MOTORSPORT
Ruhaan, Tijil steal LGB Formula 4 show in National Racing C’ship
Ruhaan Alva of MSport and Dark Don Racing’s Tijil Rao won a race each in the premier LGB Formula 4 class of the 26th JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship at the Kari Motor Speedway on Sunday.
In the opening race, all eyes were on the Dark Don Racing stars but Bengaluru’s Ruhaan stamped his class with a stunning final lap victory.
Arya Singh of Dark Don Racing dominated for most part but Ruhaan caught up well with some brilliant driving.
Arya was under pressure and there was a little bumping and jostling as well between the two, but Ruhaan kept searching for space to sneak in. He managed to find one in the final lap and crossed the line.
The second race was as good as the first, but Tijil did one better than the rest to clinch the thriller.
With the reverse grid in play, it was Saran Vikram Tmars of Mars Racing who started off on a quick note, staying in the lead for a good five laps before Ruhaan overtook him.
But as luck would have it, Ruhaan spun out of the race to give the Dark Don’s a fresh leash of life, with Diljith and Tijil battling it out for the victory.
While it looked like the senior pro Diljith would close the round on a high, it was the young Tijil who showed grit and great skills to overtake in the 13th lap.
In the JK Tyre Novice Cup, Bengaluru’s Arjun S Nair of Momentum Motorsports failed to finish on top of the podium in the first race, with his teammate Neythan McPherson emerging victorious.
Aman and Arjun finished second and third, respectively.
The nine-lap race saw the safety car coming out twice to take some sheen off the event.
In the second race, Joel Joseph of DTS Racing emerged victorious while Arjun and McPherson wrested the next two spots.
In the JK Tyre present Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup, the Bengaluru boys stole the show with a clean sweep.
Abhishek Vasudev won with an impressive timing of 13:53.248, while Ullass Nanda (13:53.651) and Md Samrul Zubair (13:57.403) finished second and third, respectively.
- PTI
TENNIS
Rishab Agarwal loses final
Sixth seed Rishab Agarwal was beaten 6-2, 6-2 by fifth seed Matyas Fuele of Hungary in the final of the $25,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament in Tainan, Chinese Taipei, on Sunday.
THE RESULTS
$25,000 ITF men, Tainan, Chinese Taipei
- Kamesh Srinivasan
Yogesh Shah wins ITF Masters tournament
Top seed Yogesh Shah prevailed 7-6(4), 3-6, [10-7] against second seed Murthati Suresh in the over-65 final of the ITF Masters tennis tournament at the Ace Tennis Academy in Palodia.
THE RESULTS (FINALS)
- Kamesh Srinivasan
SQUASH
PSA Challenger title for Velavan, Akanksha
Top seeds Velavan Senthilkumar and Akanksha Salunkhe won the men’s and women’s titles in the PSA Challenger squash tournament in Canberra, Australia, on Sunday.
Velavan beat second seed Joseph White of Australia 11-8, 11-9, 2-11, 11-3. He did not drop a game in the earlier three rounds.
Akanksha had to sweat it out against last week’s champion, compatriot Tanvi Khanna 9-11, 12-10, 8-11, 11-8, 13-11 in a battle of wits that lasted about an hour.
Both the Indian women had pulled through five matches between them in the earlier rounds with relative ease.
- Kamesh Srinivasan
THE RESULTS
Men (final)
Women (final)
GOLF
Bhullar charges up the leaderboard, lies third at St Andrews
India’s most successful player on the Asian Tour, Gaganjeet Bhullar, charged up the leaderboard with an electric 7-under 65 and is lying two shots behind the leader - at tied-third - after three days of the St. Andrews Bay Championship.
With one round to go, Bhullar, winner of 10 titles on the Asian Tour - the most by an Indian - is now 15-under at an event, being held at Fairmont Links. He is tied with Mito Pereira from Chile (67) and South African Jaco Ahlers (68) at the Torrance Course at Fairmont, St Andrews.
Turk Pettit (62) is leading the field at 17-under, while Matt Jones (66) is second at 16-under.
Bhullar had four birdies on the front nine and four more in a row from 12th to the 15th but dropped a bogey on the 16th.
Two other Indians are in the top-10. Ajeetesh Sandhu (64) moved to 14-under and is tied-sixth, while Anirban Lahiri, a co-leader after the first round, shot 67 and is tied-10th.
Among the other Indians, SSP Chawrasia (68) is T-27, Veer Ahlawat (72) is T-36, Viraj Madappa (71) is T-43, Rahil Gangjee (72) is T-49 and Rashid Khan (75) is T-65.
Bhullar, who last won a title in Indonesia a year ago, has been having a low-key season, but has now moved into contention.
“It was a smooth sail, made eight birdies and one bogey. I actually got off to a really good start. I was just thinking about my whole round, I think I ended up hitting 16 greens in regulation today and the first 15 they were all greens in regulation, missed only one fairway today.
“It was a class act. You know, it was the way I drove the ball well, the way I putted, I was quite proud of myself. Actually, the last few months I’ve been trying to work on my game. I’ve been trying to figure out my loose ends and I guess today was one of those rounds when everything came together, and the result was seven under par,” he said.
Sandhu, who has one win on the Asian Tour, started the day in T-21 but went on a rampage with four birdies in the first four holes and added two more on the sixth and seventh.
