GOLF
Lahiri finishes second on LIV debut
Top Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri made a memorable debut on the LIV Golf Tour by finishing second after a three-way play-off in the Boston Invitational here.
Lahiri made a big dash in the closing stages and went into the play-off alongside eventual winner Dustin Johnson and Joaquin Niemann.
It was also one of the biggest paydays for Lahiri who won USD 1,182,400 and an additional USD 375,000 as his share from the second place in the team event.
Johnson earned USD 4 million for the individual win and an additional USD 750,000 for his quarter share of the USD 3 million team prize.
It was Johnson’s first win in the rebel series but his team 4Aces won the team competition for the third time in a row.
Johnson holed a 60-foot eagle putt on the first play-off hole to beat Lahiri and Niemann, two of the six players making their debuts this week. All three players finished regulation at 15 under.
The play-off was the first in either the individual or team competition in this inaugural season.
Johnson’s final-round 5-under 65 was one of three counting scores for 4 Aces GC to go along with Patrick Reed’s 66 and Talor Gooch’s 69.
Lahiri, playing for Crushers GC, shot a 6-under 64. Lahiri had a chance to reach 16 under with a brilliant second shot into the par-5 18th hole, but his eagle putt lipped out.
Two others fell just short in making the playoff. Lee Westwood shot the lowest round in any of the first four events with an 8-under 62 but bogeyed two of his last three holes and finished at 14 under. Smith shot 64 but also suffered a late bogey.
The total team prize money for each event is USD 5 million, with the winning team dividing USD 3 million, second place dividing USD 1.5 million and third place dividing USD 500,000.
-PTI
Shubhankar ends run of missed cuts to finish T-52 in Denmark
Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma shot a 2-under 69 in the final round to finish a modest T-52 at the Made in HimmerLand tournament on the European Tour.
The 26-year-old, who had rounds of 68,70,71 on the first three days, finished with a total of 6-under for the week but the silver lining was that it ended his run of five missed cuts.
Indian American Aman Gupta shot 71 and finished 2-under for the week in T-66 place.
England’s Oliver Wilson claimed an emotional second DP World Tour victory with a stunning display down the stretch to overcome Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson by a single stroke.
It was a dramatic finale and Wilson provided the fireworks, which began with a monster birdie putt at the 13th, before his chip at the 14th horse-shoed around the cup to just miss out on a second successive birdie.
The former Ryder Cup player continued to entertain the crowds with a superb birdie at the 16th - one of just six birdies all day at the short par three known as HimmerLand Hill. He then drained a 65-foot birdie putt at the 17th to edge into a one-shot lead over Ferguson, who moments before had signed for a 66 to post a 20 under total.
A testing tee shot awaited Wilson at the 18th but he smashed it down the middle, before a nerveless approach left him 20 feet for a two-putt par, a four under 67 and a 21-under winning total.
That earned the 41-year-old a first DP World Tour title since the 2014 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, moving him to 28th in the DP World Tour Rankings, and earning him a spot in next week’s BMW PGA Championship, the fourth Rolex Series event of the 2022 season.
-PTI
In-form Hitaashee ready for another battle in Hero WPGT
The talented Hitaashee Bakshi will look to carry her fine form into the 12th leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour which tees off at the Hyderabad Golf Association course here on Tuesday.
Hitaashee, who won her third title of the season edging past Order of Merit leader Pranavi Urs and local girl Sneha Singh in the same city last week, will tee off in the first 2-ball alongside Khushi Khanijau in the Rs 9 lakh event.
Many of the top Indian stars continue to play on the Ladies European Tour.
As many as six of India’s leading stars are in Europe, led by Diksha Dagar, Tvesa Malik, Vani Kapoor, Amandeep Drall, Ridhima Dilawari and Neha Tripathi.
That the local Hero WPGT has schooled many of the youngsters who are now playing at the much higher level is a sure sign of the growth of women’s professional golf in India.
With India due to host the Ladies European Tour’s Qualifying Stage 1 event soon, there will be many more girls who will try to jump to a higher platform, leaving the domestic space for youngsters to come in and fill.
This week too, Hitaashee, Pranavi and Sneha are likely to be engaged in the battle for honours.
Besides them, Hitaashee’s sister Jahanvi, who is hungry for a title, as also Seher Atwal, Gauri Karhade, Shweta Mansingh and Suchitra Ramesh, who played in a few events in Europe on the Ladies European Tour’s Access Series, are strong contenders.
-PTI
PGTI: Jammu now part of domestic golfing map
Domestic golf travels to a new destination this week with the second edition of Rs. 40-lakh J&K Open golf tournament set to tee-off at the picturesque Jammu Tawi golf course in Jammu, from September 7-10.
