Indian sports wrap, September 27: Hembram, Rathore to lead Rugby India at Asia Rugby U18 7s Championship

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

Charan Hembram will lead the U18 Indian boys at Asia Rugby U18 7s Championship. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

RUGBY

Hembram, Rathore to lead Rugby India at Asia Rugby U18 7s Championship

The U18 Indian boys and girls rugby team will compete at the Asia Rugby U18 7s Championship held between September 28 and 29, 2024. The teams led by Charan Hembram and Vijayshree Rathore have left for Malaysia today, after a 30-day national camp that was held in SAI Kolkata.

“Many congratulations to the boys and girls who have made it to the U18 Indian national team. This cohort of players, part of the federation’s age-grade teams, are paramount as they represent the future of rugby in our country and shall be donning the Indian jersey for the first time. We wish them the very best.”, said Mr. Rahul Bose, President, Indian Rugby Football Union.

The boys are pooled with UAE, Malaysia, Singapore and Saudi Arabia while the girls are competing with UAE, Hong Kong China, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. The boys will start their campaign against Saudi Arabia whilst the girls will go head-to-head with Thailand to kickstart their campaign.

Complete Fixtures:

September 28

Match 1: India vs Saudi Arabia (Boys)

Match 2: India vs UAE (Girls)

Match 3: India vs Singapore (Boys)

Match 4: India vs Hong Kong China (Girls)

Match 5: India vs Malaysia (Boys)

Match 6: India vs Singapore (Girls)

September 29

Match 1: India vs Thailand (Girls)

Match 2: India vs UAE (Boys)

Match 3: India vs Malaysia (Girls)

*Position matches and Final match subject to qualification.

-Team Sportstar

CHESS

Megha, Tijan to lead India’s campaign in world junior chess for blind

Asian Para Games medallists Megha Chakraborty and Tijan Gawar will lead India’s campaign in the 12th IBCA World Junior and Women Chess Championship for the Blind and Visually Impaired to be held here from Saturday.

The nine-day tournament, conducted under the aegis of All India Chess Federation for the Blind (AICFB), is being staged in Asia for the first time.

Apart from the Indian challengers, top 32 chess players from nations such as USA, Poland, Sweden and Ukraine are participating in the event.

“It is our honour to host this event, where we not only celebrate the exceptional talents of players with visual impairments but also strengthen the chess community around the world.

“We look forward to some sensational games and personal stories the next few days will bring,” said Charudatta Jhadhav, the AICFB president in a release.

-PTI

GOLF

Yuvraj Sandhu lies T-2, Indians start well in Taipei

India’s Yuvraj Sandhu got off to a superb start with a 7-under 65 that placed him tied second after the first round of the Yeangder TPC golf tournament in Taiwan.

Sandhu, who was one of the early starters from the first tee, had three birdies in the first four holes and turned in 3-under. Then over the last seven holes, he had five birdies, one bogey and one par for a brilliant 65.

He was one behind Thailand’s Suteepat Prateeptienchai, who blasted an eight-under-par 64 to take the lead after the first-round.

The leader had an eagle, seven birdies and one dropped shot at Linkou International Golf & Country Club. Chinese-Taipei’s Wang Wei-hsuan, who also carded a 7-under 65, shared the second spot with Sandhu.

Indians had a good day as Ajeetesh Sandhu (67) and Karandeep Kochhar (67) were tied sixth while Shiv Kapur (68) was T-14.

Among other Indians, Rashid Khan (70) was T-46, Gaganjeet Bhullar (71) was T-67, SSP Chawrasia (75) was T-128, S Chikkarangappa (76) was T-137 and Varun Chopra (82) was T-150. Indian-American Manav Shah (70) was T-46.

“Game is good. I am confident but do have a few nerves. Quite far from home, of course. As I played here last year so I knew what to prepare for,” Sandhu said.

He has been struggling this year and missed the past six cuts, but he is still enjoying his debut season on the Asian Tour.

-PTI

MORE SPORTS

World Padel League’s second season to be held in Mumbai

The second season of the World Padel League for both men and women players from around the world will be held here from February 6-9 next year in a franchise-based format.

