SWIMMING
Maana Patel records new 'Best Indian Performance' in 100m backstroke
Tokyo Olympian Maana Patel recorded news 'Best Indian Performance' in the women's 100m backstroke qualification round.
She clocked 01:03.69 at the Mare Nostrum Canet 2022 while improving on her personal best and best Indian time of 01:03.77.
Patel qualified 15th overall and advanced through to the level 'B' final, where she was placed fifth with a timing of 01:03:87.
-Team Sportstar
Shourya, Awesome best swimmers at Delhi State sub-junior swimming championship
Shourya Sejwal and Awesome were declared the ‘’best swimmers’’ in the girls and boys sections respectively in the 57th Delhi State sub-junior swimming championship at the Talkatora Swimming Pool.
Awesome also won two gold in freestyle events, two in breaststroke apart from the 200-metre individual medley. Punit Swami and Dev Vats won two gold medals each in the boys section.
Saumya Sachdeva won four individual gold medals in the girls events, and two were bagged by Amiera Singhal.
- Kamesh Srinivasan
GOLF
Vani finishes 41st in Belgium
Indian golfer Vani Kapoor finished T-41st as she rounded off the week at the Mithra Belgian Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour with a 71.
The 28-year-old Delhi golfer shot rounds of 75-70-71 as she tries to find her feet on the LET once again.
The other two Indians in the field this week Amandeep Drall (79-70) and Ridhima Dilawari (74-78) had missed the cut earlier.
Next week the action shifts to the Ladies Italian Open, where there will be a big Indian contingent.
Tvesa Malik will return to action after a break, while Vani, Amandeep and Ridhima will be joined by Neha Tripathi and Gaurika Bishnoi is among the reserves.
Swede Linn Grant won her second LET title in five starts in 2022 after firing a final round of 5-under 67 on the last day.
ALSO READ | May 29: Indian sports news wrap of the day
The 22-year-old, who won the Joburg Ladies Open in March, recorded rounds of 66, 68 and 67 to hold off England’s Cara Gainer at Naxhelet Golf Club.
Grant maintained her lead on the front nine with birdies on three and nine, before she went toe to toe with Gainer on the back nine. Birdies on 10 and 12, as well as a crucial eagle on the 14th put the Swede back in pole position, and a dropped shot on 16 put the duo level before Grant made a par on the last to win her second title with a total of 15-under-par.
It was an exceptional day for Gainer who fired a stunning 8-under 64, which was the joint-best round of the week, to finish in second place.
Maja Stark, who leads the 2022 Race to Costa del Sol, also shot a round of 8-under 64 on the final day to secure a T3 finish alongside Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux.
Metraux followed up her second round of 7-under 65 with a round of 5-under 67 on day three to finish level with Stark in third place.
-PTI
GOLF
ShubhankarSharma finishes 14th at Dutch Open
India's Shubhankar Sharma completed a good week, laced with 18 birdies, with a Tied-14th finish at the Dutch Open on the DP World Tour.
Sharma had as many as 18 birdies over four days. But the Indian also gave away 13 bogeys.
The finish would nevertheless give Sharma a big boost, considering he missed four cuts in five previous starts.
After three birdies in his opening 71, Sharma had six birdies in a second round 71 and six more in his third round 69.
The final round saw two birdies on front nine but he gave away three bogeys in his first six holes on back nine before closing with a birdie on 18th for the third time in four days.
With a packed calendar ahead, Sharma will hope his birdie-making skills come good even as he works on cutting down the bogeys to improve on his 17th place on the Race to Dubai rankings.
The other two Indians, Gaganjeet Bhullar (73-74) and SSP Chawrasia (74-77) had missed the cut.
Meanwhile, the Dundee-based Frenchman Victor Perez, 29, was exceptional in clutch putting and held off Kiwi Ryan Fox in a play-off to win his second DP World Tour title.
Perez started the final day in a share of the lead but following Fox’s great show, he was three shots back as he stood on the 17th tee.
Fox double bogeyed the 18th and Perez birdied the penultimate hole and then missed a six footer for birdie. The duo went into a tie and a play-off down the par-five 18th.
Perez also earns himself a spot at The 150th Open Championship this summer alongside Fox and Pole Adrian Meronk, with the top three players in the top ten not exempt heading to St Andrews.