Some of the leading golfers like Olympian Udayan Mane, Rashid Khan, Khalin Joshi, Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, defending champion Honey Baisoya, in-form Manu Gandas, Karandeep Kochar along with Sri Lankan regulars Mithun Perera, N. Thangaraja and Bangladesh’s Jamal Hosain are part of a strong field.
The 6600-metre course is located along the National Highway 1A that connects Jammu and Srinagar. The course has five water-bodies and a water channel that stretches to 3200 meters. The new course is set to present a challenge like no other in domestic competitions.
The previous edition was held in Srinagar’s Royal Springs course, one of the most beautiful courses in the country.
-Rakesh Rao
TENNIS
Tanushree, Suraj through to second round in AITA tennis tournament
Tanushrei Pandey battled past sixth seed Sachi Sharma 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-3 in the first round of the Rs.100,000 AITA women’s tennis tournament at the Joygaon Academy on Monday.
In another match, qualifier Rchita Talwar breezed past fifth seed Lakshmi Gowda 6-4, 6-2.
The results (first round): Kashish Bhatia bt Jostna Jayprakash 6-2, 6-0; Bhumika Rohilla bt Rithika Rajasekhar 6-3, 6-3; Shireen Ahamed bt Kriti Tomar 4-3 (conceded); Kavya Khirwar bt Kanupriya Rajawat 6-3, 6-4; Sahira Singh bt Gurleen Singh 6-2, 3-1 (retired); Gnana Ashwitha Boyanapalli bt Shilpi Swarupa Das 6-2, 6-2; Abhilasha bt Mehar Kohli 6-2, 6-2; Riya Uboveja bt Shefali Arora 7-5, 6-1; Tanushri Pandey bt Sachi Sharma 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-3; Shimreen Ahamed bt KanikaRapria 6-0, 6-0; Ananya Dhankhar bt Jjasmine Rawat 6-2, 6-1; Hitakamya Singh Narwal bt Ritu Rai 6-2, 6-1; Rachita Talwar bt Lakshmi Gowda 6-4, 6-2; Sanjami Arora bt Radhika Yadav 6-1, 6-4; Riya Sachdeva bt Sharanya Shetty 6-1, 6-1; Vanshika Choudhary bt Divya Bhardwaj 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.
Suraj Prabodh beat fifth seed Udit Kamboj 7-5, 6-3 in the first round of the Verka Rs.100,000 AITA men’s tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex on Monday.
In another match, Ayush Gurnani beat Vivek Kumar 3-6, 7-5, 7-5.
The results (first round): Ishaque Eqbal bt Aditya Nandal 6-0, 6-2; Amit Bzad bt Ankit Rao 6-2, 6-4; Dhananjay Singh bt Ojus Dabas 7-5, 6-2; Chandril Sood bt Yogee Panwar 6-2, 6-0; Neeraj Yashpaul bt Rohan Mittal 6-3, 6-3; Shubham Malhotra bt Rajeshwar Reddy Patlolla 6-4, 6-0; Anuj Malik bt Aryan Thakur 6-4, 6-3; Maan Kesarwani bt Gajender Singh 6-4, 6-4; Suraj Prabodh bt Udit Kamboj 7-5, 6-3; Shivank Bhatnagar bt Sarthak Gulati 6-0, 6-3; Parth Aggarwal bt Rhythm Malhotra 6-2, 6-1; Sarthak Suden bt Ricky Chaudhary 6-4, 6-4; KS Siddharth Arya bt Nitin Jaipal Siingh 6-4, 7-5; Ayush Gurnani bt Vivek Kumar 3-6, 7-5, 7-5; Lakshit Sood bt Mohit Bhardwaj 6-3, 6-3; Dalwinder Singh bt Hemant Kumar 6-2, 6-0.
Bhumika Dahiya wins a double crown at AITA Championship
Bhumika Dahiya of the National Stadium Tennis Centre won a double crown in the girls under-18 section in the AITA Championship series junior tennis tournament organised by the Pradhan Tennis Academy.
Bhumika beat Sylvie Pal 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in the singles final. She partnered Agnimitra Bhattacharya to beat Danvi Kale and Jaini Patel 2-6, 6-2, [10-5], in the doubles final.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
BADMINTON
AP dethrones Telangana, enters final of South Zone inter-State championships
After winning the men’s and women’s singles comfortably, Andhra Pradesh was forced to slog in the doubles before entering the senior mixed team final of the Yonex Sunrise South Zone inter-State badminton championships at the St. Peter’s Sports Academy here on Monday night.
Andhra Pradesh upset defending champion Telangana 3-1 in the semifinal with its Rashmitha Donepudi and Surya Charishma maintaining their cool under pressure in the women’s doubles – the fourth tie of the series – for the victory.
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