Indian sports wrap, May 23: Senthilkumar, Abhay advance at QSF 3 squash in Doha

Here are all the major updates, scores, and results of Indians in the world of sports on Thursday, May 23.

FILE PHOTO: Velavan Senthilkumar in action during the HCL 79th National Singles Squash Championship in Chennai. | Photo Credit: RAGU R/The Hindu

SQUASH

Senthilkumar, Abhay advance at QSF 3 squash in Doha

National champion Velavan Senthilkumar and Asian Games medallist Abhay Singh made a winning start at the prestigious USD 53,500 QSF 3 squash, a PSA World Tour Bronze event, in Doha.

World No 55 Senthilkumar from Tamil Nadu beat local challenger Yousef Essam Farag 11-7, 11-4, 11-4 in 32 minutes in the first round, while compatriot Abhay, ranked 67 in the world, put it past Pakistan’s Muhammad Asim Khan 11-2, 11-9, 15-13 in 38 minutes on Wednesday.

Senthilkumar will meet Egyptian seventh seed Omar Mosaad next, while Abhay will lock horns with sixth-seeded Frenchman Auguste Dussourd.

- Team Sportstar

$6,000 PSA Challenger: KS Ariyant beats fourth seed Nevindu in men’s pre-quarterfinals

KS Arihant beat fourth seed Nevindu Lakman of Sri Lanka 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 in the men’s pre-quarterfinals of the $6,000 PSA Challenger squash tournament at the Daly College on Thursday.

In the women’s pre-quarterfinals, Akanksha Gupta beat fifth seed Janet Vidhi 11-9, 11-8, 12-10.

The results (pre-quarterfinals)

Men: Ravindu Laksiri (Sri) bt Vaibhav Chauhan 11-1, 11-5, 11-2; Diwakar Singh bt Athbi Hamad (Kuw) 6-11, 5-11, 11-8, 14-12, 11-9; Vedant Patel bt Ansh Tripathi 11-7, 11-5, 11-7; KS Arihant bt Nevindu Lakman (Sri) 11-6, 11-7, 11-5; Shamil Wakeel (Sri) bt Adarsh Banodha 11-4, 11-5, 11-7; Tavneet Singh Mundra bt Tuwin Nilakshana Herath (Sri) 7-11, 11-7, 11-2, 11-9; Om Ssemwal bt Ravi Dixit 12-10, 12-10, 11-8.

Women: Rathika Suthanthira Seelan bt Shameena Riaz 11-7, 6-11, 11-8, 11-7; Navya Sundararajan bt Mahak Talati 11-1, 11-1, 11-2; Nirupama Dubey bbt Eesha Shrivastava 11-5, 11-3, 11-2; Anjali Semwal bt Bijali Darvada 11-9, 12-10, 11-4; Yeheni Kuruppu (Sri) bt Aryaa Dwivedi 11-4, 11-3, 11-5; Akanksha Gupta bt Janet Vidhi 11-9, 11-8, 12-10; Pooja Arthi Raghu bt Ananya Narayanan 11-7, 11-6, 11-4; Malak Samir (Egy) bt Aradhya Porwal 11-2, 11-4, 11-2.

-Team Sportstar

HOCKEY

Indian junior women’s and men’s hockey teams suffer losses

The Indian men’s and women’s junior hockey teams endured losses in their respective matches against Belgium here on a disappointing day in their ongoing tour of Europe.

Both the teams lost 2-3 to their Belgian counterparts. While Binima Dhan (49’, 58’) scored a brace for the women’s team, captain Rohit (44’, 57’) scored a brace for the men’s team.

In the women’s match, the Indians looked eager to take the lead in the first quarter, winning two penalty corners early on.

However, a resilient Belgian team ensured there was no change in the scoreline. The Belgian unit responded fiercely in the second quarter, taking a 1-0 lead before the match broke for half-time.

While India searched for the equaliser, Belgium increased its lead scoring in the third and fourth quarters to bring the score to 3-0.

The Indians rallied in the final quarter but the effort came too late. They will next play against Belgium in Antwerp May 24.

In the men’s match, the Belgians took the lead early in the game with a goal in the first quarter. They doubled the lead in the second quarter.

The Indians pulled one back with Rohit leading the charge to reduce the goal difference in the third quarter.

Belgium, however, scored a third goal with a penalty corner conversion to regain their two-goal lead.

A quick retaliation came from Rohit who converted a penalty corner to keep his team in the hunt but the Belgians held onto their lead.

