Indian sports news wrap, January 1 2024

Here are all the updates, results and developments from the world of Indian sports on January 1, 2024.

Representative Image | Photo Credit: AFP

TENNIS

ITF junior tennis tournament: Aarjun Pandit beats top seed Rohan Belday

Aarjun Pandit beat top seed Rohan Belday of USA 6-2, 6-4 in the first round of the ITF junior tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex on Monday.

Aarjun will face Shanker Heisnam who fought back from a slow start to beat Kunanan Pantaratorn of Thailand in three sets.

Vihaan Reddy who had won a series of tournaments last year was beaten 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-0 by sixth seed Luc Wieland of Switzerland.

In the girls section, Tejasvi Dabas was beaten in three sets by Rioko Umekuni of Japan.

The results (first round):

Boys: Aarjun Pandit bt Rohan Belday (USA) 6-2, 6-4; Shanker Heisnam bt Kunanan Pantaratorn (Tha) 4-6, 6-4, 6-1; Kanthavel Mahalingam bt Eito Komada (Jpn) 7-6(2), 6-1; Kim Moo Been (Kor) bt Gandharv Kothapalli 6-1, 6-3; Seo Hyeon Seok (Kor) bt Debasis Sahoo 6-2, 6-3; Jaden Tan (Ina) bt Keshav Dangi 6-1, 6-0; Egor Gorin bt Rayan Sajid 6-2, 6-3; Luc Wieland (Sui) bt Vihaan Reddy 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-0; Daniil Stepanov bt Hitesh Chauhan 5-7, 6-4, 6-1; Hikaru Takahashi (Jpn) bt Sriniketh Kannan 6-3, 6-3; MoiseKouame (Fra) bt Ved Shetty 6-2, 6-1; Cho Se Hyuk (Kor) bt Sehaj Singh Pawar 6-3, 6-4; Rethin Pranav bt Ren Matsumura (Jpn) 7-5, 6-4.

Girls: Rioko Umekuni (Jpn) bt Tejasvi Dabas 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(3); Mahika Khanna bt Samaira Pahwa 6-2, 6-2; Zlata Nesterova bt Sia Mahajan 6-0, 6-0; Aishi Bisht bt May Fadida (Isr) 6-2, 6-1; Rishitha Basireddy bt Laxmisiri Dandu 6-1, 6-2; Tzeng Mu-Jie (Tpe) bt Snigdha Kanta 4-6, 6-2, 6-2; Maayan Laron (Isr) bt Kashvi Sunil 6-0, 6-0; Maria Golovina bt Saumya Ronde 6-4, 6-4; Maya Boonyaaroonnet (Tha) bt Diya Ramesh 6-0, 6-3; Hirva Rangani bt Ela Pandey 7-6(3), 6-2; Maaya Rajeshwaran bt Kariman Buqai (Isr) 6-2, 6-0.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

WEIGHTLIFTING

Weightlifting Nationals: N. Ajith wins men’s 73kg title

N. Ajith aggregated 302kg to win the men’s 73kg title in the National weightlifting championships at Itanagar on Monday.

The results (Elite only): Men: 73kg: 1. N. Ajith (RSPB) snatch 132kg, clean and jerk 170kg, total 302kg; 2. Devapreedhan B. (Chd) 133kg, 158kg, 291kg; 3. Shivalingeshwara Sai (Tel) 121kg, 160kg, 281kg.

-Team Sportstar

TABLE TENNIS

Kerala State table tennis championships: Pranati, Harshitha triumph

A few minutes after her semifinal against the promising Tia Mundenkurian that went the distance, Pranati P. Nair was back to play Edwina Edward in the under-19 girls final of the Kerala State table tennis championships at the V.K. Krishna Menon indoor stadium here on Monday.

The final was close and Pranati, the top-seeded woman here, found herself level with Edwina midway through all the three games but the 17-year-old from Thiruvananthauram pulled herself out of trouble by attacking Edwina’s backhand and keeping the ball short and retained the title with a 3-0 verdict.

Pranati Nair (left), the under-19 State champion, with N.K. Harshitha, the under-11 champion. | Photo Credit: Stan Rayan

“The semifinal and final were close but that is okay. But I had a problem of a bulging nerve in my hand and that caused some discomfort,” said Pranati after the victory.

Meanwhile, Palakkad’s N.K. Harshitha brushed aside her district-mate S. Srisha in straight games to take the under-11 girls title while twins Tisha and Tia Mundenkurian helped Thrissur win the under-15 girls inter-district team trophy.

The results (singles):

Girls: Under-19 girls final: Pranati P. Nair (Tvm) bt Edwina Edward (Klm) 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-7).

Semifinals: Pranati bt Tia Mundenkurian (Tsr) 3-2; Edwina bt Merritta Elizabeth George (Pkd) 3-2.

Under-11 girls final: N.K. Harshitha (Pkd) bt S. Srisha (Pkd) 3-0 (11-7, 11-4, 11-8). Semifinals: Harshitha bt Cerra Sebastian (Ekm) 3-0; Srisha bt P.V. Sreelakshmi (Knr) 3-0.

Team championship: Girls, under-15 final: Thrissur bt Alappuzha 3-0 (Tia S. Mundenkurian bt Joanna Joseph 3-0; Tisha Mundenkurian bt Gouri Niranjana 3-0; Tia & Tisha bt Gouri & Joanna 3-0).

-Stan Rayan