BASKETBALL
Chennai Turbos beat Jaipur Giants to win finals at Pre-Season of Elite Pro Basketball League
Chennai Turbos piped Jaipur Giants 100-82 to win the finals at the Pre-Season of Elite Pro Basketball League.
Chennai Turbos started as favourites as it took a quick lead of 25 points in the first quarter and maintained that throughout the match on Monday.
The Chennai Turbos, which has been undefeated in the tournament, dominated not only the scoring but also the rebounds, assists and blocks.
Chennai Turbos never lost the lead to Jaipur Giants from the first whistle to the last. It led Jaipur Giants by as much as 32 points in the third quarter.
Arvind Annadurai, who is their star player, finished the game with 31 points and 14 rebounds. He has been their pillar throughout the Pre Season and stepped up again in the finals.
He also received all-round support from his teammates, with Anto scoring 19, Vijay scoring 16, and Lokesh scoring 14.
Joginder Singh of Jaipur Giants top scored, with 44 points, but none of their shooters managed to up their game in the crucial game, with only Mahipal Singh and Satyajeet managing to reach 11 points each.
The final was also followed by a performance by Rapper Karma, who set the stage on fire.
The winners, Chennai Turbos received a cash prize of Rs 10 lakhs, and Jaipur Giants received Rs 2 lakhs for finishing as runners-up.
Aravind Annadurai from Chennai Turbos won the MVP and received a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh. Agu Stanley of Chandigarh Conquerors won the dunk competition, and Mandeep Singh of Hyderabad Hoops won the three-point shootout.
-PTI
HANDBALL
Maharashtra Ironmen announced as the first team of the inaugural Premier Handball League
The first team of the inaugural edition of the Premier Handball League (PHL) was announced on Tuesday. Called Maharashtra Ironmen, the team is owned by the Punit Balan Group which also owns teams across leagues like Ultimate Kho Kho, Ultimate Table Tennis and Tennis Premier League.
The inaugural season of the Premier Handball League is set to kick off on 8th June and will run till 25th June.
MOTORSPORT
Honda Motorcycle announces fresh line up for 2023 International Racing Championships
Rookie riders Kavin Samaar Quintal and Mohsin Paramban will compete in the AP250 class of the Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) as Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India on Tuesday announced its international racing team for the 2023 season.
Four rookie riders from India will challenge the best of Asian riders in the 2023 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) and Thailand Talent Cup (TTC).
The solo Indian team - IDEMITSU Honda Racing India consists of Kavin, who made his international debut in 2022 at Thailand Talent Cup and Asia Talent Cup.
Joining him in the pit will be Mohsin, who after proving his mettle in the national racing and displaying strong potential at Thailand Talent Cup, has now been given his first break at Asia’s toughest racing championship.
Apart from the duo, Honda Racing India’s promising stars Raheesh Khatri and Shyam Sundar will make their debut on international soil with the 2023 Thailand Talent Cup.
“Last year we achieved some noteworthy milestones as a team. With next gen riders now taking part in the competition, we are eager to see how these young guns will display their talent on the track and outpace the competition,” Prabhu Nagaraj, Operating Officer – Brand and Communication, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India said.
-PTI
TENNIS
ITF Men’s Tournament, Lucknow: Top seed Ly reached second round
Top seed Nam Hoang Ly of Vietnam got off to a good start as he beat Dali Blanch of the USA 7-6(3), 6-3 in the first round of the $25,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament at the Ekaana Sports Complex on Tuesday.
Ly broke serve in the eighth game of the second set to pull through. He saved the only breakpoint that he faced in the whole match.
In another match between two wild card entrants, former national champion Siddharth Vishwakarma led 7-6(2), 4-3 against the young Rushil Khosla when play had to be abandoned owing to rain.
The results:
- Team Sportstar
Asia-Oceania World Junior under-14 tennis championship: Indian girls make winning start
Indian girls did not drop a set in beating Singapore and Lebanon 3-0 each in the group-D league matches of the Asia-Oceania World Junior under-14 tennis championship in Kuching, Malaysia, on Tuesday.
