Indian sports news wrap: March 15

Here are all the major updates, scores and results of Indians from the world of sports on Friday, March 15.

Bhamidipaty during her quick-fire win over Justina Mikulskyte in Indore on Friday. | Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan

TENNIS

$25,000 ITF women’s tennis: Bhamidipaty beats Mikulskyte in quarters

Shrivalli Bhamidipaty blasted her way past the fifth seed Justina Mikulskyte of Lithuania 6-0, 6-0 in 49 minutes in the quarterfinals of the $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the Indore Tennis Club on Friday.

Quite at home on the quick courts where she had trained in past with coach Sajid Lodi, the 22-year-old Shrivalli smashed her way past Justina, who had won the title in Gurugram a fortnight earlier.

Shrivalli started hesitantly with two double faults in the first game but rarely put a foot wrong thereafter. She conceded only 19 points to the 28-year-old Justina, ranked 249 in the world.

In the semifinals, Shrivalli will play Polina Iatcenko, who pipped third seed Ankita Raina in a tough encounter. Ankita fought back from being down 3-5 and saved two match points before the Russian nosed ahead in the eventual tie-break for a 6-3, 7-6(4) victory.

The other semifinal will be between Dalila Jakupovic and Mananchaya Sawangkaew, who were equally emphatic in thriving on the conditions.

Shrivalli later made the doubles final with Vaidehi Chaudhari, beating the other Indian pair of Sahaja Yamalapalli and Zeel Desai in an entertaining contest.

The Indian pair will face Ya-Hsuan Lee and Sohyun Park, who recovered from a slow start to outplay second seeds Jacqueline Cabaj Awad and Diana Marcinkevica 10-1 in the super tie-break.

The results

Singles (quarterfinals): Shrivalli Bhamidipaty bt Justina Mikulskyte (Ltu) 6-0, 6-0; Polina Iatcenko bt Ankita Raina 6-3, 7-6(4); Mananchaya Sawangkaew (Tha) bt Jacqueline Cabaj Awad (Swe) 6-1, 6-2; Dalila Jakupovic (Slo) bt Thasaporn Naklo (Tha) 6-0, 6-0.

Doubles (semifinals): Shrivalli Bhamidipaty & Vaidehi Chaudhari bt Zeel Desai & Sahaja Yamalapalli 6-1, 7-6(7); Ya-Hsuan Lee (Tpe) & Sohyun Park (Kor) bt Jacqueline Cabaj Awad (Swe) & Diana Marcinkevica (Lat) 4-6, 6-0, [10-1].

-Kamesh Srinivasan

$25,000 ITF men’s tennis: Karan beats Wishaya in quarterfinals

Karan Singh continued his fine run and beat Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul of Thailand 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the $25,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex on Friday.

The 20-year-old Karan will challenge the top seed and former world No.75, Evgeny Donskoy in the semifinals.

Ramkumar Ramanathan was equally at ease in getting past seventh seed Siddharth Vishwakarma in straight sets. It was the second win for Ramkumar over the wiry Vishwakarma in as many meetings.

In the semifinal, Ramkumar will play fifth seed Nam Hoang Ly of Vietnam, who beat Manish Sureshkumar in straight sets.

In doubles, top seeds Parikshit Somani and Manish Sureshkumar set up a title clash against another Indian pair, third seeds Siddhant Banthia and Vishnu Vardhan.

The results

Singles (quarterfinals): Evgeny Donskoy bt Florent Bax (Fra) 6-2, 4-1 (retired); Karan Singh bt Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul (Tha) 6-1, 6-4; Ramkumar Ramanathan bt Siddharth Vishwakarma 6-4, 6-2; Nam Hoang Ly (Vie) bt Manish Sureshkumar 6-4, 6-4.

Doubles (semifinals): Parikshit Somani & Manish Sureshkumar bt Kazuma Kawachi (Jpn) & Woobin Shin 9Kor) 6-0, 6-3; Siddhant Banthia & Vishnu Vardhan bt Ramkumar Ramanathan & Khumoyun Sultanov (Uzb) 6-2, 6-4.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

ITF Masters tennis tournament: Vaidik Munshaw, Monica Menon win over-30 titles

Vaidik Munshaw beat Kshitij Kamal 4-6, 6-2, [10-8] in the final of the over-30 event in the ITF Masters tennis tournament at the Joygaon Academy.

