BOXING
Uttarakhand, Delhi storm into quarterfinals
Aditya Mehra, along with four other boxers from Uttarakhand and Arti Kumar, among six Delhi pugilists, stormed into the quarterfinals on day four of the third Sub Junior National Championship at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida.
Uttarakhand was a dominant force in the boy’s section, with four out of five boxers winning their respective bouts with the RSC decision.
Aditya Mehra (35kg) notched up a comfortable win against Ansh of Haryana with the referee stopping the contest in round one to give Uttarakhand a perfect head start. Pratham Chand (40kg) followed next, outclassing Madhya Pradesh’s Khusdeep to grab a 5-0 win.
The trio of Prajwal Singh Bhandari (49kg), Natiak Prasad (58kg) and Yash Kapri (70+kg) continued the momentum for Uttarakhand, winning their bouts convincingly in the first round itself with a RSC decision.
Four boxers each from Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Manipur also moved to the boys’s quarterfinals with their wins.
Arti Kumar (33kg) led the way for Delhi in the girls section with her thumping RSC win over Gujarat’s Lisa in round one. Priyanjali (46kg) and Kaynat (64kg) clinched victories with the referee stopping the contest against Suvidnya Dodake of Maharashtra and Sneha Bobus of Kerala respectively in round three.
Siya (37kg), Ahaana Sharma (49kg) and Sarika Yadav (52kg) were the other Delhi boxers to progress into the last-8 stage.
Five boxers from Rajasthan and Haryana also entered the quarterfinals. The semifinals and final will be played on Sunday and Monday respectively.
Team Sportstar
TENNIS
ITF men’s tournament: Ramkumar Ramanathan outplays Nam Hoang Ly
Ramkumar Ramanathan fired 12 aces and outplayed fourth seed Nam Hoang Ly of Vietnam 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals of the HPCL-Mittal $15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex on Saturday.
The champion of the $25,000 event in Delhi last week, Ramkumar converted three of 12 break points and saved the only break point he faced, in sailing past Ly.
In the final, Ramkumar will play top seed Khumoyun Sultanov of Uzbekistan, who beat S Mukund 6-2, 6-1 in an hour, hitting 11 aces and converting four of nine break points.
The doubles final was won by the fourth seeded Koreans, Yunseok Jang and Woobin Shin who beat thrid seeds Siddhant Banthia and Karan Singh 6-4, 7-6(11).
The Indian pair was unable to convert five set points, including two in the tenth game of the second set, and thus could not stretch the fight into the super tie-break.
The results:
-Kamesh Srinivasan
ITF juniors: Rioko Umekuni beats Polina Nikitina
Top seed Rioko Umekuni of Japan overcame an indifferent start to beat Polina Nikitina 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the girls final of the Indian Tree ITF junior tennis tournament at the Shanti Academy.
In the boys final, third seed Oswaldo Tiraldo of Mexico proved too strong for the second seed Hyu Kawanishi of Japan, in cruising to a 6-3, 6-3 victory.
The results (finals):
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Arjun and Jeevan in Challenger final
Arjun Kadhe and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan beat Francisco Cabral and Henrique Rocha of Portugal 6-4, 7-6(4) in the doubles semifinals of the €74,825 Challenger tennis tournament in Murcia, Spain.
The Indian pair was scheduled to play the top seeds Theo Arribage of France and Victor Cornea of Romania in the final.
The results:
€74,825 Challenger, Murcia, Spain
Doubles (semifinals): Arjun Kadhe & Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan bt Francisco Cabral & Henrique Rocha (Por) 6-4, 7-6(4).
-Kamesh Srinivasan
ATHLETICS
1 st National Open Relay Carnival in Chandigarh today
Some of the country’s top sprinters will be in action in the first National Open Relay Carnival which will be held at the Sports Complex, Sector 7, on Sunday.
Competitions for men and women and for under-20 athletes in the 4x100m, 4x400m and in the 4x400m mixed relays will be held in the one-day meet organised by the Chandigarh Athletics Association under the aegis of the Athletics Federation of India.
-Stan Rayan
BADMINTON
Divecha shines with 2 gold at Indian Masters National Badminton Championship
Maharashtra’s Naheed Divecha was on top of his game as he won two gold medals in the Indian Masters National Badminton Championship 2024 held here on Saturday.
Divecha, a member of the Bombay Gymkhana and associated with the ShuttleCraze Academy, exhibited great form, easily defeating Haryana’s Sunita Singh Panwar 21-14, 21-11 within 23 minutes and clinching the Women’s 50 singles final.
Later, Divecha, along with his state teammate Kiran Mokade, also grabbed the Mixed Doubles 50 title. They registered a spectacular 21-15, 21-9 win within 25 minutes over the top-seeded Karnataka pair of Prabagaran Subbaiyan and Jayashree Raghu.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra’s Nigel D’Sa grasped the Men’s 35 singles gold medal as he fought it out to win 21-12, 18-21, 21-13 against a determined sixth seed Satinder Malik within 45 minutes.
Also, Maharashtra’s Prashant Bahatre and his partner from Delhi, Manish Rawat, trounced the Maharashtra duo of Raveesh Mohan and Sushant Shetty in two quick games 21-11, 21-7 within 20 minutes to seize the Men’s 40 doubles gold.
