SQUASH
Abhay, Ramit move up in style in premier PSA events
Rising Indian squash player Abhay Singh stormed into the quarterfinals of the Goodfellow Classic, a USD 9000 Challenger Tour event in Toronto.
The top-seeded Abhay, a former national champion and ranked No 66. in the world, beat Canadian wild card Elliott Hunt 11-6, 11-3, 11-9 in the second round on Wednesday, following a bye in the first.
Elsewhere, India’s top-ranked player Saurav Ghosal lost in the opening round of the World Tour Platinum Windy City Open in Chicago, going down to home favourite Timothy Brownell 11-13, 2-11, 11-3, 14-12.
However, Ramit Tandon carried forward the Indian challenge with a 11-7, 8-11, 11-1, 11-7 win over Hungarian Farkas Balazs in the first round.
- PTI
BADMINTON
BAI to conduct first Coaches Development Program in March for grassroots coaches from across the country
Badminton Association of India, in association with REC Limited and Sports Authority of India (SAI), will conduct its first-ever Coaches Development Program (Grassroot Level) for over 100 aspiring coaches in March 2024 at four venues across the country.
The 11 days program will focus on skill and knowledge enhancement of the participants around essentials of grassroots badminton coaching. These programmes will be held at the National Centre of Excellence, Guwahati, Raipur, Prakash Padukone Academy, Bengaluru and Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy, Hyderabad from March 8-18.
“Indian badminton is on the rise and BAI has taken many steps to identify and nurture talent across the country. Grassroots level coaches play an important role in this process and the Coaches Development Program is aimed at empowering such beginner level former players and coaches who understand the game but do not have all the experience of being a professional coach,” BAI secretary Sanjay Mishra said while the announcement of this maiden initiative was undertaken.
BAI has also asked all the state units to recommend four names within the age limit of 25-45 years, who have represented the state at the national or zonal level and have interest in coaching to be eligible for the program.
Participants who will be clearing the assessment with ‘A’ grade at the end of 10 days will be eligible to appear for the BAI Level 1 certification exam for coaching on the final day of the program.
- Team Sportstar
CUE SPORT
Imran and Panchal among cueists to make CCI snooker main draw
Madhya Pradesh’s Imran Khan, Manav Panchal from Mumbai, Vijay Nichani from Tamil Nadu and Vishwajeet Mohan on Thursday made it to the main draw of the CCI Snooker Classic tournament in Mumbai.
Imran potted consistently to charge past Fahad Mithaiwala and posted a quick 4-0 (52-19, 77-65, 59-18, and 41-9) victory in a best-of-7-frame final qualifying round match at CCI’s Sir Wilson Jones billiards hall.
Panchal prevailed over Vishal Gehani 4-1 (68-46, 71-1, 43-53, 65-61, and 50-38) but Nichani had to work hard for his win over Kalpesh Mevada, whom he defeated 4-0 (62-48, 61-45, 68-39, and 68-62).
In another qualifying game, Mohan constructed a break of 54 in the opening game frame to defeat Sumit Ahuja 4-1 (74-18, 15-84, 71-40, 70-52, and 87-13).
Results
- PTI
MORE SPORTS
Association of PaddleSurf Professionals World Tour announces foray in India with country’s first-ever international SUP Event
Association of PaddleSurf Professionals World Tour (APP) announced its entry in India with the country’s first-ever International Stand-Up Paddling championship. The India Paddle Festival will take place at Sasihithlu Beach, Mangalore, Karnataka, from March 8-10.
“We have always been waiting for an international event of this stature to be hosted in India. It is a chance for stand-up paddlers like me to learn from top international athletes and improve our skills and techniques from them. We look forward for India Paddle Festival and hope that the Indian paddlers can put on a show and give a tough challenge to the international athletes. I’m excited for the event, I’m training hard and getting ready for it,” said India No. 1 Sekar Patchai.
- Team Sportstar
FOOTBALL
Santosh Trophy: Delhi holds Karnataka to 1-1 draw
Delhi held defending champion Karnataka to a 1-1 draw in the opening round of the Group B league of the 77th National football championship for the Santosh Trophy at the Golden Jubilee Stadium in Yupia, Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday.
