ESPN India’s daily live blog is your handy guide for everything to do with the wide world of Indian sport. We have the latest updates and analysis from the entire bouquet of Olympic and franchise sports with an Indian bent. The blog is updated throughout the day, so keep checking back to catch up on news you may have missed.
Here are all the key updates from December 16, Saturday:
Hockey: India finish fourth
A Sunil Jojo goal from a penalty corner was not enough for India as Spain scored three field goals (Nicolas Alvarez with two and Pau Petchame) to take third place in the Jr. men’s hockey world cup earlier today. The match saw low PC conversion (India won 9 and Spain 5) but Spain’s attacking play were rewarded with their field goal conversion coming up trumps. Alvarez opened the scoring before Jojo equalised but a goal in each of the last two quarters saw India consigned to a fourth place finish.
ISL: Zaragoza starts with a win
Bengaluru FC edged past Jamshedpur FC 1-0 thanks to a Javi Hernandez penalty just before half-time (44th min). Playing a 4-4-2 diamond, with Sivasakthi Narayan and Sunil Chhetri up-top, Bengaluru were the dominant side for the vast majority of the match. Jamshedpur rallied towards the end, but it was too little too late. While not exactly a very encouraging performance, three points is exactly what the new manager would have wanted on debut.
East Bengal’s men side, meanwhile, will face Mumbai in the Mumbai Football Arena later today. (kickoff at 8 PM).
IWL: Kickstart get the better of East Bengal
A hattrick from Karishma Purushottam Shirvoikar was more than enough to see last year’s finalists Kickstart win their second match in two, beating East Bengal 3-1. Sulanjana Raul scored a consolation for the away side. East Bengal shaded the possession but the shots attempted statistic highlights Kickstart’s dominance: the winners had 17 shots to East Bengal’s 6.
Adrian Luna injury update
If you’re a Kerala Blasters fan (or just a fan of good football), this won’t come as good news. Adrian Luna, the all-in-all magician of the Blasters has just undergone a “minor arthroscopic surgery” for a “chondral knee injury”, the club announced in a statement today.
Now a chondral knee injury is an injury to the cartilage of the knee, which can sometimes be accompanied by the dreaded injury to the knee’s ACL but we do not know the extent of Luna’s knee injury. What we do know is that in his absence, Blasters’ coach Ivan Vukomanovic is faced with quite the task. Luna is the chief creator, chief pressing trigger, and essentially his general on the pitch, and not having him around will take some coaching to manage.
The Blasters had no timeline for his return but the ISL viewer would wish him nothing but a speedy recovery, and a quick return to the pitches he lights up so often.
What’s on today?
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The Indian junior men’s hockey team are in action in the third-place playoff of the FIH Junior Men’s World Cup, as they take on Spain, after losing to Germany in the semifinal.
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It’s double header day in the ISL. First up, Gerard Zaragoza makes his debut as Bengaluru FC head coach as they take on Jamshedpur FC, before Mumbai City FC take on East Bengal.
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Puneri Paltan face Bengal Warriors, while Telugu Titans will look for their first win of the season, as they take on Dabang Delhi KC.
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India’s women are in charge of their Test match against England, heading into Day 3. They lead 478 with four wickets in hand in the second innings, and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur still at the crease.
What happened yesterday?
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Both the senior Indian men’s and women’s hockey teams began their five nation tournaments in Spain with losses to the hosts. The women lost 2-3, while the men lost 0-1.
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Mohun Bagan Super Giant beat NorthEast 3-1 to continue their unbeaten run so far in ISL 10.
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U Mumba beat Patna Pirates 42-40 in the first game of the PKL’s Pune leg, while the hosts Puneri Paltan lost 39-44 to Haryana Steelers.
You can check all the details of yesterday’s news events here.