GOLF
Tvesa takes lead as she looks to end title drought
Tvesa Malik who has not had a win since 2021 shot 1-over 68 as no player went under par for the second day running in the 11th leg of the Women’s Pro Golf Tour in Bengaluru on Thursday.
Tvesa, who shot 70 in the first round, is now 4-over 134 at the Par-67 layout.
Tvesa, who last won in the sixth leg of the 2021 season, leads Durga Nittur (70-69), who is searching for her maiden win as a pro. Durga turned pro in 2020-21.
Amateur Mannat Brar, one of the three overnight leaders, is lying third as she followed her first round 69 with a 71 and is two shots behind Tvesa.
Sneha Singh (69-72) and Seher Atwal (69-74), who were also in shared lead after the first round, dropped down the leader board.
Sneha, two-time winner this season, is sole fourth, while Oviya Reddi (72-70) is fifth.
Tvesa did not have the best of starts with bogeys on the first and the Par-5 fourth. Yet she fought back with gains on the sixth and eighth only to drop a third bogey on the Par-3 ninth.
Another bogey on the 11th meant she is 2-over, but a birdie on Par-4 15th salvaged the day and gave her the lead.
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Tvesa has been playing the local Tour, even as she is looking at any chances to get back to the Ladies European Tour, where she lost the card last year and has limited status in 2023.
Local golfer Durga, playing in the same group as Tvesa, was even par through 14 holes and in the lead but a double bogey on Par-4 15th saw her fall back to 2-over 69 and into second place with one more round to go.
It was a rough day for Mannat, who had five bogeys against one sole birdie for 4-over 71. Sneha Singh had six bogeys and one birdie in her 72.
Seher, who did not have a single birdie on the second day, shot 7-over 74 after her first round effort of 69. She dropped to tied sixth alongside Kriti Chowhan (74-69) and Agrima Manral (74-69).
Five players including last week’s winner Neha Tripathi are tied ninth. The others are amateur Saanvi Somu, Saaniya Sharma, Jasmine Shekar and Ananya Datar, all at 10-over 144.
-PTI
BOXING
Haryana and SSCB Boxers dominate quarterfinals at the 5th Junior Boys National Boxing Championships
As many as 10 boxers from SSCB and six boxers from Haryana entered the semifinals on the fourth day at the 5th Junior Boys National Boxing Championships in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh.
In the 54kg category, Devang of SSCB toppled Hari Sundas of Sikkim with a unanimous decision win. This is Devang’s second consecutive 5-0 win in the competition. He will take on Sundram Yadav of Uttar Pradesh in the semifinal clash.
In the 50kg category, SSCB’s Divash Katare triumphed over Punjab’s Gagandeep in a dominating 5-0 win. He will now go head to head against home favourite Loma Riang of Arunachal Pradesh in the semis.
Other pugilists from SSCB who will take the ring in the semifinals are Mahesh (48kg), Sahil Baord (52kg), M Kabiraj Singh (63kg), Prashant (66kg), Rahul Kundu (70kg), Sahil (75kg), Hardik Panwar (80kg), Hemant Sangwan (80+kg).
Anirudha Rawat (in blue) in action against Punjab’s Gursahib Singh | Photo Credit: BFI
For Haryana, Yogesh Dhanda was up against Tamilnadu’s J Ebinezer Sam in the 57kg quarterfinals clash. Yogesh proved too good for Ebinazer, who found it difficult to retaliate against his powerful punches. Ultimately, Yogesh secured his spot in the semifinals with an easy 5-0 win. He will now be up against Hemanth Jagan Kumar Pappu of Andhra Pradesh in the last-four clash.
Haryana’s Sikander (48kg), Dhruv (52kg), Aman Dass Ahlawat (63kg), Lokesh (75kg), and Chirag Sharma (80kg) will also be in action in the semifinals.
The duo of Nikhil Nandal (50kg) and Arman (57kg) from Chandigarh continued their dream run as they entered the semifinals with contrasting victories in the quarterfinals.