-PTI
GOLF
Neergaard-Petersen extends lead
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen carded a four-under 68 for an aggregate of 201 and continued to enjoy his lead after the third round of the Kolkata Challenge at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club course here on Saturday.
Four strokes away, joint-second Rahil Gangjee was the best placed Indian after the penultimate round.
The scores (third round; Indians unless specified):
-Team Sportstar
Shubhankar fires 4-under to move up to fourth place
India’s Shubhankar Sharma is finding form ahead of his home event at the Hero Indian Open next week, as he moved up to fourth place at the Porsche Singapore Classic on Saturday.
He shot a fine 4-under 68 after rounds of 68-69-68.
Sharma, who last won in 2018, moved to 11-under despite a closing bogey and was two shots behind leader David Micheluzzi who finished with back-to-back birdies to take a one-stroke lead after the third round.
Sharma had three birdies in his first six holes and then went through eight pars, before he found back-to-back birdies on the 15th and the 16th but then closed on the 18th with a bogey.
Earlier Micheluzzi had one bogey in his round of six under par 66 to move into the lead on 13 under par.
He is one clear of overnight co-leader Andy Sullivan and fellow Englishman Sam Bairstow who shared second place on 12 under at Laguna National Golf Resort Club.
The swirling winds of the first two days dropped on day three, but 27-year-old Micheluzzi breezed to the top of the leaderboard on what was still a red-hot day in Singapore. Micheluzzi had rounds of 67-70-66.
Second round co-leader Sullivan experienced a rollercoaster of emotions on day three.
After starting with four birdies in his first eight holes, the double bogeyed both the ninth and tenth, as well as bogeying the 11th.
The four-time DP World Tour winner steadied the ship, however, with four birdies in his next seven to post a three under 69 and remain in contention.
The 2019 Open Champion Shane Lowry gave himself a shot at contending for the title with a six under 66 on moving day to earn a share of 13th on eight under par.
Frenchman Matthieu Pavon came within an inch of winning the €192,000 Porsche Panamera Turbo E-Hybrid, which is on offer to the first player to ace the Par-3 17th hole this week.
-PTI
Diksha makes second straight cut on Epson Tour
India’s Diksha Dagar added 3-over 74 in the second round of the Atlantic Beach Classic and made her second cut in as many weeks on the Epsom Tour on Saturday.
She shot 70 in the first round. She was lying tied 45th at the end of the second day, but has a chance to make amends in the third and final round on Sunday.
She had a roller coaster round this day with four birdies against five bogeys and a double bogey but survived the cut.
Lauren Stephenson was able to finish her round just before play was suspended on the second day at the Atlantic Beach Classic. She shot 32-39 for 71 and led the field.
A much-needed birdie on the par 5 18th closed out the round for Stephenson, who is likely to enter the final round with a two-shot lead.
Kim Kaufman was also able to sneak in her full round before sunset on Friday evening, carding the tied second-lowest round of the day with a 2-under 69. She was at 6-under and lying second.
-PTI
CUE SPORTS
CCI Billiards Classic: Jhanjharia, Agrawal enter main draw
Kanishk Jhanjharia and Aditya Agrawal came up with stellar performances to win their respective Round 2 qualifiers and enter the main draw of the CCI Billiards Classic here on Saturday.
Jhanjharia of the Cricket Club of India (CCI) stole the thunder with four successive breaks (81, 64, 63 and 64) and recorded an authoritative 481-221 triumph over club-mate Anurag Bagri, making it to the main draw.
Later, Agrawal displayed excellent touch and control, registering a century break and overcoming Mehul Sutariya by a compelling 419-209 margin.
Having assembled two further breaks of 94 and 53, Agrawal has now joined Jhanjharia in the next phase of the competition.
Meanwhile, CCI cueist Nishant Dossa continued his fine run, coming up with a timely break of 76 in the final half hour, turning things around and snatching a close 249-200 win over Sunil Jain in another Round 2 meeting, progressing to the main draw.
Rishabh Kumar also qualified for the main draw, defeating Vishal Gehani 361-220 with breaks of 51 and 61.
-PTI
BADMINTON
Divecha shines with 2 gold at Indian Masters National Badminton Championship
Maharashtra’s Naheed Divecha was on top of his game as he won two gold medals in the Indian Masters National Badminton Championship 2024 held here on Saturday.
Divecha, a member of the Bombay Gymkhana and associated with the ShuttleCraze Academy, exhibited great form, easily defeating Haryana’s Sunita Singh Panwar 21-14, 21-11 within 23 minutes and clinching the Women’s 50 singles final.
Later, Divecha, along with his state teammate Kiran Mokade, also grabbed the Mixed Doubles 50 title. They registered a spectacular 21-15, 21-9 win within 25 minutes over the top-seeded Karnataka pair of Prabagaran Subbaiyan and Jayashree Raghu.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra’s Nigel D’Sa grasped the Men’s 35 singles gold medal as he fought it out to win 21-12, 18-21, 21-13 against a determined sixth seed Satinder Malik within 45 minutes.
Also, Maharashtra’s Prashant Bahatre and his partner from Delhi, Manish Rawat, trounced the Maharashtra duo of Raveesh Mohan and Sushant Shetty in two quick games 21-11, 21-7 within 20 minutes to seize the Men’s 40 doubles gold.
-PTI
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