GOLF
Kochhar treads well, finishes 26th in Korea
India’s Karandeep Kochhar rounded off a shortened week with a birdie on the 18th to card 1-over 72 on the final day and finish tied 26th at the GS Caltex Maekyung Open.
While Kochhar shot 69-69-72 for 3-under 210, veteran Jeev Milkha Singh shot even par 71 and was tied 36th in the field with rounds of 71-70-71 for 212. Among other Indians Honey Baisoya (69-72-73) was tied 51st and Gaganjeet Bhullar (72-70-76) was tied 68th.
Kochhar has been moving in the right direction and in nine starts this year he has made eight cuts after missing the year’s opening event in Oman.
Korean Chanmin Jung completed a wire-to-wire victory and established himself as one of his country’s stars of the future. He shot a final round five-under-par 66 for a tournament total of 16 under par and a commanding six-shot victory at Namseoul Country Club in Seoul.
Korea’s Minhyuk Song, an amateur, and Junghwan Lee tied for second following rounds of 64 and 70 respectively, in an event reduced to 54 holes after Saturday’s third round was cancelled because of poor weather and a waterlogged course.
Their compatriots Jaekyeong Lee (66) and Eunshin Park (67) tied for fourth, one shot back, while defending champion Bio Kim, also from Korea, finished in a tie for sixth, an additional stroke behind, following a 70.
Jung led after the opening day with a 63 and had a two-shot advantage after his second round 68.
The next event on the Asian Tour will also be staged in the Land of Morning Calm, with the Kolon Korea Open to be played at Woo Jeong Hills Country Club, from June 22-25.
- PTI
Chouhan finishes ninth in Abu Dhabi
India’s Om Prakash Chouhan, who hit the spotlight in March with a win on the European Challenge Tour, showed that he is the man to look out for with Sunday’s equal best card of 6-under 66 at the UAE Challenge here.
His round included a superb eagle on Par-4 14th. Chouhan’s 66 carried him from overnight tied 33rd place to tied ninth, his second Top-10 finish on the European Challenge Tour.
As the overnight leader Manuel Elvira crashed to an uncharacteristic 8-over 80 at the Saadiyat Beach Golf Club, Germany’s Maximilian Rottcluff (70) rose from being overnight second to win the title and Ugo Coussaud, winner of the KGA Challenge, finished second with a final round of 5-under 67 and a total of 13-under.
Chouhan, who after winning the first Duncan Taylor Black Bull Challenge in Bengaluru missed the cut at the KGA Challenge, had a fine day as he and his playing partner Cole Madey, playing his first counting event of 2023, fed off each other. Both shott 66 and finished in a tie for ninth.
For Chouhan it was a return to Top-10 on the Road to Mallorca Rankings, and he is now ninth. The Top-20 on the rankings get a card to the DP World Tour for the next year.
Chouhan is also atop the Indian PGTI Order of Merit, and if he stays there that would also get him a DPWT card.
Chouhan, starting on the 10th birdied the 11th, eagled the Par-4 14th, and added further gains on 16th and 18th to turn in 5-under. He dropped a shot on third but birdied the fifth and ninth for a 66.
Rottluff held his nerve to secure a maiden European Challenge Tour victory at the UAE Challenge.
-PTI
AIFF president, secretary general meet IFA officials to discuss Bengal football
All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Kalyan Chaubey and secretary general Shaji Prabhakaran on Sunday met key office bearers of Indian Football Association (IFA) in Kolkata to discuss the growth of Bengal football.
IFA president Ajit Bandopadhyay, secretary Anirban Dutta, and several key office bearers were present in the meeting between the IFA and the AIFF.
Discussions involved resolving issues faced by IFA for football development in the state.
Upon Chaubey’s suggestion, the IFA will start an U23 inter-district tournament to help young players showcase their talents, and this way, local clubs might find more talents from different districts of Bengal.
Speaking about the meeting, Chaubey said: “It was a productive meeting with the IFA management, where we openly discussed many aspects of football.
“Barring foreign players from local leagues will provide more opportunities to local players. To fill the gap, we proposed that IFA initiate an U23 Inter-District tournament from next season.”
-PTI
ICE HOCKEY
Ice Hockey Women’s Asia and Oceania Championship: India misses bronze against Singapore
The Indian team finished fourth in the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s Asia and Oceania Championship after going down 1-3 to Singapore.
-Team Sportstar
TENNIS
AITA Championship series juniors: Jeetesh Kumari wins double crown
Jeetesh Kumari won a double crown in the AITA Championship series junior tennis tournament at the Tennis Gurukul, Khera Khurd.
Jeetesh beat her doubles partner Navy Dabas for the singles title. The two outplayed Varnikaa Dixit and Jhanvi Sharma for the doubles title.
Vedant Mehta won the boys singles title, while Sachin Malha and Lakshay Dahiya won the doubles title.
The results (finals):
-Team Sportstar
Junior Davis Cup: India clubbed with Japan, Iran and Indonesia
The Indian boys have been seeded No.2 and clubbed with Japan, Iran and Indonesia in the league phase of the Asia-Oceania Junior Davis Cup under-16 tennis tournament to be played in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, from Monday.
Kriish Tyagi, Aarjun Pandit and Rethin Pranav will try to earn one of the four spots from the region for the World Group competition.
Kriish was part of the team last year, and the other two are making their debut.
Manas Dhamne was supposed to spearhead the team, but had withdrawn, leading to the inclusion of Rethin Pranav.
The experienced coach, Sajid Lodi will try to guide the team in the best possible way, as the captain.
The groups:
-Team Sportstar
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