Indian sports news wrap, November 22

Here are all the major updates and results from Indian sports on November 22.

FILE PHOTO: Diksha Dagar of India in action. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

GOLF

Diksha aims for Race to Costa del Sol title honours; Aditi also to tee up

Diksha Dagar will need to emerge victorious in the final leg of the Ladies European Tour (LET) here to become the first Indian to win the 2023 Race to Costa Del Sol, the LET’s Order of Merit.

Playing her fifth season on the LET, Diksha won the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open and put together a series of consistent performances to put herself in the frame for the big prize.

The left-handed Indian star is currently lying third behind Thailand’s rookie Trichat Cheenglab and France’s Celine Boutier on the LET’s Order of Merit.

Another Indian competing in the event, Aditi Ashok, is lying eighth on the Race to Costa Del Sol. She has played seven LET events this season, winning the opener in Kenya.

- PTI

TENNIS

Anirudh in doubles quarterfinals of ATP Challenger in Spain

Anirudh Chandrasekar in partnership with Ivan Liutarevich beat Michael Geerts and Joshua Paris 6-3, 6-1 in the doubles pre-quarterfinals of the €118,000 Challenger tennis tournament in Valencia, Spain.

In the $60,000 ITF women’s event in Brisbane, Australia, third seed Ankita Raina was beaten 6-1, 6-3 by Sakura Hosogi of Japan in the first round.

The results:

€118,000 Challenger, Valencia, Spain: Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Anirudh Chandrasekar & Ivan Liutarevich bt Michael Geerts (Bel) & Joshua Paris (GBR) 6-3, 6-1.

$80,000 Challenger, Yokohama, Japan: Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Toshihide Matsui & Kaito Uesugi (Jpn) bt Rithvik Bollipalli & Arjun Kadhe 6-4, 7-6(3); Andrew Harris (Aus) & JiSung Nam (Kor) bt Niki Poonacha & Divij Sharan 7-6(5), 4-6, [11-9].

$60,000 ITF women, Brisbane, Australia: Singles (first round): Sakura Hosogi (Jpn) bt Ankita Raina 6-1, 6-3.

$15,000 ITF women, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt: Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Danique Havermans & Sanne Schalekamp (Ned) bt Maddalena Giordano (Ita) & Teja Tirunelveli 6-4, 6-2.

$15,000 ITF women, Heraklion, Greece: Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Kiara Cvetkovic (Sui) & Annika Kannan bt Andreea Dinca & Ioana Sava (Rou) 6-3, 6-7(3), [10-7].

$15,000 ITF men, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt: Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Alec Beckley & Kris Van Wyk (RSA) bt Luca Fantini (Ita) & Shashank Theertha 6-1, 7-6(5).

- Kamesh Srinivasan

Aisshwarya Jadhav, Vraj Gohil move to quarterfinals of the ITF junior tennis tournament

National junior champion and third seed Aisshwarya Jadhav fought her way past Samaira Pahwa 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 in the girls’ pre-quarterfinals of the ITF junior tennis tournament on Wednesday.

In the quarterfinals, Aishwarya will play Laxmi Siri Dandu.

In the boys section, Vraj Gohil beat seventh seed Gandharv Gourav 7-5, 6-3 in the pre-quarterfinals. He will challenge second seed Juan Kim of Korea, who battled past Navya Verma in three sets.

The results (pre-quarterfinals):

Boys: Rethin Pranav bt Adhiraj Thakur 6-0, 6-2; Moise Kouame (Fra) bt Praneel Sharma 6-3, 6-3; Kashit Nagrale bt Maximus Zavier Wong (Sgp) 6-4, 6-3; Aradhya Ksshitij bt Kandhavel Mahalingam 6-2, 6-4; Sriniketh Kannan bt Dhiraj Reddy 3-6, 6-4, 6-1; Sehaj Singh Pawar bt Kartick Gusain 6-3, 2-6, 6-4; Vraj Gohil bt Gandharv Ghourav 7-5, 6-3; Juan Kim (Kor) bt Navya Verma 6-3, 5-7, 6-1.