Meronk finished a shot out of the play-off after a 68, a score matched by German Marcel Schneider who finished at 11 under.
Swede Sebastian Soderberg and England's Matt Wallace were at ten under, two shots ahead of another Swede in Alexander Björk and Portugal's Ricardo Gouveia.
-PTI
FOOTBALL
FC Bengaluru United appoints Khalid Ahmed Jamil as Head Coach
Khalid Ahmed Jamil has been appointed as FC Bengaluru United Head Coach for the upcoming season.Jamil was previously associated with Indian Super League (ISL) club NorthEast United FC.
He has also worked with East Bengal and Mohun Bagan in a managerial capacity and was instrumental in leading Aizawl FC to its first I-League title in the 2016-17 season.
"Khalid has been one of the most sought-after coaches in Indian football," said Gaurav Manchanda, Owner, FC Bengaluru United, welcoming Khalid Jamil to the club. "He brings with him nuanced leadership and technical skills that stem for his decade-long management and coaching experience," he added.
Speaking on his appointment, Khalid Jamil expressed excitement on his new role, "The FCBU squad is a blend of youth and experience, and I am eager to work with them and sharing all my learnings. I am confident we can work together and see the club reach its greatest potential – both from an individual player perspective as well as a team.”
-Team Sportstar
GOLF
Maha International Open GM chess: Focus on Tajik GM Amonatov, India's Lalith Babu
Tajikistan Grandmaster Farukh Amonatov will headline a 140-player field that includes 17 GMs in the inaugural Maharashtra International Open Grandmaster Chess tournament beginning in Pune on Tuesday.
The tourney for players rated above Elo 2000 will see 17 GMs, 29 International Masters, a handful of WGMs and 140 players from 24 countries vie for top honours, according to a press release.
GM Amonatov, with an Elo rating of 2622, is the top seed and starts favourite while GM Lalith Babu (2563) who has won as many as 20 gold medals in international events will spearhead the Indian challenge as the highest host player in the fray.
Former world champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine, who was expected to participate in the event, could not make it as his visa application was rejected by the authorities, reasons for which were not clear.
"He (Ponomariov) is not coming...His visa did not come through. Yet, the field is strong, there are good players," the organisers told PTI.
The event to be played till June 8 will be an 11-round Swiss League and has attracted players from Tajikistan, Belarus, Georgia, Azerbaijan, USA, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh apart from top Indian players.
Among the Indian women, International Masters Bhakti Kulkarni and Soumya Swaminathan, WGMs Mary Ann Gomes, Divya Deshmukh and Priyanka Nutakki are expected to perform well during the event.
The tournament, which offers total prize money of Rs. 20 lakh, is organized by the Maharashtra Chess Association under the aegis of the All India Chess Federation.
Meanwhile, over 455 players from seven countries including India have confirmed their participation in the 1st Pune Open Chess Tournament (for players rated below Elo 2000) which will be held here simultaneously.
The open event will offer a total prize money of Rs 10 lakh and will be on a 10-round Swiss League basis, organisers said in the release.
-PTI
TENNIS
Venkat Batlanki ousted seventh seed Swastik Sharma 6-3, 6-1 in the boys first round of the Ramesh Desai memorial National under-16 tennis
championship on Monday.
In the girls' section, Siya Prasade overcame a hard start to beat Aditi Tyagi 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
SHOOTING
Mixed air rifle team below par
Shreya Agrawal and Rudrankksh Patil shot 625.6 and came 14th in the mixed air rifle team event of the shooting World Cup in Baku,
Azerbaijan.
The other Indian team of Elavenil Valarivan and Paarthi Makhija scored 623.5 for the 24th place in a field of 42 teams. Keum Jihyeon and Park Hajun of Korea beat Andrea Arsovic and Lazar Kovacevic of Serbia 16-10 for the gold.
In men’s air rifle team event, Rudrankksh, Dhanush Srikanth and Paarth qualified for the bronze medal match against Croatia with a score of
624.9 in the second stage. Korea and Australia qualified for the gold match.
The Indian team had shot 940.4 in the first stage of qualification, 0.5 point behind leader Austria, which incidentally finished fifth.
The women’s air rifle team of Ramita, Elavenil and Shreya topped the first stage of qualification with 944.2.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
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