SQUASH
Saurav exits Singapore Open in first round
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Saurav Ghosal lost to Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng in the opening round of Singapore Open on Tuesday.
Ng came from 1-2 down to beat Ghosal 3-2 (12-14, 11-4, 9-11, 14-12, 11-1) in a match that lasted one-and-a-half hours.
READ: Saurav Ghosal continues to live the dream in a season like no other
Ghosal had recently beaten Ng in the semifinals of the Asian Team Championships in Cheongju, Korea.
“In the third and fourth games, I lost a little bit of focus, and at match ball down, I knew I had to keep fighting, I had nothing to lose and to be honest, I am not really sure what happened at the end of the fourth. I just kept fighting and just kept running. I was really edgy when he hit a high volley drop and I just tinned it. Luckily, I was slightly stronger physically in the fifth game,” Ng told psaworldtour.com after the win.
Later in the day, Ramit Tandon will face England’s Patrick Rooney in his opening round match.
- Team Sportstar
ATHLETICS
Pooja sets U16 high jump national mark, Sanyam’s win brings along best athlete title
Haryana’s Pooja created a under-16 high jump national record while Sanyam too impressed in winning the U-20 men’s shot put title in the 37th AFI National Junior Athletics Championships on Tuesday.
Sanyam’s winning effort of 19.10m in his opening attempt also enabled him to emerge as the best male athlete in his age group.
However, Pooja had the distinction of being the only one to claim a national record. She cleared 1.76m to improve on the 1.73m mark set by Pavana Nagaraj at the Sarusajai Stadium here last year. The others who won the best athlete awards were Shaili Singh (Uttar Pradesh) in U-20 women, Atul (Haryana) and Unnathi Aiyyappa (Karnataka) in U-18 men and women, Ommkar Prasad Nanda (Odisha) and Rezoana Mallick Heena (West Bengal) in U-16 boys and girls and Nishchay (Haryana) and Tanu Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh) in the U-14 boys and girls.
On the final day of the championships which saw 39 finals across the four age groups, as many as six meet records were broken.
RESULTS (winners only):
Men: Under 20: 200m: Sumit Mondol (WB) 21.62s. 800m: Pradeep Senthilkumar (TN) 1:48.88s MR, OR 1:50.96). 5000m: Dushyant Kumar (UP) 14:44.19s. 3000m steeplechase: Mohit (Har) 9:16.46s MR, OR 9:18.19. 400m hurdles: Karna Bag (WB) 52.10s. Hammer throw: Mohammad Shahban (UP) 69.23m. Shot put: Sanyam (Har) 19.10m. Javelin throw: Vikash Sharma (Utk) 71.21m. Triple jump: Akhilesh (Kar) 15.99m. 4x400m relay: Haryana (3:13.11s).
Boys: Under-18: 200m: Abhay Singh (MP) 21.87s. 800m: Ankit (Har) 1:52.53s MR, OR 1:52.59.
3000m: Anuj Mathur (Del) 8:25.15s MR, OR 8:25.91. 2000m steeplechase: Vikesh Dagur (UP) 6:01.29s. 400m hurdles: Jerome Nishanth (TN) 53.40s. Long jump: Laxmikant Singh (UP) 7.40m.
Under-16: 800m: Parmjeet (Har) 1:59.41s. 2000m: Anil Kumar (UP) 5:35.86s. Long Jump: Abhishek Yadav (UP) 6.92m. Hammer throw: Prateek (Har) 65.28m.
Under-14: 600m: Ani Salbam (Odi) 1:24.01s
Women: Under-20: 200m: Sudeshna H. Shivankar (Mah) 24.34s. 800m: Ashakiran Barla (Jha) 2:08.85s. 3000m: Drashtiben Chaudhari (Guj) 9:34.94s MR, OR 9:42.71. 3000m steeplechase: . Susmita Tigga (Odi) 11:02.31s. 400m hurdles: Simmy (Har) 1:01.58s. 4x400m relay: Tamil Nadu (3:52.61s).
Girls: Under-18: 200m: Dodla Sai Sangeetha (Tel) 25.39s. 800m: Laxmipriya Kisan (Odi) 2:15.08.
