Indian sports news wrap, July 8

Here are all the major updates and results from Indian sports on July 8.

Golfer Pranavi in action. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

GOLF

Pranavi best Indian at 24th as amateur Shannon wins Singapore Ladies golf

Pranavi Urs was the top Indian at T-24 even as local amateur Shannon Tan won the inaugural USD 100,000 Trust Singapore Ladies Masters pro event on Saturday.

Pranavi shot 71 in the final round and was 2-over 218 for three days.

The other Indian who made the cut, amateur Avani Prashanth (73) was T-41. Seher Atwal missed the cut at the event, which is part of the China LPGA Tour.

Shannon, playing in the third last group, closed with a birdie on her final hole for a 66 to lead at 10-under.

She shot 6-under 66 with four birdies on the back, including three in a row from 11th to the 13th, and then had a final 15-foot birdie for victory on the 18th. She shot 68-72-66.

Playing one group behind Shannon, Chinese rookie Ji Yuai (67) led after 16 holes but faltered with a bogey on the 17th. She failed to birdie the last to force a play-off and ended second at 9-under and one short.

Thai Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong (68-72-70) was third at 6-under 210.

Pranavi, who had a rough first round 75, finished with a 72-71. Her final round included five birdies and four bogeys, three of which came in the middle of the round between the sixth and the ninth.

Pranavi, who now plays on the Epson and Ladies European Tours, finished Tied-24th at 2-over 218.

“This week I wasn’t the best in terms of how I was feeling physically, but I’m glad my coach was on the bag this week and we could work on the game a little bit,” Pranavi said.

“Overall, my game feels pretty good as I have been playing well over the last few weeks, getting my form back after not the best starts on the Epson Tour.” Indian amateur Avani Prashanth, a special invitee to the pro event, carded 73 after first two rounds of 73-76 to finish at 6-over 222 and was Tied-41st.

The 19-year-old Shannon, a first-year student at Texas Tech University, had earlier this season played with Rose Zhang, who won her first pro event on the LPGA Tour after being World No. 1 amateur for a long time.

- PTI

TENNIS

Sahaja Yamalapalli enters ITF final in Thailand

Seventh seed Sahaja Yamalapalli cruised past fourth seed Peangtarn Plipuech 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinals of the 25,000 USD ITF women’s tennis tournament in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand, on Saturday.

In the final, Sahaja will play Mananchaya Sawangkaew. In the doubles final, Rutuja Bhosale, seeded second with Erika Sema of Japan, beat Shrivalli Bhamidipaty and Vaidehi Chaudhari.

In the $80,000 Challenger in Bloomfield Hills in USA, qualifier Mukund Sasikumar was beaten 7-5, 6-4 by Tennys Sandgren. Mukund collected 20 ATP points and 2,200 USD

RESULTS

$80,000 Challenger, Bloomfield Hills, USA

Singles (quarterfinals); Tennys Sandgren (USA) bt Mukund Sasikumar 7-5, 6-4.

$25,000 ITF women, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand

Singles (semifinals): Sahaja Yamalapalli bt Peangtarn Plipuech (Tha) 6-2, 6-1.

Doubles (final): Rutuja Bhosale & Erika Sema (Jpn) bt Shrivalli Bhamidipaty & Vaidehi Chaudhari 7-6(3), 6-1.

- Team Sportstar

Archery

World U18 archery championship: Aditi wins gold in women

Aditi Swami defeated USA’s Leann Drake 142-136 in the final to emerge as the compound under-18 women’s individual champion in the World youth archery championships in Limerick, Ireland, on Saturday.

Aditi got past Great Britain’s Isabella Bruguier 138-137 and USA’s Liko Arreola 144-139 on her way to the title clash against Leann.

-Y.B.Sarangi