Indian men’s hockey team at the Asian Games (Photo/ Hockey India)

The Indian men’s and women’s hockey teams wore saffron jerseys in their respective opening matches at the Asian Games on Sunday, despite Hockey India’s pre-event announcement that the teams would return to their traditional blue kits.Both teams wore saffron in their opening matches against Indonesia and Uzbekistan respectively in Kakamilgahara, Japan.The decision comes after the Indian teams, both men and women, had also worn saffron during last month’s World Cup in Belgium and the Netherlands, which led to a controversy within Hockey India.Indian hockey teams have largely worn blue jerseys since the country’s Olympic debut in 1928, apart from a few isolated occasions.Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey had earlier said that the change in jersey colour was made without the knowledge or approval of the federation’s elected leadership and Executive Board. The issue later led to a dispute within the federation, with Tirkey at odds with HI secretary Bhola Nath Singh, who was seen as having pushed for the change in kit colour.However, shortly after the World Cup and ahead of the Asian Games, Tirkey had said that India would return to its blue jersey as the primary kit for the continental event, with white as the other option.“The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had given us options regarding the team kit colours and Hockey India selected blue as the first choice for the Indian team’s kit. Orange will be the second choice,” Tirkey had said during the send-off ceremony of the Indian contingent for the Asian Games.The teams, however, wore saffron in their opening matches on Sunday.The secondary kits would also not be completely blue, a Hockey India source was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. According to the PTI-quoted source, India will have a combination of white and blue as well as the saffron kit.“The two colours for the Indian teams’ playing kits for the Asian Games 2026 were always saffron and the combination of white and sky blue, which was approved by the HI president himself.”“As to why the president then said that India will wear all-blue at the Asian Games is something you need to ask the president himself,” the HI source told PTI.The change in jersey colour was initially explained on the grounds that blue jerseys against a blue turf created visibility problems.

India’s shooting campaign at the Asian Games got off to a flying start on Sunday as Sonam Uttam Maskar, Elavenil Valarivan and Vidarsa Vinod combined to win the silver medal in the women’s 10m air rifle team event, giving the country its first medal from the shooting ranges.

The Indian trio produced a strong collective performance to finish second with an aggregate score of 1898.0, behind a dominant Chinese team that shattered the qualification world record with 1904.2 points. China bettered its own previous mark of 1902.0, set at the Asian Championships in Shymkent in August last year, a record that had also stood as the Asian record.

There was little to separate India and hosts Japan in the battle for the remaining medals, but the Indians held their nerves when it mattered. Japan finished third with 1897.1, just 0.9 points adrift of India, after a tense contest for the silver.

The team medals are decided on the basis of the qualification scores of the three shooters, with the aggregate determining the final standings.

Sonam, who finished third in qualification, led India with an impressive 634.1. Olympian Elavenil, competing in her third Asian Games, added 633.5 to finish seventh, while Vidarsa, making her Asian Games debut, shot 630.4 to be placed 12th.

Check Asian Games 2026 September 20 India schedule, medal events, live streaming here  

MMA fighter Suchika Tariyal was the first Indian athlete to assure a medal, reaching the women’s Traditional MMA 60kg semifinals.

Although Vidarsa missed out on the individual final, her contribution proved crucial in India’s silver-medal finish.

“Yes, it’s a great achievement. It’s another thing that I could not qualify for the final, but the team silver has given us a good start,” Vidarsa said after the event.

The 27-year-old from Kerala also showed considerable composure on a major international stage, insisting that the occasion did not overwhelm her.

“I was not nervous. I was confident and just focused on my shooting,” she said.

Vidarsa’s performance was all the more creditable given that she had taken up the 10m air rifle event only two months ago. Her principal discipline is the 50m rifle 3-positions event, but she adapted quickly to the demands of air rifle and delivered a score that helped India stay ahead of Japan in a fiercely contested team battle.

