Here are all the major updates and results from Indian sports on November 10.
CUE SPORT
National Billiards & Snooker Championships to begin in Chennai on Nov 21
The upcoming National Billiards & Snooker Championships is set to take place from November 21 at the Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai.
It will be the 90th edition of the national championship and the first edition to be held in the city since 2011.
The event will be held for over 30 days and conclude on December 25, with around 1,500 cueists across formats and age groups expected to participate.
It would also include the likes of Aditya Mehta, Rafath Habib, Vidya Pillai, Brijesh Damani, Shrikrishna Suryanarayan and Anupama Ramachandran.
The divisions expected at the event are Senior billiards & snooker for men and women, Masters snooker, 6 Reds Snooker for men and women and sub-junior and junior billiards & snooker for boys and girls.
“If you consider snooker in Europe, it is making more money than cricket, while the prize money too is quite high, nearly at par with Wimbledon tennis, which is GBP 2,50,000,” Tamil Nadu Billiards and Snooker Association (TNBSA) vice-president Rajmohan told PTI.
“It’s all being possible because of the visual (television) media. Gradually, with enough support, I assure you 100 per cent that we can gain immense popularity next to cricket. It is how the sport has gained popularity in England.”
Echoing Rajmohan’s thoughts, TNBSA president BG Muralidharan said that the biggest challenge for Indian snooker is to reach the masses, especially at the grassroots level.
“We have to reach out to more schools and universities; that’s how cricket has developed and gained popularity (in the country).”
Billiards and snooker are some of the indoor sports which are yet to make it to the Olympics, and Rajmohan said efforts are being made to ensure that it is included in the editions beyond 2028 Los Angeles Games.
“England and even China has come up very well (in the sport). They are all strong countries, alongside France and Germany. If these four nations push for it, it will certainly be included in the Olympics,” he said.
“After television and social media began spreading the sport, the viewership has peaked, and it will keep escalating in the coming years. So, if this trend keeps going upwards, we will certainly get there (in the Olympics),” he signed off.
- PTI
TENNIS
Sriram Balaji reaches doubles final at Helsinki Challenger
Sriram Balaji in partnership with Andre Begemann beat Luke Johnson and Skander Mansouri 6-7(4), 6-4, [10-8] in the doubles semifinals of the €145,000 Challenger tennis tournament in Helsinki, Finland, on Friday.
The Indo-German pair had earlier beaten the top seeds Andrea Pellegrino and Andrea Vavassori 11-9 in the super tie-break of the quarterfinals.
RESULTS
- Team Sportstar
IC Rod Laver Junior Challenge: India defeats Italy, stays unbeaten after three matches
Rushil Khosla and Sohini Mohanty won their singles and doubles matches to help India to a 4-2 victory over Italy in the third league match of the IC Rod Laver Junior tennis Challenge at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club in San Diego, California.
India was in a spot of bother after Manas Dhamne and Asmi Adkar had lost their singles matches, but both of them rose to the occasion in the boys and girls doubles later.
It was the third successive victory for the Indian team after the ones against Britain and USA. It was the first loss in three matches for Italy.
India will play Argentina and South Africa in the last two league matches. The topper of the league will be the champion.
Result (League stage)
- Team Sportstar
ITF Masters: Janweaj beats top seed Jindel in over-75 final
Narender Janweja beat top seed Ashok Jindel 6-0, 6-3 in the over-75 final of the ITF Masters tennis tournament at the Indore Tennis Club.
He dropped only five games in all in winning his three matches for the title.
Narender won the doubles title in partnership with Ashok Jindel. The duo dropped only two games in all in two rounds after a bye in the first.
The results (finals)
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Top seed Neeraj wins AITA tournament in Chandigarh
Neeraj Yashpaul emerged champion in the AITA men’s tennis tournament in Chandigarh on Friday. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Top seed Neeraj Yashpaul overcame a slow start to beat third seed Jagmeet Singh 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the final of the Rs.2,50,000 AITA men’s tennis tournament, sponsored by HPCL and Mittal Energy, at the CLTA Complex in Chandigarh on Friday.
Neeraj played solid through the tournament and did not drop a set before the final.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
BADMINTON
More than 1000 players to participate in Krishna Khaitan U-19 badminton tournament
More than 1000 players are scheduled to compete in the Yonex Sunrise 30th Krishna Khaitan all-India under-19 badminton tournament to be held at the Tau Devi Lal Indoor Stadium, Sector-3, Panchkula, from November 14 to 20.
The tournament, featuring singles, doubles and mixed doubles events, will carry a total cash prize of Rs.4,00,000.
The main draw matches will be played from 17th, after the qualifying events over the first three days.
- Kamesh Srinivasan
GOLF
Shubhankar opens strongly with 68 in South Africa
India’s Shubhankar Sharma opened with a strong 4-under 68 in the first round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge to give himself a chance to secure his place in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
With three birdies, an eagle and one bogey, he was tied eighth and two shots behind the four co-leaders that included world No. 8 Max Homa in Sun City on Friday.
