Indian sports news wrap, October 20: Kerala boy Bejoy guns down Lijo Mani’s record again

Here are all the major updates and results from Indian sports on October 20.

REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE: Indian shuttlers Jagsher Singh Khangurra, Bornil Aakash Changmai and Tanvi Sharma advanced to the semifinals of the Badminton Asia U-17 and U-15 Junior Championships | Photo Credit: Getty Images

ATHLETICS

Bejoy guns down Lijo Mani’s record again; Palakkad completes a hattrick of triumphs, Malappuram’s Ideal best school

J. Bejoy has been gunning down former national star Lijo Mani’s records one after another. After bettering Mani’s Kerala under-18 800m record at the recent State junior meet in Malappuram, the 17-year-old did it again at the 65th State schools athletics championships here on Friday.

He broke Mani’s 11-year-old record in the senior boys 800m and in the process improved his personal best by nearly two seconds within the space of some 20 days.

J. Bejoy broke Lijo Manis 800m senior boys record at the 65th Kerala State schools athletics championships at Kunnamkulam on Friday for his third gold. | Photo Credit: The Hindu / Najeeb KK

“I run around 8 to 9km every day. My favourite events are the 800 and 1500m and my goal is to get a medal at the Nationals,” said the youngster whose parents are daily wage workers at Chittur Village in Palakkad. Bejoy had an easy day in the two-lapper, finishing more than four seconds ahead of the second-placed Muhammed Mashhood to collect his third gold here. He had won the 1500m and 3000m earlier. That also saw him share the individual championship in the senior boys category with Malappuram’s Muhammed Muhassin – who took the long jump, triple jump and high jump golds – and the meet’s top star P. Abiram of Palakkad who won the 200m for his third gold here.

Palakkad (266 points, 28 golds) won the overall championship to complete a hat-trick of triumphs and also topped the boys and girls team tables. Malappuram’s Ideal EHSS, Kadakassery (57 points) finished as the best school with Ernakulam’s Mar Basil HSS (Kothamangalam, 46 points) taking the second spot.

The results (winners only):

Boys: Seniors: 200m: P. Abiram (Pkd) 22.03s. 800m: J. Bejoy (Pkd) 1:51.13s MR, OR 1:51.77, Lijo Mani, 2012. Triple jump: Mohammed Muhassin (Mlp) 15.22m. Pole vault: Bibin Sabu (Ekm) 4.30m. Shot put: K.C. Servan (Ksd) 17.58m MR, OR 16.53, Alex Thankachan, 2018. 4x400m relay: Kozhikode (3:22.91).

Juniors: 200m: U. Ayushkrishna (Pkd) 22.89s. 800m: M. Amruth (Pkd) 1:57.06s. Triple jump: M. Dhanush Raj (Knr) 13.57m. Javelin throw: P.K. Vishnu (Wyd) 47.34m. 4X400m relay: Palakkad (3:30.25s).

Sub-juniors: 200m: Arshad Ali (Pkd) 24.77s.

Girls: Seniors: 200m: M. Jyothika (Pkd) 25.92s. 800m: Mayukha Vinod (Koz) 2:15.16s. High jump: Carolina Mathew (Koz) 1.63m. Hammer throw:Ashly Thresia (Alp) 44.80m. 4X400m: Palakkad (4:02.88s).

Juniors: 200m: Adithya Aji (Mlp) 26.01s. 800m: Nivedhya Kaladhar (Pkd) 2:20.23s. Hammer throw: Pallavi Santosh (Pkd) 45.52m. 4X400m relay: Kozhikode (4:06.04s).

Sub-juniors: 200m: T.V. Devasree (Knr) 27.86s. High jump: V.B. Abhirami (Knr) 1.44m.

Individual champions: Senior boys: P. Abiram (CFD VHSS, Mathur, Pkd), J. Bejoy (GHSS Chittur, Pkd) & Mohammed Muhassin (Ideal EHSS, Kadakassery, Mlp – all 15 points). Junior boys: M. Amruth (KHS Kumaraputhur, Pkd, 10 pts). Sub-junior boys: Arshad Ali (KHS Kumaraputhura, Pkd, 15 pts).