3000m: Aakancha Kerketta (TN) 9:55.20s. 2000m steeplechase: Sonam (Del) 7:17.34s. 400m hurdles: Shreeya Rajesh (Kar) 1:02.12s. Pole vault: Vanshika Ghanghas (Har) 3.40m.
Under-16: 800m: Sanjana Singh (Har) 2:21.40s. 2000m: Vanshika (Har) 6:36.40s. High jump: Pooja (Har) 1.76m NR, OR 1.73. Long jump: Ramani K. Bharatbhai (Guj) 5.57m. Javelin throw: Bhateri (Haryana) 43.10m.
Under-14: 600m: Tanu Chaudhary (UP) 1:35.61s.
-PTI
GOLF
PGTI regulars to vie for honours at IndianOil SERVO Masters Golf tournament
Olympian Udayan Mane and former Asian tour winner Khalin Joshi will be among the top names as the 22nd edition of the IndianOil SERVO Masters Golf tournament begins on Wednesday.
The Rs 75 lakh event will feature a field of 120 players including 118 professionals and two amateurs. The top 50 players and ties will make the cut after round two.
The Pro-Am event will be held on November 20 at the scenic Digboi Golf Links.
Apart from Mane and Joshi, defending champion Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, Manu Gandas, former champions Shamim Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Shankar Das, Harendra Gupta will also be in the fray.
National Games silver medallists Abhinav Lohan (individual event) and Trishul Chinnappa (team event) and bronze medallists Sunhit Bishnoi (individual event) and Sachin Baisoya (team event) will also compete in the tournament.
The foreign challenge will be led by Sri Lankans Mithun Perera, N Thangaraja, Anura Rohana and K Prabagaran, Bangladesh’s Md Akbar Hossain as well as Nepal’s Sukra Bahadur Rai.
The local challenge is being led by Digboi-based players including professionals Biren Karmakar, Deven Bhumij, Sunil Mura, Dulal Kalowar and Deepraj Chetia as well as amateurs Alok Barua and Naveen Kumar Kisalay.
“This new development is set to give a major boost to golf in the North-Eastern region as the pristine Digboi Golf Links will be showcased to viewers across the country. We wish the players all the best,” Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI, said.
-PTI
TENNIS
ITF men’s tournament: Karan Singh defeats Nitin Kumar Sinha
Karan Singh beat fellow trainee from the National Tennis Centre (NTC) Nitin Kumar Sinha 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(3) in the first round of the $25,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament at the MSLTA Complex on Tuesday.
In another match, Dalwinder Singh fought his way past Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam 7-5, 7-6(5).
In doubles pre-quarterfinals, Bharath Kumaran and Rishi Reddy knocked out third seeds Parikshit Somani and Manish Sureshkumar 3-6, 7-6(4), [10-1].
Rishi also did well to qualify for the main draw of singles, along with Siddharth Vishwakarma, Madhwin Kamath and Raghav Jaisinghani.
The results:
Singles (first round): Rishab Agarwal bt Adil Kalyanpur 6-2, 6-3; Karan Singh bt Nitin Kumar Sinha 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(3); Bekhan Atlangeriev (Rus) bt Boris Butulija (Srb) 6-3, 6-4; Ryuki Matsuda (Jpn) bt Joao Marcos Nusdeo (Bra) 4-0 (retired); Digvijay Pratap Singh bt Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam 7-5, 7-6(5).
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Vladislav Orlov (Ukr) & Vishnu Vardhan bt Ishaque Eqbal & Karan Singh 6-4, 3-6, [12-10]; Faisal Qamar & Nitin Kumar Sinha bt Ryotaro Matsumura & Kazuki Nishiwaki (Jpn) 6-4, 4-6, [10-7]; Tushar Madan & Jagmeet Singh bt Sandesh Kurale & Atharva Sharma 4-6, 6-4, [10-5]; Bharath Kumaran & Rishi Reddy bt Parikshit Somani & Manish Sureshkumar 3-6, 7-6(4), [10-1].
