Chennai
GOLF
Diksha misses cut; Shubhankar shoots bogey-free round to ensure weekend action
Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma shot a bogey-free second round to ensure weekend action at the Scandinavian Mixed Open but compatriot Diksha Dagar failed to make the cut.
Sharma, who had a disappointing 75 in the first round, was bogey-free in the second round with birdies on the third and fifth, 12th and 15th as he rose to Tied-48th.
On the other hand, Dagar was unable to find the form that gave her two Top-10s in recent weeks. She was 5-over for the first round and went to 3-over in the second and missed the cut by a long distance.
Dagar, who was tied eighth in Helsingborg and Tied-sixth in Belgium, had two birdies against one bogey and two double bogeys, both of which came on par-5s.
The event saw 78 men and 78 women start together in the unique two-million dollar event at Ullna Golf Club. The cut fell at even par.
Meanwhile, on a sensational second day, Dale Whitnell fired a 61 (-11) and took a six-stroke lead heading into the weekend. The 34-year-old Englishman got off to a hot start rolling three birdies on his opening three holes, he then added further birdies on five, six and eight to make the turn in 30 (-6).
In outright second place on the leaderboard on 11-under-par is Germany’s Yannik Paul, who was the co-leader after the first round.
The German began the day at Ullna Golf Club on seven-under and opened with two birdies in his first three holes. Paul then had a bogey sandwiched between birdies on holes seven, eight and nine before making two more birdies and one bogey on his back nine for a round of 68 (-4).
Scotland’s Richie Ramsay is in third place on 10-under-par having carded a bogey-free round of 66 (-6).
America’s John Catlin is fourth on eight-under-par with South Africa’s Justin Walters and Søren Kjeldsen one shot further back.
Six players are in a tie for seventh place on six-under-par with eight players a shot further adrift on five-under-par including England’s Alice Hewson and France’s Emma Grechi.
-PTI
Pranavi and Nishtha Tied-11th on Epson Tour in US
FILE PHOTO: Pranavi Urs of India in action. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
India’s Pranavi Urs had her best start on the Epson Tour as she carded a 2-under 70 in the first round of the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship to be Tied-11th.
Pranavi is four shots behind the leader Soo Jin Lee (66) of Australia.
Another Indian, Nishtha Madan also carded 68 to be tied for 11th alongside Pranavi.
Pranavi, a prolific winner on the domestic Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour in India, had four birdies and two bogeys. She birdied seventh, eighth and ninth and 11th while dropping shots on second and 14th.
The US-based Nishtha, whose sister, Astha plays in Europe, birdied sixth, 10th and 12th, and her lone bogey came on 18th.
Jin Lee made her first appearance of the year. The 27-year-old made seven birdies and one bogey to turn in a round of 66 (-6) and will take a one-shot lead heading into the moving day.
Behind Lee in a share of the second is Savannah Vilaubi, who has already taken home one trophy this year at Copper Rock Championship. She started her round hot with five birdies in her first 13 holes before finally making a bogey on her 14th hole. She would collect one more birdie coming in to fire a five-under 67.
Kathleen Scavo joined Vilaubi at 67 for the day.
Rounding out the rest of the top finishers are Kaleigh Telfer, Kristin Coleman, and Min-G Kim, who all were able to turn in cards of 68 (-4) and sit at T4 for the tournament.
-PTI
TENNIS
Prarthana loses doubles semifinals
Prarthana Thombare in partnership with Jessy Rompies of Indonesia missed six match points, including one in the super tie-break, in losing the doubles semifinals 7-5, 6-7(9), [10-12] to the top seeds Despina Papamichail and Camilla Rosatello in the $60,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Caserta, Italy.
In the ITF men’s event in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand, seventh seed SD Prajwal Dev beat Maximum Jones 7-6(2), 6-3 to set up a title clash with third seed Shinji Hazawa of Japan.
The results:
$60,000 ITF women, Caserta, Italy
Doubles (semifinals): Despina Papamichail (Gre) & Camilla Rosatello (Ita) bt Jessy Rompies (Ina) & Prarthana Thombare 5-7, 7-6(9), [12-10].
$40,000 ITF women, La Marsa, Tunisia
Doubles (semifinals): Maria Kozyreva & Wei Sijia (Chn) bt Rutuja Bhosale & Justina Mikulskyte (Ltu) 7-5, 1-0 (retired).
$15,000 ITF women, Banja Luka, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Doubles (semifinals): Ada Piestrzynska (Pol) & Daria Yesypchuk (Ukr) bt Madelief Hageman (Ned) & Saumya Vig 2-6, 7-5, [10-6].
$15,000 ITF men, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand
Singles (semifinals): SD Prajwal Dev bt Maximus Jones (Tha) 7-6(2), 6-3.
$15,000 ITF men, Tehran, Iran
Singles (semifinals): Loreno Bocchi (Ita) bt Karan Singh 6-2, 6-3.
$15,000 ITF men, Frascati, Italy
Doubles (semifinals): Emilien Voisin & Arthur Weber (Fra) bt Alessandro Bellifemine (Ita) & Rushil Khosla 7-5, 6-2.
- Kamesh Srinivasan
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