In the women’s over-30 event, Monica Menon outplayed Jyoti for the loss of one game in the final.

The results (finals):

Mens:

Over-30: Vaidik Munshaw bt Kshitij Kamal 4-6, 6-2, [10-8]; Over-35: Mishal Javia bt Hafiz Beg 6-2, 6-0; Over-40: Aditya Khanna bt Raj Kumar 1-6, 6-3, [10-3]; Over-45: Rohan Bhasin bt Swarandeep Singh Dhodi 6-2, 6-4.

Women:

Over-30: Monica Menon bt Jyoti 6-0, 6-1; Over-40: Rani Kaur Marwa bt Pinky Sharma 6-0, 6-4; Over-45: Neelam Chopra bt Sonal Vohra 6-2, 6-2.

- Kamesh Srinivasan

€74,825 Challenger tennis: Bollipalli, Poonacha beaten in doubles quarterfinals

Rithvik Bollipalli and Niki Poonacha were beaten 7-6(5), 2-6, [10-8] by alternate entrants Franco Agamenone and Santiago Taverna in the doubles quarterfinals of the €74,825 Challenger tennis tournament in Szekesfehervar, Hungary.

The Indian pair won €880 and 16 ATP points.

The results

€74,825 Challenger, Szekesfehervar, Hungary Doubles (quarterfinals): Franco Agamenone (Ita) & Santiago Taverna (Arg) bt Rithvik Bollipalli & Niki Poonacha 7-6(5), 2-6, [10-8].

$25,000 ITF women, Solarino, Italy Doubles (quarterfinals): Magali Kempen (Bel) & Yu-Yun Li (Tpe) bt Kathleen Kanev (Ger) & Vasanti Shinde 7-5, 6-2.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

SHOOTING

National shotgun selection trials: World Cup gold medallist Mairaj wins skeet final

World Cup gold medallist Mairaj Ahmad Khan beat Asian Games silver medallist and Olympic quota winner Anantjeet Singh Naruka 56-54 in the final of skeet in the fourth National shotgun selection trials at the Madhya Pradesh Academy on Friday.

Mohd. Sheeraz Sheikh placed third ahead of Harmehar Singh Lally, qualification topper Kuldeep Sanyashi (120) and Bhavtegh Singh Gill.

Olympian and world record holder, Angad Vir Singh Bajwa shot 115 and missed the final by two points following a below par score of 20 in the fifth round.

In women’s skeet, Maheshwari Chauhan beat World Cup medallist Ganemat Sekhon 56-48 for the top spot. Shivani Raikwar placed third and was followed by Darshna Rathore, Areeba Khan and Olympic quota winner Raiza Dhillon.

The results

Skeet: Men: 1. Mairaj Ahmad Khan 56 (116); 2. Anantjeet Singh Naruka 54 (117); 3. Mohd. Sheeraz sheikh 43 (118).

Women: 1. Maheshwari Chauhan 56 (114); 2. Ganemat Sekhon 48 (115); 3. Shivani Raikwar 41 (113).

-Kamesh Srinivasan

HOCKEY

Senior Women National Championship:Deepika strikes five to hand Haryana big win over Assam

Deepika slammed five goals as Hockey Haryana thrashed Assam Hockey 15-0 in the Senior Women National Championship here on Friday.

Deepika (2nd, 40th, 42nd, 49th, 56th minutes) led the show in the opening match of the day as she shone brightly for Hockey Haryana.

Known for her prowess from set pieces, Deepika converted two penalty corners besides scoring three field goals at the Major Dhyanchand Hockey Stadium Nehrunager in Pimpri.

Sharmila Devi (2nd, 35th), Mahima Choudhary (15th, 47th), Udita (32nd from PC, 36th from PC) too sparkled scoring a brace each, while Neha Goyal (8th), Navneet Kaur (26th), Ekta Kaushik (44th), Jyoti (50th) were the other goal getters in Hockey Haryana’s emphatic win.

Udita too was in her element from penalty-corners as she scored both her goals from set pieces.

By virtue of its maiden win, Hockey Haryana are now atop Pool D with three points. Puducherry Hockey is the other team in the pool.

