Sports

The Argentina captain announced on 31 August that he had played his last international match, ending a 21-year career in which he lifted the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He bows out with the second-highest goal tally in men’s international football.

The opener made 124 off 64 balls against Hong Kong in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup at Dubai on 3 September, passing Mithali Raj’s aggregate. The innings, her 18th international hundred, also took her past Meg Lanning and Laura Wolvaardt for the most centuries in women’s cricket. India made 193 for five.

India won by seven wickets in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup at Dubai on 5 September after dismissing Pakistan for 55 in 18.1 overs, their lowest total in the format. Shree Charani took three for seven and Prema Rawat three for nine; India chased the target inside nine overs for a third straight group win.

Mariano Navone beat Novak Djokovic at the US Open on 31 August, handing the Serb his earliest exit from a Grand Slam tournament in twenty years. Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka advanced comfortably in the same week, while Stan Wawrinka and Gael Monfils played farewell matches in New York.

The Cricket Association of Bengal barred the leg-spinner for two years on 4 September after age verification showed he had misrepresented his date of birth. The association said it remains committed to proper age verification in age-group cricket.

R. Praggnanandhaa beat defending champion Fabiano Caruana in the final to win the Grand Chess Tour, becoming the first Indian to win the event. The Chennai grandmaster was trailing against the world No. 2 before recovering in the classical games and settling the contest in the faster time controls.

Neeraj Chopra ruled himself out of the Asian Games and the rest of the season on 29 August with an ankle ligament tear. The javelin thrower, whose season’s best was 88.05 metres, will also miss the Diamond League Final in September. The Athletics Federation of India said he had chosen recovery over risk and asked that his place be given to another athlete.

India beat Germany in a classification match at the Women’s Hockey World Cup in Amstelveen, scoring three goals in the space of four minutes after going three games without one. Navneet and Ishika were among the scorers. The win kept alive India’s hope of its best World Cup finish since the inaugural 1974 edition.

Roger Federer was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on 30 August. The Swiss broke down during a light-hearted speech in which he took a trip down memory lane, called the induction one of the greatest honours of his career and said he was still writing his love letter to tennis.