TENNIS
Three Indians in quarters at the ITF men’s tennis tournament in Lucknow
Siddharth Vishwakarma blanked Arthur Weber of France to march into the quarterfinals of the $25,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament at the Ekaana Sports Complex on Thursday.
In the quarterfinals, Siddharth will play top seed Nam Hoang Ly of Vietnam.
Karan Singh and Mukund Sasikumar also made the quarterfinals. Karan will challenge the champion of the last tournament Evgeny Donskoy while Mukund will be up against the second seed Oliver Crawford.
RESULTS
-Kamesh Srinivasan
India loses to Kazakhstan in Asia Oceania World Juniors
Kazakhstan beat second seed India 2-0 in the quarterfinals of the Asia Oceania World Junior under-14 tennis tournament in Kuching, Malaysia, on Thursday.
After the easy loss in the first singles, Maaya Rajeshwaran played strong to make a fight of it, but Yerkezhan Zhanatayeva was better prepared and equipped to win the tie for Kazakhstan.
India will next play Thailand in the positional play-off match.
Results (quarterfinals): Kazakhstan bt India 2-0 (Eva Korysheva bt Harithashree Venkatesh 6-1, 6-1; Yerkezhan Zhanatayeva bt Maaya Rajeshwaran 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-2.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Results from ITF junior tennis tournament in Bhilai
Kandhavel Mahalingam beat top seed Pratyaksh 6-1, 6-3 in the boys quarterfinals of the ITF junior tennis tournament at the Bhilai Steel sports complex on Thursday.
RESULTS
Boys: Kandhavel Mahalingam bt Pratyaksh 6-1, 6-3; Victor Mohanram (Esp) bt Skandha Prasanna Rao 6-0, 2-6, 6-4; Vihaan Reddy bt Vatsal Manikantan 6-1, 6-1; Daksh Kukreti bt Smit Patel 6-3, 6-0.
Girls: Aishwarya Jadhav bt Riya Sachdeva 6-0, 3-0 (retired); Amodini Naik bt Suhani Gaur 6-4, 6-3; Prisha Shinde bt Devanshee Prabhudesai 6-3, 6-1; Nemha Sarah Kispotta bt Saumya Ronde 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
KHO KHO
India men’s and women’s teams win gold in Asian Championships
India’s women’s team with the winners trophy at the Asian Championships. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The Indian men’s and women’s teams clinched the titles at the 4th Asian Kho Kho Championships that concluded at Tamulpur, Assam on Thursday.
In the finals, the Indian men defeated Nepal by 6 points and an inning while the Indian women outwitted their Nepal opponents by 33 points and an inning.
In men’s and women’s categories, the third place was shared by Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, respectively
-Team Sportstar.
HOCKEY
Asian Hockey Federation awards Hockey India with Best Organiser Award for FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023
Hockey India on Thursday was awarded with the Best Organiser Award by the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) for its exemplary execution of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela as the host nation.
The award was received by Hockey India Secretary General Bhola Nath Singh during the AHF Congress held in Mungyeong, Korea.
-Team Sportstar
GOLF
Aman Raj and Dharma lead Indian charge at Challenge Tour
Aman Raj, who two weeks ago won on the domestic Tata Steel PGTI Tour, got off to a quick start at the Duncan Taylor Black Bull Challenge with a card of 5-under 67.
He was tied third alongside fellow Indian M Dharma, as the European Challenge Tour returned to India after a gap of 10 years.
Aman Raj and Dharma were four shots behind the Spaniard Manuel Elvira, who shot an incredible course record-setting 9-under 63.
Welshman Oliver Farr carded a bogey free 8-under 64 to be second at the KGA Course.
Aman Raj and Dharma were in a group of nine players at tied third. The seven players other than the Indian duo, include four-time DP World Tour winner Matteo Manassero, Englishmen Steven Brown and Ashley Chesters, Swedes Joel Sjoholm and Henric Sturehed, Italian Stefano Mazzoli and Germany’s Velten Meyer.
The Indian contingent, looking at possible pathways into the DP World Tour and beyond, had a fine start with five more Indians at the crowded tied-12th place. The five were rookie pro Aryan Roopa Anand, Angad Cheema, Sunhit Bishnoi, Aadil Bedi and R Marimuthu, who all scored 4-under 68 each.
The course played well as 86 golfers shot under par and another 28 played even par.
Aman Raj, starting from the back nine, bogeyed his first and 10th holes. He made no more mistakes as he picked six birdies on the 13th, 16th, first, third, fifth and eighth holes. His compatriot, Dharma, had seven birdies against two bogeys.
Elvira, who already has two top-10 finishes on the Challenge Tour this season -- both in South Africa --, began with four birdies on the back nine as he teed off from the 1oth.
His lone blemish was a bogey on Par-4 17th as he turned in a 3-under. On the back nine, he birdied six times and had no bogeys.
“It feels amazing,” said Elvira. “I wasn’t thinking about the course record, but I just wanted to make that final putt to reach 10-under par. Unfortunately, it didn’t go in but I’m really happy with my round today.” Oliver Farr, a three-time winner on the Challenge Tour, had six birdies on the front nine and two more on the back nine.
Local lad Aryan Roopa Anand, a former All India Amateur champion who turned pro this year, had four birdies on the front nine and just one on the back nine and closed with eight pars for his 68.
- PTI
Chikka fourth in Hong Kong as DGC winner Tabuena takes lead
Chikkarangappa S. of India playing a shot during round one of the World City Championship presented by the Hong Kong Golf Club. | Photo Credit: AFP
Indian golfer S Chikkarangappa shot a fine four-under 66 to be placed tied fourth after the first round, even as Miguel Tabuena’s hot streak continued at the World City Championship with a superb seven-under-par 63.
Chikka, who led after two rounds at the DGC Open, was the best Indian after the opening round.
The next best Indians were Karandeep Kochhar and Honey Baisoya, who shot 69 each to be tied for 31st.
SSP Chawrasia (70) was tied 48th, while Veer Ahlawat, Jeev Milkha Singh and Shiv Kapur carded one-over 71 each to be placed tied 63rd.
Among other Indians, Viraj Madappa and Gaganjeet Bhullar shot 73 each to occupy the tied 87th spot.
Chikka, one of the early starters, birdied third and seventh to turn in two-under. He added birdies on the 10th, 13th and 15th to be five-under, but dropped a shot on the 18th to finish at four-under 66 on the Par-70 course.
Tabuena won The DGC Open, presented by Mastercard, last week for his first victory on the Asian Tour since 2018 and looked in form yet again at the Composite Course at the Hong Kong Golf Club.
Hong Kong’s rising young star Taichi Kho shot 64 and is second, ahead of Australian Scott Hend, who carded 65.
Tabuena, playing in the afternoon and pursuit of Kho’s morning score, was quickly into his stride with birdies on the first, third, fifth and sixth to make the turn in four under.
And a run of four birdies in a row from the 11th saw him take control of the USD 1 million tournaments.
Rookie professional Kho was unveiled as the Hong Kong Golf Club’s ambassador this week and he quickly repaid the famous club’s faith in him by also firing a brilliant round made up of an eagle, five birdies and just one bogey.
Hend, who won the Hong Kong Open here in 2014, is still struggling with an upset tummy, which he picked up in New Delhi last week but that did not stop him from shooting a low number, highlighted by three closing birdies.
- PTI
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