The team will take on Bredase Hockey Vereniging Push in Breda later on Thursday.

- PTI

TENNIS

Ramkumar goes down to top seed

Top seed Philip Sekulic of Australia beat Ramkumar Ramanathan 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-6(0) in the quarterfinals of the $41,000 Challenger tennis tournament in Kachreti, Georgia.

Ramkumar, however, was in the doubles semifinals in partnership with Yanki Erel of Turkey.

THE RESULTS

€74,825 Challenger, Skopje, Macedonia

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Ryan Seggerman & Patrik Trhac (USA) & Niki Poonacha & Marcelo Zormann (Bra) 3-6, 6-1, [10-8]; Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan & Vijay Sundar Prashanth bt Vladyslav Manafov (Ukr) & Patrik Niklas-Salminen (Fin) 7-5, 7-6(3); Andrew Paulson & Patrik Rikl (Cze) bt Anirudh Chandrasekar & Arjun Kadhe 7-6(3), 6-3.

$41,000 Challenger, Kachreti, Georgia

Singles (quarterfinals): Philip Sekulic (Aus) bt Ramkumar Ramanathan 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-6(0).

Doubles (quarterfinals): Yanki Erel (Tur) & Ramkumar Ramanathan bt Pruchya Isaro (Tha) & Kelsey Stevenson (Can) 6-3, 6-7(12), [10-7].

$25,000 ITF men, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Benjamin Lock (Zim) bt Chirag Duhan 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-4; Siddharth Vishwakarma bt Raghav Jaisinghani 6-1, 7-5; Kabir Hans bt Karan Singh 6-2, 6-4; Adil Kalyanpur bt SD Prajwal Dev 7-6(5), 0-6, 6-4; Ishaque Eqbal bt Courtney Lock (Zim) 6-3, 6-3.

$15,000 ITF men, Bol, Croatia

Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Jasza Szajrych (Pol) bt Yuvan Nandal 7-6(4), 6-2.

$15,000 ITF men, Kingston, Jamaica

Singles (first round): Aryan Shah bt John Chin (Jam) 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Adhithya Ganesan (USA) & Aryan Shah bt Jody Maginley (Ant) & Josshua Ssheehy (USA) 6-3, 3-6, [10-6].

$40,000 ITF women, Goyang, Korea

Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Aoi Ito (Jpn) bt Vaidehi Chaudhari 6-1, 2-6, 6-1.

Doubles (quarterfinals): Lizette Cabrera & Gabriella Fick (Aus) bt Vaidehi Chaudhari & Yukina Saigo (Jpn) 6-4, 6-2.

$15,000 ITF women, Monastir, Tunisia

Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Zeel Desai bt Mi Lan (Chn) 3-6, 7-5, 7-5.

- Kamesh Srinivasan

ITF Masters

Tikam Singh Panwar beat Raj Dutt 6-4, 7-6(5) in the men’s over-55 final of the ITF Masters tennis tournament at the Durga Public School.

In the women’s section, Harpreet Bajpai (over-30), Madhu Mann (over-40) and Meenu Dhadwal (over-50) emerged champions by winning their round-robin league matches.

Similarly, Reno Malan won his two league matches in the men’s over-70 category to emerge champion.

THE RESULTS (FINALS)

Men: Over-30: Surya Pavan bt Anurag Kumar 6-2, 6-1.

Over-35: Gaurav Jain bt Keshav Mahajan 6-4, 6-1.

Over-40: Varun Makkar bt Vikas Guliya 6-3, 6-3.

Over-45: Inderjit Singh Kinra bt Avinash Kunwar 6-2, 6-2.

Over-50: Ashish Kapoor bt Ashish Pant 6-3, 6-0.

Over-55: Tikam Singh Panwar bt Raj Dutt 6-4, 7-6(5).

Over-60: Mani Mohan Nehru bt Gauri Shankar Saini 6-2, 6-2.

Over-65: Murthati Suresh bt Sunil Kumar Pandey 6-1, 6-4.

Over-75: Suresh Bajjoria bt Rakesh Bhandari 6-1, 6-1.

- Kamesh Srinivasan

National sub-junior championship

Prakaash Sarran fought his way past Vishvajeet Sanas 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(2) in the boys pre-quarterfinals of the Ramesh Desai memorial National sub-junior tennis championship at the KDLTA Complex on Thursday.

In the girls pre-quarterfinals Swasti Singh overcame Princy Mandagalla 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-1.

