Indian sports news wrap, November 7

Here are all the major updates and results from Indian sports on November 7.

Mithun Mukherjee and Nabil Edgtton, the champions of the ProAm event at the HCL bridge championship in Delhi. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Here are all the major updates and results from Indian sports on November 7.

BRIDGE

HCL International Championship: Nabil, Mithun win ProAm pairs title

Nabil Edgtton and Mithun Mukherjee won the HCL ProAm pairs title with 72 match points in the climax of the 20th HCL International bridge championship here on Monday.

The champion pair collected a cheque of Rs.6,00,000. Debabrata Majumder and Sudhir Aggarwal finished second and pocketed a cash prize of four lakh rupees.

There were prizes up to the 12th spot, from a total purse of 20 lakh for the ProAm event.

The main tournament had carried a total prize of Rs.2.6 crore, the biggest in world bridge.

The ProAm is a new concept, attempted in a bid to popularise the game, giving a chance for the amateurs to experience the game with the professionals.

In fact, there was a bidding for the professionals, who were successfully secured for bids ranging from Rs.12,000 to Rs.50,000.

The presence of many foreign players was a major attraction this time, and that included Zia Mahmood of the USA. Part of the entry fee from the ProAm event goes to junior development fund. Through the fund, support is extended to junior players for training and participation in national and international events.

Zia Mahmood in partnership with Mukund Jagannathan finished 11th, while Michael Whibley and Arjun Sawhny placed ninth, one rung ahead of Kiran Nadar and B Satyanarayana.

The results:

Pro-Am pairs: 1. Nabil Edgtton & Mithun Mukherjee 72; 2. Debabrata Majumder & Sudhir Aggarwal 63; 3. Jacek Pszczola & Vikrant Mehta 56; 4. Raju Tolani & Arun Bapat 42; 5. Vladmir Mihov & Kaushik Mukherjee 32; 6. Boye Brogeland & Ashok Goel 30.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

TENNIS

Sumit Nagal reaches pre-quarterfinals of Helsinki Challenger

Sumit Nagal beat qualifier Dennis Novak of Austria 6-2, 6-3 to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the €145,000 Challenger tennis tournament in Helsinki, Finland, on Tuesday.

RESULTS

€145,000 Challenger, Helsinki, Finland

Singles (first round): Sumit Nagal bt Dennis Novak (Aut) 6-2, 6-3.

$25,000 ITF men, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Vadym Ursu (Ukr) & Louis Wessels (Ger) bt Tommaso Compagnucci (Ita) & Shashank Theertha 7-6(4), 6-3.

$15,000 ITF men, Hua Hin, Thailand

Singles (first round): Natthayut Nithithananont (Tha) bt Daksh Prasad 6-4, 7-5.

$15,000 ITF men, Monastir, Tunisia

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Alexandr Binda (Ita) & Chirag Duhan bt Filippo Giovannini & Umberto Giovannini (Ita) 6-3, 6-2.

-Team Sportstar

Manas Dhamne spearheads Indian Challenge in Rod Laver Cup

The country’s best junior player, 15-year-old Manas Dhamne will spearhead the Indian challenge at the International Tennis Club (IC) Rod Laver Junior Worldwide Finals in San Diego, California, USA, this week.

Rushil Khosla, Asmi Adkar and Sohini Mohanty are the other players in the Indian squad for the under-16 mixed team competition. Vikram Anand is the captain.

When India had qualified by winning the Asia-Oceania event in Japan in June, Rethin Pranav was part of the team. Since then, it was felt that India would need a stronger team to compete on the global stage. And thus, Manas was persuaded to make the team.

India is scheduled to play its first match against Britain. It will then play the other four teams South Africa, Italy, Argentina and USA, in a league format. The topper of the six-team league will be the champion.

The format features four singles, two doubles and an optional mixed doubles in case of a tie.

Manas, who had won the Asian junior title last year, has been training at the Piatti Centre in Italy thanks to the support of the IMG, following his fine performance in Eddie Herr and Orange Bowl junior events in the USA. He competes in the men’s ITF and Challenger events apart from the Grand Slams for juniors.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

AITA tournament: Neeraj beats Tanik to reach quarterfinals

Top seed Neeraj Yashpaull beat Tanik Gupta 7-6(5), 6-4 in the pre-quarterfinals of the Rs.2,50,000 AITA men’s tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex in Chandigarh on Tuesday.

The results (pre-quarterfinals)

Neeraj Yashpaul bt Tanik Gupta 7-6(5), 6-4; Tushar Mittal bt Rhythm Malhotra 6-3, 6-4; Parth Aggarwal bt Shanker Heisnam 6-4, 7-6(5); Sarthak Suden bt Dhananjay Singh 7-6(4), 6-2; Ajay Kundu bt Vlasier Khate 6-2, 6-2; Jagmeet Singh bt Rahul Yadav 6-2, 6-2; Shubh Negi bt Rakshit Dhankar 6-4, 6-1; Udit Kamboj bt Siddharth Basaiti 6-4, 6-4.

-Team Sportstar