Arman forced a referee to stop the contest (RSC) in round 3 against Manipur’s Kh Jhonson, whereas Nikhil had a tougher challenge from Anurag Bhartiya of Uttar Pradesh as both the boxers fought till the end to grab the win. With hardly anything to separate the two pugilists, Nikhil prevailed in a close 3-2 win. While Arman will face Arunachal Pradesh’s Tagio Liyak, Nikhil will take on Tamilnadu’s K Dastageer Shariff in the semifinal.
Anirudha Rawat (70kg) from Delhi also made his way to the semis with a convincing 5-0 win against Punjab’s Gursahib Singh. He will be up against Rahul Kundu of SSCB in the semifinals.
-Team Sportstar
TENNIS
Sanjai Kumar to lead men’s over-60 team at ITF Masters Tour World championship
The All India Tennis Association has announced Sanjai Kumar as the captain of the over-60 team selected to compete in the ITF Masters Tour World championship in Portugal from August 13.
The championship, set to feature both team and individual competition, is spread over Lisbon, Oeiras and Estoril.
The teams:
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Karman Thandi loses to Alana Smith in Canada
Alana Smith beat Karman Kaur Thandi 6-3, 6-2 in the pre-quarterfinals of the $60,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Saskatoon, Canada.
Karman, however, made the doubles quarterfinals with Stacey Fung.
The results:
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Yashika stuns Sohini in AITA National series juniors
Yashika Shokeen beat the top seed Sohini Mohanty 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 in the under-18 girls quarterfinals of the AITA National series junior tennis tournament at the Joygaon Academy on Thursday.
The results (quarterfinals):
-Kamesh Srinivasan
SHOOTING
Shotgun World Cup: Ganemat, Anantjeet placed 19th
Ganemat Sekhon and Anantjeet Singh Naruka shot a combined score of 141 and placed 19th in mixed skeet in the Shotgun World Cup in Lonato, Italy, on Thursday.
The other Indian team of Darshna Rathore and Gurjoat Khangura shot 138 for the 21st place.
The top four teams USA, Chile, Kazakhstan and Italy made the medal round with identical score of 146 out of 150, in a strong field of 42 teams.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
BADMINTON
Tara Shah and Rakshitha advance to round of 16 at Badminton Asia Junior Championship
India’s budding shuttlers Tara Shah and Rakshitha Sree comfortably won their respective matches and moved to the round of 16 at the prestigious Badminton Asia Junior Championships held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia on Thursday.
Tara Shah exhibited exceptional skills and aggression as she dominated her opponent, Miku Kohara of Japan throughout the match and won with a stunning scoreline of 21-6, 21-17.Tara will take on China’s Xu Wen Jing in the next round.
Rakshitha Sree S also displayed her prowess on the court as she triumphed over Malaysia’s Carine Tee with an impressive score of 21-8, 21-10 in a match that lasted 24 minutes. She will face Huang Lin Ran of China in the pre-quarter final.
File Photo: Tara Shah and Rakshitha Sree in action.
The girls’ doubles duo of Taneesha and Karnika won against Bui and Tran of Japan 21-14, 21-19 in 27 minutes. They will square off against Chen Fan Shu and Jiang Pei Xi of China in the round of 16 match tomorrow.
In boys’ singles, Ayush Shetty showcased resilience against Japan’s Yuna Nakagawa in a hard-fought match but ultimately lost 19-21, 22-20, 16-21 in a close match.
Similarly in the mixed doubles, Samarveer and Radhika Sharma narrowly missed out on a win in a thrilling three game encounter against China’s Gao Jia Xuan and Chen Fan Shu Tian, as the latter won 21-19, 19-21, 17-21.
The boys’ doubles pair of Divyam & Mayank and Nicholas Raj & Tushar Suveer lost their matches and bowed out of the tournament whereas the girls’ doubles duo of Tanvi Sharma and Radhika Sharma also ended their campaign in the round of 32.
Meanwhile, in the boys’ singles- Lakshay Sharma and Samarveer and in the girls’ singles category- Shriyanshi Valishetty and Anmol Kharb gave their all but lost their respective matches. Arul Murugan and Srinidhi Narayanan also went down fighting in their round of 32 match.
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