Sports News, May 16 Highlights: Mitchell Starc Steps Back From IPL; Srihari LR Becomes India바카라�s Newest Grandmaster

 Greetings and a warm welcome to everyone joining us today. We will bring to you live updates from the world of sports in this comprehensive one-stop shop, so stay with us.

Barcelona secured their 28th LaLiga title with a 2-0 victory over Catalan rivals Espanyol, wrapping things up with two matchdays to spare. They have 85 points in 36 matches. The second-placed Real Madrid have 78 points and only two fixtures are left. Espanyol have 39 points in 36 matches.

With a 3-1 win over Al-Raed, Al-Ittihad have managed to clinch the title of the Saudi Pro League 2024-25. They have 77 points after 32 matches and still have two matches left in the league. No other team can surpass them, so they were declared winners on Friday. The second-placed Al-Hilal have 68 points in 31 matches. Even if they win all remaining three matches, they will be placed at the second place.

India바카라�s chess journey continues its upward trajectory as 19-year-old Srihari LR from Chennai secured his third and final Grandmaster norm at the Asian Individual Men바카라�s Chess Championship in Al-Ain, UAE, becoming the country바카라�s latest GM.

Facing fellow Indian GM Iniyan Paneerselvam in the decisive round, Srihari ensured his place in India바카라�s illustrious chess lineage just over a year after Shyaamnikhil P became the nation바카라�s 85th Grandmaster in May 2024.

Trained under Grandmaster Shyamsundar at the Chess Thulir academy 바카라� which also produced the reigning World Junior Champion Pranav V 바카라� Srihari바카라�s rise reflects the deepening talent pool in Indian chess.

Though the 368-day wait since the last GM might appear lengthy, it바카라�s worth noting that India produced just 35 GMs between Viswanathan Anand바카라�s milestone in 1988 and 2013.

In stark contrast, the post-Anand era 바카라� from 2013 to Gukesh바카라�s coronation as World Champion in 2024 바카라� has witnessed 50 Indians attaining the title, with Srihari becoming the latest symbol of this new golden generation.

Star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will have the company of three other compatriots in the Doha leg of the prestigious Diamond League Meeting on May 16 as the country will have maximum representation ever in a DL event.

The other two Indians in the fray are national record holder Gulveer Singh, who is making his Diamond League debut, in men's 5000m and Parul Chaudhary in the women's 3000m steeplechase.

Chaudhary is the national record holder in the women's 3000m steeplechase.

Despite being sick, Jamal Murray dropped 25 points to lead the Denver Nuggets to a 119-107 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, forcing a Game 7! Nikola Jokic added 29 points, and Christian Braun had a playoff career-high 23. Julian Strawther also stepped up big in the second half with 15 points. The series now heads back to OKC for a winner-takes-all clash on Sunday!

The Pakistan Super League returns on Saturday after a week-long suspension due to military tensions between India and Pakistan. With a ceasefire now in place, foreign players like Sikandar Raza, Alex Hales, and David Warner are rejoining their teams for the final eight matches. Rawalpindi will host the last league games from May 17-19, while the playoffs, including the final, will be held in Lahore from May 21-25.

ATHLETICS: Diamond League in Doha.

CHESS: Superbet Classic in Bucharest, Romania. D Gukesh and R Praggnanandhaa are competing here.

All India Chess Masters in Mumbai.

FOOTBALL: SAFF U19 Championship 2025 semifinal between India and Maldives in Yupia, Arunachal Pradesh.

GOLF: Indians competing across the world.

Chennai Super Kings: Ayush Mhatre, Urvil Patel, Dewald Brevis, MS Dhoni (C), Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Matheesha Pathirana, Noor Ahmad, Ravichandran Ashwin, Devon Conway, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Sam Curran, Shaik Rashid, Anshul Kamboj, Mukesh Choudhary, Deepak Hooda, Nathan Ellis, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishnan Ghosh, Shreyas Gopal, Andre Siddarth

Delhi Capitals: KL Rahul, Mustafizur Rahman, Sediqullah Atal, Karun Nair, Abhishek Porel, Tristian Stubbs, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natrajan, Mitchell Starc, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Faf du Plessis, Mukesh Kumar, Darshan Nalkande, Vipraj Nigam, Dushmanta Chameera, Donovan Ferreira, Ajay Mandal, Manvanth Kumar, Tripurana Vijay, Madhav Tiwari

Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), Kusal Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, B. Sai Sudharshan, Shahrukh Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Nishant Sindhu, Mahipal Lomror, Kumar Kushagra, Anuj Rawat, Manav Suthar, Washington Sundar, Gerald Coetzee, Mohmmad Arshad Khan, Gurnoor Singh Brar, Sherfane Rutherford, R. Sai Kishore, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Karim Janat, Kulwant Khejroliya

Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Anrich Nortje, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Spencer Johnson, Luvnith Sisodia, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, Chetan Sakariya.

Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Verma, Trent Boult, Naman Dhir, Robin Minz, Karn Sharma, Ryan Rickelton, Deepak Chahar, Will Jacks, Ashwani Kumar, Mitchell Santner, Reece Topley, Shrijith Krishnan, Raj Angad Bawa, Venkat Satyanarayana Raju, Bevon Jacobs, Arjun Tendulkar, Raghu Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, Corbin Bosch.

Lucknow Super Giants: Rishabh Pant (c), David Miller, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Mitchell Marsh, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bisnoi, Abdul Samad, Aryan Juyal, Akash Deep, Himmat Singh, M Siddharth, Digvesh Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ayush Badoni, Akash Singh, Shamar Joseph, Prince Yadav, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Arshin Kulkarni, Matthew Breetzke, William o'rourke, Shardul Thakur

Punjab Kings: Shreyas Iyer (c), Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Shashank Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, Harpreet Brar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Thakur, Marco Jansen, Josh Inglis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harnoor Pannu, Kuldeep Sen, Priyansh Arya, Aaron Hardie, Musheer Khan, Suryansh Shedge, Xavier Bartlett, Pyla Avinash, Pravin Dubey, Nehal Wadhera, Mitchell Owen, Kyle Jamieson

Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Jofra Archer, Wainindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Shubham Dubey, Yudhvir Charak, Fazal Farooqi, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Kwena Maphaka, Kunal Rathore, Ashok Sharma, Nandre Burger, Lhuan-dre Pretorius

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Rajat Patidar (c), Virat Kohli, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Liam Livingstone, Rasikh Dar, Suyash Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethel, Mayank Agarwal, Swastik Chhikara, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh, Mohit Rathee

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins (c), Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klassen, Nitish Reddy, Ishan Kishan, Mohammad Shami, Harshal Patel, Rahul Chahar, Harsh Dubey, Atharva Taide, Abhinav Manohar, Simarjeet Singh, Zeeshan Ansari, Jaydev Unadkat, Kamindu Mendis, Aniket Verma, Eshan Malinga, Sachin Baby, Wiaan Mulder

Mitchell Starc has informed Delhi Capitals he won바카라�t return for the remainder of IPL 2025, following last week's air raid scare in Dharamsala. Starc, who leads DC바카라�s wicket tally with 14 scalps in 11 games, becomes a major absentee as the league resumes on May 17 after a temporary halt due to India-Pakistan tensions. His decision follows wife Alyssa Healy바카라�s revelation of the 바카라�madness바카라� during the suspended PBKS vs DC game. While Tristan Stubbs will rejoin DC for the league phase, uncertainty looms over Faf du Plessis and Mustafizur Rahman바카라�s availability.

All eyes will be on Virat Kohli as Royal Challengers Bengaluru resume their IPL 2025 campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday. The high-stakes clash comes after a 10-day pause due to India-Pakistan tensions. RCB, currently second with 16 points, aim to seal a playoff spot, while sixth-placed KKR face a must-win situation. Rajat Patidar is back in the nets for RCB, while Moeen Ali is ruled out for KKR due to illness.

Will Jacks of Australia has returned to India to rejoin the Mumbai Indians squad for the remainder of the Indian Premier League season following a 10-day suspension. He shared his flight ticket photo via his Instagram story.

The Bangladesh and Nepal national football teams will be in action soon for the SAFF Under-19 Championship match. Follow the live scores and updates HERE.

Loh Kean Yew vs Past Gemke!

Singapore바카라�s Loh Kean Yew comes from behind to defeat Denmark바카라�s Rasmus Gemke 15-21, 21-12, 21-11 in the Thailand Open men's singles quarter-finals! Despite losing the first game, the 11th-ranked Loh bounced back to book a spot in the semis, keeping his title hopes alive.

Vitidsarn vs Nishimoto

World No. 2 Kunlavut Vitidsarn was in complete control as he breezed past Japan바카라�s Kenta Nishimoto 21-16, 21-18 to reach the Thailand Open semi-finals at the Nimibutr Arena in Bangkok.

Antonsen Dismantles Vs Jeon Hyeok

World No. 3 Anders Antonsen made short work of South Korea바카라�s Jeon Hyeok Jin in their Thailand Open quarter-final clash. The Dane barely broke a sweat, dominating 21-8, 21-18 to secure a spot in the semis.