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          Indian Sports, November 17: Arsene Wenger's India visit is set, Bopanna makes history again

          Arsene Wenger, FIFA Director of Global Football Development, delivers a speech to mark 50 years of the French training model in Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines on November 14, 2023. Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images
          • ESPN staffNov 16, 2023, 09:30 PM ET

          Here are all the key updates from Friday, November 17.

          Another day, another record for Bopanna

          Rohan Bopanna becomes the oldest player ever to reach the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals. Bopanna and partner Mathew Ebden beat reigning Wimbledon champions Neal Skupski and Wesley Koolhof 6-4, 7-5 (5) to advance to the last four stage. Incidentally, Rohan and Ebden had beaten the same opponents to win the Indian Wells title this year, which made Bopanna, at 43, the oldest ATP Masters champion.

          Here are the highlights of Bopanna's 2023:

          • Won the mixed doubles gold along with Rutuja Bhosale at the Asian Games

          • Partnered Sania Mirza to finish as runners up in the mixed doubles at the Australian Open

          • Runner-up at the US Open in men's doubles

          • Reached the men's doubles semifinals of Wimbledon

          • At 43, became the oldest ATP Masters champion and the oldest player to reach the semis of the ATP World Tour Finals

          Dalima Chibber stays with Kickstart

          Dalima Chibber [yep, the one who scored THAT freekick] has renewed her contract with Kickstart FC. The club plays in the Indian Women's League - the top-tier of Indian women's football - but there's no clarity on when the League is to begin. Kickstart did well last season, finishing third on the points table with 27 points from 11 games, while Gokulam Kerala won each of their 11 matches to retain their title. However, the playing conditions in Ahmedabad last season looked like this: peak summer heat, 4am wake-up, bad food and limited live coverage.

          Dalima, who captained Kickstart in the IWL last season, is also an integral part of the Indian women's football team and forms a core of the defence.

          Arsene Wenger is coming to town

          And by town, we mean Delhi, Bhubaneswar, and Mumbai. In Odisha, he'll inaugurate the FIFA-AIFF academy, as Bhubaneswar continues to add to the city's growing sports infra.

          Currently FIFA Chief of Global Football Development, Wenger will be in India from November 19 to 23. According to FIFA, Wenger will discuss, "implementation of FIFA's talent development initiatives with the AIFF and other football organisations."

          Speaking ahead of his visit, Wenger said all the right things: as you'd expect. Wanting to gain "insight into the current talent pathway for players," exploring implementation of "global systems of best practice in talent identification" and linking education and opportunities. In addition to Wenger visiting, FIFA also said they will deploy full time FIFA talent coach Sergi Amezcua and high-performance specialist Ged Roddy to India.

          The FIFA-AIFF academy is not a novel concept. In 2011, then AIFF president Praful Patel had said that the world body was thinking of building five such academies in India, but nothing materialized - this was supposed to work on the model of regional centres and one elite school. While the regional centre never took off, the AIFF Elite Academy was established in 2013 - and was soon integrated into the now defunct Indian Arrows football team. Elite Academy alumni include Apuia, Rahim Ali and Rahul KP - all regulars with their respective ISL sides and even the national team.

          Of course, a centralized finishing school such as this will work best only if it's the tip of the iceberg, but it will be interesting to note how this iteration of the Academy differs from the previous, and how it can add value to the top level of Indian football.

          How did India beat Kuwait in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier? How big is the win?

          Here's Sunaadh Sagar looking at the factors behind the Indian men's football team's 1-0 win over Kuwait and the importance of it.

          Igor Stimac's men were hugely impressive throughout, as India ended a run of six games without a win in regulation time thanks to a 75th-minute goal from Manvir Singh coupled with a stellar defensive effort.

          Defensive solidity, quality passing: the making of India's FIFA WC qualifier win vs Kuwait

          Update on Aditi Ashok at season-ending LPGA event

          Aditi Ashok had a start of 2-under 70 in the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship on the LPGA. She is tied 32nd after the first round.

          She had 3 birdies in a five-hole run in the middle of the round and is seven shots behind the first round leader, Nasa Hataoka, a six-time LPGA Tour, and Ruoning Yin, a two-time winner in 2023. The two leaders carded 63 each.

          Aditi had a fine run in the first half of the season, before tapering off somewhat.

          Farewell, Des Buckingham

          Mumbai City FC's head coach left the team and the city and there was a lovely, sentimental at the airport as fans seemingly gathered to bid him farewell late at night.

          Des, at 38, was one of the younger coaches but he made his time at Mumbai City very special.

          He is the youngest coach to win the ISL League Shield. He has the ISL's all-time highest win percentage (57.8%) and highest points per league game average (1.96) among coaches with a minimum 20 games. He is the fastest coach to reach 100+ goals in ISL history. Des also led Mumbai City to AFC Champions League history in 2022 when they became the first Indian club to win a game in Asia's premier club football competition

          Here's a look at the touching video from the airport.

          Buckingham is headed back to Oxford United, where he had his first coaching gig.

          Big win for Indian football

          Late last night, the India men's football team notched up a massive result in their quest to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

          India beat Kuwait in Kuwait in the second round clash, thanks to Manvir Singh's second-half winner. Lallianzuala Chhangte proved to be a Super Sub and the goal, a great team effort.

          Miss the match? Here's a play-by-play recap on ESPN India's live blog.

          And here's a recap of how the top Asian nations performed as the second phase of Asia's preliminaries for the 2026 World Cup kicked off on Thursday

          What's in store today?

          Rohan Bopanna, who became the oldest-ever player with a win at the ATP Tour Finals, and his partner Matthew Ebden will take on the Wimbledon champions Neal Skupski and Wesley Koolhof later today.

          What happened yesterday?

          The detailed version of yesterday's events can be accessed here. Here are the cliff notes, however:

          • The Indian men's football team earned an incredible 1-0 win over Kuwait in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

          • Des Buckingham left Indian football club Mumbai City FC as their longest serving head coach.

          • Indian interest at the Japan Masters came to an end as HS Prannoy lost to Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei.

          • Saurav Ghosal and Ramit Tandon lost in the second round of the Vitagen Singapore Squash Open.