Veteran football commentator Novy Kapadia dies

New Delhi: Considered an authority on Indian football, veteran commentator and former Delhi University professor Novy Kapadia died here today after a prolonged illness. He was 67. The soft-spoken Kapadia, who covered nine FIFA World Cups, was on the ventilator for the last month. The football expert and author had been suffering from a motor neurone disease, a rare condition that causes the nerves in the spine and brain to lose function over time.

Kampala
Pramod Bhagat, Sukant Kadam register easy wins

World No. 1 Pramod Bhagat defeated Deada Jean Yves Yao from Ivory Coast in under 22 minutes at the Uganda International Para Badminton tournament here today. The 21-13 21-9 win was his second in the singles SL3 category. The ace shuttler also won his mixed doubles match in which he partnered Palak Kohli to beat India’s Shanthiya Viswanathan and Uganda’s Bashir Mutyaba in straight sets 21-11 21 12. Sukant Kadam, in SL4 category, beat Nigeria’s Ousmane Habi Adamou in 18 minutes. The world No. 5 breezed to a 21-4 21-5 win in straight games. He along with Jyothi also won the mixed doubles first round against Italy’s Davide Posenato and Rosa Efomo De Marco 22-20 21-17.

London
Jack Brooks apologises to Pujara for ‘Steve’ nickname

Somerset seamer Jack Brooks today apologised to Cheteshwar Pujara for his role in nicknaming the India Test specialist “Steve” during his time at Yorkshire. Brooks — who joined Somerset in 2018 — also issued an apology for historical racist tweets (2012) as the controversy surrounding Azeem Rafiq’s allegations of institutional racism against Yorkshire continued to haunt English cricket. Brooks also acknowledged that the language used in the two tweets was “unacceptable”. Agencies