Indian sports news wrap: March 21
Here are all the major updates, scores and results of Indians from the world of sports on Thursday, March 21.
Published : Mar 21, 2024 13:14 IST , Chennai - 8 MINS READ
FILE PHOTO: Zara Anand | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
GOLF
Tough day for Indian trio at Queen Sirikit Cup
The Indian trio of Zara Anand, Vidhatri Urs and Heena Kang endured a tough day as it dropped three places to be ninth in the team competition at the 44th Queen Sirikit Cup golf tournament in Christchurch on Thursday.
First round co-leader in the individual event, Zara (73-77) fell to 11th while Vidhatri (79-77) dropped from T-20 to T-26.
Heena Kang (85-76), on the other hand, climbed to 30th as against T-32 a day earlier as she shot the best score among the Indians on the second day.
Heading into the third round in the 12-nation championship, Australia’s Sarah Hammett with a 5-under 67 moved into top spot and a total of 141 total. She is five in front of second-placed Kim Shi-hyun.While Korea’s Lee Hyo-song, Kiwi Eunseo Choi and Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Ping-hua are in a three-way tie for third place.
Among teams, Australia leads by three over Korea with Japan one further behind. Chinese Taipei are fourth and hosts New Zealand share fifth spot with Thailand on 297 followed by Indonesia (301), Singapore (304), Hong Kong and India (both 305), the Philippines 322 and Malaysia 326.
Zara failed to pick any birdies but hung in tenaciously on the challenging Clearwater Golf Club with just one birdie in the first 13 holes. She then dropped four bogeys in the last five holes and finished with 77.
Vidhatri had an action-packed round with three birdies, six bogeys and a double bogey. She managed just three pars on the front nine and another five on the return journey in her round of 77.
Heena had one birdie on the fifth, but after that she had three bogeys and a double for 76.
- PTI
Kolkata Challenge 2024: Ahlawat, Mane share lead after opening round
Veer Ahlawat and Udayan Mane carded an identical five-under 67 to share the lead after the opening round of the Kolkata Challenge at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club course in Kolkata on Thursday.
The Indian duo was one shot clear of 11 others, including last week’s Delhi Challenge winner John Parry and another home golfer Akshay Sharma.
Arjun Atwal scored 69, while S.S.P. Chawrasia returned a round of 74 on their home course.
- Y.B. Sarangi
The scores (first round; Indians unless specified):
- PTI
BOXING
3rd Sub Junior National Championship: Boxers from UP and Maharashtra dominate on day two
Boxers in action at the 3rd Sub Junior National Championship in Greater Noida. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Four boys from Uttar Pradesh and six girls from Maharashtra clinched victories on the second day at the 3rd Sub Junior National Championship at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida.
Gurdeep started the winning streak for Uttar Pradesh in the 37kg category against Vinjesh Kolar of Goa in a bout that ended with a referee stopping the contest in the third round. Devansh Yadav (49kg) and Pranjeet Singh (70+kg) earned identical 5-0 wins to further strengthen UP’s hold on the day.
Bhavya (61kg) faced a challenge from Telangana’s Mohammed Ur Rehman but managed winning the bout 4-1 margin.
Four boxers each from Steel Plant Sports Control Board, Manipur and Uttarakhand also entered the next round with a win.
Meanwhile, the girls category saw the domination of Maharashtra boxers with six of their boxers moving into the next round.
While Samrudhi Randeep (33kg), Samiksha Ghodeswar (37kg) and Shanaya (64kg) won their respective bouts with a unanimous 5-0 decision, Ishika Zambre (40kg) and Samruddhi Shinde (55kg) had to work hard to secure 4-1 victories against Andhra Pradesh’s Tejaswini and Goa’s Sidhi respectively.
Avantika Kewat (43kg) showcased an aggressive display as she did not break a sweat during her RSC win in the third round.
Four boxers from Telangana and Tamil Nadu also qualified for the next round on day two.
The semifinals and finals will be played on Sunday and Monday respectively.
- Team Sportstar
EQUESTRIAN
National Equestrian Championship Eventing to start from March 21
The first three-day competition will begin on March 21 and the second and final will begin on March 28. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Close to 200 riders will compete in National Equestrian Championship Eventing at the Army Polo and Riding Centre in New Delhi, starting March 21, the Equestrian Federation of India (EFI) announced on Thursday.
The first three-day competition will begin on March 21 and the second and final will begin on March 28.
The Eventing competition, also known as Horse Trial, comprises three disciplines Dressage, Cross Country and Show Jumping.
In three-day events, Show Jumping competition unfolds on day three.
“We will have around 36 teams and close to 200 riders competing over three days. Competition will be in Pre-Novice, Novice and CCN categories. We have an excellent jury, headed by Col. (retired) Dushyant Bali. I am sure we will see some interesting and exciting action in the championships,” Col Jaiveer Singh, Secretary General EFI, said.
In Show Jumping, the horse jumps over coloured poles with a maximum time allowed and the objective is to jump a clear round inside the time limit. On the last day it becomes challenging because the horses get tired and that leads to more mistakes.