Qualifying singles (third and final round): Rishi Reddy bt Ivan Denisov (Rus) 6-2, 5-4 (retired); Kazuki Nishiwaki (Jpn) bt VM Ranjeet 6-4, 6-3; Siddharth Vishwakarma bt Shahbaaz Khan 6-1, 2-6, [10-5]; Madhwin Kamath bt Ryotaro Matsumura (Jpn) 6-3, 6-4; Raghav Jaisinghani bt Dalwinder Singh 6-3, 4-6, [10-7]; Faisal Qamar bt Shivank Bhatnagar 6-3, 7-6(3).
-Kamesh Srinivasan
FOOTBALL
Milan Academy plans to launch a centre in every district of Kerala
The Milan Academy, the official coaching centre of the famed Italian football club AC Milan, will officially launch its Indian branch in Kerala here on Wednesday.
Kerala Sports Minister V. Abdurahiman and Luigi Cascone, Deputy Consulate General of Italy, will attend the launch event at the Maharaja’s Stadium here.
“The Milan Academy is directly run by AC Milan. We plan to have a centre in every district of Kerala,” said Gianmarco Sozzi, the academies’ project manager, here on Tuesday.
The academy, for children between 5 and 17 years, currently has centres in Kozhikode, Malappuram and a new one opened in Ernakulam a couple of days ago. Alberto Lacandela will be the official coach of the Milan Academy Kerala.
“The academy will offer lessons in football and life for overall growth,” said former Italy World Cupper Christian Panucci, the ambassador of AC Milan.
STAN RAYAN
China blanks India in men’s Asia-Oceania blind football championship
China blanked India 4-0 in a men’s Group ‘A’ league match of the Asia-Oceania blind football championship at the United Sports Centre, Kakkanad, on Tuesday.
-Stan Rayan
TENNIS
Ramkumar in Kobe pre-quarterfinals
Ramkumar Ramanathan beat fourth seed Kaichi Uchida of Japan 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the first round of the $53,120 Challenger tennis tournament in Kobe, Japan, on Tuesday.
In the Challenger in Champaign, USA, Prajnesh Gunneswaran entered the second round with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Stefan Kozlov of the USA.
In the $25,000 ITF women’s event in Traralgon, Australia, SahajaYamalapalli beat Madison Frahn 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-0.
The results:
$53,120 Challenger, Champaign, USA
Singles (first round): Prajnesh Gunneswaran bt Stefan Kozlov (USA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
$53,120 Challenger, Kobe, Japan
Singles (first round): Ramkumar Ramanathan bt Kaichi Uchida (Jpn) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. $60,000 ITF women, Tokyo, Japan
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Chihiro Muramatsu & Naho Sato (Jpn) bt Erika Sema (Jpn) & Rutuja Bhosale 7-5, 4-6, [10-3].
$25,000 ITF women, Traralgon, Australia
Singles (first round): Sahaja Yamalapalli bt Madison Frahn (Aus)6-7(3), 6-4, 6-0.
$25,000 ITF women, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Alisa Kummel & Ekaterina Makarova bt Yasmin Ezzat (Egy) & Ashmitha Easwaramurthi 6-4, 6-1; Aliona Falei & Tatiana Prozorova bt Shrivalli Bhamidipaty & Vaidehi Chaudhari 3-6, 7-6(5), [10-6]; Ya Yi Yang (Tpe) & Sowjanya Bavisetti bt Adithya Karunaratne (& Ho Ching Wu (Hkg) 6-0, 6-1.
$15,000 ITF women, Monastir, Tunisia
Singles (first round): Tijana Sretenovic (Srb) bt Veda Vanshita Ranabothu 6-0, 6-3.
$15,000 ITF women, Nairobi, Kenya
Singles (first round): Magdalena Stoikovska (Mkd) bt Lakshmi Gowda 6-0, 6-4; Alexandra Iordache (Rou) 6-3, 6-1; Anushka Ashar (USA) bt Laalitya Kalluri 6-2, 6-0; Sabastiani Leon (USA) bt Pooja Kudesia 3-0 (retired).
KAMESH SRINIVASAN
