Indian sports wrap, September 1: Bogey-free round sees Diksha rise in 3rd round at Women’s Irish Open

GOLF

Bogey-free round sees Diksha rise in 3rd round at Women’s Irish Open

India’s Diksha Dagar played a bogey-free 4-under 69 and rose to T-31 from T-55 in the third round of the KPMG Women’s Irish Open.

Diksha, who shot 72-74 on the first two days, had four birdies between the sixth and the 12th with no bogeys, and is now 4-under for 54 holes.

A good finish will go a long way in restoring Diksha’s confidence after modest performances at the Olympic Games and missing the cut at the AIG Women’s Open.

The other three Indians, Pranavi Urs, Tvesa Malik and Ridhima Dilawari, missed the cut, as Diksha returned to form that had earned her victory at the Czech Ladies Open and a third place at Hero Women’s Indian Open last year.

England’s Annabel Dimmock fired a spectacular bogey-free 65 (-8) to move into top spot with one day remaining. She began the day three in shared fourth place after rounds of 72 (-1) and 66 (-7) at the O’Meara Course at Carton House.

She began with a birdie on the first before making further birdies on holes four, seven and nine. Dimmock added another birdie on the 10th before finishing in style with three birdies in her final four holes to seal the best round of the week with a 65 to sit at 16-under-par.

It was a record-breaking day in the tournament with 12,051 spectators arriving on Saturday — the most people attending the tournament in a single day since it returned on the LET calendar in 2022.

Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom, who held the 36-hole lead, produced a round of 69 (-4) on day three to sit two shots behind leader Dimmock.

Italy’s Alessandra Fanali and Spain’s Luna Sobron Galmes sit in shared third place on 12-under-par after they both carded a 70 (-3).

-PTI

Saptak Talwar in sight of Top-10 finish

Saptak Talwar was in sight of his first Top-10 finish on the Asian Tour after carding 3-under 68 to be placed tied-13th in the Mandiri Indonesia Open here.

Talwar, who plays regularly on the PGTI, is now 9-under 204 for three rounds.

Among the other Indians, Veer Ahlawat (69) was T-23, Khalin Joshi (70) was T-41, SSP Chawrasia (73) was T-48 and Gaganjeet Bhullar (70) was T-57. Indian-American Manav Shah, a winner on the PGA Tour Latin American, was also T-41.

-PTI

Joakim Haeggman wins $500,000 HSBC India Legends golf championship

Joakim Haeggman played hard for an even par 72 on the third and final day to emerge champion in the $500,000 HSBC India Legends golf championship at the Jaypee Greens on Sunday.

The challenger Jeev Milkha Singh, who had caught up with the leader after the first hole of the day, played a gracious host subsequently, as he went into the water for a triple-bogey on the 18th hole.

The Swede finished with 9-under 207, capturing the champion’s purse of $74,250, beating Andrew Marshall of England_who came up with the best card of 7-under 65 this day_by two strokes. Marshall won $49,000.

Jeev with 4-over 76 on the final day, slipped to 4-under 212 overall, for the joint third place with Thomas Gogele of Germany. The prize was $29,725.

“I had one mistake today and that got Jeev and the boys back into the tournament. I am really happy that I managed to keep it going,”, said Haeggman.

Jeev was happy with the tremendous response by the players in making it a memorably competitive event, and congratulated Haeggman.

“I have known Haggy for years. He played beautifully today,” said Jeev.

Jyoti Randhawa played 2-over 74 for an overall 2-under 212 that placed him joint ninth with three others including Adilson Da Silva of Brazil. He won $12,137.

Mukesh Kumar who has won around 125 titles on the domestic Tour, climbed to the 15th spot to pocket $8,500, with an even par 216.

“It has been more than 10 years since I last played here. I enjoyed myself. The greens were difficult for two days, but I was able to adjust,” said Mukesh, who scored a 2-under 70 on the final day.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

TENNIS

AITA men’s: Ranjeet beats Suraj Prabodh in final

Top seed VM Ranjeet beat second seed Suraj Prabodh 6-3, 6-4 in the final of the Rs.100,000 AITA men’s tennis tournament.

Except for dropping a set to third seed Faisal Qamar in the semifinals, before the latter retired in the third set, Ranjeet was quite authoritative in his march to the title.

In the doubles final, second seeds Anup Banaragi and Sandesh Kurale beat top seeds Tushar Mittal and Priyanshu Choudhary 7-6(3), 6-7(5), [10-7].

– Team Sportstar

Vaidehi Chaudhari loses final oITF women’s tennis tournament

Vaidehi Chaudhari was beaten 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 by seventh seed Rina Saigo of Japan in the final of the $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand, on Sunday.

It was a memorable tournament for Vaidehi as she had beaten the third seed Naho Sato of Japan in the quarterfinals, and had saved two match points to get past Bunyawi Thamchaiwat of Thailand in the semifinals.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

FOOTBALL

Subroto Cup under-17 boys to be played in NCR

The 63rd Subroto Cup under-17 boys football tournament, featuring 37 teams including those from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, will be played in different grounds in the National Capital Region (NCR) from Monday.

The toppers of the eight groups will make the quarterfinals. The matches are scheduled to be played at the Ambedkar Stadium and Tejas ground in Delhi; GD Goenka World School and KIIT Global School in Gurugram.

The quarterfinals are scheduled for September 7, while the semifinals and final will be played on 9th and 11th respectively.

Defending champion, Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 37B, Chandigarh, has been clubbed with teams from Bihar, Meghalaya and Daman & Diu in group-F for the league phase.

– Kamesh Srinivasan