Girls: Sohini Mohanty bt Aanya Choubey (USA) 6-3, 6-3; Durganshi Kumar bt Riya Sachdeva 4-6, 6-4, 6-0; Snigdha Kanta bt Harithashree Venkatesh 6-1, 6-0; Yashika Shokeen bt Mehak Kapoor 6-1, 6-2; Laxmi Siri Dandu bt Jaya Kapoor 7-6(4), 6-2; Aishwarya Jadhav bt Samaira Pahwal 7-5, 4-6, 6-2; Rishitha Basireddy bt Ishi Maheshwari 6-3, 6-0; Leita Akhmetova bt Diya Ramesh 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

- Kamesh Srinivasan

$25,000 ITF men’s tournament results

Qualifier Aryan Shah beat Koki Matsuda of Japan, ranked about a 1000 places above him, for a 6-3, 7-5 victory in the first round of the $25,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament at the GA Ranade Centre here on Wednesday.

The 18-year-old Aryan, the best ranked Indian junior at No.39 in January, will challenge the top seed Evgeny Donskoy in the pre-quarterfinals. Donskoy had to sweat it out in three sets against Taisei Ichikawa of Japan.

In another match, wild card entrant Raghav Jaisinghani turned the match around midway for a 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-0 victory over qualifier Rohan Mehra.

Ramkumar Ramanathan and SD Prajwal Dev were the other Indians to progress into the second round. Both made the doubles quarterfinals as well with their partners Purav Raja and Nitin Kumar Sinha respectively.

The results:

Singles (first round): Evgeny Donskoy bt Taisei Ichikawa (Jpn) 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-4; Aryan Shah bt Koki Mmatsuda (Jpn) 6-3, 7-5; Harrison Adams (USA) bt Karan Singh 6-4, 3-6, 6-1; Ryotaro Taguchi (Jpn) bt Bharath Kumaran 6-3, 6-2; Raghav Jaisinghani bt Rohan Mehra 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-0; Ryuki Matsuda bt Kabir Hans 7-6(3), 66-2; Ramkumar Ramanathan bt Madhwin Kamath 6-4, 6-2; SD Prajwal Dev bt Manish Sureshkumar 6-2, 6-4; Yuichiro Inui (Jpn) bt Shivank Bhatnagar 6-2, 6-1; Louis Wessels (Ger) bt Seita Watanabe (Jpn) 6-4, 7-5.

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Purav Raja & Ramkumar Ramanathan bt Adil Kalyanpur & Sidharth Rawat 7-5, 6-3; David Pichler (Aut) & Louis Wessels (Ger) bt Shivank Bhatnagar & Rohan Mehra 7-6(2), 6-3; Ryuti Matsuda & Ryotaro Taguchi (Jpn) bt Sai Karteek Reddy & Vishnu Vardhan 4-6, 7-6(3), [10-6]; Harrison Adams (USA) & Vladyslav Orlov (Ukr) bt Taisei Ichikawa & Seita Watanabe (Jpn) 6-3, 5-7, [10-7]; SD Prajwal Dev & Nitin Kumar Sinha bt Yuichiro Inui (Jpn) & Jang Yunseok (Kor) 2-6, 6-3, [10-6].

- Kamesh Srinivasan

SHOOTING

National shooting championship results

Photo of, Simranpreet Kaur Brar, champion Manu Bhaker and Annu Raj Singh, the medallists in sports pistol in the National shooting championship in Bhopal on Wednesday.  | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Manu Bhaker asserted her class yet again as she beat Simranpreet Kaur Brar 37-34 for the gold in women’s 25-metre sports pistol in the 65th National shooting championship at the Madhya Pradesh Academy on Wednesday.

Manu qualified on top with 583, the same as Manvi Jain, and cruised to the gold. Manvi in contrast, ended up eighth.

Simranpreet won the silver in the junior event also behind Naamya Kapoor. Rhythm Sangwan missed making the final of the women’s event along with World Cup gold medalists Chinki Yadav (577) and Rahi Sarnobat (575), but won the junior bronze.

