Indian sports wrap, July 20: India advances in style in World Junior squash team event

Here are all the major updates, scores, and results of Indians in the world of sports on July 20.

FILE - India girls beat Brazil and Australia by an identical 3-0 margin to assure themselves of a quarterfinal berth  | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

SQUASH

India advances in style in World Junior squash team event

India boys beat Brazil 3-0 to top three-team Group F with a clean slate on Friday in the team event of the World Junior Squash Championships in Houston and will meet Canada in the pre-quarterfinals.

India girls beat Brazil and Australia by an identical 3-0 margin to assure themselves of a quarterfinal berth and will play Hong Kong in their concluding Group D league match.

India results

Boys (Group F)

India bt Brazil 3-0 (Yuvraj Wadhwani bt Caio Paiva 11-1,11-4,11-7; Shaurya Bawa bt Isaias Silva 12-10, 11-7, 6-11, 5-11,11-8; Ayaan Vaziralli bt Lucas Carlson 11-4, 11-7,11-6).

Girls (Group D)

India bt Brazil 3-0 (Nirupama Dubey bt Gabriella El-Masry 11-3, 11-2, 11-4; Anahat Singh bt Laura Da Silva 11-5, 11-2,11-3; Unnati Tripathi bt Alix Borges 11-4, 11-5, 11-3).

India bt Australia 3-0 (Shameena Riaz bt Emily Lamb 11-6,11-13,11-4,11-3; Anahat bt Hannah Slyth 11-4, 11-1, 11-3; Nirupama bt Joanne Joseph 11-5, 11-3,11-5).

-Team Sportstar

HOCKEY

Junior men and women West Zone hockey Championship to begin from July 21

The second Hockey India Junior Men and Women West Zone Championship is set to take place from July 21 to 28 at Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh.

The participating teams are divided into two pools in the women’s category. Pool A consists of Madhya Pradesh, host Chhattisgarh, and Gujarat.

Pool B includes Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu.

The tournament will be in a round-robin format with the top two teams from each pool advancing to the semifinals.

The men’s competition features six teams in a single pool, which includes Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Goa.

The top two teams from the round-robin stage will advance to the final, while the third and fourth-placed teams will compete for the third position.

“This championship is about learning and developing as players. It offers a good platform for young players to showcase their abilities and gain significant experience,” Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey said in a statement.

HI secretary general Bhola Nath Singh added, “Our aim is to nurture the junior players and give them the best possible exposure.

“Competitions like these are instrumental in building their confidence and preparing them for higher levels of the sport.” The opening day of the competition will feature Madhya Pradesh taking on Goa, while Rajasthan will play Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu Hockey in the women’s category.

In the men’s category, Madhya Pradesh will play Goa, Rajasthan will take on Gujarat and Maharashtra will lock horns against Chhattisgarh.

-PTI

TABLE TENNIS

Mumbai players win 17 medals in Maharashtra State Ranking TT tournament

Mumbai-based players from The Suburban Table Tennis Association have claimed 17 medals including seven gold in the inaugural edition of the Maharashtra State Ranking Tournament in Chennai on Saturday.

Chinamay Somaiya and Reeth Risha clinched the gold medals in men’s and women’s singles respectively, while Sharveya Samant and Annaya Chande bagged the gold in the boys’ and girls’ under-19 singles titles respectively.

In the U-17 boys’ singles, left-handed Dhruv Shah won the title.

Four of TSTTA’s players clinched medals in the women’s draw as Risha beat Madhurika Patkar in the final, while Sampada Bhiwandkar and Manushree Patil lost in the semi-finals and had to settle for the bronze.

Raegan Albuquerque won a bronze in the men’s event.

In the girls’ U-19 final, Annaya Chande got the better of teammate Vaishnavi Jaiswal to grab the top honours.

There was further success in store for TSTTA as in the U-13 category, Myraa Sanglekar won the girls’ final and Param emerged supreme to pocket the gold in the boys’ contest.

Aarav Vora took the silver medal while Zain Shaikh won the bronze. Myraa’s teammates Trisha Ludbe and Sara Ramiya won the bronze medals.

Vedika Jaiswal managed a bronze medal in the girls’ U-11 event.

-PTI

MOTORSPORTS

First-time racer Akhil wins Formula 2000 race in Round 3 of Indian National Car Racing Championship 2024

First-time racer Akhil Agarwal, 29, was handed a victory in the marquee MRF Formula 2000 race following the disqualification of Jaden Pariat in the third round of the MRF Indian National Car Racing Championship 2024, at the Madras International Circuit, here on Saturday.

Akhil Agarwal in action at the Indian National Car Racing Championship 2024 in Chennai. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Pariat was penalised for a jump start and “failure to comply with a drive-through penalty” after he won the race by the proverbial country mile. The penalty moved Akhil to P1 while the Bengaluru pair of Chetan Surineni and Tarun Muthaiah were placed second and third, respectively.

Further behind, 16-year-old Abhay Mohan raced to his seventh consecutive win in the MRF Formula 1600 class that was run on a combined grid with the MRF F2000, with Chennai’s Monith Kumaran coming in second, ahead of Mumbai racer Raaj Bakhru.

