FOOTBALL
Tarun Kumar strikes winner in India’s triumph
Tarun Kumar scored the match-winner in India’s 4-3 victory over Denmark in the Gothia Special Olympics Trophy football tournament in Sweden.
The Indian team had earlier beaten Finland 3-0, Germany 6-0, Hong Kong 6-0 and Denmark 3-1 in the league phase. The team played Denmark once again in the final.
Tarun, a tenth standard student of Justice Tankha Memorial Rotary Institute for Special Children in Jabalpur, was groomed by his mother Sangeeta Thakur who took him for football training for the last four years despite limited means.
The school founded by Rajya Sabha MP, Vivek Krishna Tankha had supported Tarun wholeheartedly right from a young age, and even drafted national level coach Prabhat Rahi to train him.
- Kamesh Srinivasan
FC Goa signs young forward Alan Saji ahead of new season
FC Goa announced the addition of young forward Alan Saji from the Reliance Foundation Young Champs (RFYC) academy on a multi-year contract.
The 18-year-old Kerala lad has been a part of RFYC since the age of 12 and was part of the RFYC squad that competed in the Sanix Cup in Japan.
Manolo Marquez, FC Goa’s Head Coach expressed his enthusiasm about the new signing. “Alan Saji is an exceptional talent with a great future. He is fast, brave, very clever in the box, and has a very good aerial game.
“He has developed remarkably, and we will give him a great platform to hone his skills further. It is, of course, a step-by-step process, but he has the qualities to be an important player for not just the Club, but also for India in the years to come,” he noted.
- Team Sportstar
SQUASH
India boys and girls in World Junior squash team event quarters
India boys and girls advanced to the quarterfinals in the team event of the World Junior Squash Championships in Houston on Saturday. The boys will meet fourth seed South Korea and the girls will take on third-seeded Malaysia.
The boys beat Canada 2-0 in the pre-quarterfinals, while the girls finished second in Group D after losing to Hong Kong 1-2 in their final league match.
Shaurya Bawa, who won individual bronze, rallied to beat Youssef Sarhan in a five-gamer, while Arihant KS avenged his individual event loss to Ewan Harris with an impressive win.
India results:
Boys (pre-quarters):
Girls (Group D):
-Team Sportstar
HOCKEY
Odisha clinch men’s title, Jharkhand crowned women’s champion at hockey East Zone Championship
Hockey Jharkhand won the women’s title at the junior East Zone Championship in Kolkata on Sunday. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Hockey Association of Odisha and Hockey Jharkhand claimed the men’s and women’s titles respectively at the junior East Zone Championship in Kolkata on Sunday.
Hockey Jharkhand beat Hockey Bengal 4-3 in the shoot-out after the match ended 1-1 in the regulation time in the women’s category.
The Hockey Association of Odisha triumphed over Hockey Jharkhand by a 2-0 margin in the final of the men’s event.
- PTI
GOLF
The 152nd Open Championship: Sharma marks 28th birthday with T-19 finish
India’s Shubhankar Sharma plays his second shot on the sixth hole during day four of The 152nd Open championship at Royal Troon on Sunday in Troon, Scotland. | Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES
India’s Olympic-bound golfer Shubhankar Sharma gave himself a good send-off for Paris Games on his 28th birthday as he carded a one-over 72 in the final round to record a creditable T-19 finish at the Royal Troon in the 152nd Open in Royal Troon, Scotland, on Sunday.
With the first two rounds of 76-71, Sharma made the cut on the line after surviving a tense three-hour wait.
The Indian followed that up with a superb four-under 67 on the third day to rise to T-15 and on the final day, despite some missed putts and a three-putt, he fought his way to a 72 to finish inside the top 20 in demanding conditions.
Meanwhile, Xander Scahuffele, the reigning PGA Champion, grabbed a three-shot lead with three holes and finished the job with a two-shot win over Justin Rose (67), who finished as runner-up after coming into the event as a qualifier.
The reigning Olympic champion became the first player since Brooks Koepka to win two Majors in the same year. Koepka won the US Open and the PGA Championships in 2018.
The conditions were tough but Sharma showed great grit and hung in for a final round of 1-over 72 to finish 3-over 287 for the week and inside Top-20 for the second straight year.
Sharma had two birdies and dropped three bogeys. One of the bogeys was on the ninth, where he missed a par putt inside eighth feet.
After a T-8 last year, a T-19 finish may seem a bit of disappointment, but he took the positives from the week, as he came back from the cutline to inside Top-20.
“I am proud of the fightback, and it will hold me in good stead for my first Olympic Games next month in Paris,” said Sharma.
“There will be some celebrations with my family, the entire team and some friends here, but a lot of the season is still left, and I have some big events leading to the DP World finale.” Sharma was overall pleased with his show.
“It was a good week. Second and third days I played brilliantly, so no complaints. Today could have been slightly better. Overall I played really well. I’m quite proud of myself,” he said.
“It’s probably the toughest Open that I’ve played out of the four that I’ve played. Hung in there, made some great putts. Quite happy overall.
“I’ve always been very fond of the Open ever since I was a kid. Yeah, just brings the best out of me, and I kind of bookmark it at the start of the year that this is a tournament I want to play and I want to play well in. Yeah, it was quite special.” c
Talking about the conditions of the final day, Sharma said, “Yes, it was still demanding. Yesterday was probably the easiest day, but the first two days were very tough. Today also when we started it was quite windy so not very easy.
“Towards the end there were birdie chances. You still had to hit good shots. Pin positions were tough. It was gettable.
“I was hoping I’d get off to a slightly better start, one of those putts falling in the first few holes, and that three-putt on 7 not happening. Probably could have been slightly better. But it’s fine. I still played well. Lots of positives.”
- PTI
Aditi lies T-12th, eyes first Top-10 of 2024
Indian golfer Aditi Ashok stayed in sight of her first Top-10 of 2024 as she shot a bogey free 3-under 68 in the third round of the Dana Open golf. to be T-12 here.
With rounds of 67-72 on the first two days, Aditi is now 8-under with one more round to go.
Her best results on LPGA this season have been T-17 at Amundi Evian Championships last week and also at the Meijer LPGA Classic. Aditi has had a modest season in 2024, but would like to see some better form ahead of the Olympics in two weeks.
Aditi had three birdies and no bogeys and the birdies came on the eighth, 13th and 15th holes.
Thailand’s Chanettee Wannasaen added a 5-under 66 to a career-low 36-hole score of 131 for another new career-low with a 54-hole score of 197.
- PTI
TENNIS
Harithashree Venkatesh wins four ITF titles in three weeks
Harithashree Venkatesh had a fruitful outing in Nairobi, Kenya, winning three singles titles and a doubles title, spread over three weeks.
The 15-year-old Harithashree dropped only one set, in the final against compatriot Janvi Asawa in the final of the first tournament.
Harithashree beat Bicene Benzaied of Tunisia to win the singles titles in the second and third tournaments.
Harithashree Venkatesh. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
In her 15 singles matches in all in the three tournaments, Harithashree beat players from Spain, Serbia, Italy and Kenya apart from Tunisia and fellow players from India.
She will next compete in the National junior championship in Chennai, followed by the ITF junior tournaments in Chennai and Bhuvanagiri.
- Team Sportstar
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