TENNIS
AITA women’s tennis tournament: Talwar beats Pragati to reach quarters
Rachita Talwar overcame an indifferent start to beat qualifier Pragati Solankar 0-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the pre-quarterfinals of the Rs.100,000 AITA women’s tennis tournament at the Joygaon Academy on Tuesday.
The results
Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Sahira Singh bt Sreenidhi Amireddy 6-2, 6-4; Shefali Arora bt Shruti Gupta 6-4, 6-0; Lakshmi Prabha bt Sowkhya Gaddam 6-0, 6-0; Vanshika Choudhary bt Ishwari Matere 6-1, 6-4; Rachita Talwar bt Pragati Solankar 0-6, 6-4, 6-2; Kavya Khirwar bt Nemha Kispotta 6-3, 6-1; Sejal Bhutada bt Mirudhula Palanivel 7-6(3), 6-4; Kashish Bhatia bt Diya Malik 6-3, 6-1.
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Likhitha Landa & Eva Sah bt Isha Tomar & Sayaad Ahmad 6-2, 6-4; Tanushri Pandey & Kavya Kkhirwar bt Diiya Tyagi & Snigdha Patibandla 6-2, 6-1; Divya Bhardwaj & Sahira Singh bt Sanika Kambli & Pragati Solankar 6-2, 6-4; Omna Yadav & Sreenidhi Amireddy bt Sylvie Pal & Mubashira Shaik 7-5, 7-5; Prathiba Narayan & Arthi Muniyan bt Mushrath Shaik & Siri Patil 6-2, 4-6, [10-6]; Gauri Mangaonkar & Diya Malik bt Breshna Khan & V Vitula 6-4, 6-2.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
100,000 ITS women’s tennis: Raina beats Lansere in first round
Ankita Raina beat Sofya Lansere 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the $100,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday.
In the €118,000 Challenger in Tulln, Austria, Sumit Nagal breezed past Danniel Masur for the loss of three games in the first round.
The results
$130,000 Challenger, Shanghai, China Singles (first round): Dane Sweeney (Aus) bt Mukund Sasikumar 6-3, 6-4.
€118,000 Challenger, Tulln, Austria Singles (first round): Sumit Nagal bt Daniel Masur (Ger) 6-1, 6-2.
€73,000 Challenger, Cassis, France Singles (first round): Mattia Bellucci (Ita) bt Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-2, 6-4.
$25,000 ITF men, Monastir, Tunisia Singles (first round): Maxim Zhukov bt Neeraj Yashpaul 6-1, 6-2.
$25,000 ITF men, Kigali, Rwanda Singles (first round): Vadym Ursu (Ukr) bt Parth Aggarwal 7-5, 6-2.
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Michael Sobhy (Egy) & Rishi Reddy bt Dharmil Shah & Tushar Ssharma 6-2, 6-4; Rishab Agarwal & Nicholas Bybel (USA) bt SD Prajwal Dev & Ishaque Eqbal 3-6, 6-1, [10-5; Tushar Madan & Atharva Sharma bt Lohithaksha Bathrinath & Mattias Southcombe (GBR) 6-2, 7-6(4); Andriy Poritskyy & Vadym Ursu (Ukr) bt Parth Aggarwal & Darrshan Suresh (Mas) 6-1, 6-4; Abraham Asaba (Gha) & Guy Iradukunda (Bdi) bt Kabir Hans & Dylan Salton (RSA) 6-4, 6-4; Gueflo Balldowinetti (Ita) & Raghav Jaisinghani bt Kevin Cheruiyot (Ken) & Niyigena Etienne (Rwa) 7-5, 6-2; Siddhant Banthia & Sai Karteek Reddy bt Junior Hakizumwami (Rwa) & Takura Mhwandagara (Zim) 6-2, 6-2.
$15,000 ITF men, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand Singles (first round): Siddharth Vishwakarma bt Jimmy Yang (Ger) 6-1, 6-3; Wang Chukang (Chn) bt Nitin Kumar Sinha 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Sidharth Rawat & Nitin Kumar Sinha bt Geni Innoue & Taiyo Yamanaka (Jpn) 6-3, 6-2.
$15,000 ITF men, Monastir, Tunisia Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Samir Banerjee (USA) & Chirag Duhan bt Cheraag Bajwa & Luca Bluett (GBR) 6-1, 6-2.
$100,000 ITF women, Tokyo, Japan Singles (first round): Ankita Raina bt Sofya Lansere 6-3, 6-2.
$25,000 ITF women, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand Singles (first round): Mananchaya Sawangkaew (Tha) bt Vaidehi Chaudhari 6-4, 6-4; Sahaja Yamalapalli bt Polina Latcenko 6-2, 6-4.
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Adithya Karunaratne (Hkg) & Sahaja Yamalapalli bt Yatawee Chimcham & Pawinee Ruamrak (Tha) 6-3, 6-3; Shrivalli Bhamidipaty & Vaidehi Chaudhari bt Patcharin Cheapchandej & Thasaporn Naklo (Tha) 7-5, 7-6(1); Gao Xinyu & Wang Meiling (Chn) bt Zeel Dessai & Wang Jiaqi (Chn) 3-6, 7-5, [10-6].
$15,000 ITF women, Shenzhen, China Singles (first round): Ren Ke (Chn) bt Soha Sadiq 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-2.
$15,000 ITF women, Monastir, Tunisia Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Luisa Hrda & Yasmine Wagner (Ger) bt Gala Arangio (Ita) & Aaddi Gupta 7-5, 6-1.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
MOTORSPORT
Gaurav Gill to participate in WRC 2023
Indian rally ace Gaurav Gill is all set to take part in World Rally Championship (WRC) 2023 season, starting with the Acropolis Rally of Greece, one of the toughest in the world and scheduled from September 7-10.
Widely hailed as the ‘Rally of Gods’, the event will cover a total distance of 1,235 km, including 15 special stages stretching across 307km over four days. This year as well, the spectators will witness 72 teams fighting it out for their spot in the gruelling event.
The only Arjuna awardee in the motorsport category, Gill, a JK Tyre prodigy, will compete in the 30-car WRC 2 category in a specially-prepped Škoda Fabia R5 alongside his French co-driver, Florian Barral.
Supported by an excellent and potent pit crew team of Italian team Delta Rally, Gill will try to set a new benchmark for himself. The rally will also be featuring previous Acropolis winner and current WRC 2 championship leader Andreas Mikkelsen along with title rivals Yohan Rossel and Sami Pajari.
The Skoda Fabia R5 Rally 2 spec car, with a 5-speed, sequential, manual gearbox, enables a driver to shift gears in milliseconds. The R5 is geared to touch a top speed of 200 km/h.
Seven-time national champion and three-time APRC champion, Gill will be in his element around the hot, dusty, and rock-strewn stages of the Rally Acropolis. He had put on a dazzling display of speed to finish sixth in a 35-car WRC 2 field last year.
“I’m really looking forward to driving in the Rally Acropolis. The sweltering heat, the dust, the rocky mountain passes and loose gravel all combine to make this one of the most punishing rallies on the calendar,” Gill said.
“This event is not for the faint-hearted but these conditions play to my strengths. I expect to be in my element this weekend and I’m going to give it everything to bring home a strong result.”
PTI