The first edition of the competition was organised in Dubai.

Padel is a racquet-based sport which is similar to tennis and squash. It is played in an enclosed space with a net in the middle but the court size is much smaller than tennis.

The players here are allowed to hit the ball bouncing off the enclosure in order to keep it in play.

It was developed by a Mexican named Enrique Corcuera in the 1970s.

Padel is usually played by four people in a contest of doubles but players can also compete as singles.

The Indian Padel Federation’s president Sneha Abraham Sehgal said, “Padel has been rapidly rising in India, and more people are increasingly interested in taking up the sport. With the World Padel League coming to India, it shows Padel’s growing popularity in the country,” she said in a release.

-PTI

TENNIS

AITA U-14 tournament: Double crown for Vivaan Mirdha

Kaustubh Singh and champion Vivaan Mirdha in the AITA Super Series junior tennis tournament in Jodhpur.  | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Vivaan Mirdha won a double crown in the AITA super series under-14 tennis tournament at the Mallinath Sardar Academy.

Vivaan defeated his doubles partner Kaustubh Singh 6-3, 7-5 in the final while the duo together beat Tanish Patil and Vir Chattur.

The girls title was bagged by Aaradhya Meena who outplayed Darshamini Singh for the loss of one game in the final.

The results (finals):

Under-14 boys: Vivaan Mirdha bt Kaustubh Singh 6-3, 7-5.

Doubles: Vivaan Mirdha & Kaustubh Singh bt Tanish Patil & Vir Chattur 6-0, 6-2.

Under-14 girls: Aaradhya Meena bt Darshamini Singh 6-0, 6-1.

- Team Sportstar

HPCL-Mittal AITA tournament: Pooja Ingale wins women’s final; Debasis Sahoo men’s champion

Second seed Pooja Ingale recovered from a slow start to beat qualifier Mahika Khanna 5-7, 6-0, 6-4 in the women’s final of the HPCL-Mittal Rs.200,000 AITA men’s and women’s tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex on Friday.

In the men’s final, qualifier Debasis Sahoo asserted himself against Shanker Heisnam for the loss of four games.

The results (finals):

Men: Debasis Sahoo bt Shanker Heisnam 6-1, 6-3.

Women: Pooja Ingale bt Mahika Khanna 5-7, 6-0, 6-4.

- Team Sportstar

Nonthaburi Challenger Tennis: Rithvik, Arjun win in doubles semifinals

Top seeds Rithvik Bollipalli and Arjun Kadhe beat Toshihide Matsui of Japan and Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-3, 6-4 in the doubles semifinals of the $133,250 Challenger tennis tournament in Nonthaburi, Thailand, on Friday.

In the final, the Indian pair will be challenged by Blake Ellis and Adam Walton of Australia.

The results

$133,250 Challenger, Nonthaburi, Thailand Doubles (semifinals): Rithvik Bollipalli & Arjun Kadhe bt Toshihide Matsui (Jpn) & Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-3, 6-4.

$25,000 ITF men, Kigali, Rwanda Singles (quarterfinals): Adil Kalyanpur bt Manuel Plunger (Ita) 6-3, 6-1; Karan Singh bt Guy Iradukunda (Bdi) 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3.

Doubles (quarterfinals): Corentin Denolly (Fra) & Aziz Ouakaa (Tun) bt Adil Kalyanpur & Rishi Reddy 6-4, 6-2. $15,000 ITF men, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

Doubles (semifinals): Daniil Golubev & Evgenii Tirunev bt Aryan Lakshmanan & Roland Stuurman (Ned) 6-4, 7-5. $25,000 ITF women, Berkeley, USA

Doubles (quarterfinals): Alicia Linana (Esp) & Sahaja Yamalapalli w.o. Iva jovic & Clervie Ngounoue (USA); Rutuja Bhosale & Ema Burgic (USA) bt Angella Okutoyi (Ken) & Merna Refaat (Egy) 6-4, 6-2.

-Team Sportstar