Senior girls: M. Jyothika (HS Parli, Pkd, 15 pts). Junior girls: Adhithya Aji (Navamukunda HSS, Thirunavaya, Mlp, 13 pts). Sub-junior girls: T.V. Devasree (GVHSS, Knr, 15 pts).

Overall champion district: Palakkad (266 pts).

-Stan Rayan

Dhanvir, Sharvari break meet records

Dhanvir Singh (men’s shot put), and Sharvari Avinash Parule (women’s triple jump) broke meet records in the third National Open under-23 athletics championships which began here on Friday.

Select results (winners only):

Men: 10,000m: Shadab Pathan (Mah) 30:11.06s. Triple jump: J. Mohan Raj (TN) 15,87m. Pole vault: Shekhar Kumar Pandey (UP) 4.95m. Shot put: Dhanvir Singh (Pun) 18.25m MR, OR 17.79.

Women: 10,000m: Prajkta Parasharam (Mah) 35:51.29s. Triple jump: Sharvari Avinash Parule (Mah) 13.16m MR, OR 13.11. Shot put: Jasmine Kaur (Pun) 14.67m. Hammer throw: Anisha Dahiya (Har) 51.24m.

-Stan Rayan

BADMINTON

Indian shuttlers Jagsher Singh Khangurra, Bornil Aakash Changmai and Tanvi Sharma advanced to the semifinals of the Badminton Asia U-17 and U-15 Junior Championships to assure themselves of a medal on day 4 of the tournament in Chengdu, China on Friday.

In the boys’ U15 singles category, Jagsher defeated China’s MA Chu Xuan 21-14, 21-13 in just 28 minutes, while Bornil emerged victorious in a closely-contested match against Korea’s Park Jung Bin, securing a 21-19, 22-20 victory.

Tanvi Sharma overcame a first-game loss to register a 20-22, 21-15, 21-15 win over Liao Jui-Chi of Chinese Taipei in the girls’ U17 singles quarter-final match.

In the girls’ U17 doubles match, Tanvi and Reshika Uthayasooriyan faced a 10-20, 20-22 defeat against the Chinese pair of Fu Xin Yi and Qin Shi Yang.

Jagsher and Bornil will face off in the boys’ U15 singles semi-finals on Saturday, while Tanvi will face second seed Anyapat Phichitpreechasak of Thailand in girls’ U17 singles semi-final tie.

- PTI

MOTORSPORTS

Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2023: Sarthak Chavan, Abdul Basim grab pole positions in Round 4

Two teenagers, Sarthak Chavan from Pune and Chennai collegian Abdul Basim put in sizzling laps to qualify for pole position in their respective categories as the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2023 got underway at the Madras International Circuit, here on Friday.

The 16-year-old Sarthak, who joined Petronas TVS Racing team this season, took pole position in the premier Pro-stock 301-400cc Open category with a best lap of one minute, 50.854 seconds.

Qualifying for P2 was championship leader, Chennai’s Rajiv Sethu (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) who clocked a best of 01:51.076 despite nursing a healing left shoulder that was dislocated following a crash in the previous round. Completing the front row was Hyderabad’s Rahil Pillarisetty (KTM Gusto Racing) with a hot lap of 01:51.823.

Later, 17-year-old Abdul Basim of Gulf Rockers Racing team, the younger brother of KY Ahamed who last month participated in the Moto3 class of Indian MotoGP, put in a lap of 02:07.685 for his maiden pole position in the Novice (Stock 165cc) category, ahead of Vadodara’s Adit Shah (Axor Sparks Racing, 02:08.260) and Bengaluru’s Manvith Reddy K (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate, 02:08.253).

In the other premier category, the Pro-Stock 165cc Open, KY Ahamed (01:56.224) of Petronas TVS Racing was the quickest in the practice session, followed by team-mates Sarthak Chavan (01:57.069) and Chiranth Vishwanath (01:57.540).

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup: Championship leader in the NSF 250R category Chennai’s Kavin Quintal (01:52.262), who is gunning for his sixth win of the season, topped the timesheets in the official practice session. Another Chennai youngster Rakshith Dave was the second quickest in 01:53.367.

