August 23, Indian sports wrap

Here are all the major developments in Indian sports on August 23, 2022.

Karandeep Kochhar leads on the opening day of the Chennai Open Golf Championship. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

GOLF

Karandeep Kochhar shoots 65 to grab lead at Chennai Open Golf Championship

Chandigarh’s Karandeep Kochhar made light of the short course, “tricky” greens and narrow fairways to shoot a seven-under 65 and lead the field on the opening day of the Impiger Technologies-Chennai Open golf tournament at the Cosmo-TNGF course here on Tuesday.

N. Thangaraja of Sri Lanka was placed second at six-under 66 while last week’s winner in Coimbatore Khalin Joshi of Bengaluru was placed third at 67. Arjun Sharma, who finished second in Coimbatore, struck a hole-in-one on the sixth during his round of 69 that saw him finish tied ninth.

It was the last-minute decision of Karandeep to play here. Due to visa-related issues, he couldn’t take part in the Asian tour event in South Korea.

The 23-year-old struck four straight birdies from the second nine thanks to some solid hitting. Initially, Karandeep, the four-time PGTI champion struggled with his putting, but a 15-feet birdie on the ninth hole strengthened his resolve. He added three more birdies and a bogey on the back-nine including two conversions from a distance of around 20 feet.

“It is a great course and is in great condition. My putting was not great to start with but got better. I had to withdraw my entry due to visa-related issues. PGTI was kind enough to accommodate me,” Kochhar told  Sportstar.

Thangaraja said the greens were a bit difficult, and the key is to find the “right lines.”.

THE RESULTS

1. Karandeep Kochhar 7 under 65; 2. N. Thangaraja (SL) 6 under 66; 3. Khalin Joshi 5 under 67; 4. Mohd. Azhar; Sukra Bahadur Rai; Kartik Sharma, Manu Gandas, Ranjit Singh (all 4 under 68).

-K. Keerthivasan

SHOOTING

Sarabjot Singh executed a thrilling finish after a dominant performance in topping men’s air pistol in the sixth National shooting selection trials at the Dr Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Tuesday.

The 20-year-old Sarabjot beat former national champion Dharmendra Singh Gaharwar 17-15 after having led 7-1 in the early stage of the gold match. Dharmendra fought back brilliantly to take an 11-9 lead and was on par at 13 and 15 before Sarabjot beat him 10.4 to 10.3 on the last shot.

Sarabjot had topped qualification with 586 and made it to the gold match with 255.6, nearly four points better than his rival Dharmendra.

With scores being reset to zero, as per the new format in the fresh Olympic cycle, it was a lively climax for the sparse gathering.

Amanrpreet Singh who had shot the second best score of 585 in qualification finished fifth.

World Cup gold medallists Abhishek Verma (578) and Jitu Rai (575) were some of the leading shooters who failed to make it to the second stage. Former world No.1 and Asian Games gold medallist Saurabh Chaudhary skipped the event after having shot the fifth trial.

In the junior section, Naved Chaudhary beat Abhinav Deshwal 16-12 to top the event. Naved had topped the second stage with 253.8, more than three points than that of Naved, who pipped Udhayveer Sidhu by 0.1 point to be eligible for the gold contest. Abhinav led 8-0 before Naved found his grip on the final for a memorable finish.

In the youth section, Samrat Rana came good, beating Abhinav Choudhary 16-14.

THE RESULTS

10m Air Pistol

Men: 1. Sarabjot Singh 17 (255.6) 586; 2. Dharmendra Singh Gaharwar 15 (251.8) 582; 3. Arjun Singh Cheema 248.5 (583); 4. Pradhyumn Singh 248.0 (582).

Juniors: 1. Naved Chaudhary 16 (250.3) 583; 2. Abhinav Deshwal 12 (253.8) 583; 3. Udhayveer Sidhu 250.2 (580); 4. Pradhyumn Singh 25.1 (582).

Youth: 1. Samrat Rana 16 (250.8) 581; 2. Abhinav Choudhary 14 (252.0) 579; 3. Sandeep Bishnoi 249.4 (580); 4. Amit Sharma 247.4 (579).

-Kamesh Srinivasan

TENNIS

ITF J4 event: Third seed Lakshmi Prabha knocked out in first round

Harshini N Nagaraj knocked out third seed Lakshmi Prabha in the first round of the ITF J4 event at the SDAT Stadium in Egmore, Chennai on Tuesday.

Harshini beat Lakshmi Prabha 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-4 to set up a second-round clash with Sreenidhi Reddy Amireddy.

In boys’ singles, top seed Aman Dahiya began his campaign with a comfortable 6-2, 6-0 win over Azmeer Shaikh.

