SHOOTING
Ashi Chouksey finishes second in Polish Grand Prix
Asian Games medallist Ashi Chouksey finished an impressive second in the women’s 50m rifle 3 Positions (3P) event at the on-going Grand Prix Wroclawia and Dolnego Slaska international shooting competition in Wroclaw, Poland.
Chouksey, who won three medals at the Asian Games last year, shot 464.7 in the final to finish behind local favourite Julia Piotrowska.
Two other Indians in the field, Sift Kaur Samra and Anjum Moudgil, also entered the final, and finished fourth and seventh, respectively.
Chouksey topped the qualification round earlier in the day with a solid 593 across the three positions of Kneeling, Prone and Standing.
Anjum was fifth with 591, while Sift was sixth with 589.
Julia qualified second, a point behind Ashi, but comfortably prevailed over the young Indian in the final with a score of 467.3. Aneta Brabcova of the Czech Republic was third.
In the earlier competitions, Paris Olympic quota holder Anish Bhanwala and Niraj Kumar had won medals in men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol and 3P events, respectively.
- PTI
FOOTBALL
SkaSports Investments and Persik Kediri announce strategic partnership
SkaSports Investments and Persik Kediri, a professional football club in Indonesia jointly announced that they had entered into a strategic partnership agreement with a focus on improving the digital presence, sporting and commercial aspects of Persik Kediri, with potential future investment, as well as bringing the club’s brand of football to the Indian market.
SkaSports Investments Pvt Ltd, founded in 2023 by Rohit Ramesh and Sudhir Menon, is engaged in the business of investing and acquiring sports teams, leagues and properties and working for the overall development of the sporting ecosystem.
SportsCast India was their first acquisition following which they acquired a stake in Cambodian Premier League team Angkor Tiger FC based in Siem Reap.
Persik Kediri is a professional football club in Indonesia which has been established for 73 years based in Kediri, East Java. The club has won the Indonesian League twice and also has experience competing in the AFC Champions League.
- Team Sportstar
GOLF
Diksha Dagar makes a modest start on Epson Tour
India’s Diksha Dagar got off to a modest start with a 3-over 74 to be tied-86th after the first round of the IOA Golf Classic on the Epson Tour.
Diksha had just one birdie against four bogeys at the Par-71 Alaqua Country Club. It is a three-round 54-hole event.
Diksha, who is using her time in between her other international engagements on the Ladies European Tour, where she has had two Top-10 finishes recently, stayed in Florida after playing the Aramco Team Series last week.
She will be playing at least two events right now and probably a few more later in the season.
- PTI
Theegala shoots 67 to move to tenth as Wyndham Clark leads by four
Indian-American Sahith Theegala found six birdies against one bogey to card 5-under 67 and jump to 10th spot after the second round at the PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
He was tied 37th after the first round but made a big leap with birdies in 10th, 14th and 16th hole. On his second nine, he birdied the second, fourth and eighth and dropped one shot at third.
The lead was held by Wyndham Clark, the reigning US Open champion. Clark shot identical rounds of 65 to be 14-under and four ahead of Xander Schauffele (69) and Canadian Nick Taylor at 10-under at PGA Tour’s flagship event.
Rory McIlroy was 6-under par going into the weekend, eight shots behind leader Clark.
- PTI
BADMINTON
Krishna-Pratheek pair bows out of Orleans Masters, India’s campaign ends
Indian pair Krishna Prasad Garaga and Sai Pratheek K suffered a straight-game loss in the men’s doubles quarterfinals to bow out of the Orleans Masters badminton tournament here.
The world No. 70 Indian pair lost 17-21 16-21 in 40 minutes against the seventh-seeded Danish combination of Andreas Sondergaard and Jesper Toft, ranked 46th in the BWF chart, on Friday night.
It ended India’s campaign at the Super 300 event.
In women’s singles, eighth seed Malvika Bansod, Tanya Hemanth and Imad Farooqui Samiya lost early in the tournament.
Men’s singles players, including third seed Kiran George, Mithun Manjunath and S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian also made early exits.
Former national champion Anupama Upadhyaya and Sathish Kumar Karunakaran, who had won the Odisha Masters last year, lost in the second round.
- PTI
TENNIS
Shrivalli Bhamidipaty in final
Shrivalli Bhamidipaty was in vibrant form as she beat Polina Iatcenko 6-3, 6-4 to make the singles final, and combined nicely with Vaidehi Chaudhari to win the doubles title in the $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the Indore Tennis Club on Saturday.
