Indian sports news wrap, July 7: Manas Dhamne qualifies for Junior Wimbledon main draw

Here are all the major updates and results from Indian sports on Friday, July 7.

Published : Jul 07, 2023 17:18 IST , CHENNAI - 7 MINS READ

FILE PHOTO: India’s Manas Dhamne has qualified for main draw at this year’s junior Wimbledon championships. | Photo Credit: PTI

ARCHERY

Indian U-21 women’s team wins gold in compound

The Indian compound under-21 women’s team has claimed another gold medal in the World youth archery championships in Limerick, Ireland.

Avneet Kaur, Parneet Kaur and Pragati trounced their Mexican rivals 222-214 in the summit clash.

In the recurve team events on Friday, Indian under-18 men’s side beat Colombia 6-0 in the bronze medal match. The under-21 outfit lost in the second round.

The country’s women’s under-21 and under-18 sides exited in the quarterfinals.

THE RESULTS
Recurve
U-18: Men: Bronze medal match: India (Ujjwal Dhama, Goldi Mishra and Agastya Singh) bt Colombia (Daniel Jimenez Serna, Ludwin Caro, Andres Vera) 6-0 (49-47, 50-49, 55-50).
Compound
U-21: Men: Bronze medal match: India (Priyansh, Prathamesh Jawkar, Kushal Dalal) lost to USA (Sawyer Sullivan, Isaac Sullivan, Nathaniel Wilken) 213-229.
Women: Gold medal match: India (Avneet Kaur, Parneet Kaur, Pragati) bt Mexico (Adriana Castilo, Maria Regina Jimenez Valdez, Selene Rodriguez) 222-214.

- Y.B. Sarangi

GOLF

Neha Tripathi ends long title drought at 10th leg of Hero WPGT

Neha Tripathi won the 10th leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour after carding a 2-under 70 in the final round.

She finished ahead of the amateur duo, Saanvi Somu (69) and Vidhatri Urs (72), who totalled an even par of 216.

Neha was the lone flag bearer for professionals among the top four, as Mannat Brar (70) took the fourth spot.

Neha, starting the final day in second place, dropped an early bogey on Par-5 third, while amateur Vidhatri, the overnight leader, dropped a shot on fourth.

Both birdied the fifth, as did Saanvi, who then added birdies on eighth and ninth to get into contention.

On the back nine, Neha birdied twice on the 12th and 16th, while Saanvi failed to make any gains.

Vidhatri, on the other hand, birdied 15th and bogeyed 16th. At that stage, Neha led the field by one. As all three players parred the 17th and 18th, Neha emerged a deserving winner by one.

“This feels real good and it is a reward for all the hard work I have put in over the last 2-3 years and I did no lose belief despite not winning though I did come close at times,” said Neha.

Mannat, the No. 1 in Ladies and Category A on the IGU standings, had four birdies against two bogeys for her card of 70 and was placed fourth.

Khushi Khanijau (73) and Hitaashee Bakshi (71) ended fifth and sixth, while Sneha Singh, who had an eagle in her card of 72 was seventh. Amateurs Keerthana Rajeev Nair (74) and Prakruthi Sastry (76) and Kriti Chowhan (74) were tied for eighth.

Khushi had three birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey in her 73, while Hitaashee had three birdies and a double bogey.

- PTI

Pranavi makes cut in Singapore; Avani and Seher yet to finish

Pranavi Urs was the only Indian to finish the second round as she carded even par 72 to lie tied 37th at the weather-hit Trust Singapore Ladies Masters here on Friday.

Pranavi will return for the third and final round despite half the field not completing their second round following suspension of play due to torrential rain and threat of lightning.

They will return early on Saturday to finish their second round before the final round gets underway in the USD 100,000 China LPGA event.

Pranavi, who shot 3-over 75 on the first day, had two birdies and a double bogey in her second round.