Petronas TVS One-Make Championship: Bengaluru teenager Chiranth Vishwanath, who has four wins from seven starts, expectedly qualified for pole position in the Open (RR 310) category, clocking a best lap of 01:54.621, followed by Coimbatore’s Senthilkumar C (01:54.848) and G Balaji (01:56.100) from Chennai.

Mumbai’s Sarah Khan, with a hot lap of 02:13.553, qualified for the pole position in the Girls (Apache RTR 200) category, ahead of Chennai’s Nadine Faith Balaji (02:14.714) and Pune’s Saimah Ajaz Baig (02:16.499).

The results (Qualifying – Top 3 best laps):

National Championship – Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open: 1. Sathak Chavan (Pune, Petronas TVS Racing) (1min, 50.854sec); 2. Rajiv Sethu (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power 1 Ultimate) (01:51.076); 3. Rahil Pillarisetty (Hyderabad, KTM Gusto Racing) (01:51.823);

Novice (Stock 165cc): 1. Abdul Basim (Chennai, Gulf Rockers Racing) (02:07.685); 2. Aadit Shah (Vadodara, Axor Sparks Racing) (02:08.260); 3. Manvith Reddy K (Bengaluru, Team RACR Castrol Power 1 Ultimate) (02:08.253).

Support Race – 301-400cc Novice: 1. Aldrin Babu (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power Ultimate1) (02:04.717); 2. Rajeswaran K (Chennai, KTM Gusto Racing India) (02:07.101); 3. Dhanush Ram K (Bengaluru, Pvt) (02:07.332).

Petronas TVS One-Make Championship: Open (301-400cc, RR 310): 1. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru) (01:54.621); 2. Senthilkumar C (Coimbatore) (01:54.848); 3. G Balji (Chennai) (01:56.100).

Girls (Apache RTR 200): 1. Sarah Khan (Mumbai) (02:13.553); 2. Nadine Faith Balaji (Chennai) (02:14.714); 3. Saimah Ajaz Baig (Pune) (02:16.499).

-Team Sportstar

TENNIS

AITA Championship series juniors: Vanshika Yadav beat Mannt Awasthi

Vanshika Yadav fought her way past second seed Mannat Awasthi 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4 for the under-16 girls title in the AITA Championship series junior tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex on Friday.

Results (final):

Under-16 boys: Armaan Walia bt Parmarth Kaushik 6-4, 6-0.

Under-12 boys: Yug Raj Mahi bt Devansh Kamboj 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

Under-16 girls: Vanshika Yadav bt Mannat Awasthi 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4.

Under-12 girls: Maahira Bhatia bt Meera Chaudhary 6-1, 6-2.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

Sahira beats her doubles partner Sejal in AITA women’s tournament 

Sahira Singh beat her doubles partner Sejal Bhutada 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the Rs.100,000 AITA women’s tennis tournament at the Singha Sports Academy on Friday.

Sejal Bhutada and Sahira Singh in the AITA women’s tennis tournament in Jalandhar on Friday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Top seed Sahira dropped just one game in winning the earlier three matches, after a bye in the first round. Sahira and Sejal beat Ritu Rai and Snigdha Patibanda 6-1, 6-1 for the doubles title.

The results:

Singles (final): Sahira Singh bt Sejall Bhutada 6-3, 6-2; Semifinals: Sahira bt Snigdha Patibandla 6-0, 6-0; Sejal bt Manshi Singh 7-6(3), 6-3; Quarterfinals:Sahira bt Jigyasa Narsinghani 6-0, 6-1; Snigdha bt Muskan Prajapat 7-6(0), 6-2; Manshi bt Shagun Kumari 6-4, 6-3; Sejal bt Khushali Modi 6-0, 6-1.

Doubles (final): Sahira Singh & Sejal Bhutada bt Ritu Rai & Snigdha Patibandla 6-1, 6-1.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

Rithvik Bollipalli and Arjun Kadhe enter Challenger final

Rithvik Bollipalli and Arjun Kadhe bounced back from the brink of defeat to beat Roman Jebavy and Zdenek Kolar 2-6, 7-6(9), [10-7] in the doubles semifinals of the €145,000 Challenger tennis tournament in Olbia, Italy, on Friday.

