BADMINTON
India continues winning streak at Badminton World Junior Championships
India continued its winning streak at the Badminton World Junior Championships with an impressive 5-0 win over Brazil in Spokane, USA on Wednesday.
In the opening match, the mixed doubles pair of Samarveer and Radhika Sharma triumphed over Joaquim Mendonça and Maria Clara Lopes Lima by a narrow 21-14, 21-17 margin.
In the boys’ singles match, Lokesh Reddy Kalagotla faced a formidable opponent in Renan Melo, who lost the first game 17-21 but fought back resiliently in the second game. Lokesh managed to get the upper hand and ultimately won the second game by 24-22 to wrap up the match. Meanwhile, in the girls’ singles section, Devika Sihag cruised to victory by defeating Maria Eduarda Oliveira by 21-9, 21-6 in just 18 minutes.
In the boys’ doubles category, Divyam Arora and Mayank Rana emerged victorious against Joaquim Mendonça and João Mendonça Taveira, with a score of 21-19, 21-10. The girls’ doubles pair of Vennala Kalagotla and Shriyanshi Valishetty displayed their coordination enroute securing an impressive 21-13, 21-11 win over Maria Clara Lopes Lima and Maria Eduarda Oliveira.
- Team Sportstar
GOLF
Akshay Sharma of Chandigarh recorded a career-best round of nine-under 61 to take the clubhouse lead on the rain-hit Telangana Golconda Masters golf championship at Hyderabad Golf Association golf course here on Thursday.
Mysuru’s Yashas Chandra and Ravi Kumar from Chandimandir, Haryana, were tied second in the clubhouse courtesy their scores of seven-under 63 on the opening day of the Rs. 1 crore event.
Out of a total field of 126, 12 players could not complete the first round on Wednesday as play was suspended at 5:30 pm local time due to a heavy downpour. The 12 players will resume their opening rounds at 7 am on Thursday.
Akshay, the runner-up in Vizag last week, had a whirlwind start to his day with six birdies on the front-nine including five on the trot from the fifth to the ninth. The two-time winner on the PGTI produced two exceptional chip shots, converted everything within 10 feet and also sank a 25-footer on his outward nine.
Akshay Sharma in action in Round 1. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Akshay said, “I’m delighted to have shot the lowest score of my career and improving upon my previous best of eight-under. I’ve been feeling the rhythm in my game since the start of the second half of the season in Chennai last month. I was in with a good chance last week in Vizag but one bad hole on the final day put paid to my chances.
“My ball-striking is getting better with each passing week and today my putter was also hot. The five consecutive birdies on the front-nine were a big boost. Importantly, I’ve been putting myself in contention regularly.”
Yashas Chandra and Ravi Kumar carded eight birdies and a bogey each during their rounds of 63. Gaurav Pratap Singh, Daksh Shokeen and Kapil Kumar tied for fourth place at 64.
Hyderabad’s Mohd Azhar is one of four players bunched in tied seventh at 65. He is the highest-placed among the players from the host city.
- Team Sportstar
TENNIS
Anjali in pre-quarterfinals
Anjali Rathi beat Elena Jamshidi of Denmark 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the $15,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Monastir, Tunisia, on Wednesday.
The results:
- Kamesh Srinivasan
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