Sports
WWE’s Smackdown! completes a decade
MUMBAI: World wrestling Entertainment‘s (WWE) property Friday Night SmackDown will make history on Friday, 2 October, by commemorating 10 years on air with a “Decade of SmackDown” themed episode.
SmackDown! airs every Friday at 5 pm on Ten Sports. As a pop culture staple, Friday Night SmackDown has aired more than 520 episodes, surpassing The Simpsons, Married With Children, and Law & Order in total episodes. Over the years, SmackDown has featured celebrities such as Samuel L Jackson, Ashton Kutcher, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jimmy Kimmel and Sherri Shepherd among many others in its storylines.
Merriam-Webster dictionary incorporated, the term “smackdown” in 2007, cementing the programme’s relevance in American culture and vernacular. The term is now ubiquitously used by political analysts, columnists, magazine headlines and pundits all describing “the act of knocking down or bringing down an opponent.”
The show launched with a PG rating. Over a year ago, its sister WWE programmes also received the PG rating from their network partners. Now, content across all WWE’s platforms is PG.
Sports
Ashish Limaye bags gold and bronze at Montelibretti 2026 event
Indian rider shines in Italy, gains ground ahead of higher-level tests
MUMBAI: Ashish Limaye delivered a strong performance on the international stage, clinching both gold and bronze at the FEI Eventing Competition Montelibretti 2026 held in Italy earlier this month.
Competing against riders from across the globe, Limaye secured the top podium finish in the CCI 2 Long Format riding Easy Turn, registering a score of 30.2 in a field that featured participants from five nations. He followed it up with a bronze medal in the CCI 2 Short Format aboard Willy Be Dun, scoring 32 in a much larger and highly competitive pool of 66 riders representing nine countries.
Reflecting on the outing, Fédération Equestre Internationale event rider Ashish Limaye said, “Riding at Montelibretti was amazing. To compete with such talented riders from around the world was fantastic. I’m really happy with the results and the effort our team has put in.”
Beyond the podium finishes, Limaye also achieved a milestone result on D’Avril du Pinier, earning a Minimum Eligibility Requirement, bringing him closer to qualifying for the FEI World Equestrian Games.
While the Montelibretti competition was not a direct qualifier for major multi-sport events, it serves as a crucial stepping stone as Limaye prepares to move up to the more demanding CCI 3 level.
With momentum firmly on his side, the Indian rider now looks set to build on this success as he targets bigger stages in the global equestrian circuit.
