GOLF
Vani finishes tied 8th in Aramco Series, 16-year-old Chiara wins title
Jeddah: India’s Vani Kapoor closed the week with a birdie-birdie finish for a solid card of 3-under 69 at the Aramco Series – Jeddah and register a second straight top 10 finish on the Ladies European Tour.
The tied eighth finish in Jeddah, on her Aramco Series debut with 8-under 208 total, came on the heels of a similar finish at the Hero Women’s Indian Open.
The other Indians were way behind with Amandeep Drall (72) in tied 49th, Diksha Dagar (74) in tied 58th and Tvesa Malik (73) in tied 63rd place.
Vani, playing with the experienced Lee Ann Pace, birdied second and fourth, but dropped a shot in between on the third.
Eighth pars followed before a birdie and a bogey on 13th and 14th, at which point she was 1-under for the final round. She birdied 17th and 18th for a fine finish and a top 10 result ahead of the Tour Championships.
Meanwhile, 16-year-old Chiara Noja, a high school senior based in Dubai, claimed her maiden victory on the LET following a sensational play-off against her childhood idol, Charley Hull.
Noja matched the tournament low of 65 in the final round at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club to secure her place in the play-off while Hull produced four birdies in her last six holes to tie with Noja on 13-under-par in regular play.
Despite the pressure on the young schoolgirl, Noja had back-to-back birdies in the play-off, to secure the victory and the USD 75,000 first prize.
Nicole Garcia also entertained the crowd on 18 with an eagle from off the green to secure sole third place. She also led her team to victory here in Jeddah, her second team championship win as captain.
Jeddah marks the end of the 2022 Aramco Team Series following events in Bangkok, London, Sotogrande, and New York.
-PTI
Shubhankar moves into contention after three rounds
Sun City, South Africa:
Shubhankar Sharma of India put himself in contention with a round of 3-under 69 that took him to 6-under for three rounds and placed him tied seventh at the Nedbank Golf Challenge here.
Sharma, who after his runner-up finish in Abu Dhabi at the start of the year, had struggled seems to have found form in South Africa, where he won one of his two European Tour titles.
Starting from 10th, Sharma opened with an eagle and birdie followed by two bogeys and then two birdies as he had no pars in his first six holes. A par on seventh was followed by a birdie on eighth as he turned in 4-under, but bogeys on first and eighth pulled him back.
He closed with a birdie on ninth, his final hole for the day to be tied seventh.
Thomas Detry and Rasmus Højgaard shared a one-shot lead on a day when the 66-player field faced an early start to complete round two after bad weather hit Sun City on second day.
Detry produced a blistering start and finish to his third round, signing for a five-under-par 67. That took the Belgian – who is chasing a maiden DP World Tour title - to nine under for the week, where he was joined by Dane Højgaard after his third successive 69.
Tommy Fleetwood with three 70s was six-under and looked set to make a final day challenge ahead of the DP World Tour Championship next month.
Detry started his third round at the 10th and birdied his opening two holes before picking up another shot at the 14th. Two bogies and another gain followed in his next 10 holes before he reeled off three birdies to finish.
Three-time DP World Tour winner Højgaard also made a quick start with a birdie at the second but, after dropping shots at the fourth and eighth, his round kicked into life at the ninth when he rolled in an eagle putt from 14 feet, adding two further birdies on the back nine to join Detry at the summit.
South Africans Thriston Lawrence and Branden Grace were at eight under par, while European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald and another home favourite in Christiaan Bezuidenhout were two shots further back.
Defending champion Fleetwood and DP World Rankings number two Ryan Fox were at six-under alongside Sharma.
-PTI
Ajeetesh Sandhu shoots 5-under to rise to 21st after three rounds in Egypt
Cairo: India’s Ajeetesh Sandhu fired four birdies in his last five holes for a 5-under 65 that saw him rise to tied 21st at the end of the third round of the USD1.5 million International Series Egypt here.
Sandhu, who shot 70-69 in the first two rounds to be tied 46th, is now the top Indian on the leaderboard.
Viraj Madappa (70) was tied 39th, while six-time Asian Tour winner SSP Chawrasia (71) was tied 43rd alongside S Chikkarangappa (71) and Gaganjeet Bhullar was tied 61st.
Former US Amateur champion Andy Ogletree continued to put together one of the best performances of his short professional career when he took the third-round lead.
The American, helped by a brilliant birdie-eagle finish, shot a five-under-par 65 to reach 15 under for the tournament and open up a three-shot lead from Austrian Bernd Wiesberger, who also made a fine eagle on 18 for a 65 of his own, and second-round leader Richard T. Lee from Canada (69).
