Le Journal

Hyderabad: Woxsen Sports Academy and the Telangana Basketball Association (TBA) have formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a comprehensive partnership framework for the 2025 season, covering governance, branding, commercial operations, and technical oversight. As part of this collaboration, the Telangana College Basketball League (TCBL) — the State’s first official collegiate basketball league, officially hosted by Woxsen University— was also announced, marking a significant step forward for collegiate basketball in Telangana. The League will feature Men’s and Women’s 5×5 divisions, with Woxsen University as the official host, where the marquee matches will be held, while select rounds will take place at partner colleges across Telangana. The league is expected to engage over 20 colleges per division, with potential expansion to 32 teams, culminating in a Grand Finale at Woxsen University, Hyderabad. The signing and launch event was graced by Dr. Raul Villamarin Rodriguez, Vice President, Woxsen University, Vishal K, Head of Sports, Woxsen University, R. Sridhar Reddy, President, TBA, and A Prudhvishwar Reddy, TBA General Secretary. “It’s a proud moment for the Telangana Basketball Association to partner with Woxen University to promote and strengthen basketball across the state. This collaboration will provide young athletes access to world-class training facilities, expert coaching, and the right environment to grow,” Sridhar Reddy said. Dr. Raul V. Rodriguez, Vice President, Woxsen University, said, “Having played professional basketball in Spain before moving to India 15 years ago, I saw great potential but limited structure. Our goal now is simple — to make basketball one of India’s top sports.” “Woxsen Sports Academy will oversee commercial and branding aspects, including sponsorships and broadcast, while TBA will manage technical regulations, eligibility, and officiating,” Dr. Raul said. A. Prudhvishwar Reddy, said the initiative was truly special—what began with the Telangana Coaching Camp has now evolved into the Telangana College League. “This league will nurture college players, offering them the platform to pursue basketball professionally,” he said.

Hyderabad: Ashi Chouksey and Anjum Moudgil missed out on a place in the finals of the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) after finishing 15th and 17th in qualification, as Norway’s Jeanette Hegg Duestad became the world champion at the Olympic Shooting Range in Cairo, Egypt. Switzerland’s 17-year-old Emely Jaeggi won the silver, and Seonaid Mcintosh of Great Britain won the bronze. India maintained their second position behind China in the medal tally with three gold, five silver and three bronze medals, while China has eight golds and a total of 15 medals to remain on top of the medal table. Ashi was the best Indian shooter in qualification with a final score of 588-26x, just one point less than the eighth-placed qualifier in Misaki Nobata of Japan. Anjum shot 587-23x to finish in 17th place. The third Indian in fray, Olympian Sift Kaur Samra, finished in 48th place with a score of 580-28x. Duestad, who has been in brilliant form this season, secured her second individual world championship gold medal with a score of 465.8 in the finals. Emely Jaeggi finished with a score of 465.3, equalling the junior world record to secure silver, while her sister Vivien Joy Jaeggi finished just outside the medal positions in fourth. Mcintosh, who is returning to international competition after a year, shot 454.6 to win the bronze. Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh and Rahi Sarnobat will be in action on Thursday as the precision stage of the 25m Sports Pistol will get underway.

Hyderabad: GM Arjun Erigaisi and GM R Praggnanandhaa played out solid draws, while P Harikrishna saved the day after finding himself in a difficult position to head into a tiebreak in the fourth round of the FIDE World Cup in Panaji on Wednesday. Arjun accepted a draw after 36 moves against the experienced GM Peter Leko of Hungary with white pieces, Praggnanandhaa split the point after 30 moves against GM Daniil Dubov, while Harikrishna also drew after 38 moves. GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara, who won with black pieces on Tuesday, became the first player to advance to the round of 16 after he went for a threefold repetition and took a draw against GM Alexey Sarana in 20 moves. He will now face the winner of the match between GM P Harikrishna and GM Nils Grandelius of Sweden. Also advancing to the next round was two-time champion GM Levon Aronian after he drew the second game in 35 moves with black against GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek. Among the five Indians in fray in the fourth round, all eyes were on Arjun and Praggnanandhaa on the top boards. Arjun opted for the Nimzo Indian opening with white against Leko and looked like he was prepared quite well as he gained time on the clock after 16 moves. But the Hungarian defended resolutely, and the highest-ranked Indian opted to trade queens on the 20th move after thinking for 26 moves. He tried to push ahead thereafter, but could not find a breakthrough. “I am getting more and more in my preparations, and I wasn’t really afraid (of Arjun’s opening line). I knew that this b5 that I played is quite solid and there cannot be any miracle in this position. But over the board, when Arjun is blitzing all his moves, I know that there is always some pressure. But it was more or less equal all the time,” said Leko after the match. Praggnanandhaa was also satisfied with a draw in 30 moves with black against GM Daniil Dubov. The Indian will now start with black pieces against the former World Rapid Champion in the first game. In the match between Harikrishna and Grandelius, the Indian looked under pressure despite playing white. But he kept it cool and forced a draw in a bishop-pawn endgame. Meanwhile, world junior champion Pranav V, playing black, was knocked out of the tournament after he lost the second game against GM Nodirbek Yakubboev of Uzbekistan in 38 moves.

The car blast near Red Fort in New Delhi, which left 13 people dead and several injured, came as a grim reminder that the terror ecosystem never truly disappears but mutates into new forms to maintain the surprise element. A prolonged lull in terror strikes in the country may have made the authorities complacent. Still, this deadly explosion has shattered the relative calm — the last bombing incident in the national capital took place outside the Delhi court in September 2011. The blast, believed to be part of a transnational terror module allegedly linked to the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), signals that the terrorist footprint is now expanding beyond Kashmir and making inroads in other cities on the back of what is being called a “white-collar” terror network. In recent years, terrorist attacks were confined to Jammu & Kashmir — at Pathankot, Pulwama, and Pahalgam — while the rest of India was considered safe. What is more disturbing about the latest operation is the involvement of professional doctors in planning and coordinating terror attacks. It is no longer valid to say that terrorists come from economically deprived backgrounds or have little education. The blast came just hours after Jammu & Kashmir Police recovered over 350 kg of suspected ammonium nitrate from the Faridabad residence of a doctor as part of an operation that unearthed nearly 3,000 kg of explosives. The seizure and the nature of the blast point to evidence that security agencies may have foiled a much larger plot to stage a bigger attack. Several questions remain unanswered now. Only a thorough, time-bound probe can help plug the security gaps and also enforce accountability. In such a crucial case with national security implications, there is a need for seamless coordination between the police wings of Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir, the Intelligence Bureau, and the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The alleged Red Fort car bomber, Umar Mohammed, was a medical doctor from Pulwama working at Al-Falah University in Faridabad. In the days leading up to the Delhi blast, three other doctors were arrested for allegedly possessing significant quantities of explosives and weapons. These included Dr Adeel Majeed Rather from Qazigund, reportedly a close aide of Umar’s — both had worked at the Government Medical College, Anantnag. Adeel was arrested for putting up posters supporting Jaish-e-Mohammad in Srinagar. From Al-Falah University itself, Dr Muzammil Ahmad Ganai, also from Pulwama, was arrested after 2,900 kg of ammonium nitrate was recovered from his rented accommodation. Dr Shaheen Shahid from Lucknow was detained after assault rifles and ammunition were found in her car. The unearthing of the terror plot comes when the wounds of the Pahalgam terror attack are still fresh. Terrorism and its ever-shifting footprint remain a persistent challenge to India’s growth story. Incidents like these threaten the safety and confidence that are essential for a nation to realise its ambitious goals.