Tennis
ITF women’s tennis: Russia’s Tikhonova shocks second seed Zuger
Fifth seed Anastasia Tikhonova of Russia silenced second seed Joanne Zuger of Switzerland with a 6-4, 6-1 victory in the final of the $40,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the Arera Club on Sunday.
Tikhonova had dropped two sets along the way, one to the top seed Nigina Abduraimova of Uzbekistan and the other to Karman Kaur Thandi.
Having lost in the final qualifying round of the Australian Open, it was some consolation for Tikhonova to rush to India and capture a title.
It was the fourth title of her career for the 22-year-old Tikhonova, who had won a $60,000 event in Pretoria last year.
The 22-year-old Joanne could not add to her two titles won at the $15,000 level. Interestingly, she had also lost to Diana Shnaider in the first qualifying round of Australian Open. Diana beat Tikhonova in the third round.
The results (final): Anastasia Tikhonova (Rus) bt Joanne Zuger (Sui) 6-4, 6-1.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
ITF Men’s tennis: Rawat loses to second seed Weber
Sidharth Rawat went down fighting to second seed Arthur Weber of France in the final of the $15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sunday.
The 30-year-old Weber won a second singles title of his career, as he beat Sidharth 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the two-hour duel.
Weber’s earlier title had also come in Jakarta, in a $25,000 event.
The defeat apart, it was a fruitful outing for Sidharth who had played three sets in all five rounds, and had beaten the top seed Thomas Fancutt of Australia in a dramatic fashion in the semifinals.
The results: $15,000 ITF men, Jakarta, Indonesia Singles (final): Arthur Weber (Fra) bt Sidharth Rawat 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
ITF women’s tennis: Sharmada beats Jagmeet to progress into the next round in Pune
Sharmada Balu battled past Jagmeet Kaur 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the first qualifying round of the NECC $40,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the Deccan Gymkhana on Sunday.
In the second and final qualifying round, Sharmada will face Ksenia Zaytseva.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
The results:
Qualifying singles (first round): Gozal Ainitdinova (Kaz) bt Pooja Ingale 6-0, 6-1; Priyanshi Bhandari bt Smriti Bhasin 6-4, 6-3; Eri Shimizu (Jpn) bt Sameeksha Shroff 6-0, 6-1; Humera Baharmus bt Chandana Potugari 6-4, 6-4; Mana Kawamura (Jpn) bt Zeel Desai 6-3, 6-0; Ishwari Matere bt Farhat Aleen Qamar 6-3, 6-3; Emily Welker (Ger) bt Bela Tamhankar 6-0, 6-3; Soha Sadiq w.o. Sravya Shivani 6-4 (retired); Tina Nadine Smith (Aus) bt Anjali Rathi 6-0, 6-1;Yubrani Banerjee bt Saumya Vig 6-2, 5-7, 6-3; Mei Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Madhurima Sawant 6-2, 6-0; Funa Kozaki (Jpn) bt Avishka Gupta 6-1, 6-1; Anastasia Sukhotina bt KUndali Majgaine 6-0, 6-1; Paavanii Paathak bt Shreya Tatavarthy 6-1, 6-2; Ksenia Zaytseva bt Laalitya Kalluri 6-1, 6-1; Sharmada Balu bt Jagmeet Kaur 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.
Shooting
National selection trials: Olympian Bajwa beats Abhay in skeet final
Olympian Angad Vir Bajwa roared back to the top as he beat Abhay Singh Sekhon 39-34 in the skeet final of the National shotgun selection trials at the New Moti Bagh Gun Club.
After qualifying in the third place behind Man Singh (124) and Anantjeet Singh Naruka (120), world record holder Angad was able to assert his class as he shot the best in the semifinals and final.
After the Tokyo Olympics, Angad had taken nearly a year off to rekindle his hunger for the sport.
In the women’s section, Ganemat Sekhon topped by beating Parinaaz Dhaliwal 36-30. National champion Maheshwari Chauhan placed fourth behind Zahra Mufaddal Deesawala.
The results
-Kamesh Srinivasan
CHESS
Tata Steel Masters: Praggnanandhaa scores second win, Arjun, Gukesh lose
R. Praggnanandhaa (4.5 points) took his time to nail local hope Jorden van Foreest in 64 moves for his second victory from seven rounds of the Masters section of the Tata Steel chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee, near Amsterdam, on Saturday.
Leader Nodirbek Abdusattorov (5.5) consolidated his lead by inflicting a first defeat on Arjun Erigaisi (3). D. Gukesh (1.5) suffered a second straight loss and fourth in all after running into Wesley So.
In the Challengers section, R. Vaishali (3) scored her second successive victory while B. Adhiban (3) suffered his first loss after six draws.
The results (seventh round, Indians unless stated): Masters: R. Praggnanandhaa (4.5) bt Jorden van Foreest (Ned, 2); Arjun Erigiasi (3) lost to Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 5.5); D. Gukesh (1.5) lost to So Wesley (USA, 4.5); Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 3.5) bt Richard Rapport (Rom, 2.5); Levon Aronian (USA, 3.5) drew with Anish Giri (Ned, 4); Vincent Keymer (Ger, 2) drew with Ding Liren (Chn, 3.5); Parham Maghsoodloo (Iri, 3.5) drew with Fabiano Caruana (USA, 4.5). Challengers: R. Vaishali (3) bt Luis Supi (Bra, 3); B. Adhiban (3) lost to Jergus Pechac (Svk, 1.5); Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb, 5) bt Eline Roebers (Ned, 2); Alexander Donchenko (Ger, 5.5) bt Mustafa Yilmaz (Tur, 4.5); Max Warmerdam (Ned, 3) drew with Velimir Ivic (Ser, 4.5); Thomas Beerdsen (Ned, 4.5) bt Abhimanyu Mishra (2.5); Amin Tabatabaei (Iri, 4) bt Erwin L’Ami (3).
- Rakesh Rao
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