“I am definitely confident that I will do much better in 50m 3-positions as it is my main event,” she said.

The day also brought individual final berths for Sonam and Elavenil, giving India another opportunity to add to its medal tally later on Sunday.

Sonam’s third-place finish in qualification and Elavenil’s seventh-place showing put both Indians inside the eight-shooter final, raising hopes of another medal from the event.

China, meanwhile, underlined its strength in the discipline. Teenager Wang Zifei, a junior world champion, topped qualification with a stunning 638.8, setting a new qualification Asian record in the process. Han Jiyan also made the final after scoring 633.8 to finish fifth.

China had three shooters inside the qualification positions for the final, but with only two athletes from each country allowed to compete in the individual medal round, its third shooter missed out.

For India, the opening-day silver provides an encouraging start to the shooting campaign carrying significant expectations. The Indian shooters had produced a record haul of 22 medals — seven gold, nine silver and six bronze — at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, and the team will be looking to build on that performance in Aichi-Nagoya.

CLEMSON, S.C. — Bill Belichick called it earlier in the week before UNC football made its way down to Death Valley for the ACC opener against Clemson.

“The big thing with Clemson is going to be tackling,” Belichick said during his preview of the Tigers, adding that “tackling will be really important for us.”

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It proved prophetic Saturday, Sept. 20.

Missed tackles in a flat second-half showing contributed to the Tar Heels’ 28-20 loss against the Tigers, who rallied from an early two-touchdown deficit to prevent UNC from celebrating at Memorial Stadium for the first time since 2001.

UNC OFFENSE ISSUE: UNC football left Clemson with loss and major question mark

REPORT CARD: UNC football report card vs Clemson: Grading Tar Heels loss in Death Valley

PLAYER INTERVIEWS: Benjamin Hall, Derek McDonald discuss UNC football loss to Clemson

“Obviously, disappointing end. Proud of the way our players competed and Clemson’s a good football team. In the end, they made a few more plays than we did,” Belichick said.

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“In the last eight minutes of the game, we missed a couple opportunities on offense, missed tackles on defense. … Disappointing end. Just gotta keep working and getting better, which we are. Really not too much to say.”

The Tar Heels (2-1, 0-1 ACC) controlled the game in a first half that included a butt fumble and boos from Clemson fans, but the Tigers (2-1, 1-0) got going just before halftime with an 88-yard drive that sparked the shift.

The energy was even more noticeable after a 2 ½-hour weather delay.

“I don’t think we had enough energy. … We just came out kind of flat,” McDonald said of the restart.

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Clemson racked up 284 yards and three TDs in the second half, including two scores in the final 4 ½ minutes to complete the rally.

“We just didn’t play with great fundamentals the rest of the game,” McDonald said. “We just need to finish tackles.”

Six of Clemson’s seven explosive plays — defined as runs of at least 10 yards or passes of a least 20 yards — came in the second half, including two during the decisive final minutes following the delay.

UNC allowed 115 yards after the catch and missed a season-high 15 tackles. Five players were charged with multiple missed tackles. According to Pro Football Focus, the Tar Heels received a tackling grade of 50.4, its lowest mark of the season and its worst since producing a 32.2 grade in last year’s lopsided loss to Clemson in Chapel hill.

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McDonald pointed to a “lack of fundamentals” and “just us not finishing it” at crucial points in Death Valley.

“We have good play calls, we have good players,” he said. “We just have to execute.”

The performance marked a sharp contrast from the Tar Heels’ first two games, during which they allowed 13 points and held opponents scoreless for a stretch that reached nine consecutive quarters before the collapse at Clemson.

Now, it’s back to the drawing board for a defense that wasn’t at its best against a vulnerable offense led by a freshman quarterback.

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“Obviously, we’re disappointed,” McDonald said. “Losing is the worst thing, but we have a lot to look at and we have a lot to get better at. Get better this week and get ready for Notre Dame.”