In a Pool E match, Dipti Lakra (5th, 12th minutes), Dipi Monika Toppo (10th, 51st minutes) and Aten Topno (12th, 34th) struck twice each to hand Hockey Association of Odisha an emphatic 9-1 win over Goans Hockey.

Besides, Jiwan Kishori Toppo (29th), Nitu Lakra (57th) and Anupa Barla (60th) also registered their names in the scoresheet for Hockey Association of Odisha.

Geeta Rathod scored the consolation goal for Goans Hockey in the 47th minute from a field strike.

Hockey Association of Odisha also registered its first win in the tournament and is on top of its pool. Hockey Chandigarh is the other side in Pool E.

Heavyweights Hockey Punjab slammed Hockey Rajasthan 11-2 in a Pool F match.

Sarabdeep Kaur (15th, 39th, 56th) slammed a hat-trick, while Taranpreet Kaur (1st, 42nd) and Kirandeep Kaur (18th, 45th) scored a brace each for Punjab in its dominating show.

MOTORSPORTS

47th MMSC South India Rally: Dean Mascaremhas, co-driver Karumbaiah top time sheets in first round

Mangaluru’s Dean Mascarenhas and co-driver Konganda Karumbaiah from Ammati, Kodagu, came up with a stunning drive to top the time sheets in the 47th MMSC South India Rally, the first round of the Blueband fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2024, which saw the 51 competitors doing two loops of the 1.55 Kms Super Special Stage at the Madras International Circuit on Friday.

While 30-year-old Mascarenhas (DB Motorsports) did the star turn in his Volkswagen Polo to emerge as the provisional leader, Bengaluru’s Karna Kadur, combining with veteran co-driver Musa Sherif (Kasargod) for the first time, led the field in the AVT Gold Cup FIA APRC Asia Cup, but was only sixth fastest in the combined standings.

Further down the grid, Delhi’s Maninder Singh Prince (co-driver Arjun Dheerendra, Bengaluru) of SNAP Racing, topped in the INRC 2 class while Bengaluru’s Arjun Rajiv (co-driver Vinay Padmashali, Mysuru) took a slender leader in INRC 3 and Junior INRC and Anushriya Gulati raced to a comfortable lead in the Women INRC categories.

Mangaluru’s Dean Mascarenhas (left) and co-driver Konganda Karumbaiah from Ammati, Kodagu, are the Overall leaders in INRC. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Meanwhile, the Bengaluru pair of Pragathi Gowda and co-driver Trisha Alonkar, sponsored by SIDVIN and MRF Tyres, in an All-Wheel Drive Subaru Impreza for the first time, struggled a bit and was placed third in the Asia Cup, behind Kadur and Wadia.

Mascarenhas said: “I am driving the same car as last season, which was a bit of up-and-down for me. But today, the car was great, and we had no issues with it. Happy to finish the day as the Overall leader, though I am aware it’s still early days and plenty more Stages to negotiate over the next two days.”

The early leaders after Friday’s shootout when two cars raced on parallel tracks, face an acid test over the next two days when the competitors head out to Special Stages in AAVISA and Kelam beside the Track.

Unaudited classification (after Section-1, Leg-1):

FIA APRC-Asia Rally Cup: 1. Karna Kadur (Bengaluru) / Musa Sherif (Kasargod) (Arka Motorsports) (02mins, 56.8secs); 2. Harkrishan Wadia (Delhi) / Kunal Kashyap (Himachal) (Arka Motorsports) (02:57.7); 3. Pragathi Gowda / Trisha Alonkar (Both Bengaluru) (Pvt.) (02:58.7).

Blueband Fmsci Indian National Rally Championship:

Overall: Dean Mascarenhas (Mangaluru) / Gagan Karumbaiah (Kodagu) (DB Motorsports) (02:53.8); Maninder Singh Prince (Delhi) / Arjun Dheerendra (Bengaluru) (SNAP Racing) (02:55.3); Younus Ilyas (Kollam) / Chandramouli M (Bengaluru) (SNAP Racing) (02:55.7).

