Bopanna set to become oldest world No. 1 after reaching maiden Australian Open semi-final
Melbourne (PTI): India's Rohan Bopanna is set to become the oldest tennis player to achieve the World No. 1 ranking in men's doubles after reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open along with his partner Matthew Ebden here on Wednesday.
The 43-year-old, who had entered the tournament with a career-high ranking of world no. 3, and Australian Ebden recorded a comfortable 6-4, 7-6 (5) win over sixth seeded Argentinian duo of M ximo Gonz lez and Andr s Molteni in the quarterfinals that lasted an hour and 46 minutes here.
The second-seeded Indo-Australian pair will cross swords with unseeded Tomas Machac and Zhizhen Zhang in the semi-finals.
Bopanna will be crowned the new numero uno on Monday after the end of the tournament.
Earlier, Rajeev Ram of the USA was the oldest player to be ranked world no. 1 when he had achieve the top ranking in October 2022 at the age of 38 for the first time in his career.
Ebden, on the other hand, is set to reach the world no 2.
Bopanna, who had achieved the highest rank was world No. 3 for the first time in 2013, is the fourth Indian after Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza to take the world number one rank in doubles.
He will take over the top position from USA's Austin Krajicek, who and his Croatian partner Ivan Dodig lost in the second round.
Bopanna won the mixed doubles title at French Open in 2017 alongside Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski. However, a title has eluded him in men's doubles, having finished runner-up twice at the US Open in 2010 with Pakistan's Aisam-ul-Haq Quresh and 2023 with Ebden.
In fact, Bopanna's feat at the US Open last year made him the oldest-ever Grand Slam finalist.
Bopanna is also the oldest player to claim a men's doubles title at a Masters 1000 event. He achieved the feat last year at the age of 43 with Ebden, winning the prestigious Indian Wells tournament.
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KCOCA invoked against two accused in land dispute murder case
Udupi (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Police have invoked provisions of the stringent KCOCA against two people in connection with a series of violent crimes, including murder, arising out of a prolonged land dispute in this district, officials said on Monday.
According to police, section 3 of the KCOCA was invoked after an assessment revealed the accused persons' - gangster Kali Yogish and alleged land shark Yogish Acharya- alleged involvement in multiple serious offences over a sustained period.
Accused Yogish has been arrested and remanded to judicial custody by a special KCOCA court in Mysuru, while gangster Kali, who is absconding, is believed to be residing abroad.
The case dates back to December 2022, when Kaup police registered an assault case against the accused duo and their associates for allegedly attacking a person identified as Chandrashekhar and others following a dispute over land ownership.
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The conflict escalated in March 2023 with the murder of a person identified as Sharath Shetty. Police said Shetty was allegedly killed for refusing to support Yogish and for assisting Chandrashekar in the land dispute.
A murder case was registered at Kaup police station, with Chandrashekar cited as a key witness in both cases.
Police further stated that on October 20, 2025, Chandrashekar received a threat at around 8.15 pm, warning him against deposing in court. He was allegedly asked to resolve a financial dispute with Yogish Acharya and threatened with death if he failed to comply.
Based on his complaint, a case was registered under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The investigation was supervised by Assistant Superintendent of Police, Karkala subdivision, Harsha Priyamvada.
Accused Yogish Acharya was initially arrested on October 24, 2025, and later released on bail. He was subsequently re-arrested after the invocation of KCOCA and remanded to judicial custody, police said.
