CHESS
One of India’s finest young talents, D. Gukesh jumped 20 places to be ranked 18 in the world, according to the latest live chess rating list on Friday.
The 16-year-old, who was the star in the Chess Olympiad held in Chennai recently, scripted three straight wins in the ongoing Turkish League to break into the top-20 and increase his Elo rating to 2735.
He defeated Arian Gholami (Iran) in the first round, then overcame Andrey Esipenko of Russia in the second before defeating Turkey’s Vahap Sanal.
- K. Keerthivasan
Arjun sole leader; Raunak holds Tomashevsky
Rarely, a field of 148-players finds a sole leader in three rounds. Arjun Erigaisi achieved this rare distinction with a third straight victory in the Abu Dhabi Masters chess after facing Croatia’s Aleksandar Indijic in Abu Dhabi late on Thursday.
Among the 26 players sharing the second spot at 2.5 points was young Raunak Sadhwani who held second seeded Russian Evegeny Tomashevsky.
Nihal Sarin, Aryan Chopra, S. P. Sethuraman, M. Karthikeyan and Harsha Bharathakoti were among the 11 Indians in this second score-group
Leading results (Indians unless stated):
Third round: Evegeny Tomashevsky (CRF, 2.5) drew with Ranuak Sadhwani (2.5); Arjun Erigaisi (3) bt Aleksandar Indjic (Cro, 2); M. Karthikeyan (2.5) drew with David Anton (Esp, 2.5); Harsha Bharathakoti (2.5) drew with Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (Ger, 2.5); Aryan Chopra (2.5) drew with P. Iniyan (2.5); Sammed Shete (2.5) drew with S. P. Sethuraman (2.5); Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh (1.5) lost to Amin Baseem (Egy, 2.5); Nihal Sarin (2.5) bt Evgeny Zanan (Isr, 1.5); Abhijeet Gupta (1.5) lost to Aditya Samant (2.5); Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (Arm, 1.5) drew with Kushagra Mohan (2); B. Adhiban (2.5) bt Seyed Kian Poormosavi (Iri, 1.5).
GOLF
Tvesa Malik rallies to finish even par in first round in Spain
Tvesa Malik fought back from a difficult position to finish tied-30th after the first round of golf at the Aramco Team Series in Sotogrande, Spain, on Friday. Struggling at 3-over, she clawed her way back in the round and finished even par.
Tvesa started from the 10th and bogeyed 11th, 12th and 14th to go 3-over. She birdied 18th, sixth and eighth to get back to even and will now need to build on her current form to get back on track.
-PTI
Vani Kapoor fights back in round 2 of Simone Asia-Pacific Cup
Vani Kapoor made amends for a crippling first round of 78 by carding a 2-under 70 on the second day of the Simone Asia Pacific Cup in Jakarta.
Vani, the only Indian to shoot an under par score, lies T-19th in the individual standings with one more round remaining in the event.
Diksha Dagar (74-75) and Amandeep Drall (72-77) were T-21 and Gaurika Bishnoi (77-74) was 29th.
Vani had a steady round with two birdies and no bogeys.
In the team standings, Vani and Amandeep were nine-over and T-9th, while Diksha and here partner Gaurika were 12-over to be T-14th from among the 22 teams.
-PTI
Veer Ahlawat moves to fifth, Bhullar at 11th in Korea
In-form Indian golfer Veer Ahlawat shot a round full of birdies to move to top 10 at the halfway stage at the International Series Korea on Friday.
The in-form Ahlawat, who was T-12 last week in Singapore, added 5-under 66 with eight birdies against three bogeys, to first round 70.
He is currently 6-under and tied-fifth and four shots behind co-leaders Bio Kim (63) and Taehook Ok (64) of Korea.
Gaganjeet Bhullar, on the other hand, who won the Mandiri Indonesia Open three weeks ago, also closed the round in style with an approach from 179 yards for an eagle on the Par-4 ninth, his closing hole of the day.
Bhullar compiled a 6-under 65 and made up for his first round 1-over 72.
At 5-under, Bhullar is tied-12th and is the second best Indian golfer in the event behind compatriot Ahlawat.
Another Indian golfer SSP Chawrasia followed up his first round 68 with a 70 and at 4-under he is T-16 as only two other Indians Rashid Khan (70-71) and Shiv Kapur (68-74) made the cut.
Chawrasia, teeing off from the 10th, had a rough start with three bogeys in his first eight holes. However, a birdie on 18th, his ninth, turned the tide in his favour.
He also birdied the second and then had three birdies in a row from fourth to sixth. A dropped shot on ninth left a sour taste but he finished with 70.
Meanwhile, Indians who missed the cut included Ajeetesh Sandhu (72-73), Rahil Gangjee (73-73), Viraj Madappa (70-78), Honey Baisoya (71-77), S Chikkarangappa (72-79), and Jyoti Randhawa (70-79)
-PTI
TENNIS
Top seed Mahika Khanna stayed on course for a double crown as she made the singles final and won the doubles title in partnership with Janhavi Kajla in the AITA National series under-16 tennis tournament at the Joygaon Academy on Friday.
Mahika beat Kumkum Kumari in setting up a title clash with fourth seed Divya Ungrish.
Mahika and Janhavi beat Kumkum and Divya 6-4, 6-3 for the doubles title.
In the boys event, top seed Bharat Phulwaria set up a title clash against second seed Samarth Sahita.
Samarth was also in line for a double crown, as he won the doubles title in partnership with Kabir Chothani.
The results:
Sania and Hradecka lose pre-quarterfinals
Sania Mirza and Lucie Hradecka were beaten 6-2, 6-4 by the seventh seeds Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko in the doubles pre-quarterfinals of the $2,527,250 WTA tennis tournament in Cincinnati.
The Indo-Czech pair had to be content with 105 WTA points and $10,620.
In the $25,000 ITF women’s event in Britain, fifth seed Ankita Raina reached the semifinals by beating Naiktha Bains with a 6-7(3), 6-1, 6-3.
The results:
SHOOTING
Parul Kumar, Akhil Sheoran win Men’s Air Rifle trials; Pankaj Makheja lands double in juniors
Shooters Parul Kumar and Akhil Sheoran won the men’s 10m Air Rifle T5 and T6 national trials at the Madhya Pradesh State Shooting Academy ranges on Friday.
However, the highlight of the day was shooter Pankaj Makheja landing a double in men’s junior 10m Air rifle, winning both the T5 and T6 trials, respectively.
Parul, who represents the Indian Air Force (IAF), outsmarted Akash Patidar of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in the gold medal match with a scoreline reading 16-8 in his favour.
Akhil, who represents the Indian Railways, was more dominant in the T6 decider, as he thrashed local favourite Goldi Gujjar 16-2.
Pankaj, on other hand, beat Himachal Pradesh’s Surya Pratap Singh Banshtu 17-5 in the T5 final. He then got the better of Khelo India gold medallist Sartaj Singh Tiwana 16-10 in the T6 final to do an encore.
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