GOLF
Diksha improves as Aditi slips in third round at Women’s Open
India’s Diksha Dagar played a steady round of even-par 72 with a birdie and a bogey to be one-over and placed tied-35th -- up from tied-47th -- after the third round of the Women’s Open at Walton Heath.
Diksha’s senior country-mate, Aditi Ashok, playing her 27th Major, struggled to a 3-over 75, despite a closing birdie and is now tied-28th from T-9 at the halfway stage. Going into the final round, Diksha has scores of 74-71-72, while Aditi has carded 72-69-75 after 54 holes.
England’s Charley Hull (68) and America’s Lilia Vu (67), on nine-under-par after three rounds, are sharing the top spot.
Aditi, who has four Ladies European Tour (LET) wins including the Hero Indian Open, seemed headed for a disastrous round as she bogeyed three times on the front nine. She accumulated more bogeys on the 11th and 12th to go 5-over. However, birdies on the 13th, 15th and 18th helped salvage the round, though she had another bogey on the 17th.
Diksha had 10 pars to start her third round and birdied the Par-5 11th, but gave away a shot on Par-4 15th and parred the remaining holes.
Aditi found just 10 of the 15 fairways. She needed 32 putts and had 10 greens in regulation out of 18. Diksha had 15 greens in regulation but needed 33 putts.
- PTI
GOLF
Jeev Milkha Singh lies sixth on Legends Tour
- Jeev Milkha Singh strung five birdies in a row on the back nine during his 4-under 68, in the inaugural staging of the Legends Tour Trophy.
He had six birdies against two bogeys on the Jack Nicklaus-designed course here, at the Hanbury Manor Marriott Hotel & Country Club.
Jeev’s 68 placed him in a tie for sixth, as Sweden’s Joakim Haeggman and Welshman Stephen Dodd shared the lead after the opening day.
The duo shot 6-under 66 each, while three players — South Africa’s James Kingston, Welshman Bradley Dredge and Scotsman Grieg Hutcheon — were tied third with 5-under 67 each.
- PTI
GOLF
Lahiri shoots 7-under, rises to fourth in LIV Golf at Bedminster
India’s Anirban Lahiri was on fire with five birdies in his first six holes as he shot 7-under 64 to rise to Tied-4th place in the LIV Golf Bedminster.
Lahiri, who shot 3-over 74 on the first day, is now 4-under and shares the fourth place with Bubba Watson and Patrick Reed.
Lahiri began on the 10th and birdied the 10th, 11th, 12th, 14th and 15th and added one more on the 18th to be six-under with half the round still left.
He birdied the second, bogeyed the fifth and added more gains with birdies on the seventh and eighth but dropped a shot on his last hole, the ninth.
Cameron Smith will take a four-shot lead into the final round. Smith, who won LIV Golf London last month, is seeking his third LIV Golf victory.
GOLF
Nishtha Madan finishes 55th on Epson Tour
Nishtha Madan finished in a tie for the 55th place in the Four Winds Invitational on the Epson Tour in the United States.
With a round of 1-over 73 at the South Bend Country Club and earlier scores of 71-75 on the first two days, she was 3-over for the 54-hole event.
Earlier, India’s Nikita Arjun had missed the cut in the event, which is on the second rung women’s tour in the US.
Meanwhile, Gabriela Ruffels sealed her third win of the season. The Aussie played a final round of 3-under par 69 and totalled 12-under overall for a three-shot victory, over Katherine Smith and Becca Huffer.
Though Ruffels won for a third time, the Battlefield Promotion to the LPGA Tour is no longer in play. It was changed with the overall restructuring with the coming in of Q-Series in 2018.
Ruffels plans to compete in most of the final events on the Epson Tour calendar and prepare for what looks like her rookie season on the LPGA in 2024. She now has three wins in 12 starts on the Epson Tour.
She does have a start on the Canadian (CPKC Women’s Open) on the LPGA Tour.
- PTI
BASKETBALL
India defeats Syria, Indonesia in FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament Asia 2023
The Indian men’s basketball team defeated hosts Syria 85-74 in its opening match of the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament Asia 2023 in Damascus on Saturday.
Pranav Prince was India’s standout player, scoring 21 points. Amyjot Singh netted 12 while Indian basketball team captain Vishesh Bhriguvanshi chipped in with eight points.
On Sunday, India beat Indonesia 90-74 in its second match. Currently, India share the top spot with Bahrain.
Six countries – India, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Syria – compete in the Asian leg of the Olympic pre-qualifiers basketball tournament for the Paris 2024 Games.
India’s next match is against world No. 85 Indonesia on Sunday.
Only the top team from the event will advance to the final Olympic basketball qualifying tournament scheduled in 2024.
-Team Sportstar
CRICKET
Maharaja Trophy: Defending champion Gulbarga Mystics beats Bengaluru Blasters by six wickets
Hubli Tigers’ batter Mohammed Taha in action. | Photo Credit: SUDHAKARA JAIN
Defending champion Gulbarga Mystics was off to a winning start in the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20, beating Bengaluru Blasters by six wickets at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday.
Asked to bat first, the Blasters lost Mayank Agarwal early (4, 3b, 1x4) and managed just 43 runs in the PowerPlay. It couldn’t accelerate in the middle overs too, with Pavan Deshpande’s stay at the crease (14, 24b, 1x4) emblematic of the team’s struggles.
Only an unbeaten 46-ball 62 from Suraj Ahuja helped drag Blasters’ total to 137. Left-arm quick Abhilash Shetty was the best bowler for Mystics, claiming 3/17 from four overs.
In reply, Mystics openers L.R. Chethan 36 (24b, 3x4, 3x6) and Aadarsh Prajwal 31 (20b, 6x4) smashed 61 runs in the PowerPlay. Rest of the chase proved easy, as the Kalaburagi side reached the target with 15 balls to spare.
In the day’s second match, Hubli Tigers won a rain-interrupted contest against Mysore Warriors by nine wickets. Put into bat, the Warriors could score just 111 for the loss of nine wickets, with R. Samarth’s 24-ball 21 the best effort. Left-arm spinner Mitrakanth Yadav impressed with figures of 3/17.
Hubli’s chase was led by Mohammed Taha, whose blistering 61 n.o. (30b, 9x4, 3x6) floored the Mysuru side. A one-hour rain break ended up reducing the target to 80 from 14 overs, but Taha was unperturbed by the break in momentum, carrying his team to a handsome victory.
India pacer Prasidh Krishna, returning from injury, bowled two overs for the Warriors, conceding 13 runs and picking up the lone wicket to fall.
Brief scores:
-Sudarshan N
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