INRC 2: Maninder Singh Prince / Arjun Dheerendra (02:55.3); Philippos Matthai (Delhi) / PV Srinivasa Murthy (Bengaluru) (Arka Motorsports) (02:55.7); 3. Aditya Thakur / Virender Kashyap (both Himachal) (Chettinad Sporting) (02:56.5).

INRC 3: Arjun Rajiv (Bengaluru) / Vinay Padmashali (Mysuru) (Chettinad Sporting) (02:58.6); 2. Sheshank Jamwal (Himachal) / Aseem Sharma (Chandigarh) (Arka Motorsports) (02:58.8); 2. Vishak Balachandran (Thiruvananthapuram) / Anil Abbas (Ernakulam) (Chettinad Sporting) (02:59.3).

Junior INRC: 1. Arjun Rajiv (Bengaluru) / Vinay Padmashali (Mysuru) (02:58.6); 2. Arnav Pratap Singh (Delhi) / Rohit N (Bengaluru) (SNAP Racing) (02:59.8); 3. Nikhil J (Bengaluru) / Raghuram Saminathan (Coimbatore) (Pvt.) (03:04.3);

Women INRC: 1. Anushriya Gulati (Dehradun) / Karan Aukta (Arka Motorsports) (03:06.0); 2. Tarushi Vikram / Sheraz Ahmed (both Chikkamagaluru) (Pvt.) (03:21.9); 3. Harshita Raj Gowda (Bengaluru) / Vignesh Mahalingam (Coimbatore) (Pvt.) (03:27.1);

Fmsci Challenge – Gypsy: 1. Dr Akarsh Sundar (Chikkamagaluru) / Ravikumar Reddy (Bengaluru) (Pvt.) (03:15.4); 2. Sanjay Agarwal / Dheeraj Manae (both Bengaluru) (Pvt.) (03:16.9); 3. Jayanth Somanathan / R Rajashekar (Pvt.) (03:18.8);

-Team Sportstar

GOLF

Tvesa Malik picks up top-10 finish in Cape Town

Tvesa Malik logged another fine result with a top-10 finish at the Standard Bank Ladies Open as she finished T-9 in the 54-hole event on Friday.

Tvesa, the winner of a title on the Sunshine Ladies Tour, shot rounds of 73, 71 and 76.

South African Gabrielle Venter shot 4-under 70 on the final day to win the title at 9-under, pushing overnight leader Kylie Henry (74) and France’s Emie Peronnin (70) to tied-second spot.

Tvesa, who had under-par rounds on the first two days and was lying tied fourth, had just one birdie against three bogeys in her 2-over 76 at the Par-74 Royal Cape Golf Course.

Tvesa was tied for ninth alongside Kiera Floyd of South Africa and Germany’s Carolin Kaufmann.

Tvesa, a multiple winner and an Order of Merit topper on the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour, parred the first six holes and then dropped two shots on the seventh and ninth. A birdie on the 11th was some compensation but she gave that away on the 17th.

Verena Gimmy of Germany and Spain’s Harang Lee were tied for fourth, while Florentyna Parker was fifth. Arian Klotz and Vanessa Knecht were tied for seventh place.

After four events this season on the Sunshine Ladies Tour, Tvesa is fifth on the Order of Merit, which is currently being topped by Kylie Henry. Chasing the leader is Gabielle Venter.

The Tour will now take a break and resume with the ABSA Ladies Invitational in the first week of April. Tvesa will be joined by Ridhima Dilawari, Neha Tripathi, Seher Atwal and Asmitha Sathish.

-PTI

Kapur, Ahlawat only Indians to make the cut in Macau

Indian golfers Shiv Kapur and Veer Ahlawat shot 67 and 68 respectively in the second round to emerge as the only two Indians to make the cut at the International Series Macau on Friday.

While Kapur was Tied-42 with a two-day total of five-under, Ahlawat (68-68) was in tied-60th place.

Ajeetesh Sandhu, Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, SSP Chawrasia, Karandeep Kochhar, S Chikkarangappa, Rashid Khan and Gaganjeet Bhullar missed the cut, while Jeev Milkha Singh withdrew after the first round.

Spain’s David Puig and Jbe Kruger from South Africa took the halfway lead shooting in the low 60s.

Puig, winner of the season-opening IRS Malaysian Open, shot a six-under-par 64, while Kruger fired a 63.

-PTI