TENNIS
Gade Marine ITF Juniors: Laxmisri Dandu beats second seed Farzami
Laxmisiri Dandu overcame a slow start to beat the second seed Mandegar Farzami of Iran 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the girls semifinals of the Gadre Marine ITF junior tennis tournament at the Deccan Gymkhana Club on Friday.
In the final, Laxmisiri will play the top seed Maaya Rajeshwaran who beat Ariana Gogulina of Kazakhstan in straight sets.
It was the first victory in three meetings for the 14-year-old Maaya over the Kazakh, who had beaten her in Gurugram and Dehradun in three-set battles earlier this season.
In the boys section, Arnav Paparkar sustained his dream run and beat the second seed Kriish Tyagi in three sets. He will play Moise Kouame of France in the final. The French boy got a walkover from Hiromasa Koyama as the Japanese suffered a stomach infection.
The results:
-Kamesh Srinivasan
AITF officials continue in ITF
The secretary general of the All India Tennis Association (AITA), Anil Dhupar, has been reappointed to the ITF juniors committee for the 2024-25 season.
The joint secretary of AITA, Sunder Iyer, continues to be part of the ITF coaches commission.
The AITA expressed its happiness and pride about the two officials representing the country in the international federation.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Harven Pro Tennis League: Sahaja, Rushil guides Ichiban Samurai to resounding win
Sahaja Yamalapalli and Rushil Khosla gave a resounding start for Ichiban Samurai which cruised thereafter to a 89-71 victory over Indraprastha Warriors in a group-A league match of the Harven Pro Tennis League at the DLTA Complex on Friday.
Sahaja beat Soha Sadiq 17-3 and Rushil, the reigning national junior champion, strengthened the position for the team by beating Suvrat Mall 14-6. Thereafter, Indraprastha fought back a bit through the mixed doubles team of Soha and VM Ranjeet, and Mukund Sasikumar asserting his game against Nitin Kumar Sinha.
Rushil Khosla celebrates a point during Ichiban Samurai’s victory in the Pro Tennis League in Delhi on Friday. | Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan
Eventually, Ichiban sealed the contest with Nitin and Rushil beating Mukund and Suvrat 18-12.
It was the second victory for Ichiban as it had beaten Gurgaon Sapphires 83-77 overnight.
In the other group, Sankara Stag Babolat Yoddhas scored a 95-65 win over Lucknow Aviators. It was the first victory for Babolat Yoddhas as the team had lost to Paramount Proec Tigers in the opening match.
It was the first loss for Lucknow after it had beaten DMG Delhi Crusaders earlier.
The top two teams from the two groups will make the semifinals, after the last set of league matches on Saturday. Both the semifinals and final are scheduled for Sunday.
The results (league)
-Kamesh Srinivasan
AITA Women’s tournament: Pooja Ingale beats Priyanshi Bhandari
Pooja Ingale beat Priyanshi Bhandari 6-4, 6-4 in the final of the Rs.2,50,000 AITA women’s tennis tournament at the Ace Academy, Padolia, on Friday.
Pooja won a double crown, as she partnered Priyanshi to beat the Vemuri twins, Abhaya and Apurva, 6-3, 6-4 in the doubles final.
The singles champion collected Rs.31,250 and the runner-up Rs.21,000. The doubles title fetched Rs.15,500 and the runners-up got Rs.9,500.
The results (finals)
-Kamesh Srinivasan
ITF Women’s tennis: Top seeds Timea, Vera beart Prarthana, Anastasia in doubles semis
Top seeds Timea Babos and Vera Zvonareva beat Prarthana Thombare and Anastasia Tikhonova 6-4, 6-2 in the doubles semifinals of the $100,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Dubai, UAE, on Friday.
The results:
-Kamesh Srinivasan
SHOOTING
Anantjeet takes top spot in National Selection trials
Asian Games silver medallist Anantjeet Singh Naruka asserted himself by beating Mohd. Sheeraz Sheikh 58-56 for the top spot in men’s skeet in the National shooting selection trials at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Friday.
