Tennis
ITF junior tennis: Rethin beats Japan’s Takahashi in first round
Rethin Pranav gave himself more time on the court as he sparred with qualifier Hikaru Takahashi of Japan on way to a 7-5, 7-5 victory in the first round of the ITF junior tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex on Tuesday.
The 15-year-old Rethin, who trains with coach M Balachandran at the Rohan Bopanna Academy in the Sports School in Bengaluru, was dominant in spells but was unable to get into a higher gear to close out the match earlier than he did.
In the pre-quarterfinals, Rethin will challenge the sixth seed and champion of the last tournament in Chandigarh, Donghyun Hwang of Korea.
Qualifier Cahir Warik played his heart out but could not stop second seed Amir Milushev of Uzbekistan from escaping to a 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 victory in a high-quality contest of admirable athleticism and energetic play.
Wiry Aditya Govila also gave glimpses of a strong game before being beaten 6-4, 6-2 by Se Hyuk Cho of Korea.
American of Indian origin, top seed Adhithya Ganesan subdued Joewyn Rey Pascua of the Philippines in three sets.
In the girls’ section, Aishi Bisht played well before being beaten 6-4, 7-5 by Asylzhan Arystanbekova of Kazakhstan 6-4, 7-5.
The results (first round)
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Ramkumar reaches doubles second round in Adelaide International 2
Ramkumar Ramanathan in partnership with Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela reached the doubles pre-quarterfinals with a 6-3, 7-6(4) victory over the Dutch team of Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop, in the $713,495 ATP tennis tournament in Adelaide, Australia, on Tuesday.
In the second round, Ramkumar and Miguel Angel will challenge the second seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer.
In the Challenger in Nonthaburi, Thailand, Prajnesh Gunneswaran knocked out the fourth seed Zdenek Kolar of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-3 in the first round.
RESULTS
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Chess
Roots Collegium names Humpy brand ambassador
Former World rapid chess champion Koneru Humpy has been signed up as Brand Ambassador by the Roots Collegium as part of its celebrations of 30 years legacy in imparting “holistic education”.
Humpy, who recently created history by becoming the only Indian to win a silver in the World blitz chess championship, said it was a pleasure for her to be associated with Roots Collegium.
Mr B.P. Padala, chairman of Roots Collegium with GM Koneru Humpy who was named Brand Ambassador of the Collegium in Hyderabad. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
“I thank Mr B.P. Padala gaaru for giving me this honour as we all know the Roots Collegium has been offering the best of educational facilities for the last 30 years,” she said.
“We both have the same passion, integrity and ethics. That’s the special part about Roots Collegium, to which I instantly related to. And now we are ready to travel together. As an ambassador, I look forward to contributing my committed services to the college and helping them grow in stature,”Humpy said.
Mr. B.P. Padala, chairman of Roots Collegium, said it was their honour to have such a great chess champion as the brand ambassador.
“ I wish the students of Roots Collegium will be motivated by such an inspiring champion who has come across a lot to be in this position today. I have no doubt that with her determination and strong belief, she will become a world champion,” he said.
“I hope every student will inculcate the habit of not giving up and fighting for what they want, from her. She will be a role model for each and every student of our institution. I thank Koneru Humpy for accepting this position and people like her will definitely help bring change in society,” the top official of Roots Collegium said.
-V V SUBRAHMANYAM
Shooting: National trials
Sift Kaur Samra continued to assert her mastery of the women’s rifle 3-position event as she beat Olympian Anjum Moudgil 16-14 for the top spot in the second National shooting selection trials at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Tuesday.
Both Sift and Anjum shot high scores in qualification and were much superior to the rest of the pack in sealing their spot for the final dual. The two had finished 1-2 in the first trial.
Shriyanka Sadangi placed third ahead of Surabhi Bharadwaj, Vanshika Shaihi, Ashi Chouksey, Gaayathri NIthyanandam and Sunidhi Chauhan.
In men’s air rifle, world champion Rudrankksh Patil recovered lost ground as he topped the second trials with a 17-13 win over Olympian Chain Singh. There was hardly any difference in the performance of the two in the semifinals, as they rose above Shahu Tushar Mane and qualification topper Hriday Hazarika (633.6).
Olympian Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar also shot high (632.0) along with Arjun Babuta (631.5) but had to settle for the fifth and seventh spots respectively.
Rudrankksh had finished second to Lagad Saurav Gorakh in the first trial.
Meanwhile, in the first trials of women’s 25-metre sports pistol, Manu Bhaker was a class act as she beat World Cup gold medallist Chinki Yadav 27-21 for the top spot. Esha Singh and Abhidnya Patil placed third and fourth respectively ahead of qualification topper Rhythm Sangwan (583).
RESULTS
-Kamesh Srinivasan
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