Rithvik and Arjun trailed 3-5 in the second set and saved three match-points eventually to make the final. In the €750,950 ATP event in Stockholm, Sweden, Yuki Bhambri cruised into the doubles semifinals with Julian Cash of Britain.

The results:

€750,950 ATP, Stockholm, Sweden: Doubles (quarterfinals): Yuki Bhambri & Julian Cash (GBR) bt Harri Heliovaara & Patrik Niklas-Salminen (Fin) 6-1, 6-3.

€145,000 Challenger, Olbia, Italy: Doubles (semifinals): Rithvik Bollipalli & Arjun Kadhe bt Roman Jebavy & Zdenek Kolar (Cze) 2-6, 7-6(9), [10-7]..

€36,000 Challenger, Hamburg, Germany: Doubles (quarterfinals): Denis Istomin (Uzb) & Evgeny Karlovskiy bt Hady Habib (Lib) & Parikshit Somani 6-4, 7-6(6).

$15,000 ITF women, Hua Hin, Thailand: Singles (quarterfinals): Shrivalli Bhamidipaty bt Hiroko Kuwata (Jpn) 6-1, 6-3.

$15,000 ITF women, Monastir, Tunisia: Singles (quarterfinals): Zeel Desai bt Anja Wildgruber (Ger) 6-4, 6-1. Doubles (semifinals): Zeel Desai & Anastasia Sukhotiina bt Melania Delai & Camilla Gennaro (Ita) 6-4, 7-6(6).

-Kamesh Srinivasan

CRICKET

In a thrilling electoral battle, A. Jagan Mohan Rao emerged winner over his nearest rival Amarnath by just one vote for the post of President in the Hyderabad Cricket Association elections here on Friday.

Jagan Mohan, who also heads the national federation of handball, polled 63 votes while Amarnath 62.

Dr. Anil Kumar (34) and senior BRS politician P.L. Srinivas (10) finished third and fourth respectively.

For the Secretary’s post, Devraj, who was also former treasurer of HCA, was elected polling 72 votes while his nearest rival was Harinarayana Rao (49) of Jagan Mohan Rao’s panel.

A. Jagan Mohan Rao who was elected President of Hyderabad Cricket Association on Friday, showing the certificate of election. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement 

Devraj was backed by former Test cricketers N. Shivlal Yadav and Arshad Ayub. This panel also got the Councillor post when it’s candidate Sunil Kumar Agarwal emerged winner.

One of the senior most members of HCA, Daljeet Singh, was elected Vice-president while T. Basava Raju was elected joint secretary edging out season veteran Chitti Sridhar and former international Noel David.

C.J. Srinivas Rao the treasurer.

List of elected office-bearers:

President: A Jagan Mohan Rao (United Members of HCA); Vice-President: Daljith Singh (Good Governance); Secretary – R Devaraj (Cricket First); Joint Secretary – T Basava Raju (Panel for Good Governance); Treasurer: CJ SrinivasRao (United Members of HCA); Counsilor: Sunil Kumar Agarwal (Cricket First).

Voter polled by each candidate:

President: A Jagan Mohan Rao (63), Amarnath (62), Anil Kumar (34), PL Srinivas (10)

Vice-President: Daljeet Singh (63 – Good Governance); T Srinivas (46), Sridhar (41); Babu Rao (18)

Joint Secretary: T Basava Raju 60 (Good Governance), Chitti Sreedhar (Cricket First – 59); Noel David (40 – United Members of HCA); Satish (8);

Treasurer: CJ Srinivas Rao (66 - United Members of HCA), Sanjeev Reddy (33), Mahendra (24), Gerard Carr (9);

Counsilor: Sunil Kumar Agarwal (59 - Cricket First panel); Ansar Ahmed (50); Vinod Ingle (47); DJ Walter (13).

- V V Subrahmanyam

BCCI senior women’s T20: UP beats TN by six wickets

 Muskan Malik top-scored with an unbeaten 41 as Uttar Pradesh defeated Tamil Nadu by six wickets in the second-round Group-B match of the BCCI senior women’s T20 cricket tournament at the Infipro Sports Club ground in Vadodara.

The scores (second round):

Group-B: Tamil Nadu 110/5 in 20 overs lost to Uttar Pradesh 111/4 in 19.2 overs (Muskan Malik 41 n.o.).

