FOOTBALL
Kattimani rejoins FC Goa on one-year deal
Goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani on Friday returned to FC Goa after signing a one-year deal, the Indian Super League club announced.
Kattimani, who hails from Goa, began his senior professional career with Vasco SC in 2008 before moving to Dempo SC in the subsequent season where he played for seven years.
He has played for two ISL clubs, Goa (2014-19) and Hyderabad FC (2016-24). In between, Kattimani also played a season for Mumbai FC (2016-17) in the I-League.
Overall, Kattimani has featured in 212 competitive matches. He has won the I-League twice with Dempo in 2009-10 and 2011-12, the Indian Super Cup with Goa in 2019 and the ISL with Hyderabad FC in 2021-22.
“Returning to FC Goa feels like coming back home. The club’s ambition to continue competing at the highest level aligns perfectly with my personal goals, making it the best next step for my career,” he said in release shared by the club.
- PTI
GOLF
Aditi and Diksha fight hard on a tough opening day at AIG Women’s Open
Indian golfers Diksha Dagar and Aditi Ashok made crucial birdies on their final holes to keep alive their chances of making the cut after the first round of the AIG Women’s Open.
Aditi carded a 4-over 76 to be T-79 while Diksha was 5-over 77, sitting at T-100 as play ended late on the opening day which was marred by strong winds.
The cut looked likely at 3-over or 4-over after the second round.
For a long time, Diksha’s score on the board showed a birdie on Par-5 14th, which was later corrected and it was shown as 5-over.
FILE PHOTO: Indian Golfers Aditi Ashok (L) and Diksha Dagar. | Photo Credit: Doordarshan Sports- X
Aditi opened with two pars and then had a bogey on 12th and a double on 13th for 3-over first nine. She dropped further shots on first and second to go 5-over before the birdie on ninth made it 4-over for the day.
Diksha, T-21 last year at Walton Heath, was 5-over for her first nine holes, the back nine of the Old Course with bogeys on 10, 11, 13, 16 and 17.
-PTI
Shubhankar makes decent start in Denmark, Hojgaard takes lead
Shubhankar Sharma had identical scores of 2-under 69 in his first two rounds at the Danish Golf Championship and was lying tied-fifth on Friday.
Shubhankar, who took a short break after the Paris Olympics, was tied-14th when the first round ended late on Wednesday.
Shubhankar Sharma of India tees off on the 10th hole during Day one of the Danish Golf Championship 2024 at Lübker Golf Resort in Aarhus, Denmark. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
He was one over for the second round, before he birdied the first, seventh and eighth to finish with a second 69, and at four-under he was well-placed.
India’s other player, Om Prakash was way behind at 5-over 76 and was tied-145th. He will need a very low round to have a chance of weekend play.
Rasmus Hojgaard started his Danish Golf Championship title defence in earnest, firing a six-under par 65 to lead by two strokes. Currently 20th on the Race to Dubai Rankings, Højgaard has set his sights on earning a PGA Tour card and joining his twin brother Nicolai as a dual member for 2025.
- PTI
PICKLEBALL
Monsoon Pickleball Championship: Duong, DeHeart set up summit clash
USA’s Quong Duong in action. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
USA’s Quong Duong defeated India’s Armaan Bhatia 2-0 to set up the men’s singles summit clash with compatriot Ryler DeHeart at the second Monsoon Pickleball Championship in Mumbai on Sunday.
DeHeart beat headliner Jay DeVilliers of France 2-0 in the other semifinal on Friday.
Britain’s Thaddea Lock and Chinese Taipei’s Pei Chuan Kao will fight it it out in the women’s singles event.
Thaddea defeated Emilia Shmidt in a closely-contested 2-1 semifinal, while Pei Chuan Kao beat Nicola 2-0.
Jason Tailore, Yeong Ding Hwang and KuochiungWen, Hsieh Yu, Shourya K/Samaira Sippy won the gold respectively in the men’s singles 30+, mixed doubles 50+, women’s singles 30+ and mixed intermediate doubles.
Eight more categories will be played on Day 4 of the championship at NESCO, Mumbai.
The Championship offers a prize money of USD 100,000 across 47 categories.
-PTI
TENNIS
ITF: Vaishnavi beats Miho Kuramochi in quarterfinals
Eighth seed Vaishnavi Adkar overcame a tough start to beat second seed Miho Kuramochi of Japan 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the quarterfinals of the $15,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand, on Friday.
In the semifinals, Vaishnavi will challenge the third seed Rina Saigo of Japan.
The results:
- Team Sportstar
Parth Aggarwal wins AITA Bijwasan title
Top seed Parth Aggarwal beat Lakshya Gupta 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the Godspeed Rs.100,000 AITA men’s tennis tournament in Bijwasan.
The results:
- Team Sportstar
BASKETBALL
With new rules coming in, teams could take time to settle down at Kerala State youth championship
With the Basketball Federation of India’s new substitution rules coming in, players and coaches could take some time to settle down in the 40th Kerala State youth basketball championship which begins at the Carmel CMI Public School, Vazhakulam, on Saturday.
The BFI’s new rules for youth and junior Nationals, approved at the federation’s recent AGM in Chennai, say that at least 10 of the team’s 12 players must play in every match. And each of these 10 must play one full quarter.
In the past teams have often forced two or three players to play a full match, leaving them exhausted. The new rules hope to change that and also ensure that players are selected on merit.
Kerala will be one of the early States to implement these new rules which will make their official debut in the youth Nationals in Kolkata in December.
“Since this is the first time, there could be some confusion in the beginning. But it should not be a problem for our team because we have 11 players who are strong enough to play in every quarter. Eleven of our players are almost of equal strength,” said E. Athul Krishnan, the coach of girls defending champion Kozhikode, on Friday evening.
“Eight players in our team are from Providence School (in Kozhikode) and we won two titles recently. Three of our players were also in the State team’s starting five at the last youth Nationals,” said Athul who is also the Providence School coach. “Still, it won’t be easy for us...Alappuzha, Kollam and Thrissur could be strong opponents.”
Kottayam won the boys title last year.
- Stan Rayan
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