Results

Boys’ Singles 1st Round

Kandhavel Mahalingam Bt Siddharth Gowthaman 6-3, 6-2;  [1] Aman Dhaiya Bt Azmeer Shaikh 6-2, 6-0, Arjun Premkumar Bt Aryan Jit Singh 7-6(3), 7-6(5); Tejas Ahuja Bt Jason David 3-6, 6-3, 6-3; Aryan Arora Bt Viswasenan Navaneethan 6-4, 7-6(7); [7] Pranav Karthik Bt Devaharshith Neelam (USA) 7-5, 6-3; [2] Denim Yadav Bt Arya Bhattacharya 6-2, 6-1; [5] Kriish Tyagi Bt Prajwal Tewari 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-3

Girls’ Singles 1st Round

[1] Suhitha Maruti Bt Sai Janvi 6-1, 6-4; Laxmisiri Dand 6-3, 6-2; [5] Ruma Gaikaiwari Bt Ananya SR 6-1, 6-4; Sreenidhi Reddy Amireddy Bt Sreenidhi Balaji 1-6, 6-3, 6-3; Sohini Sanjay Mohanty Bt Presha Shanthamoorthi 4-6, 6-3, 6-1; Harshini N Nagaraj Bt [3] Lakshmi Prabha 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-4; Asmi Adkar Bt Avani Chitale 6-2, 4-6, 6-2; [2] Madhurima Sawant Bt Tamanna Takoria 6-3, 6-0

Boys’ Doubles 1st Round

[1] Aman Dahiya/Daksh Prasad Bt Arya Ganapathy/Kandhavel Mahalingam 6-3, 6-4; Debasis Sahoo/Gagan Rakesh Vimal Bt Dev Kanbargimath (ROU)/Vansh Nandal 6-2, 6-1; [3] Bushan Haobam/Aryan Jit Singh Bt Pranav Korade/Azmeer Shaikh 6-3, 7-5; Rethin Pranav/Agriya Yadav Bt Tejas Ahuja/Venkat Rishi Batlanki (USA) 6-0, 6-1; Pranav Karthik/Pavan Uppu (USA) Bt Adhirit Awal/Rishivandhan Sadeeshkumar 6-1, 6-2; [2] Kriish Tyagi/Denim Yadav Bt Jason David/Viswasenan Navaneethan 6-2, 6-3; [4] Dhananjay Athreya/Deep Munim Bt Devaharshith Neelam (USA)/Arjun Premkumar 6-3, 7-5; Arya Bhattacharya/Chandan Shivaraj Bt Skandha Prasanna Rao/Prajwal Tewari 3-6, 7-6(4), [10-6]

Girls’ Doubles 1st Round

[1] Suhitha Maruri/Lakshmi Prabha Bt Sreenidhi Reddy Amireddy/Laxmisiri Dandu 6-1, 6-1; [2] Ruma Gaikaiwari/Sonal Patil Bt Ishi Maheshwari/Priyanka Rana (USA) 6-1, 6-1; Harshini N Nagaraj/Presha Shanthamoorthi Bt [4] Charmi Gopinath/Pushti Laddha 6-3, 6-4; Rishitha Reddy Basireddy/ Sohini Mohanty Bt Amodini Naik/Saumrita Verma 6-4, 6-4; Durganshi Kumar/Riya Sachdeva Bt Sreemanya Reddy/Haritha Shree 6-4, 6-3; Ananya SR/Harnoor Sidhu Bt Gauri Mangaonkar/Tamanna Takoria 4-6, 7-6(4), [10-4]; Asmi Adkar/Saina Deshpande (USA) Bt Avani Chitale/Sai Janvi 6-3, 6-0

Rutuja in second round

Rutuja Bhosale beat Naiktha Bains 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Roehampton, Britain, on Tuesday.

THE RESULTS

$25,000 ITF women, Roehampton, BritainSingles (first round): Rutuja Bhosale bt Naiktha Bains (GBR) 6-4, 6-4. $15,000 ITF women, Cairo, EgyptDoubles (pre-quarterfinals): Mayuka Aikawa (Jpn) & Ani Vangelova (Bul) bt Saoirse Breen (Fij) & Farhat Aleen Qamar 6-4, 6-3. $15,000 ITF women, Monastir, TunisiaSingles (first round): Melis Ayda Uyar (Tur) bt Jennifer Luikham 6-4, 6-7(1), 6-1; Tanisha Kashyap bt Mei Hasegawa (Jpn) 6-7(7), 4-3 (retired). Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Emma Tothova (Svk) & Smriti Bhasin bt LInda Ajimi & Chahd Berriri (Tun) 6-2, 6-1. $15,000 ITF men, Monastir, TunisiaSingles (first round): Karan Singh bt Mohamed Ali Abibsi (Alg) 6-4, 6-1. Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Tang Sheng & Zheng Baoluo (Chn) bt Mikalai Haliak & Rishab Agarwal 6-3, 6-2; Eliakim Coulibaly (CIV) & Isaac Nortey (Gha) bt Maximus Jones (Tha) & Tushar Sharma 6-3, 6-1; Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli & Niki Poonacha bt Arseniy Khokhlov & Nikolay Vylegzhanin 6-1, 6-1. $25,000 ITF men, Changwon, KoreaDoubles (pre-quarterfinals): Jeong Yeongseok & Lee Jea Moon (Kor) bt Palaphoom Kovapitukted (Tha) & Adil Kalyanpur 6-2, 6-1.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