Avani Prashanth, who suffered double bogeys on the 10th and the 15th in deteriorating weather, was four-over through 15 holes and four-over for the tournament. She was Tied-48th.

Seher Atwal, whose uncle Arjun Atwal won the Singapore Masters at the same club in 2002, also had two doubles on the 16th and 17th after starting with a bogey on 10th.

She made some amends with birdies on 18th and first when play was halted. She was eight-over for the event and Tied-81st and needed at least two more birdies to have a chance to make the cut, which currently looks likely to fall in six-over.

Pranavi opened with a birdie on the 10th and seemed to be going great as she played pars and added a second birdie on the third, her 12th hole. Then she had a double bogey on the Par-3 fifth before she parred the last four holes. Despite that she rose 23 places from overnight T-60 to T-37th.

Avani, playing in the afternoon wave, had one bogey on the third but got that shot back with a birdie on sixth to turn in even par.

With dark clouds hanging over the Laguna, a double bogey on 10th was followed by a birdie on 12th, before she double bogeyed again, this time on Par-5 15th.

Play was halted and later suspended soon after. Avani was hoping the break would give her time to recover in the morning.

A 10th tee starter, Seher, after a first round 77, seemed to put herself out of the running for the cut with back-to-back doubles on the 16th and 17th but birdies on 18th and the first gave her an outside chance, which she must grab in the last eight holes in the morning.

- PTI

BADMINTON

India has made a stunning start to their campaign at the Badminton Asia Junior Championships with a resounding 5-0 victory against Bangladesh on the opening day of the competition in Yogyakarta, Indonesia on Friday.

The opening match saw the mixed doubles pair of Samarveer and Radhika setting the tone for the team as they defeated Bangladesh’s Nazmul Islam and Smrity Rajbongshi with a convincing score of 21-12, 21-10. Their exceptional coordination and strategic play gave their opponents absolutely no chance throughout the match.

Tara Shah and Ayush Shetty continued the winning streak with dominant performances in their respective matches. In the girls’ singles match, Tara showed her class and completely outclassed her opponent Smrity Rajbongshi with an impressive score of 21-2, 21-7. In the boys’ singles category, Ayush Shetty displayed his skillset and prowess on the court as he defeated his opponent Sifat Ullah 21-5, 21-9 in just 21 minutes.

The boys’ doubles duo of Nicholas and Tushar also won their match comfortably as they got the better of Nazmul Islam and Sifat Ullah with a scoreline of 21-13, 21-12. The girls’ doubles pair of Taneesha, Karnika showcased excellent teamwork and synchronization against Jesmin Kona and Mathena Biswas enroute their 21-8, 21-15 win in 19 minutes.

The Indian team will face Hong Kong China and Malaysia on Saturday.

- Team Sportstar

TENNIS

Junior Wimbledon 2023: Dhamne qualifies for main draw

Young Manas Dhamne qualified for the boys singles main draw at the prestigious Wimbledon championships on Friday with a three-set win over 10th seed Atakan Karahan but Aryan Shah missed out with a second-round defeat.

The 15-year-old Dhamne beat his opponent from Turkey 6-2, 6-7 (5), 10-8 in the second and final qualifying round.

Dhamne, placed 78th in junior ITF ranking list, had two match points in the second set as he served for the match at 40-15 in the 10th game but the 69th ranked Karahan stretched it to the decider.

It will be a second junior Grand Slam appearance of the season for Dhamne, who had competed at the Australian Open where he had retired in the second round.

Dhamne, who trains at Piatti Tennis Centre in Italy, had impressed at the Tata Open Maharashtra early this year.

Playing against American Michael Mmoh he had lost 2-6, 4-6 but his craft was applauded by former Indian players.

He will open his campaign against Australian Hayden Jones, world number 47.

Meanwhile, fourth seed Aryan Shah lost 3-6, 3-6 to 11th seed Italian Fabio De Michele to bow out.