In Cross country, horses and riders negotiate a course of natural obstacles over several miles. The obstacles have to be jumped within a time limit. The horse should be bold, straight and fast for cross country.
In Dressage, the rider-horse combo performs in an arena of 20m x 60m, bordered by a low rail which the horse must stay within. The arena has 12 lettered markers placed symmetrically indicating where the movements are to start where the pace changes are to occur and where the movements will end.
-PTI
POWERLIFTING
Powerlifters Ashok, Parmjeet qualify for Paris Paralympics
Asian Games bronze medallists Ashok and Parmjeet Kumar qualified for the Paris 2024 Paralympics by winning a silver medal each at the Para Powerlifting World Cup in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt on Thursday.
Competing in the 41kg category, Manpreet Kaur earned a bronze medal after lifting 86kg.
In a display of sheer strength and determination, Ashok lifted an impressive 192kg and 196kg respectively, which gave him the silver medal.
After his second attempt was declared a ‘no lift’, he cleared 196kg in his third.
In the fiercely-contested 49kg category, Parmjeet lifted 160kg and 166kg in his first two attempts and narrowly missed out on the gold.
Ashok said after his effort, “To participate in the Paralympics is the dream of every para-athlete, and I am elated to have taken a significant step towards realising that dream. I am determined to achieve greatness and bring glory to my country.”
- PTI
CUE SPORTS
Jhanjharia, Bagri advance to second round in CCI Billiards Classic
Kanishk Jhanjharia and Anurag Bagri will clash in the second round after recording one-sided wins in their respective first-round contests here at the CCI Billiards Classic event on Thursday.
At Sir Wilson Jones hall, Cricket Club of India’s (CCI) Jhanjharia cruised past Amit Sapru 400-213 in the contest lasting over 90 minutes, constructing a break of 69 in the process.
Bagri remained steady on the path to win as he defeated Anil Sagar 308-227.
In another match, Akshay Gogri was made to work hard by Rahul Narang for a close 304-278 victory while Sunil Jain also had to toil, winning by a margin of 277-200 over Anwar Choudhary.
Carl Serrao staged a fightback to defeat Nikhil Ghadge 287-221 and Thakkar also scripted a similar story in his win over Shekhar Surve by 240-189.
Results (round 1):
- PTI
TENNIS
$15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament: Chirag Duhan, Siddharth Vishwakarma into quarterfinals
Qualifier Chirag Duhan beat Mitsuki Leong of Malaysia 6-4, 6-4 in the pre-quarterfinals of the HPCL-Mittal $15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex on Thursday.
The Malaysian had earlier beaten the finalist of the last tournament Karan Singh. Chirag will challenge the second seed Ramkumar Ramanathan in the quarterfinals.
National champion Siddharth Vishwakarma beat Yuvan Nandal 7-6(3), 6-4 to set up a quarterfinal against top seed Khumoyun Sultanov of Uzbekistan.
Third seed S Mukund played a three-setter to get past qualifier Madhwin Kamath. He will play Bang Shuo Yin of Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals.
The results:
Singles (pre-quarterfinals):
Doubles (quarterfinals):
- Kamesh Srinivasan
ITF junior tennis tournament: Praneel,Samarth crash out in semifinals;Diya and Harithashree into doubles finals
Praneel Sharma was unable to capitalise on a strong start and went down fighting in three sets to Oswaldo Tirado of Mexico in the boys semifinals of the ITF junior tennis tournament at the Shanti Academy on Thursday.
The other Indian, Samarth Sahita also got beaten by second seed Hyu Kawanishi of Japan in straight sets.
In the girls section, Diya Ramesh and Harithashree Venkatesh made the doubles final.
The results (semifinals):
- Kamesh Srinivasan
Arjun and Jeevan in ATP Challenger semifinals
Arjun Kadhe and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan beat the second seeds Bart Stevens and Petros Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-2 in the doubles quarterfinals of the €74,825 Challenger tennis tournament in Murcia, Spain, on Thursday.
The results:
- Kamesh Srinivasan
POLO
Indian Open polo championship: Sahara Warriors into the final after 7-6 victory over Jindal Panther
Chris Mackenzie fired five goals to guide Sahara Warriors to a 7-6 victory over Jindal Panther in a league match of the Indian Open polo championship at the Jaipur Polo ground in New Delhi on Thursday.
With its second successive victory, Sahara Warriors ensured its berth in the final. In the last league match, Jindal Panther will take on Sujan Indian Tigers to decide the other finalist.
The results (league):
- Kamesh Srinivasan
TABLE TENNIS
WTT Feeder Beirut 2024: Sathiyan, Xia Lian win singles titles
In an all-India final, G. Sathiyan overcame Manav Thakkar 6-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-4 in the men’s singles final of the WTT Feeder table tennis tournament in Beirut (Lebanon) on Thursday. Earlier, 60-year-old Xia Lian Ni of Luxembourg, seeded sixth, beat fifth-seeded Suh Hyo Won of Korea 11-9, 11-5, 11-5 in the women’s singles final.
In the men’s doubles final, Cuba’s Andy Pereira and Jorge Campos defeated India’s Manush Shah and Manav Thakkar 5-11, 11-7, 13-11, 14-12.
- Team Sportstar