GOLF
Aditi Ashok tied 14th on LPGA in Michigan
Indian golfer Aditi Ashok picked three birdies in the last five holes, but still dropped to tied 14th from overnight tied 10th at the end of the third round of the Meijer LPGA Classic.
Aditi, who is still looking for her first Top-10 of the season, had five birdies against two bogeys, as she found only two thirds of the fairways, which was much less than the first two days.
However, her putting, which was better than the first two rounds, saved the day for her .Aditi birdied the fourth, ninth, 14th, 15th and the 18th and dropped shots on the seventh and the 16th.
- PTI
Diksha tied third with one round to go in Italy, Pranavi and Tvesa make cut
India’s Diksha Dagar battled it out in the second round of the Ladies Italian Open with an even par 72 that gave her the tied third position at 5-under 139.
The Indian, who has two wins to her name on the Ladies European Tour, shot 67 in the first round and added a 72 with one birdie and one bogey in the second.
Of the other Indians, Pranavi Urs (73-70) rose to tied 17th with one round to go, while Tvesa Malik (73-72) also made the cut and is T-41.
Ridhima Dilawari (75-73) and Vani Kapoor (72-77) missed the cut. The cut fell at three-over par with 67 players making it through to the final round.
- PTI
Randhawa loses in quarterfinals of Legends Tour match play
Indian star Jyoti Randhawa was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Paul Lawrie match play on Legends Tour Europe as he lost to James Kingston, who is having a great season.
Randhawa had won his first three matches to reach the quarters while Jeev Milkha Singh had lost in the second round.
Randhawa’s first three wins came against Thomas Gogele, Malcolm Mackenzie and Keith Horne, before he lost to Kingston, who is sixth in the MCB Road to Mauritius rankings of the Legends Tour.
Kingston, who used to play with Randhawa on the Asian and European Tours, went 2-up after winning the second and third holes and added a third on the seventh and never looked back.
Though Randhawa did win the eighth, 10th and 13th holes, his South African rival hit back quickly by winning the ninth and the 13th. He stayed 2-up even after the Indian won the 13th. The next four holes were halved and the match was over 2&1 on the 17th.
- PTI
Hitaashee finishes superb third at Singapore Ladies Masters golf
India’s Hitaashee Bakshi logged her best international result as she finished sole third at the USD 100,000 Singapore Ladies Masters golf tournament, an event sanctioned by the China LPGA, on Sunday.
It was the best result by an Indian at the event.
Hitaashee shot 1-under 71, her second under par round, and totalled 4-under 212 for 54 holes at Laguna National Golf Resort Club.
Hitaashee, who began the final day in Tied-5th place, displayed remarkable patience on a tough final day to finish third behind the winner, China’s 17-year-old Runzhi Pang (72) at 7-under. Fellow Chinese Cai Danlin (74) was second at 6-under.
It was the maiden pro win for the 17-year-old Runzhi, who started the final round one behind Cai, but finished one ahead to grab the title.
She braved the heat, humidity, and fatigue to win by one shot after surviving a tense closing stretch where she dropped two shots in her last five holes. However, her even-par 72 was just enough to seal the victory in a week that had numerous weather interruptions.
Amateur Mahreen Bhatia, making a cut in her maiden start in a pro event outside India, shot a third straight 76 despite carrying the bag herself for a brief period after her caddie fell sick after the second hole. Her mother, Roohi took over as caddie for the last 14 holes.
After completing the second round this morning, the final round, played with a shotgun start to ensure 54 holes, ended in fading light.
Hitaashee, who leads the Hero Order of Merit on her home Tour, capped an eight-week stretch with four Top-20s – three on Thailand LPGA and one in the Philippines besides a mini tour event in Thailand. She rounded off with a superb third place in Singapore.
In the shotgun start Hitaashee, who started from the second hole, parred the first four before dropping a shot on the sixth, her fifth hole, when the ball ricocheted off the bunker wall and went long. She got the shot back on the next hole, the seventh with an eight-foot birdie.
“Then followed a string of 10 frustrating pars but I stayed patient before holing a putt from just under 10 feet on the 18th, my 17th hole,” she said.
It was her second birdie of the day and helped her finish solo third.
“I have learnt so much in the last two months and this week was tough with all the stoppages and Laguna is a difficult course. I am proud of the way I handled myself,” said Hitaashee.
“I fly straight to Bengaluru and play a practice round and the three-day tournament from Tuesday on the Hero WPG Tour.
“I am grateful to the Organiser, Lyn Yeo, for giving me an invitation to play here. It was a great experience, and the course was world class,” she said.
“The biggest challenge for me was the second day, when I played 28 holes despite frequent stoppages. I came to the course at 5.30 am and left at past 7.30 pm, but thankfully I finished the second round on Saturday itself.” On Saturday, she was 1-under for her remaining 10 holes from the first round and 4-under for the second round, which ended with a 3-putt bogey.
With a tired but happy mother beside her, Hitaashee added, “After 28 holes a day earlier, the 18 on the final day felt easier despite the pressure.” The 15-year-old Mahreen, a medallist at US Kids European and World Championships, said, “It was wonderful to make the cut in a pro event, my first outside India. I was hoping to better 76-76 from the first two days. But my caddie fell sick. I took the bag for two holes before my mother took over the job.”
- PTI
CRICKET
Bengal Pro T20 League: Medinipur Warriors record comfortable win over Kolkata Tigers
Priyanshu Srivastava’s unbeaten half-century enabled Rashmi Medinipur Warriors to record a convincing nine-wicket victory over Lux Shyam Kolkata Tigers in the Bengal Pro T20 League at the Eden Gardens here on Sunday.
