Indian sports news wrap, December 22

Here all the updates, results and developments from the world of Indian sports on Friday, December 22.

FILE PHOTO: Kalaivani (left) proved too strong for Milano Mj of Kerala in the 48kg match. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Here all the updates, results and developments from the world of Indian sports on Friday, December 22.

TENNIS

Sahaja reaches ITF women’s tournament semis

Sahaja Yamalapalli sustained her strong game to beat Hiromi Abe of Japan 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the MSLTA Centre in Solapur on Friday.

Hiromi had beaten top-seed Maria Timofeeva in the earlier round. Seventh seed Sahaja will play Saki Imamura of Japan in the semifinals.

The other semifinal will feature Ekaterina Makarova, who beat Vaidehi Chaudhari for the loss of six games, and sixth seed Diana Marcinkevica of Latvia, who ousted third seed Sapfo Sakellaridi of Greece in straight sets.

The doubles final will be an all-Japanese affair between Funa Kozaki and Misaki Matsuda against Hiromi Abe and Saki Imamura.

THE RESULTS

SINGLES (QUARTERFINALS)

Sahaja Yamalapalli bt Hirome Abe (Jpn) 6-3, 6-2; Saki Imamura (Jpn) bt Daria Kudashova 6-3, 6-4; Diana Marcinkevica (Lat) bt Sapfo Sakellaridi (Gre) 6-4, 6-3; Ekaterina Makarova bt Vaidehi Chaudhari 6-3, 6-3.

DOUBLES (SEMIFINALS)

Funa Kozaki & Misaki Matsuda (Jpn) bt Ekaterina Kazionova & Ekaterina Yashina 7-6(6), 6-0; Hiromi Abe & Saki Imamura (Jpn) bt Vaishnavi Adkar & Sahaja Yamalapalli 6-4, 6-1.

- Kamesh Srinivasan

Chandana wins second successive singles title

Fourth seed Chandana Potugari beat second seed Samaira Malik 7-6(4), 6-2 in the final of the Rs. 100,000 AITA women’s tennis tournament at the Joygaon Academy in Jhajjar on Friday.

It was the second successive singles title over a fortnight at the same venue for the 22-year-old Chandana, who trains with coach Ganesh Raman in Hyderabad.

Chandana did not drop a set in the whole tournament and had conceded only 11 games in her three earlier rounds after a bye in the first. That included a victory over top-seed Tanushri Pandey in the semifinals.

THE RESULTS (FINAL)

Chandana Potugari bt Samaira Malik 7-6(4), 6-2.

- Kamesh Srinivasan

Swarandeep loses over-35 ITF Masters final

Joseph Zotinkhuma beat top-seed Swarandeep Singh Dhodi 6-4, 6-4 in the over-35 final of the ITF Masters tennis tournament at the Tennis Project, Baliawas.

Aditya Khanna, Hitesh Behl, Sanjeev Magon and Mani Mohan Nehru were the winners in the other age groups.

In the over-35 women’s event, Sohini Kumari had emerged the champion while Nikunj Kamal and Nazneen Rahman placed second and third, respectively, in a league format featuring five players.

THE RESULTS (FINALS)

MEN

Over-35: Joseph Zotinkhuma bt Swarandeep Singh Dhodi 6-4, 6-4.

Over-40: Aditya Khanna bt Raj Kumar 6-1, 6-4.

Over-45: Hitesh Behl bt Manav Arora 7-5, 2-6, [10-6].

Over-50: Sanjeev Magon bt Raj Dutt 6-2, 6-3.

Over-60: Mani Mohan Nehru bt BD Agnihotri 6-3, 6-0.

- Kamesh Srinivasan

BOXING

Sonia Lather, Kalaivani make winning start National Boxing C’ships

World Championships silver medallist Sonia Lather of Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) and Tamil Nadu’s S. Kalaivani started their campaigns with dominating victories on the opening day of the women’s National Boxing Championships in Greater Noida.