A dropped shot on eighth saw him turn in 5-under. On the back nine, Sandhu, who is just coming back after being injured for a while, had four birdies against one bogey. His last five holes had three birdies and he returned a card of 8-under 64 and rose to T-6.
Talking about his third round, Lahiri said, “I think it’s kind of even par for how easy the scoring conditions were out there. I played very poorly on the front nine, got off to a bad start, had a cold putter, kept leaving myself in positions that weren’t ideal, and that’s where so many birdies were to be made. I made at least three or four pars out there that felt like bogeys. So I guess it’s one of those days, it looks nice on the scorecard, but I know I left a lot of shots out there.” Pettit shot an incredible bogey-free 10-under-par 62 with eight birdies and an eagle that left him one short of the course record. Australian Jones fired 66 with eight birdies and two bogeys, which came in the first three holes.
American Berry Henson achieved the rare feat of making back-to-back eagles on the par-five sixth and the par-four seventh. He shot a 65 and is in a tie for 15th on 11 under.
- PTI
Gandas slips to T-67 in Prague
Indian golfer Manu Gandas slipped to T-67 in the D+D REAL Czech Masters, a DP World Tour event in Prague.
The Indian had two birdies against four bogeys on the penultimate day.
Gandas had six birdies on the first day and four more on the second, but has given away a lot of shots with small mistakes, finding fewer greens in regulation and missing some regulation putts.
Sami Välimäki and Matt Wallace shared a one-stroke lead ahead of the final day.
Starting the day two strokes behind overnight leader Alexander Björk, both carded six birdies and one bogey to move to 16 under par as they overtook the Swede at Albatross Golf Resort in Prague.
- PTI
TENT PEGGING
India achieves historic podium finish in Tent Pegging World Cup
A five-member Indian team achieved a historic first by finishing third in the Tent Pegging World Cup held in South Africa.
Tent Pegging is a cavalry sport wherein the rider is supposed to pick a wooden block, placed on the ground, with a spear.
India, which secured a podium finish on Saturday, had finished at the sixth and the seventh spots in the last two editions of the Tent Pegging World Cup.
The most recent edition — fourth — was originally slated to be held in 2022, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The International Tent Pegging Federation comprises 29 countries, which earn World Cup qualification while being divided in groups of four teams each.
During its general assembly in Oman, a draw was conducted for each national federation to pick a group. India was placed in Group D.
In order to qualify for the World Cup, the Indian team participated in the qualifier held in Sudan in January.
Nine countries participated in the World Cup with the event being held across three days.
India finished the first day at the fourth spot and moved up one position on the next. On the third day, India’s standing remained third, which is where it finished.
INDIA SQUAD AND POINTS
- PTI
CARROM
Techouts Digi Champs win Deccan Premier Carrom League
Techouts Digi Champs emerged champions in the second Dr. Akhilesh Vanam memorial Deccan Premier Carrom League championship with a 2-1 win over Fonixen Doctors in the final at Navyabharati Global High School in Nizamabad.
Techouts Digi Champs, which won the Dr. Akhilesh Vanam memorial Deccan Premier Carrom League championship in Nizamabad, seen with team owner Amit Paruchuri. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Earlier in the semifinals, Techouts defeated PSLR Fortune Fighters 2-1 while Fonixen scored a 2-1 win over SSIM Legends.
Mr. Srikanth Babu, VP Havells India Pvt Ltd, Dr. Sailesh Sampathy, VP and Deputy Chief Executive of Shiva Sivani Group of Institutions, Dr. Neeraj Sampathy, chairman of DPCL, Mr. K. Santhosh Kumar, chairman of sponsor Navyabharathi Global High School, gave away the prizes.
THE RESULTS
FINAL
SEMIFINALS
- V. V. Subrahmanyam
HOCKEY
Murugappa Gold Cup: CAG continues unbeaten run
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) continued its unbeaten run in a Group-B tie of the 94th MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup All-India hockey tournament on Sunday, with a 2-1 victory over the Indian Air Force (IAF).
Later, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu (HUTN) suffered its second defeat in three matches, losing 3-0 to the Indian Army in another Group B match, while Indian Railways posted a convincing 4-1 win over the Indian Navy in a Group-A contest.
Darshan Gawkar of Railway Sports Promotion Board celebrates after scoring against the Indian Navy. | Photo Credit: VEDHAN M
Of the lot, CAG has been a consistent side with a definite structure and better understanding between its defence, midfield, and forward. On the day, IAF was equal to the task as it showed its mettle by not allowing CAG any leeway. After Parvinder Singh opened the account on a counter-attack for CAG in the second quarter, IAF hit back quickly with a near-perfect penalty corner strike by Lovedeep Singh that hit the left side of the roof.
CAG and IAF fought tooth and nail in the third quarter without conceding an inch. Skipper Chandan Singh scored what would turn out to be the winning goal off a penalty corner in the fourth.
The Indian Army prevailed over HUTN in a match that was scrappy for the most part. Both teams failed to cash in on the numerous opportunities that presented themselves. Army could convert only two of the seven penalty corners. On the other hand, the circle penetrations of HUTN were below par, an aspect that showed its forward line in poor light.
THE RESULTS
- K. Keerthivasan
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