SCORES
- Team Sportstar
SQUASH
Asian Team Championships: Indian women finish fifth, men take sixth place
India women finished fifth and the men in sixth place in the Asian Team Squash Championships which concluded in Dalian, China on Sunday.
The women beat Iran 2-0 in the match to decide the fifth and sixth positions with Rathika Suthanthira Seelan and Pooja Arthi Raghu scoring comfortable wins.
However, the men lost to South Korea 1-2, with Velavan Senthilkumar recording a win before Suraj Kumar Chand and Om Semwal lost by narrow margins.
RESULTS
- Team Sportstar
MOTORSPORT
MMSC fmsci championship: New Gen riders emerge to displace old guard
Sarthak Chavan (75), winner of both races in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc category. | Photo Credit: MMSC Media
It was a day of the “double” at the Madras International Circuit here on Sunday as the first round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2024 concluded with the new generation of riders emerging to displace the old guard.
Teenager Sarthak Chavan (Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open), schoolgirl Rakshitha Dave (Girls, Stock 165cc), Abdul Basim (Novice, Stock 165cc), and Kaushik Subbiah Ganesan (Novice, Stock 301-400cc) won both races this weekend in their respective National Championship categories. Barring Pune’s Sarthak, the other three riders are from Chennai.
Sarthak, the 17-year-old prodigy, established himself as the top gun in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open class, winning both races over the weekend in an emphatic manner. Following home in P2 in both races was another 17-year-old, Chiranth Vishwanath from Bengaluru, who just couldn’t match Sarthak’s pace. The duo dominated both races leaving the rest to scrap for the other podium spot.
Sarthak, however, missed a possible win, despite starting P7 on the grid, in the other premier category, the Pro-Stock 165cc, when he crashed again after tangling with Chiranth when the two were fighting for 1-2 positions. The Pune youngster had crashed in Race-1 on Saturday when leading.
Though both Sarthak and Chiranth recovered to rejoin the race, veteran TVS Racing team-mates Jagan Kumar, KY Ahamed and Deepak Ravikumar made the best of the free space in front to finish in that order. For Jagan, a multiple National champion, it was his first win of the season after a barren 2023.
Chennai schoolgirl, 15-year-old Rakshitha Dave completed a fine double in the Girls (Stock 165cc) category. Having won Race-1 on Saturday, she extended her domination with a sweeping win in Race-2 today, virtually unchallenged.
Similarly, another Chennai teenager Abdul Basim (Rockers Racing) achieved a clean sweep in the Novice (Stock 165cc) category, winning Race-2 today with as much ease as in the previous outing on Saturday.
Later, another Chennai rider, Kaushik Subbaiah Ganesan also notched a double in the Stock 301-400cc (Novice) class with another fine ride starting from pole position.
Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup: Shyam Sundar (Chennai) came up with a fine ride to win the NSF 250R race after starting from P4 on the grid. He cut through the front-runners to top the six-lapper with Mohsin Paramban (Mallappuram) yet again finishing second, but ahead of yesterday’s Race-1 winner, Rakshith Dave (Chennai).
TVS One-Make Championship: Senthilkumar C (Coimbatore) enjoyed a fruitful weekend as he won both the races in the Apache RR 310 category. Having won Saturday’s Race-1, Senthilkumar displayed relentless pace in topping today’s Race-2 ahead of two Chennai riders, Manoj Yesuadian and Jayanth P.
Bengaluru’s Harshith V Bogar continued to dominate the Rookie category as he finished the weekend with a double by winning Race-2 today on the back of his triumph in the previous outing on Saturday. CS Kedarnath (Tirupati) scrambled to second place while Saranjith KM (Thrissur) finished third.
Earlier, Sarthak topped the TVS Electric RTE race quite comfortably with his arch-rival Chiranth finishing second and Chennai’s Alwyn Sundar third.
The results (Provisional - all 6 laps unless mentioned):
- Team Sportstar
SHOOTING
Ganemat, Sheeraz, Anantjeet stay in hunt in Lonato
Ganemat Sekhon in women’s skeet while Sheeraz Sheikh and Anantjeet Singh Naruka in the men’s section stayed in the hunt for medals after the fourth and penultimate round of qualification at the ongoing ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Lonato, Italy.
Ganemat on Sunday shot rounds of 25 and 23 for a two-day total of 95 (25,22,25,23), which put her in ninth spot currently.
USA’s Dania Jo Vizzi and Sweden’s Victoria Larsson were holding the top two spots with scores of 97 each. The top six will make it to the final.
In men’s skeet event, both Sheeraz and Anantjeet have tallied 97 after four rounds and, although ranked 19th and 21st heading into the final day, they are just two hits off the pace as well.
Five shooters led by Chilean Hector Andres Flores Barahona have tallied 99 so far on top of the leaderboard.
Sheeraz shot rounds of 22 and 25 on the day to follow-up on his two perfect rounds on Saturday, while Anantjeet was even more accurate with rounds of 25 and 24.
All the three Indians will need a perfect final round on Monday to harbour hopes of a top-six finish as shoot-offs are looming for the final spots.
Among the other Indians competing in the tournament, the seasoned Mairaj Ahmad Khan in men’s skeet had rounds of 20 and 24 for a total of 90 which put him in 87th spot.
In women’s skeet, Maheshwari Chauhan and Riaza Dhillon shot rounds of 20, 25 and 20, 22 for tallies of 89 and 88 respectively and looked out of contention at this point.
- PTI
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