SQUASH
Akanksha Salunkhe goes down to Jana Safy in RC Pro Series squash quarters
India’s Akanksha Salunkhe, the top seed, was edged out 3-2 by Egyptian Jana Safy in the quarterfinals of the RC Pro Series squash, a USD 15,000 prize money PSA Challenger Tour event, at St Louis, Missouri (US), on Thursday.
The reigning National Games squash champion, Akanksha went down 11-8, 3-11, 11-9, 5-11, 3-11 in a close battle that went down to the wire after she won the opening and third games.
-Team Sportstar
TENNIS
$82,000 Challenger tennis: Kadhe- Nedunchezhiyan duo win doubles quarterfinals
Arjun Kadhe and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan beat Gijs Brouwer and Aidan Mchugh 6-3, 7-6(4) in the doubles quarterfinals of the $82,000 Challenger tennis tournament in Cuernavaca, Mexico, on Friday.
In the semifinals, the Indian pair was scheduled to meet the top seeds, Luke Johnson and Skander Mansouri. The other Indian team of Rithvik Bollipalli and Niki Poonacha also made the semifinals and were scheduled to clash against the second seeds Piotr Matuszewski and Matthew Romios.
The results
-Team Sportstar
Sumit Nagal presented Rs 10 lakhs by former Andhra cricketer V. Chamundeswaranath in Hyderabad
Former Andhra Ranji cricketer and ex-BCCI junior selection panel chairman V. Chamundeswaranath presented a purse of Rs. 10 lakhs to tennis player Sumit Nagal.
Chamundi said that the gesture was in response to India No.1 Nagal’s tweet that he had no money to play in any future tournaments.
This announcement was made at the prize distribution of the FNCC AITA men’s tennis tournament in Hyderabad in the presence of six-time Grand Slam winner Sania Mirza and C.V. Anand, IPS and Director General of ACB who is also a tennis player besides being former Hyderabad cricketer.
- VV Subrahmanyam
WRESTLING
Asian wrestling championships: No medals for Indians on second day
Indian wrestlers could not win a medal on the second day of the Asian wrestling championships in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Friday.
In freestyle competitions, Akash Dahiya (61kg) and Anirudh Kumar (125kg) made it to the bronze medal round but failed to get on to the podium.
Trailing by a point with about a minute to go, Akash was rolled over by Mongolian Enkhbold Enkhbat with a leg-lace technique. He suffered an 18-7 defeat in the bronze medal contest.
In another bronze medal match, Anirudh was pinned by Bahrain’s Shamil Sharipov with 1:44 minutes left.
Yash (74kg), Sandeep Singh (86kg) and Vinay (92kg) exited early.
-Team Sportstar
FOOTBALL
I-League 2023-24: Gokulam Kerala ends season on a high, thrashes Trau 6-1
Gokulam Kerala’s campaign in the I-League ended on a satisfactory note on Friday, with a crushing win by a tennis score against TRAU. The 6-1 victory, however, came far too late for Gokulam, Mohammedan Sporting having already won the title.
The two-time champion finished with 42 points from its 24 games. Mohammedan has 52 points, and Sreenidi Deccan 45, both with a game in hand.
P.N. Noufal scoring for Gokulam Kerala against TRAU in I-League at Kozhikode. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The host was too good for TRAU, which ended in last place with 13 points.
Alex Sanches drew first blood in the 19th minute from a fine pass into the box from P.N. Noufal. There was more to come from the pacy Noufal, who has been one of the best players in the tournament. He scored in the 28th and 34 minutes, as Gokulam went 4-0 up at half-time.
Though Issahak Seidu pulled one back for the visitors in the second half, injury-time strikes by Matija Bobovic and Nikola Stojanovic increased the margin for Gokulam.
Result
-P.K. Ajith Kumar
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