Indian Sports Live, February 17: India beat Japan to move into BATC final, Yarraji wins Asian Indoor gold

          PV Sindhu's difficult 2023 continued with a loss in her first match at the World Championships RICHARD A. BROOKS/AFP via Getty Images
          • ESPN staffFeb 16, 2024, 10:22 PM ET

          Here at the ESPN daily blog, we bring you all the news from the dynamic world of Indian sports: a one-stop shop for everything to do with the wide variety of Olympic sports and franchise leagues.

          February has plenty of prominent events taking place - which you can find listed out in ESPN India's sporting calendar.

          Here are the key updates from Friday, February 17:

          PVL: Blitz 'blitz' Black Hawks

          Chennai Blitz won their first game of the new season that their city is hosting after a thorough 16-14, 15-11, 15-7 demolition job on the Hyderabad Black Hawks

          PKL: Steelers and Giants win

          Haryana Steelers beat U Mumba 46-40 on the back of a sensational 15 point haul from Vishal Tate. Gujarat Giants' Parteek Dahiya's 12 point haul saw Gujarat Giants beat UP Yoddhas 36 - 29.

          ISL: East Bengal beat hapless Hyderabad

          So that's a win each for the two Kolkata big boys. Cleiton Silva's early goal helping East Bengal beat a Hyderabad FC who were reduced to nine after two sendings off in stoppage time after the 90.

          East Bengal move within touching distance of the playoffs, Hyderabad remain rooted to the bottom, ten points adrift of second last.

          ISL: Mohun Bagan come from behind to beat NorthEast, climb to second

          45 minutes into the game, Bagan were trailing 0-1 to a pumped up NEUFC and looking decidedly second-best. Then came stoppage time and a stunning double blow from Liston Colaco and Jason Cummings. Tomi Juric equalised five minutes after the restart, but then Dimi Petratos did what Dimi Petratos does... before Sahal Abdul Samad finished the game off.

          It finished 4-2 at the Salt Lake, a very un-Habas score to go with a very un-Habas performance as Bagan climbed up to second, a point above Goa (who have a game in hand). NEUFC, meanwhile, stay seventh -- a point off that sixth and final playoff place.

          ATHLETICS: JYOTHI YARRAJI WINS ASIAN GOLD

          Jyothi Yarraji won India's first medal at the ongoing Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Tehran (Iran), winning Gold in the 60m Hurdles event with a new National Record timing of 8.12s.

          Her coach James Hillier had this to say: ""It was a really good result for Jyothi, we did a 3 week training camp in Bhubaneswar. It was a very helpful session. She wanted to start the season on a good note. She had a small injury during her training, nothing serious but she couldn't train for a week. Now she is back in form. This was a good race for her."

          MORE ON THAT STUNNING BATC win

          Here's Zenia D'Cunha writing on how India's young talent punched above their weight even as their talisman, one of Indian sports' GOATs couldn't do what she normally does.

          BATC: Ashmita stuns Okuhara, Anmol shines again as India beat Japan to move into final

          Anmol Kharb produced a clutch win for India yet again as she beat Natsuki Nidaira to lead India past Japan and into the final of the Badminton Asia Team Championships. With the fixture tied at 2-2, Anmol played the fifth and final match and put up a brilliant show to beat Nidaira 21-14, 21-18 and take India into their maiden final.

          Anmol, the young national champion who had taken India past China into the quarters, wrapped up the opening game in quick time as she led 11-7 at the break and improved that to a 19-14 lead before closing out the game. Nidaira put up a strong fight in the second game to race away to a 4-1 lead, but Anmol fought back to make it 11-9 in her favour and ran away to a sizeable lead before sealing the win.

          Earlier in the day, Ashmita Chaliha delivered a massive upset as she beat former world champion and former World #1 Nozomi Okuhara 21-17, 21-14 to give India a 2-1 lead. Chaliha was at her clinical best to earn her career's biggest win, a win which also gave India a very crucial lead after PV Sindhu lost the opening match.

          Sindhu, making her comeback after an injury layoff, lost her first match of the tournament as she was undone 13-21, 20-22 by Japan's Aya Ohori in the opening fixture. The two-time Olympic medallist produced a fine fight back in the second game and was agonizingly close to forcing a decider, but Ohori prevailed for her first win over her more-fancied opponent.

          Next stepped up the doubles duo of Gayatri and Treesa, who got off to a strong start against Matsuyama-Shida. The Indian duo clinched the opening game 21-17, before the Japanese culled their way back into the contest by taking the second game 21-16. It all boiled down to the deciding third game and Gayatri-Treesa had a comfortable 11-7 lead at the interval, but Matsuyama-Shida fought back to trail by just one point at 18-19. The Indian pair held on pocket the win, which was followed by a superb victory for Chaliha.

          The fourth match-up of the encounter saw Sindhu make a rare doubles appearance as she teamed up with Aswhini Ponnappa to take on Miyaura-Sakuramoto. A win here would have taken India into the final. but it turned out to be a challenge too steep as Sindhu-Ponnappa lost 14-11, 11-21. However, the pressure did not get to Anmol as she battled the pressure to scalp a memorable win.

          What's on today?

          • Badminton: The Indian women's team will take on Japan in the semifinal of the Badminton Asia Team Championships.

          • Athletics: India's athletes kick off their season at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships.

          • Football: It's a double-header Saturday as Mohun Bagan Super Giant play host to NorthEast United FC, while East Bengal travel to Hyderabad.

          • Kabaddi: The Panchkula leg of PKL S10 continues with Haryana Steelers hosting U Mumba, while UP Yoddhas face Gujarat Giants.

          • Volleyball: PVL season 3 continues in Chennai today

          • Tennis: The Bengaluru Challenger continues.

          What happened yesterday?

          • Badminton: The Indian women's team beat Hong Kong to reach the semis and assure themselves of a maiden medal, while the men's team lost to Japan in the quarterfinal of the Badminton Asia Team Championships.

          • Hockey: A last-ditch goal from Gurjant saw India sneak past Ireland to a 1-0 win.

          • Football: Chennaiyin FC handed Kerala Blasters a 1-0 loss in the ISL's "Southern Derby".

          • Kabaddi: Haryana Steelers clinched the final playoffs spot by beating Patna Pirates, while Jaipur Pink Panthers edged past Telugu Titans in a raid fest.

          • Tennis: Sumit Nagal beat Adam Walton 7-5, 6-2 to move into the semifinal of the Bengaluru Open.

          • Volleyball: Mumbai beat Delhi in thriller and Calicut beat Kochi in Kerala derby of the Prime Volleyball League S3.

          • Gymnastics: Dipa Karmakar and Pranati Nayak qualified for the vault final at the Cairo Gymnastics World Cup.

          You can check all the details of yesterday's news events here