- PTI

Mukund Sasikumar in quarterfinals

Qualifier Mukund Sasikumar sustained his fine run and reached the quarterfinals by knocking out fifth seed Alexis Galarneau of Canada 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the $ 80,000 Challenger tennis tournament in Bloomfield Hills, USA.

In the $25,000 ITF women’s event in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand, Sahaja Yamalapalli overcame a tough start to beat Lee Gyeong Seo of Korea 0-6, 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.

THE RESULTS
$80,000 Challenger, Bloomfield Hills, USA
Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Mukund Sasikumar bt Alexis Galarneau (Can) 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.
Doubles (quarterfinals): Blake Ellis & Calum Puttergill (Aus) bt Purav Raja & Divij Sharan 6-2, 5-7, [13-11].
€36,000 Challenger, Troyes, France
Doubles (semifinals): Manuel Guinard & Gregoire Jacq (Fra) bt Constantin Kouzmine (Fra) & Parikshit Somani 6-4, 6-7(4), [10-4].
$15,000 ITF men, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand
Singles (quarterfinals): Kasidit Samrej (Tha) bt SD Prajwal Dev 2-1 (retired).
$25,000 ITF women, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Doubles (quarterfinals): Carolyn Ansari & Adeline Flach (USA) bt Amanda Elkin (Mex) & Priyanka Rodricks 6-3, 6-1.
$25,000 ITF women, Cantanhede, Portugal
Doubles (quarterfinals): Aliona Falei & Diana Marcinkevica (Lat) bt Ashmitha Easwaramurthi & Michika Ozeki (Jpn) 6-3, 6-2.
$25,000 ITF women, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand
Singles (quarterfinals): Sahaja Yamalapalli bt Lee Gyeong Seo (Kor) 0-6, 6-1, 6-1.
Doubles (semiiinalls): Shrivalli Bhamidipaty & Vaidehi Chaudhari bt Punnin Kvapitukted & Mananchaya Sawangkaew (Tha) 6-4, 6-3; Rutuja Bhosale & Erika Sema (Jpn) bt Lunda Kumhom & Salakthip Ounmuang (Tha) 6-2, 6-1.

- Kamesh Srinivasan

AITA Championship series juniors: Khushwin Jaffrey, Manvi Gupta win

Khushwin Jaffrey and Manvi Gupta won the under-16 boys and girls titles, respectively, in the AITA Championship series junior tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex on Friday.

THE RESULTS (FINALS)
Boys: Under-16: Khushwin Jaffrey bt Vaibhav Charotia 4-6, 6-2, 6-3; Under-14: Anu Sarda bt Mayin Digankar 6-1, 6-0.
Girls: Under-16: Manvi Gupta bt Sarah Chaudhary 7-6(3), 6-4; Under-14: Nora Chaudhary bt Avisha Rathod 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.

- Kamesh Srinivasan

AITA women’s tournament: Kashish Bhatia beats top seed Sahira Singh

Kashish Bhatia, the champion in the AITA women’s tournament in Jhajjar on Friday. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Second seed Kashish Bhatia beat top seed Sahira Singh 7-5, 6-1 in the final of the Rs.100,000 AITA women’s tennis tournament at the Joygaon Academy on Friday.

It was the eighth singles title of her career and second this year for Kashish, who has been training at the National Tennis Centre (NTC) for the last two years.

Interestingly, it was the fourth win in as many meetings for Kashish over the 16-year-old Sahira, and she has not dropped a set yet.

Kashish, a student of sociology in the Jesus and Mary College, had helped Delhi University win the gold medal in the All India inter-University championship.

THE RESULTS (FINALS)
Singles: Kashish Bhatia bt Sahira Singh 7-5, 6-1.
Doubles: Mehdavi Singh & Ayushi Singh bt Sahira Singh & Himaanshika Singh 6-7(3), 6-1, [10-5].

- Kamesh Srinivasan