Homa overcame a lack of competitive action to take a share of a four-way tie for the lead at the Gary Player Country Club.
The world No. 8, making his debut in Sun City, converted an impressive closing birdie to join Englishman Dan Bradbury, Denmark’s Nicolai Højgaard and Sweden’s Vincent Norrman on six under par following rounds of 66.
Homa, who top-scored for the US Team at the Ryder Cup last month, posted a clean card in ‘Africa’s Major’ despite not teeing it up competitively since the biennial contest at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club.
Fellow Ryder Cup star Højgaard wasted no time in setting the clubhouse target as he recovered from an opening bogey in the first group of the day to earn a share of the first round lead and be well placed as he targets a late surge up the Race to Dubai Rankings.
Bradbury continued his love affair with South Africa with his opening round of 66 which included a stunning 75-foot eagle putt at the par five ninth hole.
The 24-year-old started the year without any playing privileges on the DP World Tour before winning the Joburg Open in November 2022 while playing on an invite.
The leading quartet is completed by Swede Norrman, who has proven himself as a man who knows how to win in recent weeks.
The 25-year-old, who is also making his tournament debut this week, went bogey free as he looks to make it three victories in his last 10 worldwide starts following his triumphs at the Barbasol Championship and Horizon Irish Open.
The leaders sit one shot clear of three players in a share of fifth place, with Frenchman Julien Guerrier and Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune joining Poland’s Adrian Meronk on five under par.
Meronk, a four-time DP World Tour winner, is currently third on the Race to Dubai and a win in South Africa this week would keep his hopes of winning the season-long Rankings alive.
-PTI
Bhullar, Kochhar Tied-12th in Hong Kong
India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar and Karandeep Kochhar carded identical rounds of 4-under 66 to be Tied-12th at the USD 2 million Hong Kong Open on Friday.
They also had similar cards of 67 each in the first round.
Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai carded a brilliant 7-under-par 63 with 10 birdies and three bogeys to take the lead at 12-under. He shot 5-under 65 on the first day.
He leads Australian Cameron Smith (66) and Sangmoon Bae (63) from Korea by one shot.
Ajeetesh Sandhu added 68 to his first round 66 and was 6-under for T-21 while Rashid Khan (69-67) was T-40. Veer Ahlawat (68-69) at 3-under was T-52 and the only other Indian to make the cut.
S Chikkarangappa (70-69), SSP Chawrasia (74-65), Shiv Kapur (68-73) and Honey Baisoya (73-73) missed the cut, which fell at 2-under.
Bhullar started on the 11th, which is the opening hole on the back nine at the Hong Kong Golf Club, and had five birdies against one bogey, the same as Kochhar, who teed off from the first and had birdies on his first three holes. Sandhu teeing off from the 11th had three birdies against one bogey.
American Micah Laurent Shin (63), Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana (64), Kiwi Ben Campbell (64) and Harrison Crowe (65) from Australia are one shot further back – in the penultimate leg of this year’s International Series.
-PTI
Tvesa, Avani and Pranavi lead six Indians into Final stage of LET Q-School
Tvesa Malik took the first step towards getting back her status on the Ladies European Tour, taking the top honours in the Pre-Qualifier Asia with a final round of 2-under 70 and a total of 7-under 209 for 54 holes.
The last few groups were still on the front nine at the Classic Golf and Country Club in Gurugram when the players had to endure a 40-minute stoppage due to thunder and rain.
Avani Prashanth, who will stay amateur till she plays the LET Q-School’s Final stage, shot 1-over 73 for a total of 4-under 212 and finished second.
Fellow Bengalurean Pranavi Urs, who in 2023 divided her time playing on various tours globally, struck four birdies in a five-hole stretch between the 14th and the 18th to finish third with a tournament aggregate of 3-under 213.
A total of eight girls are assured of a place in the 90-hole five-round Q-School Final in Marrakech, with six of them being Indians.
Following the top-three Indians in the tournament was Singapore’s Sock Hwee Koh (70) in fourth place at 2-under 214.
Durga Nittur (70) and Ridhima Dilawari (73) were tied for the fifth place at 1-under 215, while Thailand’s Saraporn Chamchoi (70) and India’s Jasmine Shekar (70) were tied for seventh place.
Tvesa, after struggling with her form for a good part of the last two years, has begun to show a welcome return to form with two wins on the domestic Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour.
“I feel I have begun playing well after putting in a lot of hard work over the past few months,” said Tvesa, who finished three shots ahead of amateur Avani, who at 17, is looking to take her first steps into professional golf.
Tvesa added, “I am still working on my game, though the scoring is coming back. It is like a work in progress, but for now getting to the Final Stage was the immediate goal. To do that without much fuss felt good.”
Avani was pleased to move forward, but added, “The putting did not work this week, despite the 67 on the second day. The greens seemed rather slow, and the rain did not help. But I stayed focused on getting the job done.”
Pranavi was also happy to get to the Final Stage, more so after flirting with danger at one point in the final round. “I am just looking forward to a couple of other events and then the Final stage,” she said.
-PTI
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