SNOOKER
Reigning National champion and No. 1 Sourav Kothari will spearhead India’s challenge in the snooker World Cup to be held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, from Friday.
Kothari has also been given a wild card to the IBSF World 6 red snooker championship that will be held after the World Cup from September 21-25 at the same venue.
The other two Indians who will be in fray are current India No. 2 Paras Gupta and Kamal Chawla.
More than 20 countries are expected to participate in these major championships of the World Snooker calendar over the next fortnight.
These are the first international individual snooker championships that Kothari will be participating in since becoming the national champion in December last year and having missed the Asian Snooker Championship in Doha earlier this year due to unavoidable circumstances.
A six-member Indian women’s team will also take part in the championship.
FOOTBALL
Sreenidi Deccan signs Lalchungnunga Chhangte from Hyderabad FC
Sreenidi Deccan FC announced the signing of winger Lalchungnunga Chhangte from Hyderabad FC on Friday.
The Mizoram-born footballer joins Sreenidi Deccan FC after impressing in the domestic leagues and making a name for himself with standout performances at Hyderabad FC.
Head Coach Domingo Oramas expressed his excitement about the signing, saying “Chhangte is a player with immense potential. His speed, technical ability, and versatility make him a valuable addition to our squad. We’re confident he will bring a new level of dynamism to our attack, and we’re excited to see how he develops with us.”
Chhangte said he was excited to begin this new chapter of his career with Sreenidi Deccan FC. “It’s a great opportunity for me to grow as a player, and I’m looking forward to contributing to the team’s success. I can’t wait to get started and give my all for the club and its project,” he said.
-Team Sportstar
Super League Kerala - Forca Kochi slavages 1-1 draw against Kannur Warriors
Forca Kochi was let down by a howler from its goalkeeper, but it still managed to salvage a point – its first in the Super League Kerala.
The Kochi men could not have afforded another defeat after losing its opening match, and nobody would grudge its 1-1 draw with Kannur Warriors on Friday night. The Warriors have moved to the top of the table with four points from two games.
David Grande celebrating his freak goal for Kannur Warriors against Forca Kochi in the Super League Kerala. | Photo Credit: K. RAGESH/THE HINDU
It was the Kochi side that looked keener to press forward from early on, and the first goal came almost against the run of play in the 18th minute. And that goal will haunt the Kochi goalkeeper Subhasish Roy Choudhury for some time: his lazy goal-kick hit the back of a jumping David Grande inside the box, and the deflection beat him comfortably. It was indeed the freakiest of goals.
Forca, however, continued to attack through either wing, with Nijo Gilbert coming up with some fine crosses. But, the equaliser eluded the team till well into the second half.
It finally came - off a superb cross from Said Nidhal from the right. Basanta Singh’s header proved perfect.
The result
-P.K. Ajith Kumar
TENNIS
ITF junior tennis: Qualifier Prachi beats Aakruti to set up title clash against top seed Aishwarya
Qualifier Prachi Malik beat Aakruti Sonkusare 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 at the Ahmedabad City Foundation courts on Friday to set up a title clash against top seed Aishwarya Jadhav in the girl’s section of the ITF junior tennis tournament.
The boy’s final will be between Om Patel and Vatsal Manikantan.
Results
-Team Sportstar
GOLF
Vidhatri overcomes wet conditions to win third straight title in 11th leg of WPGT
Vidhatri Urs played smart in wet conditions to perform a hat-trick of titles, as she comfortably won the 11th leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Delhi Golf Club on Friday.
With the third round also being reduced to nine holes owing to persistent rain, as was the case on the second day, Vidhatri shot one-under 35, as she came up with a birdie on the eighth, and shot par across the rest.
Champion Vidhatri Urs in the 11th leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Delhi Golf Club on Friday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
With a score of 8-under 136 over 36 holes, Vidhatri beat Hitaashee Bakshi by six shots. Hitaashee also shot one-under 35 for the day, and an overall 2-under 142. Sneha Singh was third with 143, three shots ahead of the experienced Amandeep Drall. Anvvi Dahhiya and Tvesa Malik Sandhu were tied for fifth with 147.
Seher Atwal had a hole-in-one, and had an even par 36 for the day, for a five-over 149 that placed her joint seventh with amateur Mannat Brar.
Gauri Karhade, Ridhima Dilawari and Shweta Mansingh were tied for the ninth place at 150.
