Indian sports news wrap, April 20

Here are all the major updates in Indian sports on April 20.

FILE PHOTO: Yuki Bhambri (left) and Saketh Myneni (right) reached semifinals of the Munich Open on Thursday.

TENNIS

Munich Open: Yuki-Saketh pair reaches semifinals

The all-Indian pair of Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni reached semifinals of the Munich Open, an ATP250 event, on Thursday.

Yuki and Saketh were 5-2 up in the opening set against Dustin Brown and Adam Pavlasek when the Jamaican-Czech pair was forced to retire from the match.

RESULTS

ATP250 Munich

Men’s Doubles, Quarterfinal - Yuki Bhambri/Saketh Myneni bt Dustin Brown (JAM)/Adam Pavlasek (CZE) 5-2 retd.

ATP Roseto Degli Abruzzi Challenger

Singles, Round of 16 - [7] Nicholas David Ionel (ROU) bt [Q] Sumit Nagal 7-5, 7-6(6)

ITF W25 Nottingham

Singles, Round of 16 - [4] Adithya Karunaratne (HKG) bt Rutuja Bhosale 4-6, 6-2, 6-2

ITF W15 Monastir

Singles, Round of 16 - [Q] Maelle Leclercq (FRA) bt [6] Jennifer Luikham 3-6, 7-6(10), 6-4

-Team Sportstar

AITA men’s tournament: Top seeds Neeraj, Ajay set up title clash

The top two seeds Neeraj Yashpaul and Ajay Kundu set up a title clash in the Rs.100,000 AITA men’s tennis tournament at the Harvest Academy, Jassowal, on Thursday.

Neeraj beat third seed Sunil Malik for the loss of three games, while Ajay had better challenge from fourth seed Rhythm Malhotra for his 6-4, 7-6(2) win.

The results

Semifinals: Neeraj Yashpaul bt Sunil Malik 6-1, 6-2; Ajay Kundu bt Rhythm Malhotra 6-4, 7-6(2);

Quarterfinals: Neeraj Yashpaul bt Akash Katewal 6-4, 6-0; Sunil Malik bt Yuvraj Soni 6-2, 6-4; Rhythm Malhotra bt Amit Bzad 6-2, 6-1; Ajay Kundu bt Rakshit Dhankhar 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-0.

-Team Sportstar

GOLF

Ahmedabad Open: Shamim Khan maintains lead with resilient second round display

Delhi’s Shamim Khan held on to his overnight lead with a resilient second round display of an even-par 36 at the Ahmedabad Open on Thursday.

Two-time PGTI Order of Merit champion Shamim (31-36), who enjoyed a two-shot lead after round one, totalled five-under 67 at the halfway stage to stay ahead of the rest of the field by one shot a the Rs 1 crore event.

Noida’s Amardeep Malik (32) and Ahmedabad-based Samarth Dwivedi (34), both of whom submitted flawless cards, were tied for second at a total of four-under 68 along with Bengaluru’s Shaurya Binu (34), Delhi’s Kshitij Naveed Kaul (35) and Faridabad’s Abhinav Lohan (35).

The first two rounds of the event at the Glade One Golf Resort & Club comprised nine holes each. After the completion of 18 holes on Thursday, the cut was applied at one-over 73. Fifty-two professionals and one amateur made the cut.

The third and fourth rounds will now comprise 18 holes each. The tournament will be played over a total of 54 holes. The par for the course in the first two rounds was 36. The par for the course in the third and fourth rounds will be 72.

Shamim, a winner of 17 professional titles including 15 on the PGTI, had a poor start to the day with bogeys on the first two holes where he struggled around the greens.

Shamim then rallied with birdies on the fifth and ninth, landing an accurate approach within four feet on the former and converting an 18-footer on the latter. He also scrambled well from a tough spot on the seventh to salvage a par with a 30-feet conversion.

“It was a very satisfactory round, considering the bad start I had, the tight flags and the wind today. I felt I fought back really well,” Shamim said.

“The par on the seventh stood out for me as I was in a tough spot there after hitting the sprinkler and then landing in the bunker. The long conversion on the closing ninth was a bonus as I wasn’t expecting that to roll in.”

Amardeep, who dropped three shots on the first two holes in round one, made a grand recovery with his 32 on day two that pushed him up 33 spots on the leaderboard. Malik signed off his second round with a 20-feet birdie conversion on the ninth.

-PTI

SDAT shortlists foreign coaches

The Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) has shortlisted foreign coaches and is expected to finalise the candidates by the end of April. Speaking to Sportstar on Thursday, J. Meghanatha Reddy, member secretary of SDAT said, “We will hire two coaches from athletics, one from hockey and one from tennis.” 

SDAT is considering hiring foreign coaches in other disciplines, too. 

The applicants: 

Athletics: Samma Armand Alex (Africa), Alessandro Vigo (Spain); Jani Ratia (Spain); Bedros Bedrosian (Romania), Horace Michael Vassel (Jamaica), Yoandris Betanzos Francis (Cuba); Hockey: Erik Wonink (The Netherlands), Anthony Farry (USA), Roelant Oltmans (The Netherlands); Tennis: Sanjai Sundaram (USA).

-Team Sportstar