GOLF
Sneha looking to add more silverware as Vani, Amandeep start favourites
A breakthrough win last week in the third leg, Sneha Singh would look to build on that triumph as she tees off in the fourth leg of the Hero WPG Tour at the Tollygunge Club beginning here on Tuesday.
A week ago, Sneha won the third leg at the neighbouring Royal Calcutta Golf Club.
The fourth leg of the 2023 season will see 32 players in action and carry a purse of Rs 10 lakhs.
Sneha has been paired with Vani Kapoor, who is making only her second start this season. Vani was second in the second leg at the BPGC and has since then been working on her game, getting ready for the busy season ahead on the Ladies European Tour.
Amandeep Drall, who dropped down and finished tied sixth last week, was tied third in the second leg. She will surely be looking at a better finish and a crack at her first title in 2023.
Both Vani and Amandeep are slated to play on the Ladies European Tour event, the Joburg Ladies Open in the first week of March.
Seher Atwal, who despite having earned her card on the LET, is waiting to get her first start on the LET and in the meantime continues to play on the Hero WPGT.
Winner of the first leg, Seher, who was tied fourth last week, will be paired with Trimann Saluja and Lakhmehar Pardesi.
Among the youngsters to watch out for is Jasmine Shekar, who had a great week at RCGC where she gave Sneha a run for her money.
The teenaged Jasmine seemed set for a maiden win, but succumbed to pressure and fell into a tie which she lost in the third play-off to Sneha. The experience will stand the 18-year-old Bengaluru girl in good stead.
Two other players hoping to get some results and move upwards on the pro circuit are the experienced Neha Tripathi and Astha Madan.
There are six amateurs in the field -- Smriti Bhargav, Lavanya Jadon, Anaahat Bindra, Rishika Muralidhar, Janneya Dasanniee and Aashera Sethi.
-PTI
HOCKEY
Hockey India Senior national women’s hockey championship
Tamil Nadu scored a 3-0 win over Puducherry in the 13th Hockey India Senior national women’s hockey championship at District Sports Authority Stadium here on Monday.
S. Priyanga, S. Soniya and Janani struck once each to complete the tally for the winners.
In another match, Uttar Pradesh scored a hard-fought 3-2 win over Andhra Pradesh thanks to a brace by Vartika Rawat, who also netted the match-winner when the scores were tied two-all.
The results:
-V.V SUBRAHMANYAM
TENNIS
ITF women’s tournament
More good players from Thailand, Japan, Germany and Poland join the field to make the next $15,000 ITF women’s tournament, being hosted at the Tennis Project, Baliawas, so much more competitive.
The fact that the two champions from the last fortnight of events in Jhajjar, Tamara Curovic of Serbia and Zeel Desai are seeded fifth and seventh should give a hint about the quality of players assembled.
Diana Marcinkevica of Latvia, the top seed had been ousted early by finalist Sandeepti Singh Rao last week. She would be thirsting to make amends, even though she had the consolation of winning the doubles title with Fanny Ostlund of Sweden.
Punnin Kovapitukted, the second seed from Thailand, had won a double crown at the same venue last year, and thus would be conifdent of finding her rhythm and fighting at her best against anyone.
Saki Imamura of Japan, Emily Welker, Antonia Schmidt, Sarah-Rebecca Sekulic of GErmany and Weronika Baszak of Poland would be keen to assert their game.
The shift from clay over the last fortnight to the hard courts may favour many, and that should lead to more interesting matches.
Credit should be given to Vaidehi Chaudhari, Zeel and Sandeepti for defying the odds and sustaining the Indian challenge against quality opposition so far. There is no reason why the trend would not continue for one more week, before the two bigger events lined up in Bengaluru.
It should be another week of lively action which would help the players sharpen their game and try to climb the slippery WTA ranking ladder.
The seedings: 1. Diana Marcinkevica (Lat), 2. Punnin Kovapitukted (Tha), 3. Saki Imamura (Jpn), 4. Vaidehi Chaudhari, 5. Tamara Curovic (Srb), 6. Emily Welker (Ger), 7. Zeel Desai, 8. Antonia Schmidt (Ger).
