Indian Sports Wrap, June 27: Chennaiyin FC signs Hnamte; Vaidehi sails into quarterfinals of WTA Chinese Taipei

Here are all the major updates, scores, and results of Indians in the world of sports on June 27.

Nora Fernandes has been signed by the Kerala Blasters. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

FOOTBALL

Chennaiyin FC signs Lalrinliana Hnamte from Mohun Bagan Super Giant

Chennaiyin FC has roped in central midfielder Lalrinliana Hnamte ahead of the 2024–25 season.

The 21-year-old has signed a three-year contract with the Marina Machans, becoming the third midfielder to join the club this summer after Lukas Brambilla and Jitendra Singh.

Chennaiyin also handed a contract extension to Yumkhaibam Jiteshwor Singh last month.

The Mizoram-born Hnamte has been considered one of the brightest talents in Indian football. He made his Indian Super League (ISL) debut at the age of just 18 for East Bengal in 2021.

This signing underlines Chennaiyin’s commitment to invest in young talent and nurture them to contribute in shaping the future of Indian football.

“With the ability he possesses we haven’t seen as much of Hnamte as we should’ve in the league. He’s a fantastic young boy who will offer something different to our midfield options,” said head coach Owen Coyle.

Before joining Chennaiyin, Hnamte was part of Mohun Bagan Super Giant set-up for three seasons. He won the Durand Cup (2023), the ISL title (2023) and the League Shield (2024) for them.

Hnamte made 43 appearances in the ISL, spending more than 1300 minutes on the field. In the last season of the league, he recorded an impressive passing accuracy of 83 percent in 13 matches.

-Team Sportstar

Kerala Blasters FC signs goalkeeper Nora Fernandes-

Kerala Blasters Football Club has signed goalkeeper Nora Fernandes on a three-year contract, until 2027.

Prior to joining the Blasters, Nora was with I-League side Aizawl FC. In what can be considered a break-through season, the 25-year-old goalkeeper made 17 appearances, impressing with his commanding presence in the penalty area, his strong reflexes, and his overall short-stopping abilities.

Born in Goa, Nora started his youth and professional career at Salgaocar FC, having joined the U18 team. He represented the side in the U18 I-League, and the Goa Professional League, before making the switch to Churchill Brothers in 2020.

Fernandes becomes the club’s third domestic signing of the summer and the second goalkeeper after Som Kumar.

-Team Sportstar

SQUASH

Agarwal, Aadya & Gowshika enter semis in Asian Junior squash

Shiven Agarwal, Aadya Budhia and Gowshika M moved into the semifinals in their respective age categories at the 31st Asian Junior Individual Squash Championships in Islamabad on Thursday in what was a mixed day for Indians.

Second-seeded Agarwal beat local challenger Abdul Ahad Butt 11-4, 11-7, 11-5 in the boys’ U-15 quarterfinals, while Aadya and Gowshika, the second and fourth seeds in the girls’ U-13 section, put it past Mahnoor Ali (Pak) 11-4, 11-8, 6-11, 11-6 and Makaela Lin Cassidy (HK) 11-8, 11-9, 11-8 respectively.

Meanwhile, five Indian players lost in the quarterfinals, with Nirupama Dubey going down in a five-game thriller in the girls’ U-19 section.

Other Indian results (quarterfinals):

Boys U-17: 6-Yusha Nafees lost to 1-Abdullah Nawaz (Pak) 1-11, 7-11, 2-11. Girls – U-15: 8-Ankita Dubey lost to 1-Harleein Tan (Mas) 2-11, 5-11, 5-11; 9-Diva Shah lost to 2-Lo Pui Yin Chole (HK) 6-11, 6-11, 9-11. U-17: 6-Unnati Tripathi lost to 4-Doyce Lee Ye San (Mas) 3-11, 1-11, 6-11. U-19: 5-Nirupama Dubey lost to 3-Akari Midorikawa (Japan) 7-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 5-11.

-Team Sportstar

HOCKEY

Punjab Hockey League to start from June 29

The Punjab Hockey League (PHL), featuring six teams in the junior section, will be organised by the Roundglass Academy from Saturday.

Matches will be staged over the week-end on a home and away basis at prominent grounds in Jalandhar, Mohali, Ludhiana and Jiwan Nagar.

The inaugural match will be between Surjit Hockey Academy, Jalandhar and Namdhari Sports Academy. SGPC Academy, Amritsar, PIS Mohali, PIS Ludhiana and Roundglass Academy will be the other teams.

The league will carry a prize pool of Rs.5.5 lakh.

