Episode 35: Om Prakash Mitharwal’s gold, Roger Federer’s shock defeat and more on our daily sports podcast

On today’s edition of Spodcast, the sports update on Firstpost, we discuss Indian shooter Om Prakash Mitharwal’s gold medal at the ISSF World Shooting Championships, Roger Federer’s shock defeat, former India pacer RP Singh’s retirement and more.

Mitharwal won his maiden gold medal at the Championships after finishing first in the 50m pistol event. He scored a total of 564 points to finish two points ahead of silver medallist Damir Mikec of Serbia. The bronze went to Daemyung Lee of South Korea who scored 560 points.

Jitu Rai, who won a silver in the 2014 edition of this tournament, had a disappointing 17th place finish. In the team event, Mitharwal, Rai and Manjit finished in fifth-place with a total score of 1,648. In the women’s event, Manu Bhaker finished 13th with a score of 574 while Heena Sidhu finished 29th with 571 points.

Meanwhile, Manjit Singh, the gold medal winner in the men’s 800m event at the 2018 Asian Games, has requested the sports ministry to include his name in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme to prepare for events like the 2020 Olympics. Manjit, who was employed by ONGC, was left without a job when the organisation did not renew his contract in 2016. He said, “I lost my job in March 2016 as the ONGC refused to renew my contract. They said I was not producing results. I was getting stipends earlier.”

He hopes his performance at the Asian Games will turn things around for him. Manjit also says the Asian Championships and World Championships next year will be crucial for him.

We also discuss the news about Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho accepting a one-year prison sentence as part of a deal to settle a tax evasion case in Spain. Spanish law allows a sentence of under two years for a first offence to be served on probation, so Mourinho might not serve any time in jail.

We also talk about the ongoing US Open which saw women’s defending champion, Sloane Stephens, crashing out of the tournament after losing to Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova 2-6, 3-6 in the quarter-finals.

In the men’s singles competition at the US Open, Juan Martin del Potro made it to his third semi-final at the US Open after beating John Isner 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 6-2 while Roger Federer, a five-time US Open champion, was beaten by 55th-ranked John Millman of Australia. Millman will face Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals.

The other thing we talk about is former pacer RP Singh’s retirement from all forms of cricket. The 32-year-old made his international debut in 2005 and played international cricket for six years. He picked up over 100 wickets in 82 matches across all formats of the game.