Harithashree Venkatesh, Maaya Rajeshwaran and Diya Ramesh combined well as a team and did not drop more than two games in any of the sets.
All the teams had to play two ties each as the first day’s play had been washed away by rain.
India will play Hong Kong in the last league match to decide the group topper. The seventh seeded Hong Kong also won its matches against Singapore and Lebanon, like the second seed India.
The results (league):
- Team Sportstar
ITF juniors, Bhilai
Arjun Abhyankar bounced back from an indifferent start to edge past Gandharv Gourav 1-6, 6-2, 7-6(4) in the boys first round of the ITF junior tennis tournament at the Bhilai Steel Sports Complex on Tuesday.
The results (first round):
- Team Sportstar
GOLF
Gaurika, Rhea share lead in seventh leg of Hero WPGT
Gaurika Bishnoi and Rhea Jha shot a matching one-under 71 to share the lead after the first round of the seventh leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the pristine DLF Golf & Country Club in Gurugram on Tuesday.
Gaurika, 24, and Rhea, 20, were the only ones to shoot under par for the day.
Experienced Vani Kapoor, for whom the DLF Golf and Country Club is her home course, carded even par 72.
Ridhima Dilawari, coming back after a fruitful season on the Sunshine Ladies Tour in South Africa, and amateur Vidhatri Urs, who is part of the Indian national amateur team, were tied for fourth place with 73 each.
Tvesa Malik and Amandeep Drall, both of whom have a lot of experience and wins on the Hero WPGT, were tied for sixth place with rounds of 74 each.
The challenging Gary Player design layout saw every player in the Top-10 barring amateur Vidhatri, drop at least one double bogey or worse in the round. Vidhatri had three birdies and four bogeys.
Rhea, who plays most of her golf in Gurugram and trains under Deepinder Khullar at the DLF Golf and Country Club, seemed at home as she carded two birdies in the first four holes.
A double bogey on the demanding ninth hole meant she was back to even par. On the back nine she birdied 10th and 13th but dropped a shot on 12th for a day’s work of 71.
Gaurika, looking for back-to-back wins, opened birdie-birdie but then slipped with a bogey on Par-4 sixth and a double bogey on par-5 eighth.
She turned in one-over 37. On the back nine, she displayed good form again with three birdies – on the 11tth, 12th and 15th, but a late bogey on Par-4 17th saw her end the day at 71.
Vani also had two birdies on the front nine and three on the back nine, but she suffered a triple bogey on Par-4 seventh, a hole which saw a lot of well-known players dropping shots.
Vani, who had a Top-10 finish at the same course at the Hero Women’s Indian Open last year, bogeyed on 12th and then again on the closing hole, the 18th.
Amandeep Drall, who also has good memories of the course where she came close to her maiden Ladies European Tour title at the Women’s Indian Open last year, had two birdies, one bogey and one double bogey in her 74.
Tvesa, who lost a play-off on the third extra hole last week to Gaurika, had two birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey in her card of 74.
Agrima Manral and Asmitha Sathish are tied eighth with rounds of 75 each, while Seher Atwal and Rhea Purvi Saravanan were tied 10th with rounds of 76 each.
-PTI
HANDBALL
Maharashtra Ironmen named first team of inaugural Premier Handball League
Maharashtra Ironmen was on Tuesday named as the first team of the inaugural Premier Handball League scheduled to be held in June later this year.
The team will be owned by businessman Punit Balan.
“Handball is already quite popular in the Indian hinterland but it’s high time that we brought it to the fore,” said Balan, who owns a number of teams across leagues like Ultimate Kho-Kho, Ultimate Table Tennis and Tennis Premier League.
“At a national and state level, Maharashtra has always performed well in the tournaments and we are sure that we will be able to unearth new talent from the state with Maharashtra Ironmen.”
The inaugural season of the PHL is set to kick off on June 8 and will run till June 25.
-PTI
Comments
SHARE