SURFING-
Tamil Nadu’s Groms & Karnataka’s Women Dominate Day 2 of the Indian Open of Surfing 2022
16-year-old Sugar Banarse from Goa impressed all the judges with her surfing gathering the highest points amongst the women who made it to the finals at the tranquil Panambur beach in Mangalore, Karnataka. Karnataka’s Ishita Malviya (6.17) & Sinchana Gowda (7.30) along with Goa’s Sugar Banarse (11.27) & Tamil Nadu’s Srishthi Selvam (10.37) advanced to the finals of the women’s open surf category. Sugar will also compete in the finals of the groms (16 & under) girls surf category tomorrow.
Speaking post booking her slot in the finals, Sugar said, “I am happy to make it to the finals, but I am competing against experienced surfers and the defending champion Srishti Selvam. I know the challenge from my fellow finalists will be tough but I am looking forward to it and I hope to surf my best tomorrow. I would also like to thank the Surfing Federation of India for organizing this tournament as this helps us get more competition time under our belt, that will be of immense help for future training and international competitions.”
In the Groms Boys (U16) surf category semifinalsit was a clean sweep by Tamil Nadu surfers, with Kishore Kumar leading the race by a huge margin. Kishore, seemed more comfortable today and emerged with the highest marks in the competition today. His 15.50 points from the judges was a testimony to the fact of his impressive surfing and maneuvers that also included a reverse flip, thereby helping him comfortably secure a spot in the finals tomorrow. The others who have made it to the finals tomorrow are Tayin Arun (11.10), Naveenkumar R (10.17) & Jeevan S (6.46).
Speaking after booking his Finals slot Kishore Kumar said, “I enjoyed my surf today and that’s what matters the most. I know finals is a different ball game and the competition will be stiff, but I am looking forward to it and will try to do my best.”
The day began with the quarterfinal encounters in the men’s open surf category which was dominated by Tamil Nādu surfers while Karnataka’s Ramesh Budhial impressed everyone with his maneuvers and surfing booking a spot for himself in semifinals with 14.33 points, the highest amongst the ones in the semifinals for the men’s open surf category. Tamil Nādu surfers Srikanth D (9.93), Surya P (9.7), Satish Sarvanan (12), Ruban V (8.7), Ajeesh Ali (9.3), Manikandan M (8.34) & Sanjai Kumar S (9.17) also advanced to the semifinals in the men’s open surf category. Due to bad weather and non-surfable conditions the semifinals for the category that was earlier scheduled to be held today has been shifted to the final day (tomorrow) of the Indian Open of Surfing 2022.
Ramesh Budhial, Karnataka’s top performer and only hope in the men’s open category today said, “I would like to thank Surfing Federation of India for hosting the Indian Open of Surfing in Mangalore. The waves were testing today and the competition was tough, but I am happy that I could make my way through to the quarterfinals. Now my aim is to give in my best for the quarterfinals to find a space in the semifinals tomorrow.”
The final day of the 3 edition of the Indian Open of Surfing will witness the semi-finals & finals of the men’s open surf category along with the finals of the Groms Boys & Girls (16 & under) finals and female open surf categories.
The Indian open of Surfing is being hosted by the Mantra Surf Club at the Panambur Beach in mangalore from 27 – 29 May 2022. Karnataka Tourism have come on board as the title partners while Chennai based TT Group are the associate partners. Action Camera Majors Go Pro are the action partners.
SHOOTING
Rudrankksh Patil shot 628.8 and made the final of men’s air rifle in the fourth place, in the shooting World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan on Saturday.
Lazar Kovacevic of Serbia topped qualification with 630.6, while Rudrankksh had a series of 104.0, 103.6, 105.2, 104.6, 105.8 and 105.6. The final for the top eight will be shot on Sunday.
Olympian Deepak Kumar shot 626.8 in the RPO section. Paarth Makhija (624.7) and Dhanush Srikanth (623.8) placed 26th and 35th respectively in a field of 76 shooters.
In women’s air rifle, former world No.1 Elavenil Valarivan shot 629.1 and placed ninth in a field of 66 shooters. She missed the final by 0.3 point.
Shreya Agrawal (627.0) and Ramita (626.2) finished 24th and 29th respectively in a field of 96 shooters.
Quite interestingly, India has opted to field only 12 rifle shooters, in an overall field of 703 shooters from 65 countries.