Doubles Champions Shrivalli Bhamidipaty and Vaidehi Chaudhari in the ITF women’s tennis tournament in Indore on Saturday. | Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan
The 22-year-old Shrivalli fired seven aces and converted six of 14 break points to quell the challenge from the Russian. Polina, who had beaten Ankita Raina in the quarterfinals, did fight back, breaking serve four times to stay in the race, but Shrivalli was able to step up her game with fierce ground strokes that brooked little resistance.
In the final, Shrivalli will play second seed Dalila Jakupovic who patiently countered the crafty game of the small-built Mananchaya Sawangaew for a 7-6(4), 6-3 victory. The 32-year-old Dalila, who was ranked a career-best 69 in 2018, had won a double crown last week in Nagpur.
In the doubles final, Shrivalli and Vaidehi recovered from being down 1-3 to win 6-3, 7-5, against Ya-Hsuan Lee and Sohyun Park. Vaidehi played her part brilliantly after initially playing into the hands of the opponents who were pretty sharp.
It was the third title as a pair for Shrivalli and Vaidehi.
To her credit, Shrivalli managed to play close to her best, both in singles and doubles, staying focused right through, despite not being at her best physical condition.
She will need to be at her fighting best and firing away against the athletic Dalila who reads the opponent and situation well for appropriate response.
The results:
Singles (semifinals): Shrivalli Bhamidipaty bt Polina Iatcenko 6-3, 6-4; Dalila Jakupovic (Slo) bt Mananchaya Sawangkaew (Tha) 7-6(4), 6-3.
Doubles (final): Shrivalli Bhamidipaty & Vaidehi Chaudhari bt Ya Hsuan Lee (Tpe) & Sohyun Park (Kor) 6-3, 7-5.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Karan Singh defeats top seed Evgeny Donskoy in semis
Karan Singh asserted his power game with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the top seed and former world No.65, Evgeny Donskoy, in the semifinals of the $25,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex on Saturday.
Doubles champions Siddhant Banthia and Vishnu Vardhan in the ITF men’s tennis tournament in Delhi on Saturday | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The 20-year-old Karan, ranked a modest 730, converted three of five break points to beat the tough opponent who has a victory over Roger Federer.
In the final, Karan will challenge compatriot and third seed Ramkumar Ramanathan, who eased past Nam Hoang Ly of Vietnam 6-2, 6-4.
The 29-year-old Ramkumar has been thriving in the domestic circuit in recent times, winning the titles in similar tournaments in Dharwad, Mumbai and Kalaburagi. He will be looking for his 21st title to bolster his singles rank that had reached a career best 111 in 2018.
In contrast, Karan will be looking for his maiden title in the professional circuit. He has not dropped a set so far.
In the doubles final, third seeds Siddhant Banthia and Vishnu Vardhan beat the top seeds Parikshit Somani and Manish Sureshkumar 6-4, 6-1.
It was the 46th doubles title in pro circuit for the 36-year-old Vishnu. For Banthia, winning his second title with Vishnu, it was his eighth doubles title.
The results:
Singles (semifinals): Karan Singh bt Evgeny Donskoy 6-3, 6-4; Ramkumar Ramanathan bt Nam Hoang Ly (Vie) 6-2, 6-4.
Doubles (final): Siddhant Banthia & Vishnu Vardhan bt Parikshit Somani & Manish Sureshkumar 6-4, 6-1.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
CRICKET
North Zone clinches three-wicket win against South Zone in Vizzy Trophy final
North Zone scored a thrilling, three-wicket win with one ball to spare against South Zone in the Vizzy Trophy one-day cricket championship final at the ACA Stadium in Barsapara (Guwahati) on Saturday.
Batting first, South Zone scored 284 in 48.4 overs, with wicketkeeper Aditya Venkatesh (61, 90b, 7x4) and No.6 S. Dinesh Raj (106, 69b, 9x4, 6x6) being the main scorers. For North, Vikrant Rana was the pick of the bowlers with four for 41.
