HOCKEY
Nehru girls tournament: Mahila Hockey Academy thrashes Punjab Public School
Gayatri Mahavar scored six goals including a hat-trick to help Mahila Hockey Academy, Ajmer, beat Punjab Public School, Nabha, 10-0 in a preliminary league match in group-D of the Charanjit Rai 28th Nehru girls hockey tournament at the Shivaji Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday.
In group-C, Nisha scored a hat-trick for Rachna Public School, Ghumanhera, to salvage some pride and bridge the gap after the opponent, Sri Guru Nanak School, Rajnandgaon, had taken a 6-0 lead.
- Kamesh Srinivasan
TENNIS
Bopanna-Middelkoop pair reaches quarterfinals in Tel Aviv
Rohan Bopanna, seeded No.1 with Matwe Middelkoop, beat Hamad Medjedovic and Yshai Oliel 4-6, 7-6(4), [10-6] in the doubles pre-quarterfinals of the ATP250 tennis tournament in Tel Aviv on Wednesday.
In the quarterfinals, Bopanna and Middelkoop will play Denys Molchanova and Franko Skugor.
In the WTA event in Estonia, Prarthana Thombare in partnership with Isabelle Haverlag was beaten 6-3, 6-4 in the doubles pre-quarterfinals by the Kichenok sisters, Lyudmyla and Nadiia.
- Kamesh Srinivasan
Asian U-16 tournament: Aditya upsets top seed Namish to reach semis
Aditya Mor beat top seed Namish Sharma 6-2, 6-2 in the boys quarterfinals of the Asian under-16 tennis tournament at the Vijayant Khand Stadium on Wednesday.
In the semifinals, Aditya will play third seed Daksh Kapoor who beat Rudra Batham after losing the first set.
The other semifinal will be between Aradhya Kshitij and second seed Aashravya Mehra.
In the girls section, top seed Jaya Kapoor set up a semifinal against Arzan Khorakiwala, and the other semifinal will be between Shagun Kumari and Ridhima Singh.
- Kamesh Srinivasan
GOLF
Kartik Sharma grabs two-shot lead in Kapil Dev-Grant Thornton Invitational
Kartik Sharma shot a five-under 67 to take a two-shot lead over the duo of Manu Gandas and Sachin Baisoya at the half-way stage of the Rs. one crore Kapil Dev-GranT Thornton Invitational golf tournament at the DLF Golf and Country Club, Gurugram, on Wednesday.
With a two-round tally of six-under 138 Kartik overtook Day One leader Dhruv Sheoran who slipped to the fourth spot following a 73 for an aggregate of 141.
Meanwhile, 'rookie' Arjun Puri shot an eight-under 64 to equal the course record of Shubhankar Sharma set during the 2018 Indian Open.
Puri shot an 86 on the first day but his remarkable 22-stroke improvement lifted him from the overnight tied 119th spot to 43rd.
The ‘cut’ came at seven-over 151 and left 56 professionals in the fray.
- Rakesh Rao
CHESS
FIDE Women’s Grand Prix: Draw keeps Vaishali in eighth spot
R. Vaishali drew with former World junior girls champion Polina Shuvalova in 20 moves following perpetual checks in the 10th and penultimate round of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix chess tournament in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday.
Russian Kateryna Lagno, playing under the FIDE flag, led the field with 7.5 points. Vaishali, a late replacement for K. Humpy, was eighth after four players tied at the fifth spot with 4.5 points.
- Rakesh Rao
Chess
Vaishal holds junior world champion Polina Shuvalova to draw
New Delhi: R. Vaishali drew with former World junior girls champion Polina Shuvalova in 20 moves following perpetual checks in the 10th and penultimate round of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix chess tournament in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday.
Russian Kateryna Lagno, playing under the FIDE flag, led the field with 7.5 points. Vaishali, a late replacement for K. Humpy, was eighth after four players tied at the fifth spot with 4.5 points.
-Rakesh Rao