GOLF
Shubhankar returns to form after lean run, close to Top-10 in Dutch Open
India's Shubhankar Sharma had a lot more birdies than bogeys, unlike the first two days, in the third round of the Dutch Open to close in on Top-10.
Sharma, who survived a rash of bogeys on his second nine but still made the cut, was in good form in the third round, following up his 71-71 with a 69 at 5-under for 54 holes.
He was 11th at the Bernardus Golf Club. With some players yet to finish, he may well be inside the Top-10.
The two-time DP World Tour winner, Sharma, who went through a rough period missing four cuts in his last five starts, has so far netted 15 birdies, but also given away 10 bogeys.
The other two Indians in the field -- Gaganjeet Bhullar (73-74) and SSP Chawrasia (74-77) -- missed the midway cut.
Sharma, who often picks birdies in a bunch, had three on either side of the course against three bogeys.
Sharma's second round was a rocky ride. He started from the tenth and turned in 4-over 32, including three birdies in a row from 16 to 18. After the turn, he parred the first and bogeyed three in a row and one more to fall to even par. He birdied seventh to finish 1-under.
Victor Perez (67-70) and 4-under through 13 in the third round was 11-under and leading, while Adrian Meronk (68-68) and 2-under through 12 was 10-under.
Scott Hend was the clubhouse leader with rounds of 70-69-68 at 9-under and there were three others -- Sebastian Soderberg, Matt Wallace and Ricardo Gouveia -- also at nine-under but with some holes still to play.
Vani Kapoor makes cut in Belgium, Amandeep, Ridhima miss out
Vani Kapoor was the lone Indian to make the cut at the Mithra Belgian Ladies Open in Wanze, Belgium.
Kapoor, who shot 75 and was on the edge after the first round, had a steady 2-under 70 with three birdies against one bogey.
At even par for 36 holes she was tied 43rd.
The other two Indians -- Amandeep Drall (79-70) and Ridhima Dilawari (74-78) -- missed the cut.
Swede Linn Grant fired a bogey-free opening round of 66 (-6) to set the pace on the first day of the tournament.
She was 3-under through 10 holes in the second round and was 9-under and one clear of Luna Sobron Gomez (70-67), who was second and the clubhouse leader as Grant was yet to finish her round.
Kapoor, who has been trying to play as much as possible and where she has got entries on the Ladies European Tour, the LET Access and Sunshine Tour has been gradually improving.
Sneha top Indian at 14th, Indian team 9th at Queen Sirikit Cup
India's star amateurs Sneha Singh and Avani Prashanth had a modest finish at the Queen Sirikit Cup golf tournament, even as Japan ended its 20-year title drought in the tournament.
In sweltering conditions at Singapore's Laguna National Golf Resort Club, Sneha Singh (75-72-74-69) was the top Indian at tied 14th, while Avani Prashanth (75-73-78-74) was tied 24th. The third Indian, Janniya Dassani (80-82-78-73), was tied 33rd.
Mizuki Hashimoto won the individual honours with rounds of 70-64-72-73 and then combined with Miku Ueta and Ayaka Tezuka to secure their country's first Asia Pacific Amateur Ladies Team Championship crown since 2002.
The Indians finished ninth in the team standings.
Beginning the final day with a one-stroke advantage, the Japanese posted a last-round score of five-under 139 thanks to 16-year-olds Ueta (68) and Tezuka (71). That gave them a 72-hole aggregate of 20-under 556 and a seven-shot victory over New Zealand.
Chasing a seventh successive win and a 13th triumph in the past 14 stagings of the event, the Korean trio of Lee Ji-hyun, Kim Min-byeol and Bang Shin-sil made a bold early charge. Eventually, though, they had to settle for third on 566.
Hosts Singapore, led splendidly by Shannon Tan, were fourth (567), followed by Chinese Taipei (570), Thailand (574), Australia and Malaysia (577), India (589), Hong Kong (600), the Philippines (611), Indonesia (613) and Myanmar (677) Even as the individual glory went to Hashimoto, the reigning Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific champion, the evidence of the strength of the Japan team was that her closing one-over 73 was omitted in the event in which the best two daily scores in each three-strong team are counted.
Not one of the winning trio was born when Japan last hoisted the trophy at Malaysia's A'Famosa Resort, the 2002 team made up of Ai Miyazato, Kyoko Furuya and Ayako Uehara.
The 19-year-old Hashimoto has two more years of college ahead of her before she contemplates turning pro.
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