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Yuki, Ankita lose early
Yuki Bhambri went down fighting 6-4, 3-6, 5-7 to the 126th ranked Pavel Kotov in the first qualifying round of the $1,485,775 ATP tennis tournament in Doha.
It was a good warm up for Yuki, who would be competing in the doubles with Saketh Myneni. The singles effort fetched him $4,030.
In the $2,788,468 WTA event in Dubai, Ankita Raina lost after winning the first set against Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria.
The results:
$1,485,775 ATP, Doha, Qatar
Qualifying singles (first round): Pavel Kotov bt Yuki Bhambri 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
$2,788,468 WTA, Dubai, UAE
Qualifying singles (first round): Viktoriya Tomova (Bul) bt Ankita Raina 3-6,, 6-1, 6-4.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
WEIGHTLIFTING
Gyaneshwari Yadav aggregated 163kg to win the 49kg crown in the Khelo India women’s National Ranking Weightlifting Tournament in Patna on Monday. She also took the junior title.
The results (seniors only):
49kg: 1. Gyaneshwari Yadav (Cht) snatch 75kg, clean and jerk 88kg, total 163kg; 2. Sarika Shingare (RSPB) 72kg, 90kg, 162kg; 3. Shalu (Har) 69kg, 89kg, 158kg; 55kg: 1. Usha (Har) 79kg, 102kg, 181kg; 2. Shrabani Das (WB) 78kg, 100kg, 178kg; 3. Boni Mangahya (Aru) 75kg, 100kg, 175kg.
TABLE TENNIS
TN girls shock second-seeded UP
Tamil Nadu shocked second-seeded Uttar Pradesh 3-2 and entered the under-15 girls inter-State team semifinals of the UTT 84th National sub-junior table tennis championships at the Alappuzha YMCA on Monday.
The top-seeded Delhi, Maharashtra and West Bengal were the other teams to enter the semifinals.
Sharvani Nagam lost to UP’s top star Avani Tripathi 1-3 in the opening singles and a little later, TN was 1-2 down after two matches. But Sharvani made amends by winning the reverse singles and then Hansini completed TN’s with a 3-1 victory over Avani.The results (girls, inter-State team event):
Quarterfinals: Delhi bt Haryana 3-1 (Avisha Karmakar bt Saanvi Dargan 8-11, 12-14, 11-7, 11-4, 11-8, Sayanika Maji bt Gargi Dangi 11-7, 11-4, 7-11, 11-8, Prisha Goel/Vanshika Mudgal lost to Saanvi/Manal Antar 10-12, 13-15, 8-11, Avisha Karmakar bt Gargi Dangi 11-9, 11-4, 7-11, 4-11, 12-10); Maharashtra bt Gujarat 3-1 (Jennifer Varghese lost to Riya Jayswal 11-9, 7-11, 11-1, 7-11, 3-11, Bhoota Raina bt Pratha Pawar 11-7, 11-7, 11-3, Jennifer/Bhoota bt Riya/Pratha 11-2, 5-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-6, Jennifer Varghese bt Pratha Pawar 11-8, 11-8, 11-3); West Bengal bt Assam 3-0 (Syndrela Das bt Prachi Mazumdar 12-10, 11-7, 11-4, Nandini Sahab t Gargi Saikia 11-5, 11-9, 11-4, Nandini/Syndrela bt Prachi/Gargi 11-7, 11-6, 11-6); Tamil Nadu bt Uttar Pradesh 3-2 (Sharvani Nagam lost to Avani Tripathi 10-12, 6-11, 11-7, 4-11, M. Hansini bt Suhani Mahajan 11-7, 11-2, 12-10, Hansini/Reena Balaji lost to Suhani/Avani 11-4, 12-9, 7-11, 7-11, 8-11, Sharvani Nagam bt Suhani Mahajan 11-5, 11-9, 11-9, Hansini bt Avani Tripathi 11-7, 11-8, 4-11, 11-7).
Pre-quarterfinals: Delhi bt Kerala 3-1; Haryana bt AP 3-0; Gujarat bt Uttarakhand 3-0; Maharashtra bt J&K 3-0; Assam bt PSPBA 3-0; WB bt Chandigarh 3-0; TN bt Punjab 3-0; UP bt Karnataka 3-1.
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