GOLF
Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma, who broke a string of poor performances in Denmark last week, will be hoping to get another solid result as he returns to BMW PGA Championship, where he cherished a top-10 finish last season.
Sharma, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour, had finished ninth with an excellent weekend finish of 68-66, last year. He finished 68th in the rankings and so did not get to play the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
This time, however, Shubhankar is 34th in the DP World Tour Rankings, and will be looking to get into the Top-20 with a fair number of events still go to.
Wentworth is a venue he has liked and played well. He was T-17 in 2019 and T-48 in 2020 and ninth in 2021.
He made a good start to 2022 season, finishing T-2 at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championships, and then ended T-13 in Kenya and T-14 at the Dutch Open.
However, after the Dutch Open he hit a rough patch missing five cuts in a row. He broke that jinx last week in Denmark at Made in Himmerland, where he finished only T-52 but had good rounds of 68-70-71-69 at a low-scoring event.
What hurt him most were the double bogeys, one each in second and third rounds. While Sharma has been great in getting birdies, the double bogeys have hit him hard.
The field is extremely strong with Rory McIlroy, leading the way and he plays with defending champion Billy Horschel and US Open winner, Matt Fitzpatrick.
Jon Rahm, the outspoken Spaniard, while expressing his displeasure at the inclusion of Liv Series golfers in the event, is also looking to go one better than what he finished in 2019. He has been paired with Viktor Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton.
-PTI
TENNIS
AITA men’s tournament
Neeraj beats Maan Kesarwani
Neeraj Yashpaul beat Maan Kesarwani 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Verka Rs.100,000 AITA men’s ranking tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex in Chandigarh on Wednesday.
In the doubles semifinals, Parth Aggarwal and Ishaque Eqbal combined well to beat top seeds, the Sood twins, Chandril and Lakshit, 6-4, 6-4.
The Results
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Sahira Singh overcomes Riya Uboveja
Sahira Singh had to fight her way past Riya Uboveja 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of Rs.100,000 AITA women’s tennis tournament at the Joygaon Academy in Jhajjar on Wednesday.
In the semifinals, third seed Sahira will challenge the top seed Kashish Bhatia. The other semifinal will be between Rachita Talwar who beat second seed Vanshika Choudhary, and Shimreen Ahamed.
Shimreen had it easy as Hitakamya Singh Narwal conceded after the first set owing to wrist pain.
The Results (quarterfinals):
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Madhussudan wins AITA wheelchair tournament
H Madhussudan beat fifth seed Sathashivam Kannupayam 6-3, 6-1 in the pre-quarterfinals of the AITA wheelchair tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The women’s event will start on Thursday.
The Results:
Challenger tennis tournament
Yuki and Saketh in quarterfinals
Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni beat Jason Taylor and Brandon Walkin 7-6(4), 6-2 to reach the doubles quarterfinals of the €45,730 Challenger tennis tournament in France.
In the Challenger in Thailand, Prajnesh Gunneswaran was beaten 7-6(2), 6-1 by Arthur Cazaux of France, in the pre-quarterfinals.
The Results
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Football
Subroto Cup football: 7-0 wins for Sudhanwa and Hierok
Sudhanwa Debbarma High School (Tripura) and Hierok High Secondary School (Imphal) scored 7-0 victories on the second day of the Subroto Cup (under-14) football tournament being played at four venues in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The Results:
-Rakesh Rao
Abhishek Yadav resigns from AIFF deputy secretary general post
Former India striker Abhishek Yadav has resigned from the post of deputy secretary general of All India Football Federation (AIFF), according to sources.
The 42-year-old Yadav was last year elevated to the post of deputy secretary general after serving as national team director since 2018.
"Yes, Abhishek Yadav has resigned from his post in the AIFF," a source privy to the development told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Yadav quitting the post was not unexpected as Sunando Dhar was named deputy secretary general after Kalyan Chaubey took charge as the new AIFF president.
Dhar was earlier the I-League CEO and later became acting general secretary following Kushal Das's resignation in the wake of the ouster of Praful Patel as AIFF president by the Supreme Court.
Yadav played 30-odd matches for India from 2002 to 2011. He was a one-time team-mate of the likes of Bhaichung Bhutia, Sunil Chhetri, Mahesh Gawli and Climax Lawrence.
-PTI
Badminton
Patience pays for Saneeth South Zone Inter State Championship
Last year, D.S. Saneeth had lost to Sankar Muthusamy in a junior tournament final in Russia. But that loss offered Saneeth plenty of lessons when he took on the top-seeded Sankar in the Yonex Sunrise South Zone badminton championships at the St. Peter’s Sports Academy in Kolenchery on Wednesday. In the end, he shocked Sankar 7-21, 22-20, 23-21 and entered the men’s final.
Sankar, the junior World No. 3, is a defensive player and thrives on long rallies but today Saneeth was ready for it. The 19-year-old, coached by former National champion Arvind Bhat in Bengaluru, engaged Sankar in long rallies, waiting for him to commit mistakes.
“That final in Russia taught me how to handle Sankar, taught me to play long rallies, to stay calm,” said Saneeth.
Saneeth will play his Karnataka State-mate Ayush Shetty in Thursday’s final.
The women’s final, between Rujula Ramu and Drithi Yatheesh, and the junior boys’ title clash - between Ayush Shetty and Tushar Suveer - will also be all-Karnataka affairs. And in junior girls final, AP’s Akansha Matte will meet V.D. Meithini.
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