CHESS
Bibisara regains sole lead after holding Humpy
K. Humpy and new leader Bibisara Assaubayeva drew while R. Vaishali proved equal to D. Harika in the seventh round of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix chess tournament here on Saturday.
When Humpy agreed to Bibisara’s draw offer, computer-aided evaluation of the position showed the Kazakh had erred with her last move, a pawn-push on the king’s side. The 37-move draw gave Bibisara (4.5 points) a half-a-point lead.
The Vaishali-Harika encounter involved a series of exchanges that left the kings and three pawns of each colour on the board when a draw was agreed in 42 moves.
Aleksandra Goryachkina scored her third victory to be within striking distance of the leader. She defeated Georgia’s Nino Batsiashvili to keep alive her prospects of catching up with Bibisara, who has played a game more.
In the day’s other decisive game, Kateryna Lagno weaved a checkmating net around Nana Dzagnidge’s king and began tightening the noose. Nana saw the inevitable and resigned after 29 moves.
The results (Indians unless stated):
-Rakesh Rao
ATHLETICS
Pragnya Mohan wins the South Asian Triathlon Championship for a record third time
Pragnya Mohan made history by winning the South Asian Triathlon Championships for the 3rd time in a row in Pokhara, Nepal no Saturday.
It completed her hat-trick of titles, winning the Championship in 2019, 2022, and 2023. (2020, 2021 were not held due to COVID). The championship has never experienced such supremacy before.
-Team Sportstar
TENNIS
Asia Oceania World juniors: Uzbekistan beats India 2-1
The Indian boys were beaten 2-1 by Uzbekistan in the match for the 13th place in the Asia-Oceania World junior under-14 tennis tournament in Kuching, Malaysia, on Saturday.
Japan beat Pakistan 2-1 in the final while Korea beat Hong Kong 2-0 for third place. The top four teams qualified for the World Group stage to be hosted later in Europe.
The results
-Kamesh Srinivasan
AITA men’s tournament: Arya beats Mohanty to bag title
KS Siddharth Arya beat Amrutjay Mohanty 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in the final of the Rs.100,000 AITA men’s tennis tournament on Saturday.
It was a double crown for Arya, as he won the doubles title with Ayyappan Rishikrishn.
The results (finals)
-Kamesh Srinivasan
ITF women’s tennis: Raina reaches final
Ankita Raina beat Guo Hanyu 7-6(3), 6-4 to reach the final of the $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Saturday.
In the final, fourth seeded Ankita will play another Chinese, Bai Zhuoxuan
The results
-Kamesh Srinivasan
ITF J30 Madurai: Vihaan, Sree Syleswari win singles titles
ITF J30 Madurai singles champions Sree Syleswari Velmanikandan (left) and Vihaan Reddy (right). | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Qualifier Sree Syleswari Velmanikandan won her maiden ITF Junior title after beating third seed Amodini Naik in straight sets in the final in Madurai.
In the boys’ event, third Seed and 13-year-old Vihaan Reddy won his fourth consecutive title in a row after defeating top seed Pratyaksh.
RESULTS (Finals)
- Team Sportstar
SHOOTING
Shotgun World Cup: Asian Games silver medallist Lakshay misses semis by four points
Sabeera Haris shot 108 and missed the semifinals by four points in women’s trap in the shotgun World Cup in Larnaca, Cyprus, on Saturday.
Sabeera had a series of 23, 21, 20, 22 and 22. Manisha Keer (106) and Shagun Chowdhary (103) placed 26th and 42nd respectively in a field of 63 shooters.
National champion Kiran (108) and Kirti Gupta (106) shot well in the RPO section.
In men’s trap, Asian Games silver medallist Lakshay Sheoran shot 114 for the 50th place in a field of 131 shooters. He missed the semifinals by five points.
Bakthyaruddin Malek (106) and Arya Vansh Tyagi (104) placed 106th and 114th respectively.
Competing in the RPO section, Prithviraj Tondaiman, who had shot the bronze medal in the last World Cup, could muster only 110, following a series of 21, 24, 21, 22 and 22.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
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