-Prasanna Venkatesan

FOOTBALL

Subroto Cup football quarterfinals roundup

Bikramjit’s hat-trick helped TG English Medium School, Bishnupur blank Sanjeevan Vidhyaniketan, Kolhapur 4-0 in the quarterfinal of the 62nd Subroto Cup football tournament while a first-half goal from Lanchenba proved to be the difference as Govt. Model Senior Secondary School, Chandigarh edged past MIC English Medium HS, Malappuram in a tightly fought contest to advance to the semifinals.

Also moving into the last four was Govt. Haulawang HS, Lunglei, Mizoram who beat Mother International School, Ranchi 2-0 to advance to the semifinals, and Amenity Public School, Rudrapur, who outplayed Bampather Bengenabari HSS, Aideobari, Assam 3-0 in the last quarterfinal match.

Chandigarh will now face Bishnupur for a spot in the final while Mizoram will face off against Rudrapur in the other semifinal at the Ambedkar Stadium on Saturday.

Results (quarterfinals):

Bishnupur (Bikramjit 3, Khambaton 2) bt Kolhapur 4-0; Chandigarh 1 (Lanchenba) bt Malappuram 0; Lunglei 2 (Adreas, Mesak) bt Ranchi 2-0; Rudrapur 3 (Boinao 2, Arjun) bt Aideobari 0.

-Uthra Ganesan

MORE SPORTS

Indian teams win in BRICS Games

India tasted success as the men’s team beat China and women’s team beat South Africa with identical margin of 2-1 in the tennis league matches of the BRICS Games in Durban.

The Indian men’s match was interestingly poised at one set all in the decisive doubles against China. The Chinese took a toilet break at that stage, against the rules, before the super tie-break, and the umpire had to follow the rules and default the team.

The Indian women’s team beat host South Africa by winning the two singles matches through Sandeepti Singh Rao and Vaishnavi Adkar.

The results (league):

Men: India bt China 2-1 (Dhruv Hirpara bt Hanwen Li 6-2, 7-6(4); Ajay Kundu lost to Quilin Wang 3-6, 3-6; Ritabrata Sarkar & Dhruv bt Shaoyun Liu & Jianhao Sheng 5-7, 6-3, default).

Women: India bt South Africa 2-1 (Sandeepti Singh Rao bt Kaitlyn Ramduth 6-2, 6-1; Vaishnavi Adkar bt Celina Joseph 5-7, 6-3, 6-2; Sandeepti & Kashish Bhatia lost to Carle Botha & Hanmare McAslin 4-6, 4-6).

-Kamesh Srinivasan

HOCKEY

Nehru sub-junior tournament: Major Dhyan Chand Sports College sets up semifinal against SD Senior Secondary School

Major Dhyan Chand Sports College, Saifai, lost 5-6 after leading 5-0 against SD Senior Secondary School, Narwana, but qualified for the semifinals of the Steelbird 40th Nehru sub-junior hockey tournament at the Shivaji Stadium on Friday.

In the semifinals, the Saifai team will play Madhya Pradesh Academy, Bhopal. The other semifinal will be between Round Glass Academy, Punjab, and Guru Gobind Singh Sports College, Lucknow.

The results (league):

Madhya Pradesh Academy, Bhopal, 7 (Tavheed Ahmed 2, Sanskar Chhatri, Ashwani Patel, Aashiraadic Khan, Ram Babu Yadav, Sagar Batham) bt Ghumanhera Risers Academy, Delhi, 2 (Naman Sharma 2). Guru Gobind Singh Sports College, Lucknow, 2 (Rayyan Khan, Apurav Chauhan) drew with Pritam Siwach Academy, Sonipat, 2 (Ritesh Kumar, Aditya Kumar).

SD SSS, Narwana, Jind, 6 (Sachin 2, Ajay, Monu, Parvesh Kumar, Aman) bt Major Dhyan Chand Sports College, Saifai, 5 (Nitish Yadav 2, Pradeep Yadav 2, Sunil Pal). Round Glass Academy, Punjab, 3 (Varinder Singh,, Sajan Rajbhar, Arshdeep Singh) bt Young Pioneer English School, Imphal.

-Kamesh Srinivasan