Karnataka took the lead midway through the first half when Appu Arogya Swamy struck the target in the 23rd minute. But an own goal from defender Prabin Tigga in the 26th minute cancelled Karnataka’s advantage. Delhi held on to its defence well and denied Karnataka any further chance to regain the lead as the two teams ended the action with a point each.
In another match of the same group, substitute Akash Babu found the equaliser late in the injury-time (90+5 minute) to help Railways hold former champion Manipur to a 1-1 draw. Manipur took the lead in the 56th minute off Sanathoi Meetei before Babu came in with his late conversion to deny it the win.
Maharashtra beat Mizoram convincingly by a 3-1 margin in the final group B match of the day to pick up the full quota of points.
The results (Group B):
- Team Sportstar
POLO
Gen Sparrow Cup: 61st Cavalry-Royal Enfield wins against Army Service Corps
Dhruvpal Godara scored all eight goals in guiding 61st Cavalry-Royal Enfield to an 8-7 victory over Army Service Corps (ASC) in a league match of the Gen. Sparrow Cup polo tournament at the Army Equestrian Centre, Delhi Cantonment, on Thursday.
In the semifinals, to be played at the Jaipur Polo ground on Saturday, Delhi Polo will meet ASC, while 61st Cavalry-Royal Enfield will face Mayfair Polo.
The results (league):
ARCHERY
Indian archers storm into six finals in Asia Cup
Indian archers, including former world number one Deepika Kumari who is making a comeback after 20 months, stormed into the final of six team events to assure themselves of as many medals in the Asia Cup Leg 1 here on Thursday.
The three-time Olympian, whose form had slipped after becoming mother, came second behind Simranjeet Kaur in the qualification in the women’s recurve team event.
In the elimination round, the Indian women’s recurve team which also had Bhajan Kaur blanked hosts Iraq to set up a gold medal clash against Uzbekistan.
The men’s recurve team of Dhiraj Bommadevara, Pravin Jadhav and Tarundeep Rai also ousted the hosts, winning in straight sets. They will face Bangladesh in the final.
In recurve mixed team event, India eliminated Syria and Qatar in straight sets to make the final where the duo of Dhiraj and Simranjeet will take on Bangladesh.
India’s Prathamesh Jawkar, Priyansh and Kushal Dalal defeated hosts Iraq in the semifinal 233-223 to make the men’s compound team final where they will face Iran.
The team of Aditi Swami, Priya Gurjar and Parneet Kaur defeated Afghanistan 234-210 to set up a summit clash against Iran in the compound women’s team event.
Compound mixed team pair of Jawkar and Aditi beat Bangladesh 157-146 in the last four stage. They will take on Iran in the final.
- PTI
CYCLING
India win two para gold medals in Asian Track Cycling
India won two gold, a silver and a bronze medal, while Malaysia dominated the proceeding with five top-podium finishes on day two of the Asian Track Cycling Championships here on Thursday.
On a day when all of India’s medals came in the para category, Arshad Shaikh and Jalaluddin Ansari secured a gold-silver in the C2 15km Scratch final, while in women’s C2 category 15km Scratch race, Jyoti Gaderiya emerged the winner.
Pavan Kumar Kommoji clinched bronze in the keenly-contested C3 class 15km Scratch final. The gold and silver medals in this event were won by Adi Raimik of Malaysia and Indonesia’s Tifan Abid Alana, respectively.
In the men’s junior Scratch race, Sujal Yadav secured the fifth position, while Kazakhstan, Chinese Taipei, and Hong Kong claimed the gold, silver, and bronze medals, respectively.
In women’s junior Scratch race, JP Dhanyadha secured the seventh position, while Wen Xin Huang of Chinese Taipei clinched the gold.
India’s Mayuri Dhanraj Lute and Trishya Paul narrowly missed out on medals in the women’s Elite Sprint category.
