Indian Sports News Wrap, December 17

Here are all the major developments in Indian sport on December 17.

Published : Dec 17, 2022 17:54 IST

FILE PHOTO: Sasikumar Mukund made it to the final of the $15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament in Sharm El Sheikh.
FILE PHOTO: Sasikumar Mukund made it to the final of the $15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament in Sharm El Sheikh. | Photo Credit: VEDHAN M
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FILE PHOTO: Sasikumar Mukund made it to the final of the $15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament in Sharm El Sheikh. | Photo Credit: VEDHAN M

TENNIS

ITF $15k men’s tennis tournament: Sasikumar Mukund reaches final

Top seed Sasikumar Mukund beat Seydina Andre of Senegal 6-4, 6-1 in the semifinals of the $15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, on Saturday.

In the final, Mukund will be challenged by unseeded Martyn Pawelski of Poland.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

$25,000 ITF women’s tournament: Ankita Raina loses to Anastasia Kulikova in semis

Photo of Doubles champions Prarthana Thombare and Ankita Raina in the
$25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Solapur on Saturday.
Photo of Doubles champions Prarthana Thombare and Ankita Raina in the $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Solapur on Saturday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
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Photo of Doubles champions Prarthana Thombare and Ankita Raina in the $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Solapur on Saturday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Top seed Ankita Raina let third seed Anastasia Kulikova of Finland off the hook from a position of strength and got beaten 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 in the semifinals of the Balaji Amines $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the District Sports Complex on Saturday.

After fighting back from 1-4 to take the first set 7-5, Ankita was in the driver’s seat as she was serving 40-30 at 5-2 in the second. However, she failed to capitalise on the match point and lost her way, winning three of next 14 games.

Kulikova who served nine aces in the match, converted eight break points as compared to seven by Ankita, to pull through in two hours and 26 minutes.

In the final, Kulikova will play Priska Nugroho of Indonesia, who also recovered from losing the first set to beat Daria Kudashova.

Ankita did have the consolation of winning the doubles title with Prarthana Thombare, beating Priska and Ekaterina Yashina 6-1, 6-2.

It was the fifth doubles title of the season for the 29-year-old Ankita, and the 25th doubles title of her career. She has also won 11 singles titles in the professional circuit. For Prarthana, it was her third doubles title of the season and 24th of her career.

The results:

Singles (semifinals):Anastasia Kulikova (Fin) bt Ankita Raina 5-7, 7-5, 6-3; Priska Nugroho (Ina) bt Daria Kudashova 1-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Doubles (final): Ankita Raina & Prarthana Thombare bt Priska Nugroho & Ekaterina Yashina 6-1, 6-2.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

FOOTBALL

I-League: Aizawl FC routs Kenkre FC 4-0

Lalchhanhima Sailo scored a brace as Aizawl FC inflicted a 4-0 defeat on Kenkre FC in an I-League match at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Aizawl on Saturday.

After Sailo struck twice (14th, 25th) in the first half, substitutes David Lalhlansanga (47th) and Jeremy Laldinpuia (68th) found the target in the second to seal the rout.

With its third home win, Aizawl FC moved to sixth place on the table with 12 points from eight matches. Kenkre is placed 11th with seven points.

- PTI

HOCKEY

Beighton Cup: Indian Navy sets up final clash with Punjab National Bank

Indian Navy edged out Indian Oil via penalty shootout to set up a title clash with the Punjab National Bank (PNB) in the 124th Beighton Cup hockey tournament at the SAI astro-turf ground here on Saturday.

Navy and Indian Oil were locked 1-1 after the regulation period, taking the semifinal contest to the tie-breaker. The two sides were tied 3-3 in the regular shootouts before Navy prevailed in the ‘sudden death’ to secure a 4-3 win.

PNB beat Canara Bank 2-0 in the other semifinal.

SCORE: Indian Navy 1 (Sushil Dhanwar 17) vs Indian Oil 1 (Raman 39), penalty shootout: Indian Navy 4 (Prashant, Kuldeep, Ashis, Kuldeep) bt Indian Oil 3 (Sumit Kumar, Talwinder Singh, Vikramjit Singh); PNB 2 (Vishal Antil 27, Gursimran Singh 52) bt Canara Bank 0.

-Y.B. Sarangi

ATHLETICS

TSK 25K run: Commonwealth Games marathon champion Victor Kiplangat, 2019 winner Leonard Barsoton to take part

While top international stars will look forward to setting world records, Indian runners will be keen to put up strong performances in the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K run, which returns to the city following a two-year Covid-induced break.

Commonwealth Games marathon champion Victor Kiplangat and 2019 winner Leonard Barsoton will be among the leading international male runners in the race to be held on Sunday. 

Former Berlin marathon champion Ashete Bekere and Ugandan half-marathon national record holder Mercylin will be among the prominent women to be seen in action.

Defending champion Srinu Bugatha and Delhi half-marathon third place finisher Sanjivani Jadhav will lead strong Indian elite line-ups in men and women categories.

Even though the $100,000 event could not rope in well known tennis player Mary Pierce following an announcement, it got massive encouragement from the 15,000-plus entries it received on its return.

-Y.B. Sarangi

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