In reply, North Zone crossed the line thanks to useful contributions from opener Tripuresh Singh (75, 77b, 10x4, 1x6), No.3 Aayush Sikka (56, 76b, 3x4) and No.4 Abhishek Kaushal (55, 57b, 2x4, 1x6). But it was the crucial and lusty hitting by captain Amar Chaudhary (36 n.o., 20b, 4x4,1x6), who came in at No. 9, which settled the issue in favour of North in the company of No.8 Aditya Chauhan (14 n.o., 18b).
The scores: Final: South Zone 284 in 48.4 overs (Aditya Venkatesh 61, S. Dineshraj 106, Vikrant Rana 4/41) lost to North Zone 287/7 in 49.5 overs (Tripuresh Singh 75, Aayush Sikka 56, Abhishek Kaushal 55, Amar Chaudhary 36 n.o.).
-V.V. Subrahmanyam
Election Commission match for PwD voter awareness
Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) beat Deaf Cricket Association (DCA) by 69 runs after scoring 190 for five in a T-20 match organised by the Election Commission of India to create voter awareness among Persons with Disabilities (PwD), at the Karnail Singh Stadium here on Saturday.
Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu were present in the awareness campaign. Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi P Krishnamurthy and other senior officials of both ECI and Office of CEO, Delhi, took part in the event.
Archer Sheetal Devi, recognised as the national icon (PwD) by the ECI made a virtual presence for the event, in which the CEC released a booklet titled, Voter’s guide on PwD and senior citizen electors.
- Kamesh Srinivasan
HOCKEY
Sanjna sizzles again as Bengal seal quarterfinal berth with 11-0 win over Telangana
Sanjna nHoro continued her rich vein of form, registering yet another hat-trick as Hockey Bengal thrashed Telangana Hockey 11-0 to qualify for the quarterfinals of the Senior Women National Championship here on Saturday.
In a lop-sided contest, Sanjna (4th, 20th, 21st, 38th, 44th minutes) scored five goals, while Susmita Panna (6th, 10th, 42nd) also slammed a hat-trick for Bengal.
Monika Nag (7th, 40th) struck a brace, while skipper Anjna Dungdung (5th) also found the back of the net at the Major Dhyanchand Hockey Stadium.
Sanjna had earlier scored eight goals against Hockey Gujarat. Hockey Bengal finished with an all-win record and collected nine points from Pool H, which also includes Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu and Hockey Gujarat.
However, it was the end of the road for Uttar Pradesh Hockey despite registering a dominating 11-2 win over Hockey Andhra Pradesh in a Pool C match.
Veteran Vandana Katariya (43rd, 50th, 55th minutes) slammed a hat-trick, while Mumtaz Khan (27th, 47th) and Upasana Singh (35th, 46th) struck twice each.
Shashikala (14th), Reetu Singh (27th), Swarnika Rawat (38th) and Simran Singh (57th) found the net once each for Uttar Pradesh.
Kalyani Swarnapoodi (7th) and Garlanka Varahalamma (57th) were on target for Hockey Andhra Pradesh.
Uttar Pradesh Hockey finished second in the three-team Pool C behind Hockey Jharkhand, while Hockey Andhra Pradesh remained win-less.
Both Uttar Pradesh Hockey and Hockey Jharkhand had four points from one win and one draw, but the former were second in the standings by virtue of an inferior goal difference.
Hence, Hockey Jharkhand qualified for the quarterfinals from Pool C.
In other matches of the day, Delhi Hockey beat Kerala Hockey 4-1 in Pool B but failed to progress ahead of Hockey Maharashtra, which has two wins in as many games.
Sonali (37th, 59th) found the net twice, while Tanya (21st) and Manshi (54th) were the other goal-scorers for Delhi. Kerala Hockey’s lone goal came from the stick of Swetha (33rd).
Elsewhere in Pool A, Chhatisgarh Hockey recorded its first win in two matches, beating Hockey Bihar 2-0 as the latter slumped to their second straight loss.
Anisha Sahu (8th) and Aanchal Sahu (51st) scored for Delhi Hockey.
The win, however, was not enough for Delhi Hockey to enter the knockout stages, finishing second behind Hockey Maharashtra.
Hockey Madhya Pradesh, Hockey Jharkhand, Hockey Maharashtra and Hockey Bengal have sealed their places in the quarterfinals.
Later in the day, Hockey Gujarat will take on Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu in a Pool H tie, while Hockey Uttarakhand will be up against Dadara & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu in Pool G.
On Friday, Hockey Mizoram had defeated Hockey Himachal 10-0.
- Team Sportstar
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