- PTI
KHELO INDIA
Chitkara University make clean sweep in table tennis
Chitkara University made a clean sweep of the gold medals in table tennis at the Khelo India University Games, with the men’s team completing a hat-trick of titles and the women’s side earning its first top-podium finish here on Thursday.
Chitkara’s men’s team had also won gold in the 2nd KIUG in Bengaluru and retained it in Lucknow last year.
On Thursday, the men’s team defeated Chandigarh University 3-0, while the women defeated SNDT University by an identical margin.
Yashansh Malik started Chitkara’s march with a 14-12, 11-8, 11-7 win over Khelendrajit Yengkhom. Then, Wesley Do Rosariya and Reagan Albuquerque did not break much sweat in getting past their respective opponents to retain the gold medal in the final that lasted 45 minutes.
Chitkara’s ploy of playing Anjali Rohilla against Samruddhi Kulkarni of SNDT University in the women’s team final paid off with the former winning 12-10, 11-6, 11-6 in the second match after Suhana Saini had given it a winning start against Swapnali Narale.
At the shooting range, India player Ashi Chouksey of Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) bagged the women’s 50m rifle 3-positions gold with a total of 462.9 points.
Manipal University’s Nischal (462.2) and Ashi’s teammate Sift Kaur Samra (450.4) won the silver and bronze medal respectively.
Ashi, Sift and Vanshika Sahil also bagged the team gold for GNDU with a total of 1756 points.
The two gold medals helped GNDU move to fourth spot in the medals tally with four gold, two silver and a bronze.
Jain University is leading the standings with eight gold, five silver and five bronze, while Chandigarh University is in second position with six gold, seven silver and 10 bronze medals.
Swimmer Bhumi Gupta added a gold medal for Chandigarh University in 200m medley with a timing of 2:32.43sec, while Akash Kaushal added a gold to the University’s tally in weightlifting.
Kaushal clinched gold with a total lift of 297kg (135kg in snatch, 162kg in clean & jerk), while Vishnu Bhoi (287kg) and Prathyush (274kg) bagged the silver and bronze respectively.
- PTI
Aanchal Thakur clinches giant slalom gold in KIWG
India’s leading alpine skier Aanchal Thakur clinched the giant slalom gold on day two of the Khelo India Winter Games as Himachal Pradesh women made a clean sweep of the medals in the event here on Thursday.
Aanchal, the 27-year-old from Himachal Pradesh, won with a time of 00:56.339 seconds, followed by state-mates Tunaja Thakur and Promila Thakur who won silver and bronze, respectively.
Karnataka continued to lead the medals tally at the Koongdoori course with eight gold medals, while Army climbed to third and Uttarakhand struck their first pair of gold medals at the games.
In the men’s mountaineering skiing event, Mayank Dimiri of Uttarakhand sprinted to gold, while Shahid Ahmad Chachi and Mehraj Ud Din Bhat from J&K won the silver and bronze, respectively.
In the women’s ski mountaineering event, which was witnessed by Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Nishit Pramanik, Menka Gunjiyal of Uttarakhand won the gold, while Shazia Hassan of J&K won the silver and Kaamya Kathikeyan of Maharashtra bagged the bronze.
In the nordic sprint for men at the Golf Club course, Army made a clean sweep of the 1.6km race. Manjeet got the gold while Padma Namgail won silver and Rameez Ahmad Padder settled for bronze.
In the women’s nordic sprint (over 5km), Bhavani Thekeda Nanjunda of Karnataka struck gold. Sapna and Prince Kumari, representing ITBP, clinched silver and bronze respectively. It was the second gold for Bhavani, who had won the 1.6km title on Wednesday.
- PTI
TENNIS
ATP Doha: Yuki Bhambri, Robin lose doubles pre-quarterfinals
Yuki Bhambri in partnership with Robin Haase was beaten 6-4, 6-3 by the alternate entrants Andreas Mies and John-Patrick Smith 6-4, 6-3 in the doubles pre-quarterfinals of the $1,493,465 ATP tennis tournament in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday.
The Indo-Dutch team collected $7,620 for the early exit.
The results:
- Team Sportstar
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