CHESS

Abu Dhabi Masters: Arjun stops Raunak, back in joint lead

Arjun Erigaisi was back in joint lead after beating compatriot Raunak Sadhwani in the sixth round of the Abu Dhabi Masters, in Abu Dhabi, on Tuesday.

After a day’s rest when Raunak won the blitz event, Arjun spotted a chink in his rival’s armoury following the 31st move and exploited it to win in 41 moves. Over the last 10 moves, Arjun’s calculated kingside offensive proved too hot to handle for Raunak.

The victory raised Arjun’s tally to five points and kept him alongside overnight leader USA’s Ray Robson who drew with Dutchman Jorden van Foreest.

In an 89-move drawn encounter, Harsha Bharathakoti (4) let third seeded Russian Alexandr Predke off the hook after gaining a completely winning position.

Leading results (Indians unless stated)

Sixth round

Jorden van Foreest (Ned, 4.5) drew with Ray Robson (USA, 5); Raunak Sadhwani (4) lost to Arjun Erigaisi (5); Aleksandar Indjic (Cro, 4.5) drew with Nihal Sarin (4.5); Eggeny Tomashevsky (4.5) bt B. Adhiban (3.5); Alexandr Predke (4) drew with Harsha Bharathakoti (4); Sandro Mareco (Arg, 4) drew with Arjun Kalyan (4); Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (Ger, 4) drew with P. Shyamnikhil (4); Luke Mendonca (4) drew with Aryan Chopra (4); S. P. Sethuraman (4.5) bt Mohammad Nubaishah Shaikh (3.5); P. Iniyan (3.5) lost to Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (Arm, 4.5); Sandipan Chanda (3.5) lost to M. Karthikeyan (4.5); Ziaur Rahman (Ban, 4) bt Abhijeet Gupta (3); Kushagra Mohan (3.5) drew with Manuel Petrosyan (Arm, 3.5).

- Rakesh Rao

Ultimate Kho Kho

Chennai Quick Guns clinch hat-trick of wins; Telugu Yoddhas claim top spot

In-form Chennai Quick Guns completed impressive hat-trick of wins in the inaugural edition of Ultimate Kho Kho by clinching a sensational 2-point win against Gujarat Giants while Telugu Yoddhas secured top position on the points table by thrashing Mumbai Khiladis by 12 points at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge, Pune, Maharashtra on Tuesday.

Extending his brilliant performance in the league, Ramji Kashyap scored massive 20 points with six dismissals as Chennai Quick Guns finished the thrilling match with a 53-51 score. Madan also contributed with 11 points for the winning side.

While in Telugu Yoddha’s 12-point win skipper Prajwal KH and Sachin Bhargo put up solid performances. Leading from the front, Prajwal defended for three minutes and one second while Bhargo recorded all-round show with 10 points in attack and three minutes and 47 seconds in the defence to hand Mumbai Khiladis their third successive defeat with a 55-43 score.

With this win, Telugu Yoddhas also went past Gujarat Giants to take top position on the points table with 12 points.

Coming into the match after two back-to-back wins, Chennai Quick Guns made a confident start. But despite a tough challenge from the opposition, Gujarat Giants managed to secure a narrow two-point lead with 27-25 score at the end of first innings.

Chennai Quick Guns, however, gained the momentum in the second part of the game when they scored 22 points in the third turn that kept them ahead in the game with 47-31 score.

They further held their nerves in the crucial final turn and didn’t allow strong Gujarat Giants score enough points before securing a nailbiting victory in the end.

Aniket Pote scored 10 points for Gujarat Giants.

Earlier in the first match of the day, Telugu Yoddhas started off aggressively to finish the first innings at 28-20.

Helping Mumbai Khiladis to fightback, in-form Durvesh Salunke gave his best as he not only secured four bonus points with a defence of three minutes and 11 seconds but also restricted Telugu Yoddhas to just 23 points.

However, with enough lead in their favour at 51-24, Prajwal ensured his side complete the win by spending more than three minutes on the field.

Season’s best defender Salunke, proved his mettle once again for Mumbai Khiladis with a sensational defence time of five minutes and 11 seconds, including two minutes of first innings. Salunke also scored six points in attack while Avik Singh was the other top performer for Mumbai Khiladis with his eight points.