iran's Amirmohammed Zafardanesh [10 points] picked up Super 10s, while left corner Sombir bagged a High 5 in U Mumba's third win of PKL 10. The result sees U Mumba climb to the 4th spot on the table, while Tamil Thalaivas remain 11th.
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- ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) December 17, 2023
ISL: Odisha romp to win over bottom-placed Hyderabad
Odisha FC earned a comfortable 3-0 win over Hyderabad FC at the Kalinga Stadium, courtesy a brace from Roy Krishna and a header from Mourtada Fall.
Hyderabad had the better of the chances in the opening half-hour with Petteri Pennanen and Mohammad Yasir stinging the palms of Amrinder Singh. However, it was Odisha who opened the scoring in the 35th minute, after Amey Ranawade was put through on the right into the box and squared the ball for Krishna, who bobbled the ball into the net from close range. The home side's lead was soon doubled in the 40th minute as Fall headed in Ahmed Jahouh's set-piece after being set-up by Carlos Delgado's header back across goal.
Hyderabad laboured to get back into the game, but were unable to fashion clear-cut chances. Odisha could have scored another as the visitors pushed for a goal, but the likes of Isak Vanlalruatfela and Jerry Mawihmingthanga spurned presentable opportunities. However, Krishna made the result certain in injury time, with a low drive into the bottom corner to make it 3-0. The result pushed Sergio Lobera's men up to fourth, while Hyderabad remain stuck to the bottom of the table.
Badminton update: Indian winners at Odisha Masters
There were a two home champions at the Odisha Masters BWF Super 100 that ended today.
Sathish Kumar Karunakaran won his first Super 100 title while Tanisha Crasto, playing two finals, one the mixed doubles with Dhruv Kapila and finished runner up in the women's doubles with Ashwini Ponnappa.
The 22-year-old Sathish, who won men's singles title at India International and had a runner-up finish at Maldives International this season, beat Ayush Shetty, who was promoted from reserves, 21-18, 19-21, 21-14 in the only all-Indian final.
In the first final of the day, Tanisha and Dhruv notched thrilling three-game win over Singapore's Hee Yong Kai Terry and Tan Wei Han Jessica. Tanisha, 20, and 23-year-old came from a game down to win 17-21, 21-19, 23-21 in an hour and 14 minutes.
Later, Tanisha and Aswini went down in the women's doubles final, a week after winning the Guwahati Masters title. The third seeds lost to Indonesia's Meilysa Trias Puspitasari and Rachel Allessya Rose 21-14, 21-17.
In the men's doubles, Krishna Prasad Garaga and Sai Pratheek K lost in the final to Chinese Taipei seventh seeds Lin Bing-Wei and Su Ching Heng 22-20, 18-21, 17-21.
The women's singles title was won by Japan's former world champion Nozomi Okuhara.
What happened yesterday?
India lost 1-3 to Spain in the third-place playoff of the FIH Junior Men's Hockey World Cup, which was won by Germany.
Bengaluru FC beat Jamshedpur FC 1-0 in their first match under new head coach Gerard Zaragoza, while Mumbai City FC were held to a 0-0 draw at home by East Bengal.
Puneri Paltan scored a stunning 49-19 win over table topper Bengal Warriors in the PKL, while Telugu Titans winless start to the season continued with a 40-51 loss to Dabang Delhi K.C.
You can check all the details of yesterday's news events here.