Anantjeet had topped qualification with 121 along with Zorawar Singh Bedi who eventually finished fifth. Gurjoat Khangura got the third place ahead of Smit Singh.
Olympian Angad Vir Singh Bajwa was eighth with 119. He missed qualifying for the final in the shoot-off. World Cup gold medallist Mairaj Ahmad Khan was 18th with 115.
Raiza Dhillon was brilliant in women’s skeet as she first topped qualification with 122 out of 125, and then beat World Cup medallist Ganemat Sekhon 58-54 for the top spot. Maheshwari Chauhan placed third ahead of Yashasvi Rathore, Areeba Khan and Vanshika Tiwari.
Other leading women shooters, Karttiki Singh Shaktawat (115), Parinaaz Dhaliwal (115) and Darshna Rathore (114) finished 7th to 9th in that order.
The results:
-Kamesh Srinivasan
CRICKET
Hassan Shah-Ashok T20 tournament latest scores
Murugan CC and Rovers CC recorded wins in the Hassan Shah-Ashok Varma all-Kerala T20 cricket tournament here on Friday.
Murugan CC defeated Kids CC bt four wickets while Rovers beat KRC by three wickets.
Results
KCA North Zone U-14 inter-district: Palakkad crush Kannur
Host Palakkad crushed Kannur by nine wickets in the KCA North Zone under-14 inter-district cricket tournament at the Fort Maidan here on Friday.
Result
-Praveen Chandran
WRESTLING
National wrestling championships 2023 to start from Jan. 2
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA)-appointed ad-hoc committee, which runs the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), on Friday announced that the National Championships 2023 will be held in Jaipur from January 2 to 5.
Following the turmoil surrounding wrestlers’ protest over various allegations, including sexual harassment, against the WFI top brass, and the delayed elections of the WFI, there were doubts over the conduct of this year’s National championships.
As per a notice issued by the ad-hoc committee, the Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) will host the event. Competitions will be held in 10 weight classes each in men’s freestyle, Greco Roman and women’s styles.
Meanwhile, following the Supreme Court order that paved the way for the long overdue WFI elections, returning officer Justice (retd.) M.M. Kumar has resumed the process by seeking necessary inputs from ad-hoc committee member Bhupinder Bajwa.
-Y.B.Sarangi
GOLF
S.S.P. Chawrasia Invitational: Om Prakash Chouhan, Rahil Gangjee joint clubhouse leaders after second day
Order of Merit leader Om Prakash Chouhan and Rahil Gangjee were the joint clubhouse leaders with an aggregate of five-under 139 after the second day’s play in the S.S.P. Chawrasia Invitational event at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) here on Friday.
Chouhan, who picked up three birdies and an eagle on the 15th against three bogeys, carded a three-under 69 in the second round in overcast conditions.
The Kolkata-bred Gangjee, who was flawless between 10th and 18th holes, garnering four birdies before being distracted by a pain in his right calf, scored 70.
When the first round, which was interrupted by rain on the opening day, concluded, Gangjee led with 69, followed by Chouhan on 70.
Syed Saqib Ahmed (74, 67) was third in the clubhouse with a total of three-under 141.
Only 59 players could complete the second round as play was suspended due to fading light.
-Y.B.Sarangi
BASKETBALL
National basketball championship: Delhi beats Services in men’s quarterfinals, Tamil Nadu outplays Delhi in women’s
Vishesh Bhriguvanshi scored 32 points to power Delhi past Services 83-70 in the men’s quarterfinals of the 73rd National basketball championship at the Guru Nanak Dev Indoor Stadium here on Friday.
In the women’s section, Tamil Nadu outplayed Delhi 81-55 in the quarterfinals. It will run into Railways in the semifinals. The other semifinal will be between Kerala and Karnataka.
The results (quarterfinals)
-Kamesh Srinivasan
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