Rodd Baxley covers North Carolina Tar Heels athletics for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding UNC? Send them to rbaxley@usatodayco.com.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Bill Belichick called it, but UNC football couldn’t do it in loss at Clemson

The 2026 MLB playoff field will be set in exactly a week, and five teams have now punched their tickets to the postseason. The Brewers, Rays, Yankees, Dodgers and Braves have secured five of the 12 playoff spots, and the Red Sox are set to be the next team to join them.

In the National League, the Brewers and Dodgers have both clinched division titles, and Milwaukee has the inside track to securing the NL’s No. 1 seed. The Braves are closing in on the NL East title, while the Cubs, Phillies and Padres are in strong position to earn wild-card spots as the Diamondbacks fade in the standings. That race heads into Sunday with the Cubs and Padres, the league’s hottest team, tied for the top spot and leading the Phillies by a single game. The Cubs, thanks to a strong record against the Phillies and Padres this year, own the tiebreaker and are currently hanging onto the No. 4 seed, which comes with home-field advantage in the first round. The Padres, meanwhile, have been on an impressive run since Labor Day Weekend.

The division races are more intriguing in the American League. The Guardians have pulled ahead of the White Sox in the AL Central, at least for the moment. The Rangers enter Sunday with a narrow lead over the Astros in the AL West, while the Mariners appear to have run out of steam. The Rays, meanwhile, have opened a five-game lead on the Yankees in the AL East and appear headed to their first division crown since 2021, while the Yankees — who placed Aaron Judge on the injured list again this weekend — and Red Sox appear headed to a meeting in the Wild Card Series.

Now, let’s get you caught up on the bracket, standings, clinching scenarios and more. All division and postseason projections referenced in the standings come from SportsLine.

2026 MLB playoff picture, bracket

If the season ended today…

American League
Byes: No. 1 Rays, No. 2 Guardians
Wild Card Series: No. 3 Rangers vs. No. 6 White Sox, No. 4 Yankees vs. No. 5 Red Sox

National League
Byes: No. 1 Brewers, No. 2 Dodgers
Wild Card Series: No. 3 Braves vs. No. 6 Phillies, No. 4 Cubs vs. No. 5 Padres

Who’s clinched?

• The Brewers have clinched the NL Central.
• The Dodgers have clinched the NL West.
• The Rays and Yankees have clinched AL playoff spots.
• The Braves have clinched an NL playoff spot.

Sunday’s clinching scenarios

• Red Sox can clinch a postseason berth with a win OR an Astros loss.
• Cubs can clinch a postseason berth with a win AND a Diamondbacks loss.
• Braves can clinch the NL East with a win OR a Phillies loss.
• Brewers can clinch a bye in the Wild Card Series and home-field advantage in the NLDS today with a win AND a Braves loss.

American League standings

National League standings

Clinched division – x
Clinched wild-card – y
Clinched playoff berth – z
Eliminated – e

MLB wild-card standings

2026 World Series odds

Via Caesars as of Sept. 17

• Dodgers: +200
• Brewers: +550
• Yankees: +750
• Rays: +800
• Braves: +1300
• Cubs: +1400
• Guardians: +1500
• Red Sox: +1600
• Phillies: +1600
• White Sox: +2500
• Padres: +2500
• Rangers: +2800
• Astros: +3000
• Blue Jays: +7000
• Diamondbacks: +20000
• Orioles: +25000
• Tigers: +40000

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan spoke on all-rounder Naman Dhir’s surprise inclusion in the squad for West Indies ODIs, saying that he admires the Punjab batter’s talent and a player like him, who offers flexibility in terms of batting position and useful off-spin, has been missing from the Indian set-up. Irfan was speaking on JioHotstar’s ‘Follow the Blues’ programme. Team India will be taking on West Indies in a three-match ODI series from September 27 onwards. One surprising name in the squad was Naman, who had an incredible Sher-e-Punjab T20 with Amritsar Soormas recently. For the title-winning side Amritsar Soormas, Naman made 655 runs in 10 innings at an average of 72.28, including two centuries and three fifties, with a strike rate of 217.61 and a best score of 173.

