August 28, Indian sports wrap
Here are all the major developments in Indian sports on August 28, 2022.
Published : Aug 28, 2022 16:12 IST
Shubhankar Sharma in action.
GOLF
Avani top Indian at 44th in World Amateur Team event
Avani Prashanth (71) finished as the top Indian in the Tied-44th place at the 29th Women’s World Amateur Team Championship at Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche.
The Indian squad, which also included Nishna Patel (82) and Smriti Bhargav (81), ended Tied-34th at the tournament played over two courses – the Le Golf National, one of the toughest courses in terms of slope rating, and the St Nom La Breteche Golf Course in Paris.
While Avani had rounds of 75-76-73–71 for a total of 295, Nishna (77-77-77–82) aggregated 313 for a 113th place and Smriti Bhargav (73-79-83–81) with a total of 316 was 122nd.
Each day, two of the best scores were counted as team scores. Only Avani had her scores counted each day. Only once did either of the other two shoot better than Avani, which was on the first day, when Smriti shone out with 73..
The next week will see a total of 72 men’s teams compete at the 2022 World Amateur Team Championship for the Eisenhower Trophy at Le Golf National and at Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche from 31 August-3 September.
-PTI
Sharma misses cut in Switzerland, Lawrence leads by three
India’s Shubhankar Sharma made an early exit once again on the DP World Tour after missing the cut at the Omega European Masters.
Sharma, who shot one-over 71 in the first round, finished his second round early on the third hole because play ended early the previous day.
He completed his round, carding 70 and missed the cut, which fell at 3-under.
Sharma, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour, who came close to winning a title earlier this year in Abu Dhabi, has been going through a rough patch as he missed the cut for the eighth time in his last nine starts on the DP World Tour.
In between, the Indian was T-14 at the Dutch Open and on the Asian Tour, in the start before playing in Switzerland, Sharma was T-12 at the International Series Singapore.
Sharma, who is 33rd on the DP World Tour rankings, will attempt to work his way back next week at the Made in Himmerland event in Denmark.
Thriston Lawrence will head into the final round of the Omega European Masters with a three-shot lead after a nerveless round of 67 at Golf Club Crans-sur-Sierre.
-PTI
Vani, Tvesa show the way as four Indians make cut in Sweden
Vani Kapoor and three other Indian women made the 36-hole cut at the Didriksons Skafto Open, a Ladies European Tour event, here on Sunday.
Leading the Indians into the final round was Vani, who in a stretch of seven holes had five birdies on the front nine. She dropped one shot on the back nine to finish the day with a card of three-under 66.
She was tied-32nd, while the other Indians making the cut were Tvesa Malik (69), Amandeep Drall (70) and Diksha Dagar (71), who all were T-45.
The trio was two-over for 36 holes as the cut fell at three-over and 72 players made it.
Neha Tripathi (69-69) finished four-over and Ridhima Dilawari (74-75) at five-over missed the cut.
Vani has been trending well and her three-under card showed she is finding her feet on the Ladies European Tour. Also Tvesa made the cut to end a run of missed cuts and that should give her confidence.
Linn Grant and Ana Peláez Trivino share the lead heading into the final day of the Skaftö Open. The pair was sitting on -9 with 18 holes left to play.
-PTI
SHOOTING
Ruchita Vinerkar wins women’s 10m air pistol T5 title in selection trials
Ruchita Vinerkar rose to the top with a memorable finish as she beat Divya TS 16-14 in women’s air pistol in the sixth National shooting selection trials at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Sunday.
The 29-year-old Ruchita topped the second stage with 251.1, comfortably ahead of Divya. Ruchita also led 9-3 at one stage in the final duel, before Divya caught up to equalise 14-14. Ruchita shot 10.3 as against 9.5 by Divya to clinch the last two points.
Rhythm Sangwan, who has been asserting her prowess in various pistol events, finished third with 248.4, missing the chance to fight for the top spot by 0.3 point to Divya.
Qualification topper Sakshi Suryavanshi (580) finished seventh behind Olympian Yashaswini Deshwal.
In the junior event, it was another thriller as Suruchi shot a near perfect 10.8 to seal victory after being tied on 15-15 with Rhythm. After being tied 9-9, Rhythm had moved ahead to lead 13-9, but Suruchi shot better to bridge the gap before delivering the knock-out punch.
The much accomplished Manu Bhaker also made the junior final with 571, but opted not to compete in the second stage.
Tiyana Phogat took the third place in both the juniors and youth sections. It was Shikha Narwal who cruised to a 17-9 win over Sainyam in the Youth event, after topping the second stage three points better than the latter.
Rhythm who skipped the youth final also topped the women’s 25-metre standard pistol events, in both the trials.
It was the rapid fire pistol specialist Ankur Goel who topped the men’s field in standard pistol.
The results:
10m air pistol:
25m standard pistol:
- Kamesh Srinivasan
Arjuna award process begins
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has invited applications from eligible candidates for the sports awards, Arjuna, Dronacharya, Khel Ratna and Life time achievement, in a circular issued on Saturday.
The sportspersons can make their own application, without the recommendation of the authorities, through the online portal dbtyas-sports.gov.in by midnight of September 20.
Sports achievements from January 1, 2018, till the Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham from July 28 to August 8, will be considered for the Arjuna award.
The circular states that to be eligible for the award, a sportsperson should not only have had consistently good performance for the four years at the international level, but also should have shown ‘qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline’.
Usually, the government sports awards are presented by the President on the National Sports Day, August 29, the birthday of hockey wizard Dhyan Chand. However, exception is made for the years which feature the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.
As per the revised view of the government, sportspersons who have been suspended, banned for doping offence would also be considered for the awards, after the completion of their sentence.
A screening committee with a retired judge of Supreme Court or High Court as Chairperson, and four eminent Olympians or Khel Ratna, Arjuna awardees, three members of the media, a representative from para sports, apart from government officials, will be announced in due course.
Apart from a tabulation that lists equivalent marks for achievements, the screening committee will give 20% marks to the eligible candidates, by considering various factors, to rank them for selection.
As per the latest enhancement, the Khel Ratna award carries a cash purse of Rs.25 lakh, Arjuna award Rs.15 lakh, Dronacharya awards Rs.10 lakh for regular, and Rs.15 lakh for life-time achievement. The separate lifetime achievement award also carries Rs.10 lakh cash prize.
For the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad trophy for the best University, the period for sports achievements will be from April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022.
-Kamesh Srinivasan