Other winners of the day were Biren Pithawalla (Indian Touring Cars), Hatim Shabbir (Indian Junior Touring Cars), Justin Singh (Super Stock), Viswas Vijayaraj (Formula LGB 1300), Aditya Patnaik (Polo Cup) and Sri Lankan Kesara Godage (MRF Saloons).

Mumbai teenager and former National Karting champion Aditya Patnaik notched a handsome win in the Polo Cup without breaking a sweat, leaving Bangladesh’s HM Tauhid Anwar Avik and Romir Arya (Mumbai) to scrap for P2 and P3.

“I had a good start and opened up a big lead. Thereafter, I eased off completely. I am very happy with the win as it was just my second outing in this category,” said Aditya.

Kesara Godage, the youngster from Sri Lanka, took the honours in the MRF Saloons category that was run concurrently with the Polo Cup. The championship leader in this class, Diana Pundole finished second followed by Sri Lankan Kalim Iqbal.

Meanwhile, starting from pole position, Biren Pithawala (Team N1 Racing) from Mumbai, enjoyed a trouble-free run and was the lone finisher in the Indian Touring Cars race with his rivals, cousin brother Ananth Pithawalla and Chennai ace Deepak Ravikumar encountering mechanical issues. Neither driver was classified.

Provisional results (all 8 laps unless mentioned):

MRF F2000 (Race-1): 1. Akhil Agarwal (Mumbai) (13mins, 04.066secs); 2. Chetan Surineni (Bengaluru) (13:04.646); 3. Tarun Muthaiah (Bengaluru) (13:09.482).

MRF F1600 (Race-1): 1. Abhay Mohan (Bengaluru) (13:52.487); 2. Monith Kumaran (Chennai) (13:59.414); 3. Raaj Bakhru (Mumbai) (14:03.763).

Indian Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Biren Pithawala (Mumbai, Team N1 Racing) (15:30.329). Note: Only one finisher.

Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Hatim Shabbir (Chennai, Team Performance Racing) (15:32.392); 2. Teja Srinivas (Chennai, Team Performance Racing) (15:39.514); 3. Yug Italiya (Mumbai, Team N1 Racing) (15:50.132).

Super Stock (Race-1): 1. Justin Singh (Gurugram, Redline Racing India) (16:41.923); 2. Angad Matharoo (Chandigarh, Pvt.) (16:55.327); 3. Bala Prasath (Combatore, DTS Racing) (16:55.568).

MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios) Race-1: 1. Kesara Godage (Sri Lanka, Redline Racing India) (16:34.736); 2. Diana Pundole (Pune, Redline Racing India) (16:35.522); 3. Kalim Iqbal (Sri Lanka, Red Line Racing India) (16:54.554).

Polo Cup (Race-1): 1. Aditya Patnaik (Mumbai) (15:30.830); 2. HM Tauhid Anwar Avik (Bangladesh) (15:38.195); 3. Romir Arya (Mumbai) (15:39.509).

Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1): 1. Viswas Vijayaraj (Nellore, DTS Racing) (15:04.786); 2. Diljith TS (Thrissur, DTS Racing) (15:09.655); 3. Bala Prasath (Coimbatore, DTS Racing) (15:10877).

-Team Sportstar

TENNIS

Sahaja Yamalapalli loses quarterfinals in USA

Sahaja Yamalapalli missed three match points and was beaten 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(6) by Iryna Shymanovich in the quarterfinals of the $60,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Evansville, USA.

Sahaja led 5-3 in the third set, and later had three match points at 6-3 in the tie-break, but her opponent won the next five points, to emerge victorious in a contest that spanned three hours and eight minutes.

Sahaja, however, made the doubles final with Hiroko Kuwata of Japan.

Prarthana Thombare also made the doubles final of the $60,000 event in Portugal, in partnership with Arianne Hartono.

The results:

$742,350 ATP, Newport, USA: Doubles (semifinals): Robert Cash & James Tracy (USA) bt Anirudh Chandrasekar & Arjun Kadhe 6-4, 6-3.

$15,000 ITF men, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand: Singles (semifinals): Jirat Navasirisomboon (Tha) bt Vishnu Vardhan 6-2, 6-4. Doubles (final): Francis Alcantara (Phi) & Maximus Jones (Tha) bt Adil Kalyanpur & Vishnu Vardhan 2-6, 7-5, [10-8].

$60,000 ITF women, Porto, Portugal: Doubles (semifinals): Arianne Hartono (Ned) & Prarthana Thombare bt Evialina Laskevich & Ekaterina Yashina 6-7(6), 6-1, [10-5].

$60,000 ITF women, Evansville, USA: Singles (quarterfinals): Iryna Shymanovich bt Sahaja Yamalapalli 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(6). Doubles (semifinals): Hiroko Kuwata (Jpn) & Sahaja Yamalapalli bt Sophie Chang & Catherine Harrison (USA) 6-4, 6-3.

-Kamesh Srinivasan