THE RESULTS (PRE-QUARTERFINALS)

Under-16 boys

Prateek Sheoran bt Aaradhya Mhasde 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3; Neel Kellkar bt Swaraj Dhamdhere 6-3, 0-6, 7-6(2); Hruthik Katakam bt Sankalp Sahani 6-0, 6-1; Saksham Bhansali bt Sharan Ssomasi 5-7, 6-0, 6-2; Tavish Pahwa bt Channamallikarjuna Yale 6-1, 6-1; Harsh Malik bt Nikith Korishettru 6-1, 1-6, 7-6(3); Prakaash Sarran bt Vishvajeet Sanas 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(2); Shivtej Shirfule bt Varad Undre 6-3, 6-1.

Under-16 girls

Deepshika Vinayagamurthy bt Riddhi Shinde 6-3, 4-6, 6-2; Swasti Singh bt Princy Mandagalla 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-1; Shaivi Dalal bt Disha Kumar 6-3, 6-0; Parthsarthi Mundhe bt Shreya Pathare 6-2, 6-1; Nainika Bendram bt Devashree Mahadeshwar 6-4, 6-3; Ranjhana Sangram bt Keerthana Rangineni 6-2, 6-1; Swanika Roy bt Akansha Ghosh 6-1, 6-0; Anandita Upadhyay bt Harsha Oruganti 6-0, 6-3.

- Kamesh Srinivasan

AITA men’s tennis tournament: Second seed Suraj sets up title clash against top seed Neeraj

Second seed Suraj Prabodh beat qualifier Paramveer Bajwa 6-1, 7-6(5) to set up a title clash against top seed Neeraj Yashpaul in the HPCL Mittal Rs.100,000 AITA men’s tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex on Thursday.

Suraj won the doubles title in partnership with Vilasier Khate.

The results

Singles (semifinals): Neeraj Yashpaul bt Moksh Puri 6-1, 6-2; Suraj Prabodh bt Paramveer Bajwa 6-1, 7-6(5).

Doubles (final): Vilasier Khate & Suraj Prabodh bt Nirav Shetty & Alok Hajare 7-5, 6-1.

-Team Sportstar

Asia-Oceania Junior Davis Cup: Taiwan beats India 2-0 in quarterfinals

Taiwan beat India 2-0 in the quarterfinals of the Asia-Oceania Junior Davis Cup under-16 tennis tournament in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, on Thursday.

Japan, Hong Kong and host Kazakhstan were the other teams that won their quarterfinals and qualified for the World Group competition to be staged later.

In the positional matches for 5-8, India will play China on Friday.

Results (Quarterfinals)

 Taiwan bt India 2-0 (Wang Yen Chun bt Samarth Sahita 7-5, 5-7, 6-0; Kuan Shou Chen bt Aradhya Kshitij 6-4, 6-1).

-Team Sportstar

VOLLEYBALL

AVC Women’s Challenge Cup 2024: India beats Chinese Taipei 3-0

India defeated Chinese Taipei 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-16) in the second match of Pool A of the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup for Women on Thursday in Manila.

Indian women in action against Chinese Taipei during the Pool A match of the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup for Women. | Photo Credit: AVC

Soorya scored a match-high 15 points, while Anusree Kambrath Poyilil also contributed 13 points at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

India had earlier beaten Iran in its opening encounter on Wednesday.

- Team Sportstar

GOLF

Diksha off to modest start at Jabra Ladies Open

Indian golfer Diksha Dagar got off to a modest start with a one-over 72 in the first round of the Jabra Ladies Open here.

Diksha had four birdies against five bogeys as she started from the 15th, which is the starting tee for the back nine of the Evian Golf Resort course this week.

She was T-37, while the only other Indian to finish the round was Tvesa Malik, who had a tough time with a round of 6-over 77. At T-101, she is in danger of missing the cut.

There are six Indians in all in the field and other than Diksha and Tvesa, Pranavi Urs finished her round but at 8-over for the day she was in danger of missing the cut.

The remaining three are yet to finish their round. Amandeep Drall was 1-under and T-22 but had six more holes to play, while Sneha Singh was 2-over with six to play. Vani Kapoor was 6-over with three holes to go.

Agathe Sauzon of France had a superb start with 5-under 66. Also at 5-under was Moroccan Ines Laklalech with three mores to complete the round.

Sauzon had seven birdies against two bogeys, while Laklalech had six birdies and one bogey, but she had three more to play.

Swiss star Morgane Metraux and Jana Melichova with 67 each were tied for third.

-PTI