-Team Sportstar
BRIDGE
Delhi to host the cash-rich 21st HCL International Bridge from September 14
The 21st HCL International bridge championship with a prize purse of $325,000 will be played at the Leela Ambience Convention here from Saturday.
One of the richest bridge events in the world, the tournament has attracted over 1000 players and 180 teams from the USA, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Russia, Israel, UAE, Kenya, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh apart from host India.
A new Mixed IMP pairs event has been added to the schedule this year. The Team of Four Gold, the Team of Four Silver, Open Match point pairs, and IMP Pairs will be the other events in the nine-day tournament.
The championship will culminate with the Pro-Am event that will witness amateurs partnering professionals, and learn the nuances of the game.
The championship was established in 2003 by Mrs. Kiran Nadar, a Commonwealth Games gold medalist who also won a medal in the Asian Games in 2018.
“I warmly welcome all players from around the world. As our flagship sports initiative, I have seen the HCL International Bridge championship grow steadily each year, in terms of scale, participation, prestige and competitiveness. I look forward to competing against the best teams,” said Kiran Nadar.
-Team Sportstar
SWIMMING
Karnataka retains Senior National Aquatic Championships title
Karnataka men’s 4x100m freestyle quartet set a new meet record to help the state win the overall title at the 77th Senior National Aquatic Championships that concluded here on Friday.
Prithvi M, Kartikeyan Nair, Akash Mani and Srihari Nataraj combined to post 3 minutes 28.09 seconds and better Karnataka’s own record of 3:28.16 set in 2023. Unni Krishnan S, Vikkas Prabhakar, Vinayak Vijay and Anand A of Services finished second with 3:28.93.
The meet also witnessed Railways Shivangi Sarma, Astha Choudhury, Kanya Nayyar and Avantika Sudhir Chavan break Maharashtra’s earlier meet record of 4:02.24 in the women’s 4x100m freestyle created in 2023 by clocking 4:01.83.
Karnataka’s Shirin, Vihitha Nayana Loganathan, Shalini R Dixit and Hashika Ramachandra came second with 4:02.62.
Karnataka bagged 17 golds, 12 silvers and four bronze to clinch the overall title. Maharashtra finished overall runner-up with six gold, four silver and four bronze medals.
Aneesh S Gowda of Karnataka was named the men’s individual champion with 4 gold medals while Hashika Ramachandra, also of Karnataka, claimed the top spot among women with 3 golds and 1 silver.
In the women’s 400m individual medley, Karnataka’s Thanya Shadakshar was marginally leading in the initial 100m of butterfly but Maharashtra’s Saanvi Deshwal pulled ahead of her in the next 100m backstroke.
Thanya made up some distance in breaststroke to come up alongside Saanvi and in the last 100m of freestyle put a significant distance between them. Thanya finished first with 5:08.10 while Saanvi came in second with 5:10.89.
Services’ Vinayak Vijay was leading the 400m individual medley in the first 100m butterfly, accompanied by Dhulipudi Varshith of Telangana and Yug Chelani of Rajasthan.
Dhulipudi and Yug overtook Vinayak in the next 100m backstroke, but the former clawed his way back into contention in the breaststroke. In the last 100m of freestyle, Yug Chelani and Andhra Pradesh’s Mongam Theerdhu Samadev turned the table to finish first and second with 4:36.39 and 4:36.44 respectively.
The women’s 200m backstroke saw Odisha’s Pratyasa Ray lead in the first 50m but Bengal’s Soubrity Mondal turned on the afterburners to snatch the lead and held it for the rest of the race to finish first with 2:21.76. Pratyasa finished second with 2:24.29.
In the men’s 200m backstroke, Tamil Nadu’s Nithik Nathella and Maharashtra’s Rishabh Anupam Das went neck to neck initially. But, Rishabh began pulling ahead halfway through the race but in the last 50m sprint Nithik overtook him and claimed first place, clocking 2:03.47. Rishabh finished second at 2:04.03.
Sharing his experience, Srihari Natraj said, “It was a great meet, coming back from the Olympics, it was a great chance to compete with friends. Karnataka put on a great show and retained the title again, I’m sure they would’ve won without me.”
-PTI
TENNIS
ITF women’s tennis: Shrivalli loses against top seed Gibson in quarterfinals
Shrivalli Bhamidipaty went down fighting as she was beaten 6-3, 7-5 by top seed Talia Gibson in the quarterfinals of the $60,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Perth, Australia, on Friday.
In the $25,000 men’s event in Bali, Indonesia, Sai Karteek Reddy won the doubles title in partnership with Bogdan Bobrov.
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