Max Verstappen wins 8th in row

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS (Belgium)

Formula One leader Max Verstappen (in pic) raced from sixth on the grid to a crushing eighth win in a row with Sergio Perez a distant second to seal the Belgian Grand Prix one-two for rampant Red Bull. Red Bull’s 13th consecutive victory made the team the first in the sport’s 73-year history to win the opening 12 races of a season, one more than McLaren managed in 1988 with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. Verstappen extended his championship lead over Perez to 125 points — the equivalent of five race wins — after taking the chequered flag 22.3 seconds ahead of the Mexican who started on the front row. “I knew we had a great car, it was just about surviving Turn 1,” said the double world champion, who has now won in Belgium for three years in a row including from 14th on the grid last year. Reuters

Greater Noida

Lifter Siddhanta crowned junior Asian champ

India’s Siddhanta Gogoi clinched the men’s 61kg junior title, while Gyaneshwari Yadav and Koyel Bar secured silver medals in the women’s 49kg event at the Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships here today. The 19-year-old Siddhanta, who had upstaged senior Shubham Todkar earlier this month at the Commonwealth Championships, lifted 265kg (116kg+149kg) to give hosts India their first gold medal of the ongoing edition. It was double delight for the hosts as Sankar Lapung clinched the bronze medal with a best effort of 256kg (114kg+142kg). Earlier in the day, Gyaneshwari finished runner-up among the juniors, while Koyel came second in the youth category. Gyaneshwari lifted a total of 175kg (78kg+97kg). Koyel heaved 69kg in snatch and 86kg in clean and jerk for a total effort of 155kg. PTI

Birmingham

Harmilan finishes 2nd in 1500m in Birmingham

India’s Harmilan Bains clinched the second position in the women’s 1500 m event at the Birmingham University Grand Prix athletics meet on Saturday. The 25-year-old clocked 4:11.85, around six seconds short of her national record of 4:05.39. Local favourite Niamh Bridson Hubbard delivered a career-best performance of 4:11.13 to win the race

Pune

Goa pip Chennai to win Ultimate Table Tennis title

Fortunes swung from one side to another as Alvaro Robles, Harmeet Desai and Reeth Tennison propelled Goa Challengers to the title win in the Ultimate Table Tennis Season 4 with an 8-7 victory in an intense final against defending champions Chennai Lions.

Dallas

Barcelona defeat Madrid 3-0 in pre-season game

Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 3-0 in a pre-season match, with Ousmane Dembele, Fermin Lopez Martin and Ferran Torres getting on the scoresheet.

Puducherry

Dube powers West Zone to six-wicket win over North

All-rounder Shivam Dube went on a six-hitting spree as West Zone registered a comfortable six-wicket win over North Zone in a round-robin match of the Deodhar trophy.

Paris

Vollering battles to maiden Tour de France Femmes title

Demi Vollering overcame various obstacles en route to claiming her maiden Tour de France Femmes title with a dominant showing in the final time trial, a 22.6km loop beginning and ending in Pau. Marlen Reusser clocked 29 minutes 15 seconds to win the time trial. — Agencies