Last year’s US Amateur champion American James Piot (64) and his compatriots Jarin Todd (67) and Sihwan Kim (68), Thailand’s Prom Meesawat (66) and Jinichiro Kozuma from Japan (68) are tied for fourth, four behind the leader.
Ogletree started one back from Lee but pulled ahead of the pack with three birdies on the trot from the fifth and narrowly stayed ahead of a crowded leader board all day until his fantastic finish.
He holed a 12-footer for birdie on the par-five 17th before reaching the 345-yard par-five 18th in one with an eye-catching drive before he holed out from 30 feet.
-PTI
SHOOTING
Avani Lekhara, Swaroop lose
Avani Lekhara and Swaroop Mahavir Unhalkar lose 8-16 to Republic of Korea in the bronze medal match of R10 - 10m Air Rifle Standing Mixed Team SH1 event at Para Shooting World Championships in Al Ain, UAE
-TEAM SPORTSTAR
ATHLETICS
Uttar Pradesh hammer throwers Abdul Rahaman (under-16 boys) and Tanya Chaudhary (under-20 women) broke the national records in the 37 th National junior athletics championships in Guwahati on Sunday.
Kerala sprint hurdler K. Kiran (under-16 boys), Uttarakhand race walker Mansi Negi (under-20 women) and the under-16 girls West Bengal sprint medley relay team also set new national records.
West Bengal sprint medley relay team set new national records. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The results (winners only):
Men: Under-20: 1500m: Arjun Waskale (MP) 3:50.15s. 110 m hurdles: Muhammed Hanan (Ker) 14.07s. High jump: Aryan Arun Patel (Mah) 2.09m. Discus throw: Zaanbaz Singh (Pun) 52.89m.
Boys: Under-18: 1500m: Sakir (Har) 3:55.22s. 110M hurdles: Nayan Pradip Sarde (Mah) 1428s. Triple jump: Kothuri Pranay (Tel) 14.89m. Pole vault: Kuldeep Kumar (UP) 4.80m MR, OR 4.79. 1000m medley relay: Andhra Pradesh (1:55.94s).
Under-16: 80m hurdles: K. Kiran (Ker) 10.61s NR, OR 10.81. High jump: M. Ashok Kumar (TN) 1.96m. Hammer throw: Abdul Rahaman (UP) 64.61m NR, OR 63.38. 5000m race walk: Himanshu Kumar (Utk) 20:51.66s. 1000 m medley relay: Maharashtra (1:59.41s).
Women: Under-20: 100m hurdles: Namayi Ruchitha (Tel) 14.71s. Hammer throw: Tanya Chaudhary (UP) 58.30m NR, OR 57.09. 10,000m race walk: Mansi Negi (Utk) 47:30.94s NR, OR 47:53.58.
Girls: Under-18: 1500m: Laxita Vinod Sandilea (Guj) 4:44.00s. 100M hurdles: Unnathi Aiyappa (Kar) 13.94s. Triple jump: Divyasri (TN) 12.13m. Hammer throw: Ankita (Har) 54.20m. 1000M medley relay: Maharashtra (2:13.83s).
Under-16: 80m hurdles: G. Bhavana (TN) 12.02s. 1000 medley relay: West Bengal (2:13.05s NR, OR 2:15.65).
TABLE TENNIS
TNTTA second edition of league to start on December 4
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Table Tennis Association (TNTTA) will conduct the second edition of the league from December 4 at the Nehru Indoor Stadium here, it was announced at the prize distribution function of the State championships on Sunday. The total prize money of the event is Rs 5.1 lakhs. The auction for the elite section of the league is scheduled on Dec. 1.
Former National champion A. Amalraj will be the brand ambassador of the league.
TNTTA said the junior and youth Nationals have been alloted to Chennai, it will be held sometime next year.
An award of Rs. 1 lakh has been instituted in the name of former International paddler V. Chandrasekar for Tamil Nadu u-19 boys’ and girls’ who enter the top eight in India in men’s and women’s sections.
“It’s a tribute to Chandra sir. Raman TT High Performance Centre has taken the responsibility to give the cash incentive,” said S. Raman, Dronacharya awardee, to The Hindu.
A National training centre for table tennis will come into effect soon. “Sports Authority of India has agreed in principle and is in the process of finalising the venue,” said Raman.
-K. Keerthivasan
TENNIS
Suraj beats Arjun
Mumbai: Suraj Prabodh defeated Arjun Mahadevan 6-7(4), 6-3, [10-8] in the first qualifying round of the $25,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament at the MSLTA courts on Sunday.
In another lively match, Kauzki Nishiwaki of Japan pipped Parth Aggarwal 6-3, 3-6, [13-11].
The Results:
-Kamesh Srinivasan
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