Speaking during the programme, Pathan said, “I really admire Naman Dhir, I think he is a great talent. More than his performances in domestic cricket, he has been selected for his ability to bowl. A batter who can bat lower down the order, can bat in the top order as well, and can bowl handy off-spin, I think a player of that type has been missing a little bit in the ODI setup. Washington Sundar is not available because of the Asian Games, and Riyan Parag has had injury concerns, so if Naman gets his opportunity, I will be excited to see him. He has the skill, but more than his batting, his bowling will be tested.”

In List-A cricket, Naman has played 14 matches, scoring 351 runs in 11 innings at an average of 39.00 and a strike rate of over 106, with four fifties and a best score of 97. He has also taken seven wickets at an average of 37.14.

He has also been a crucial cog of the Mumbai Indians (MI) batting line-up, scoring 318 in 14 innings at an average of 26.50, with a strike rate of 147.22, including two fifties and a best score of 57 during this year’s season, which has been Naman’s best with the bat.

India’s ODI team for the West Indies series: Shubman Gill [C], Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul [VC], Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Mohammed Siraj, Auqib Nabi, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Naman Dhir.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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India Ends CWG Boxing Campaign With Record-Breaking Seven Gold Medals

Elavenil Valarivan turned the opening day of the Asian Games 2026 into a two-medal outing, adding an individual silver in the women’s 10m air rifle to the team silver she had won only hours earlier in Aichi-Nagoya on Sunday.

The Indian finished the individual final with 252.4 points, just 0.6 behind Japan’s Hinata Taichi, who claimed gold with an Asian Games record of 253.0. South Korea’s Hyojin Ban completed the podium with 230.4.

It was Elavenil’s second trip to the podium on a memorable morning. Earlier, she had combined with Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod to take silver in the women’s 10m air rifle team event.

The two results mean India have won two shooting medals so far at Aichi-Nagoya, both silver, while Elavenil herself has already emerged as one of the country’s standout performers on Day 1.

Elavenil overturns qualification position in final

Elavenil had entered the eight-shooter final after finishing seventh in qualification with 633.5, while Sonam secured third place in qualification with 634.1.

But the final brought out a different Elavenil.

She immediately moved to the top after the opening five-shot series, scoring 53.1, and strengthened her position with another strong sequence to lead the field with 106.0 after 10 shots.

Gold decided by final two shots

Little separated Elavenil and Taichi heading into the closing stages.

The Indian was only 0.3 points behind when the final two shots began. Elavenil registered 10.4 on the penultimate attempt, but Taichi responded with 10.6, stretching her advantage to half a point.

That left Elavenil needing one final surge.

She finished with a 10.1, keeping the pressure on the Japanese shooter. Taichi, however, held her nerve and delivered a 10.2 to secure gold by just 0.6 points.

For Elavenil, silver capped a final in which she had transformed a seventh-place qualification into a sustained challenge for the title.

Team silver starts India’s shooting campaign

Earlier in the morning, Elavenil, Sonam and Vidarsa combined for 1898.0 points to finish second in the women’s 10m air rifle team competition.

China won gold with 1904.2, while hosts Japan were pushed into bronze with 1897.1, only 0.9 points behind India.

The result opened India’s medal account at the Games and was quickly followed by Elavenil’s individual silver.

India had arrived in Aichi-Nagoya with considerable expectations from shooting after winning a record 22 medals — seven gold, nine silver and six bronze — at the Hangzhou Asian Games.

Elavenil has another medal opportunity ahead

Elavenil’s Asian Games campaign is not over yet.

She is also scheduled to compete with Parth Mane in the 10m air rifle mixed-team event on September 22, giving the Indian shooter another opportunity to add to her two medals from the opening day.