Sonia started the bout aggressively against Mahi Lama of Madhya Pradesh in the 57kg opening round match before securing a comfortable 5-0 win.

Kalaivani, last edition’s silver medallist, also proved too strong for Milano Mj of Kerala in the 48kg match.

Kalaivani’s relentless attack forced the referee to stop the contest in the third round and declare her the winner.

Kalaivani will next square off against Haryana’s Gitika, who beat Meraj Begum of Telangana after the referee stopped the contest (RSC), in the next round.

Rinku (52kg) and Tannu (57kg) were the other boxers from Haryana to register victories and progress into the round of 16.

Meanwhile, the 2021 Asian Youth Championships silver medallist Nivedita Karki (48kg) of Uttarakhand dominated Veronica Sohshang of Meghalaya to secure a RSC win in Round 2.

- PTI

GOLF

Bhullar maintains two-shot lead at halfway stage

Indian star golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar maintained his two-shot advantage after signing for a six-under 66 in round two of Rs 3 crore TATA Steel Tour Championship here on Friday.

Bhullar’s (64-66) total at the halfway stage read 14-under 130.

Rahil Gangjee (70-62) shot a personal best of 10-under 62 to move up 21 spots into tied second place at 12-under 132.

Gangjee, who scored 10 birdies on the day, thus matched the previous best score achieved in a combined round at Beldih and Golmuri golf courses.

Bhullar, a 12-time international winner, continued his impressive run with an error-free 66. He made birdies on four out of the five par-5s and drove the green on the par-4 fourth to set up another birdie.

Bhullar’s sixth birdie was a 15-feet conversion.

Gangjee also made two long conversions on the front-nine. The three-time international winner went on to add three more birdies on the back-nine at Beldih.

Cheema produced seven birdies and a bogey during his 66 to end the day in joint second place along with Gangjee.

Defending champion Chikkarangappa (67) was in tied for 17th place at seven-under 137.

TATA Steel PGTI Ranking leader Om Prakash Chouhan (68) was placed tied 33rd at four-under 140.

The two Jamshedpur-based professionals Karan Taunk (even-par 144) and Kurush Heerjee (three-over 147) were placed tied 57th and tied 64th respectively.

- PTI

BILLIARDS

Dhruv Sitwala won his maiden senior National billiards title on Friday with a stunning 5-3 victory over his Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) colleague Sourav Kothari in the final in Chennai.

Sitwala entered the final after shocking world champion Pankaj Advani by an identical margin in the last-four stage earlier in the day.

Sitwala, runner-up last year, rallied to beat the experienced Kothari 37-150, 152-25, 23-152, 151-5, 65-150, 151-135, 150-132 and 151-66 to cap off a memorable run that also saw him put it past defending champion Brijesh Damani in the pre-quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, Sitwala won the final two frames in style, 150-38 and 150-0 to seal the contest against Advani, who had levelled at 3-all.

Kothari had finished runner-up to Advani in the World billiards final in Doha last month and won his maiden senior National snooker crown in the ongoing 90th National Billiards and Snooker Championships.

After runner-up finishes in the Sub-junior girls’ billiards and snooker and junior girls’ billiards, Gujarat’s Aanya Patel won the junior girls’ snooker crown, beating Karnataka’s Natasha Chetan 3-0 in the final.

- PTI

CRICKET

England’s physically disabled team embarks on first-ever tour of India

In a groundbreaking development, the physically disabled cricket team of England is set to embark on its maiden tour of India.

The team, comprising highly skilled and dedicated players, will engage in a series of matches against India from January 28 next year to February 6.

“The support and guidance of Jay Shah ji, Secretary, Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) have been instrumental in realising this historic tour. He has championed the cause of inclusivity in cricket, recognising the importance of providing opportunities for differently-abled athletes to shine on the international stage,” Differently Abled Cricket Council of India said in a statement.

“The unwavering support from Anil Patel, secretary of the Gujarat Cricket Association, has been a driving force behind this tour. This tour is a significant milestone in the global effort to promote inclusivity and break down barriers in sports.

- PTI