Indian sports news wrap, February 12

Here are all the updates, results and developments from the world of Indian sports on February 12.

FILE PHOTO: Rahil Gangjee in action. | Photo Credit: SAMPATH KUMAR GP/ The Hindu

GOLF

PGTI Players Championship to begin with 124 participants

Defending champion Sachin Baisoya, Manu Gandas and Rahil Gangjee will be in action at the TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship 2024 presented by Tollygunge Club here from Tuesday.

The tournament, offering a prize purse of INR 1 crore, will mark the start of the 2024 TATA Steel PGTI season. The Pro-Am event will be played on February 17.

The tournament will see participation of 124 players, including 121 professionals and three amateurs.

Other top players in the fray will be Khalin Joshi, Aman Raj, Karan Pratap Singh, Udayan Mane, Angad Cheema, Jairaj Singh Sandhu, Harshjeet Singh Sethie, Sunhit Bishnoi and Gaurav Pratap Singh, to name a few.

The prominent foreign names competing are Sri Lankans N Thangaraja and K Prabagaran, Bangladeshis Jamal Hossain and Badal Hossain, Andorra’s Kevin Esteve Rigaill and Nepal’s Sukra Bahadur Rai.

Among the rookies taking part in the event will be PGTI Qualifying School winner Matias Dominguez of Chile, Nepal’s Subash Tamang, Italy’s Michele Ortolani, Czechia’s Stepan Danek, South Korea’s Si In Kim, American Dominic Piccirillo and Germany’s Wenzel Krzenck.

The Kolkata-based professionals in the field are Shankar Das, Divyanshu Bajaj, Mohammad Sanju, Indrajit Bhalotia, Karan Verma and Arjun Puri. The three Kolkata-based amateurs participating are Uzair Firdausi, Rohan Shroff and Sandeep Yadav.

- PTI

SHOOTING

India signs off without a medal from Rabat Shotgun World Cup

Ganemat Sekhon and Munek Battula finished 12th in the final skeet mixed team event on Monday as India ended its campaign at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Rabat, Morocco, without a medal.

The duo shot a combined score of 140 after three qualification rounds each as the USA topped with 149.

A second Indian pair, Abhay Singh Sekhon and Areeba Khan shot 134 to take 17th place.

Italy was at the top of the medal tally, sweeping all four golds on offer before the skeet mixed team final.

- PTI

PRO WRESTLING

Sangram Singh to face Pakistan’s Muhammad Saeed

Making his comeback after six years, former Commonwealth Heavyweight champion Sangram Singh will face Pakistan’s Muhammad Saeed in what will be the headline event of the International Pro Wrestling Championship on February 24 in Dubai.

The event carrying a prize purse of Rs 3-crore will have a lineup of five matches, including the one featuring Sangram and Saeed.

“This sport of wrestling exemplifies gentlemanly conduct, and I aim to inspire the youth through this event keeping in mind the ideology of FIT India,” said the 38-year-old who won the Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship in 2015 and 2016.

“Competing against Muhammad Saeed, who is an elite athlete in his own right will be the perfect way to emphasize that age is no barrier and I look forward to a great fight to complete my anticipated comeback facilitated by World Professional Wrestling Hub.”

The other match ups feature Ilias Bekbulatov (Russia), 2017 European Wrestling Champion vs Damon Kemp (USA); Andrea Carolina (Columbia), Olympian, vs Vescan Cynthia (France), Olympian; Bader Ali (UAE), Silver medallist, Arab Championship vs Mbo Isomi Aron (Congo), Gold Medalist, Games of La Francophonie; Mimi Hristova (Bulgaria), Olympian vs Skiba Monika.

- PTI