Olympian Annu Raj Singh regained the old magic to win the women’s bronze ahead of Divanshi, Heena Sidhu, Neha and Pushpanjali Rana.

The results:

25m sports pistol: Women: 1. Manu Bhaker 37 (583); 2. Simranpreet Kaur Brar 34 (580); 3. Annu Raj Singh 25 (581).

Junior women: 1. Naamya Kapoor 32 (575); 2. Simranpreet Kaur Brar 30 (580); 3. Rhythm Sangwan 28 (577).

- Kamesh Srinivasan

POLO

Habanos Cavalry Gold Cup Results

Santiago Marambio scored six goals to guide Delta Foundation to a 9-7 victory over Jindal Panther in a league match of the Habanos Cavalry Gold Cup at the Army Equestrian Centre, Delhi Cantonment, on Wednesday.

In another match, 61st Cavalry/Royal Enfield beat Vimal Arion Achievers 9 ½ goals to 6.

The results (league):

Delta Foundation 9 (Santiago Marambio 6, Radmanabh Singh 2, Aksshai Malik) bt Jindal Panther 7 (Siddhant Sharma 4, Simran Shergill 2, Salim Azmi).

61st Cavalry/Royal Enfield 9 ½ (ARS Warraich 4, Angad Kalaan 3, Dhruvpal Godara 2, handicap ½) bt Vimal Arion Achievers 6 (Abhimanyu Pathak 3, Hurr Ali 2, Daniel Otamendi).

- Kamesh Srinivasan

BADMINTON

 Inter-Ministry badminton tournament by the Central Civil Services

The Inter-Ministry badminton tournament will be organised by the Central Civil Services Cultural and Sports Board (CCSCSB) at the AIIMS Gymkhana from December 4 to 15. Entries close on November 24.

Further details can be had from CCSCSB office at 361, B-Wing, Third Floor, Lok Nayak Bhawan, New Delhi-110003.

- Kamesh Srinivasan

FOOTBALL

Shillong Lajong players celebrating after scoring against Delhi FC at the SSA Stadium, Shillong. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

I-League 2023-24: Shillong Lajong continues unbeaten run with 2-1 victory over Delhi FC 

Shillong Lajong registered its second straight win by defeating Delhi FC 2-1 at the SSA Stadium, Shillong. 

In the battle of two promoted sides, Lajong dominated the game from the start and broke the deadlock in the 24th minute. 

Kynsaibor Lhuid scored from a wonderful assist by Senegalese forward Karim Samb. Despite Lajong’s attacking display, it failed to convert chances and was leading by a solitary goal at the half-time whistle. 

In the second half, Delhi scored the equaliser through Gaurav Rawat in the 60th minute. However, Lajong players held their nerves and came back to take the lead in the 82nd minute thanks to Phrangki Buam. 

This win propelled Lajong to fourth place in the table with nine points from two wins and three draws. Delhi FC, meanwhile, are sixth in the table, with seven points from five outings. 

- Team Sportstar

Malappuram to have two teams in Kerala’s new Super League

Malappuram will have two teams in the new Super League Kerala which is likely to begin in August next year.

“We will have six franchises and two will be from Malappuram. The other teams will be from Thrissur, Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Kannur,” Firoz Meeran, the managing director of Super League Kerala (SLK), told The Hindu here on Wednesday.

Media personality Charu Sharma will be the SLK’s chairman and I.M. Vijayan will be its brand ambassador.

The SLK teams will have some of Kerala’s biggest corporate houses backing them.

“We have decided to partner with some of the top corporates in Kerala who have a major presence in the Middle East also purely because it should be a long-term sustainable league. It has to go on for the next 30 to 50 years,” said Mathew Joseph, the CEO of the SLK.

“There will be 36 foreign players totally and there will be home and away matches, 33 in all including the semifinals and final. We will have a tie-up with a national broadcaster for TV coverage.”

- Stan Rayan