“Exposure to competitive matches is very important for the development of youth players. The Junior PHL aims to do that. The league format will help coaches to experiment with different strategies as each team is assured of 10 matches. We hope the league will be a landmark in our efforts to promote hockey at the grassroots in Punjab”, said Dronacharya awardee and Technical Lead of Roundglass Academy, Rajinder Singh.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

TENNIS

Kashish beats Himaanshika to storm into women’s final in Jaipur

Top seed Kashish Bhatia fought her way past Himaanshika Singh 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals of the Rs.100,000 AITA women’s tennis tournament at the SKIT Campus in Jaipur on Thursday.

In the final, Kashish will face qualifier Avani Chitale who beat second seed Divya Bhardwaj for the loss of five games.

The results

Semifinals: Kashish Bhatia bt Himaanshika Singh 3-6, 6-3, 6-2; Avani Chitale bt Divya Bhardwaj 6-3, 6-2.

Quarterfinals: Kashish bt Mahika Khanna 6-3, 6-1; Himaanshika bt Snigdha Patibandla 6-4, 7-5; Avani bt Pavithra Reddy 6-0, 6-3; Divya bt Richa Chougule 6-3, 6-3.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

Vaidehi Chaudhari sails into final eight in WTA Chinese Taipei

Vaidehi Chaudhari overcame a sedate start to beat Sohyun Park of Korea 0-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the pre-quarterfinals of the $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Taipei, Taiwan, on Thursday.

The results:

€74,825 Challenger, Milan, Italy Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Andre Begemann (Ger) & Jonathan Eysseric (Fra) bt Rithvik Bollipalli & Niki Poonacha 6-2, 4-6, [10-6].

$25,000 ITF men, Hillcrest, South Africa Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Ishaque Eqbal bt Alexey Aleschev (Rus) 4-6, 6-2, 5-1 (retired); Aryan Shah bt Toby Martin (GBR) 6-4, 6-4.

Doubles (quarterfinals): Aditya Balsekar & Thando Longwe-Smit (RSA) bt Isshaque Eqbal & Kris Vann Wyk (RSA) 6-1, 6-3; Pre-quarterfinals: Aditya & Thando bt James Beaven (GBR) & Darrshan Suresh (Mas) 2-6, 7-5, [10-].

$15,000 ITF men, Tianjin, China Singles (pre-quarterfinals): S Mukund bt Zhang Linghao (Chn) 6-3, 6-4.

$15,000 ITF men, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Saveliy Ivanov bt Siddharth Vishwakarma 7-5, 7-6(3); Martin Borisiouk bt S.D. Prajwal Dev 6-3, 6-4.

Doubles (quarterfinals): S.D. Prajwal Dev & Nitin Kumar Sinha bt Kirill Kolganov & Yerassyl Murat (Kaz) 7-5, 5-7, [10-5]; Daniel Khazime & Maxim Zhukov bt Daniel Ibragimov & Karan Singh 0-6, 6-4, [10-4].

$15,000 ITF men, Monastir, Tunisia Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Sai Karteek Reddy & Dev Javia bt Amr Elsayed (Egy) & Ilia Simakin 6-4, 3-6, [10-8].

$40,000 ITF women, Palma del Rio, Spain Singles (first round): Anastasiia Gureva bt Rutuja Bhosale 6-2, 6-2. Doubles (quarterfinals): Rutuja Bhosale & Sophie Chang (USA) bt Leonie Kung (Sui) & Vasanti Shinde 6-3, 6-2.

$25,000 ITF women, Taipei, Taiwan Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Vaidehi Chaudhari bt Sohyun Park (Kor) 0-6, 6-4, 6-2.

$15,000 ITF women, Los Angeles, USA Singles (first round): Sahaja Yamalapalli bt Elise Wagle (USA) 7-6(1), 7-6(4).

-Kamesh Srinivasan

CRICKET

Murshidabad Kings set up final against Malda; Murshidabad Kueens to face Kolkata Tigers in women’s final

Tithi Das’ unbeaten 30-ball 47 helped Lux Shyam Kolkata Tigers to record a 34-run win over Shrachi Rarh Tigers in a rain-affected women’s semifinal match of the Bengal Pro T20 League at the Jadavpur University ground here on Thursday.

Murshidabad Kueens won the other semis encounter.

In the men’s competition, Murshidabad Kings set up a title clash with Sobisco Smashers Malda.

Both the finals will be played on Friday.

The scores:

At Eden Gardens: Men (semifinals): Rashmi Medinipur Wizards 144/6 in 20 overs (Priyanshu Srivastava 44, Wriddhiman Saha 32) lost to Murshidabad Kings 145/5 in 18.5 overs (Koushik Ghosh 45, Vaibhav Yadav 3/29).

At Jadavpur University ground: Women (semifinals): Murshidabad Kueens 110/5 in 20 overs (Ritika Pal 39) bt Rashmir Medinipur Wizards 87/7 in 20 overs; Lux Shyam Kolkata Tigers 94/2 in 10 overs (Tithi Das 47 n.o.) bt Shrachi Rarh Tigers 60 in 8.3 overs (Mita Paul 3/17).

-Y. B. Sarangi