India also have several prominent shooters still to enter competition, including Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh, Suruchi Singh, Rudrankksh Patil, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Anant Jeet Singh Naruka across pistol, rifle and shotgun events.

Suchika Tariyal assures India of MMA medal

Away from the shooting range, India received another medal boost through Suchika Tariyal, who reached the semi-finals of the women’s traditional 60kg mixed martial arts event.

Tariyal defeated Mongolia’s Altanchimeg Baigalmaa in the quarter-final to assure herself of a medal, although its colour will depend on her progress through the remaining rounds.

With two shooting silvers already secured and an MMA medal guaranteed, India’s Day 1 campaign has begun to gather momentum.

The BCCI selectors recently confirmed India’s squad for the three-match ODI series against the West Indies. The Men in Blue are set to play three one-dayers against the Caribbean team from September 27 to October 3. The matches will be played in Thiruvananthapuram, Guwahati and Mullanpur.

India’s ODI squad for the series against the West Indies will be led by Shubman Gill. With Shreyas Iyer leading the Asian Games side, KL Rahul has been picked as vice-captain. Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are part of the one-day team, while Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav have been handed comebacks. Also, Auqib Nabi and Naman Dhir have received maiden ODI call-ups.

Four players (excluding Nabi and Dhir) in India‘s squad for the three-match series against the West Indies are yet to play a one-day international against the Caribbean side. Take a look.

#1 Yashasvi Jaiswal

Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal makes a comeback to the ODI squad for the three-match series against the West Indies. The left-handed batter has only featured in six one-day matches so far in which he has scored 285 runs at an average of 71.25 and a strike rate of 97.60, with two centuries.

Of his six ODIs, three have come against South Africa, two against Afghanistan and one against England. He has registered one century each against the Proteas and against Afghanistan. Jaiswal has played Tests and T20Is against the West Indies. It remains to be seen whether he plays his first ODI against them soon.

#2 Nitish Kumar Reddy

All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy is also yet to play an ODI match against the West Indies. He has featured in six one-dayers so far and has scored 100 runs at an average of 33.33 and a strike rate of 101.01, with one half-century. With the ball, he has picked up two wickets at an average of 89.50 and an economy rate of 7.11.

Reddy has played two ODIs against New Zealand, two against Australia and two against Afghanistan. While he is yet to play a one-dayer against the West Indies, the Andhra Pradesh cricketer has played two Test matches against them.

#3 Dhruv Jurel

With Ishan Kishan part of the Asian Games 2026 squad, Team India has picked Dhruv Jurel as the backup wicketkeeper ahead of Rishabh Pant for the ODIs against the West Indies. Jurel had a memorable Test tour of Sri Lanka during which he scored a century and a half-century.

Jurel is yet to play a one-day match. He has so far featured in 12 Test matches. In 19 innings, the right-handed batter has scored 651 runs at an average of 40.68, with two hundreds and two half-centuries. In two Tests against the West Indies, Jurel has scored 175 runs at an average of 87.50, with a best of 125. The keeper-batter has also featured in four T20Is in which he has scored 12 runs.

#4 Gurnoor Brar

Young pacer Gurnoor Brar is also yet to play a one-day match against the West Indies. The 26-year-old fast bowler from Punjab has featured in six ODI matches so far in which he has claimed 11 wickets at an average of 32.81 and an economy rate of 6.96.

Of his six one-day matches in a short career so far, Brar has played three matches against Afghanistan in which he has picked up seven wickets at an average of 19.42 and an economy 5.95. He registered impressive figures of 3-27 from 4.5 overs on debut in Dharamsala in June this year.

Brar also featured in three one-dayers against England during the away series in July. He picked up four wickets at an average of 56.25 and an economy rate of 7.75. The right-arm pacer claimed 2-61 from nine overs in Birmingham and 2-67 from 10 overs in Cardiff. In the third match of the series at Lord’s, he went for 97 runs in 10 overs, without picking up a wicket.