Sports News Highlights, March 17: Lionel Messi Shines In Inter Miami Win; Oklahoma City Thunder Beat Milwaukee Bucks In NBA

Good Morning to everyone. Follow us to get updated with all that is happening in the world of sports today!

Atletico Madrid squander a two-goal lead in a 2-4 home loss to Barcelona in the La Liga, in another setback for the team after they were eliminated by Real Madrid in the Champions League. Playing at the Metropolitano stadium four days after losing to Madrid in a penalty shootout, Atletico led Barcelona 2-0 at half-time but conceded a couple of stoppage-time goals to waste a chance to overtake the Catalan club for second place and move within a point of Madrid.

Britain's 23-year-old Jack Draper overpowers Holger Rune 6-2, 6-2 in a little more than an hour in the final of the Indian Wells Open, claiming his first ATP Masters 1000 title and earning his debut in the top 10 of the ATP rankings in the process. Draper was seeded 13th at the hard-court tournament in the California desert, but triumphed to complete the biggest win of his career so far.

In a crucial league clash earlier today, Inter Milan have blanked title rivals Atalanta 2-0 to take a significant step towards retaining their Serie A crown. Carlos Augusto and Lautaro Martinez scored in the second half to lift the Italian league leaders three points above second-placed Napoli and six points above third-placed Atalanta. Napoli had earlier been held 0-0 at relegation-threatened Venezia. The fight for the final Champions League spot is also tight, with just six points separating six teams in the race for fourth place after more misery for Juventus, who lost 3-0 at Fiorentina.

A Ligue 1 match between bottom-side Montpellier and fellow strugglers Saint-Etienne has been abandoned with a fire breaking out in a stand after flares were thrown by home fans. Montpellier were trailing 2-0 after Lucas Stassin scored twice for the visitors when the match was stopped by referee Francois Letexier in the 63rd minute. Television footage showed black smoke coming from the fire.

Local media reported that a person lying on the ground behind the goal line was evacuated. Players from both teams were sent back to the locker rooms as some Montpellier fans trashed seats in the stands. The fire was extinguished but the game did not start again for security reasons, with Montpellier now potentially facing a heavy penalty.

In the Major Soccer League, Lionel Messi scores early and Fafa Picault nets the winner after subbing in late to rally Inter Miami to a 2-1 victory over Atlanta United at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Picault's first goal this season comes in his second appearance with an assist from defender Jordi Alba — his second — in the 89th minute. Messi earlier scored the equaliser in the 20th minute. It was his first goal in two starts this season.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tallies 31 points and eight assists as the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Milwaukee Bucks 121-105. Isaiah Hartenstein adds a career-high 24 points plus 12 rebounds to help the Thunder win for the 10th time in 11 games. Isaiah Joe scores 19 points off the bench. On the other end, Milwaukee라이브 바카라 Giannis Antetokounmpo ends up with 21 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for his 52nd career triple-double. Damian Lillard adds 19 points for the Bucks despite shooting just 3 of 9 from the floor.

Paolo Banchero tops off a 24-point performance with a go-ahead jumper in the final minute as the Orlando Magic snap the Cleveland Cavaliers' franchise-record 16-game winning streak with a 108-103 victory in the NBA. The Magic overcome a 13-point half-time deficit to hand the league-leading Cavaliers their first defeat since February 4. Franz Wagner helps spark the comeback by scoring 17 of his 22 points in the second half.

Tata Play has tied up with FanCode to launch a new platform service called Tata Play FanCode Sports. The partnership will cover a wide range of sports entertainment content, planning to air over 100 hours of live sports month-on-month in over eight major sports and across major tournaments including the EFL Cup, Copa Del Rey, Concacaf Champions Cup, Australia Tour of West Indies, South Africa Tour of Zimbabwe and a number of domestic and international T20 leagues. It will will also feature Formula 1 content.

Becoming the first American man to take the title in 31 years, Matt Richtman has won the 40th annual Los Angeles Marathon. He has set a personal-best time of 2 hours, 7 minutes, 56 seconds in the process. Athanas Kioko of Kenya stands second in 2:10.55, and Moses Kurgat of Kenya is third in 2:13.13. It was only Richtman's second marathon, after his debut last fall at the Twin Cities Marathon with a time of 2:10.47 to finish fourth.

The Indian beach soccer national team has arrived in Pattaya, Thailand, marking a long-awaited return to the AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup after 18 years. Drawn into Group A, India will face a tough challenge, beginning their campaign against hosts Thailand on Thursday, March 20, before locking horns with Kuwait on March 22 and Lebanon on March 24.

Head coach Mohd Faizal Bin So'od exuded confidence as he assessed the team라이브 바카라 unique position in the tournament. “Having not participated in this competition for nearly two decades, we hold an element of surprise. We’ve analysed our opponents, but they have little to no data on us. That unpredictability could work in our favour,” the Malaysian remarked.

Bahrain have defeated Hong Kong by eight wickets in the final of the Malaysia T20I tri-nation series. The Ahmer Bin Nasir-led side have chased down Hong Kong's 127-run target in 16.4 overs to lift the trophy. Imran Anwar is the Player of the Match for his unbeaten fifty (61 not out off 51) and three-wicket haul (3/19).

The 2024 Paralympics gold medal-winning javelin thrower Navdeep Singh believes the Khelo India Para Games is an important platform for the continued growth of para athletes, and reflects government's keen interest in promoting para sports in the country. The second edition of the Khelo India Para Games (KIPG 2025) is set to kick off on Thursday (March 20). The Arjuna Award-winning athlete spoke about how the tournament is helping in developing the sporting ecosystem for para athletes.

"KIPG 2025 is a great platform for senior athletes to compete against each other. We also motivate each other at all times. It further helps us in testing our training modules and practice our strengths and weaknesses before international competitions. We also get a chance to meet with budding athletes and get to exchange different ideas and thoughts on the competitions," Navdeep told SAI Media.

The Indian men's national hockey team's camp, featuring a 36-member core probable group, has begun at the SAI Centre in Bengaluru today, with chief coach Craig Fulton saying the focus will be on "introspecting" on recent performances. The camp will conclude on March 28.

Core Probable Group:

Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Pawan, Suraj Karkera, Mohith Honnenahalli Shashikumar.

Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Sumit, Sanjay, Jugraj Singh, Amandeep Lakra, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Varun Kumar, Yashdeep Siwach.

Midfielders: Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Nilakanta Sharma, Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, Mohd Raheel Mouseen, Vishnukant Singh, Rajinder Singh, Poovanna CB.

Forwards: Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Gurjant Singh, Angad Bir Singh, Aditya Arjun Lalage, Boby Singh Dhami, Sudeep Chirmako, Selvam Karthi, Shilanand Lakra, Dilpreet Singh, Uttam Singh.

The Indian trio of David Beckham, Esow Alban and Rojit Singh has set a national record in the men's team sprint event at the UCI Track Cycling Nations Cup in Konya, Turkey. The Indian trio has clocked 44.187 seconds in the event, bettering the previous national record of 44.451s, set at last year's Asian Track Cycling Championship.

With that, we conclude our coverage of today's sports news and events. We will be back tomorrow with all that's current in the world of sports. Until then, goodbye.