Indian sports news wrap, April 30
Here are all the major updates in Indian sports on April 30.
Published : Apr 30, 2023 16:43 IST , CHENNAI - 4 MINS READ
REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE: National champion Jyoti Gawate and Arjun Pradhan will lead the women’s and men’s elite field in the inaugural Kochi Marathon on Monday.
ATHLETICS
Jyoti Gawate, Arjun Pradhan headline Kochi Marathon
The seasoned Arjun Pradhan and New Delhi Marathon women’s winner Jyoti Gawate are among the prominent runners in the Federal Bank Kochi Marathon which will be flagged off from the Maharaja’s Stadium early on Monday.
The marathon will start at 4 a.m. and will be followed by the half marathon (5 a.m.), 10km run (6 a.m.) and the 3km green run (7 a.m.). Over 6000 runners from all over the country, including 230 in the marathon, will be in action. A few foreign runners are also in the fray.
Lata Alimchandani who, according to the organisers, has run in some of the world’s leading marathons in the over-60 age-group, will be seen in action in the half marathon.
After the flag-off, the marathon will run to Thevara junction through MG Road and will touch Foreshore Road, Marine Drive, Vallarpadam and Goshree Bridge before winding up at the Maharaja’s Stadium.
The event has a total prize fund of Rs 10 lakh.
- Stan Rayan
MOTORSPORTS
Indian National Motorcycle Drag Racing Championship 2023
Mantra Racing’s Hemanth Muddappa came up with stunning performances to achieve a grand double as the first round of the MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Drag Racing Championship 2023 concluded at the Madras International Circuit in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Hyderabad’s Mohammad Riyaz was the quickest in the 551-850cc category while Mantra Racing’s Shah Rukh Khan from Mumbai topped the 361-550cc class
Muddappa, astride the Suzuki Hayabusa, topped in the two premier categories, the Unrestricted and 1051-1650cc. The Bengalurean also claimed one other podium finish, a third place in the 551-850cc category, riding the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R.
In the Unrestricted category, Hemanth Muddappa was way ahead of 2022 National champion and fellow-Bengalurean, Alimon, who finished a distant sixth, while Riyaz came in second ahead of Mumbai’s Sidharth Parmar.
Muddappa also dominated the 1051-1650cc category finishing well clear of Parmar and Riyaz. Incidentally, the Bengalurean was the 2022 National champion in this class.
The championship resumes in July when the second round will be held, also at the Madras International Circuit.
RESULTS
-Team Sportstar
GOLF
LIV Singapore: Lahiri finishes 19th as Gooch wins again
Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri played a bogey-free 4-under 67 that saw him move up and finish at tied 19th at the Liv Singapore golf tournament on Sunday.
Lahiri, who shot 1-under 70 and 4-under 67 on the first two days, was 9-under for the week, as the in-form American Talor Gooch won the inaugural LIV Singapore golf tournament.
Gooch, who won his second Liv event, beat Spain’s Sergio Garcia in a playoff at the Sentosa Golf Club.
The world No.59 also became the golf league’s first back-to-back tournament winner, after clinching the LIV Golf Adelaide event last weekend. His two individual wins have fetched him USD 8 million in the league where every event is played over 54 holes with a 48-man field.
Gooch, who was the overnight leader with 2017 Masters champion Garcia, fired a four-under-par 67 to finish on 17-under 196 with Garcia after three rounds.
Four-time Major winner Brooks Koepka also had a share of the lead early on Sunday, but he settled for third on 197.
Both Gooch and Garcia birdied the final hole at the Serapong course to force the playoff, and Gooch putted for another birdie on the 18th hole in the playoff as Garcia missed his birdie chip.
Gooch’s win also carried his team Range Goats to the team title.
- PTI
Sharma finishes tied 52nd as Spaniard Larrazabal wins title in Korea
Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma ended his Korea Championships campaign at tied 52nd place with his best round of 3-under 69 in Incheon on Sunday.
Sharma finished with even par 288 even as Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal played a brilliant back nine to win his eighth title on the DP World Tour.
Sharma’s final round included five birdies against two bogeys, but a double bogey on each of the first three days and a 78 in tough conditions on the third day meant he finished way down.
As the DP World Tour season shifts to Europe from next week, Sharma and his compatriot Manu Gandas, who missed the cut, will get to Rome for the DS Automobile Italian Championships at Marco Simone Golf Club, which later in the year will host the 2023 Ryder Cup.
Larrazabal won the title by two shots after producing a back-nine birdie blitz to see off a high-quality chasing pack.
A tight battle unfolded at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea on Sunday afternoon, with Larrazabal finding himself in a five-way share of the lead on nine under when he reached the turn following two front-nine birdies.
The Spaniard slipped from the summit after dropping his first shot of the round at the tenth but roared back, making four birdies in the next five holes to open up a three-shot lead.
He then safely parred his way home to complete a closing 67, to finish the tournament on 12 under par and claim an eighth DP World Tour title just a couple of weeks before his 40th birthday.
Dane Marcus Helligkilde signed for a fourth-round 68 to finish in solo second on 10-under, one clear of home favourite Park Sanghyun, Spain’s Jorge Campillo, Dutchman Joost Luiten and Scotland’s Scott Jamieson.
- PTI