April 14: Indian sports news wrap of the day

Rohan Bopanna and his British partner Jamie Murray progressed to the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters on Thursday.

FILE PHOTO: Rohan Bopanna (in pic) and his British partner Jamie Murray overcame a stiff challenge posed by the all-American duo of Taylor Fritz and Sebastian Korda to make it to the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters on Thursday.

TENNIS

Monte Carlo Masters: Bopanna-Murray duo reaches quarterfinals

Rohan Bopanna and his British partner Jamie Murray, a former world number one in doubles, overcame a stiff challenge posed by the all-American duo of Taylor Fritz and Sebastian Korda to make it to the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters on Thursday.

Bopanna and Murray beat Fritz and Korda 6-4, 6-7 (7), [10-7] in a pre-quarterfinal clash that lasted one hour 41 minutes.

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The Indo-British pair had defeated seventh seeds Wesley Koohlof of the Netherlands and Murray's compatriot Neal Skupksi 2-6, 6-3 [12-10] in its first-round match.

In the quarterfinals, Bopanna and Murray will face the third-seeded Spanish-Argentine pair of Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos.

- Nihit Sachdeva

Junior Davis Cup: India beats Iran to reach semis

India rose to the challenge in the climax to eke out a thrilling 2-1 victory over Iran in the quarterfinals of the Asia-Oceania Junior Davis Cup under-16 boys tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex on Thursday.

Rushil Khosla and Bushan Haobam won the decisive doubles 4-6, 6-4, [10-6] against Amirali Ghavam and Kasra Rahmani, much to the relief of the team and the sparse gathering at the venue.

Rushil Khosla (left) and Bushan Haobam (right) won the doubles to help India beat Iran 2-1 in the Junior Davis Cup tennis tournament in Delhi on Thursday.

 

The Iran pair played an inspired spell, but tended to be erratic in the end, when the Indian pair pulled itself together for a sharp finish with a robust game, especially with Rushil showing impeccable volleying skill.

Earlier, Bushan gave a rousing start for the host with a high quality fare, winning the first singles, with considerable expertise and patience. Iran fought back to even the score with Kasra Rahmani
beating Debasis Sahoo in the second rubber.

India had perhaps preserved Rushil for the doubles, and almost paid for it. Debasis did play well, but did not have the conviction in his game.

In the semifinals, India will play Kazakhstan which beat Korea 2-1 by winning the doubles through Amir Omarkhanov and Vitaliy Zatsepin.

The other semifinal will be between Australia and Japan.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

SHOOTING

National selection trials: Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar wins 50m rifle 3-position event

Olympian Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar beat the seasoned Olympian Sanjeev Rajput 16-12 to top the 50-metre rifle 3-position event in the fourth National shooting selection trials at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Thursday.

G Purusothaman took the third place ahead of Rajan Tomar, Zahid Husain Parray, Niraj Kumar, Atul Kumar and the qualification topper Nishan Budha (586).

In the junior section, Surya Pratap Singh Banshtu beat Avinash Yadav 17-13 to emerge on top.

- Kamesh Srinivasan