GOLF
Pranavi Urs fired a bogey-free round of six-under 66 to be T-2 after the opening round of the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de Espana in Malaga.
She was one shot behind the leader, Noora Komulainen of Finland, who got off to a flying start with a round of 65 (-7) at the Real Club Guadalhorce Golf.
Pranavi, playing her rookie season on the LET, birdied holes two, three, seven, eight, 12 and 18 for her round of six-under. The three players sharing the second place with Pranavi included the German duo Helen Briem and Patricia Isabel Schmidt, and Spain’s Ana Peláez Trivino all fired rounds of 66 (-6).
The other Indians, including defending champion Aditi Ashok, had decent rounds. Aditi, who won here last year, was 2-under 70 to be tied-20th, while. Diksha Dagar (71) was T-32 and Tvesa Malik (72) was T-41.
Aditi had five birdies against three bogeys in her round. Three of those birdies came on the front side of the course as she turned in 3-under. A fourth birdie saw her get to 4-under, but bogeys on 11th, 15th and the 18th saw her fall back despite another birdie on the 17th.
Diksha had three birdies against two bogeys and Tvesa had two bridies and bogeys in her 72.
“I started off pretty good, I gave myself a lot of opportunities. It’s been three weeks since our last event, so I didn’t know what to expect heading into this week, but I’m glad to have shot a bogey-free six-under. I know the game is still there,” said Pranavi.
-PTI
Connect India Japan to host inaugural Indo-Japan Golf Tournament
The inaugural Indo-Japan Golf Tournament, aimed at strengthening diplomatic and cultural ties between India and Japan, will be held at the ITC Classic Golf Resort here on Saturday.
The one-day tournament, organised by Connect India Japan, will bring together an illustrious lineup of diplomats, business leaders, and cultural ambassadors from both nations.
The event promises to foster collaboration and celebrate shared values through the unifying platform of sports.
Prominent participants include G20 Sherpa and former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, and Harinder S. Sikka, Group Director at Piramal Enterprises and author of Calling Sehmat.
Sikka, who is also the producer of the National Award-winning film Nanak Shah Fakir, will serve as the event’s advisor and mentor.
“We are thrilled to bring together such an esteemed group of individuals for this unique tournament,” said Nupur Tewari.
“The Indo-Japan Golf Tournament is not just about sports; it’s a testimony to the power of collaboration between India and Japan. We are excited to see how the synergy of these leaders on the green will translate into stronger bilateral ties and lasting friendships.”
The event will offer a platform for networking, collaboration, and exploring opportunities for business and cultural exchange, underlining the growing synergy between the two nations.
Organisers said the tournament is a testament to the power of sports as a diplomatic tool and marks a significant milestone in Connect India Japan’s mission to strengthen bilateral relations.
-PTI
TENNIS
ITF junior tennis: Top seed Arnav beats Roshan in semifinals, Rishitha reaches final
Top seed Arnav Paparkar recovered his confident game in the nick of time to wriggle out of the clutches of the crafty Roshan Santhosh for a 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 victory in the semifinals of the ITF junior tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex on Friday.
After a vibrant first set, the wiry Arnav managed to win only one of the next 10 games, as he trailed 1-3 in the decider, on having lost the second set at love. While Roshan was at his fluent best, Arnav struggled to find the confidence in his game.
With the tide running over his head, Arnav shrugged off the lethargy, delivered thunderbolt serves that boosted his confidence, and started unleashing the attacking game, breaking through the defensive mode to overwhelm the American opponent.
In the final, Arnav will play Arjun Rathi who outclassed Kanata Ozaki of Japan, conceding a solitary game.
In the girls’ section, top seed Rishitha Basireddy continued to call the shots as she raced past third seed Polina Sleptsova of Kazakhstan for the loss of three games. The champion of the tournament last week in Guwahati, Rishitha, will play qualifier Nelli Ivanova in the final.
Rishitha Basireddy made the final of the ITF junior tennis tournament in Delhi on Friday.
| Photo Credit:
Kamesh Srinivasan
Rishitha Basireddy made the final of the ITF junior tennis tournament in Delhi on Friday.
| Photo Credit:
Kamesh Srinivasan
In a battle of wits between two qualifiers, Ivanova was able to step it up after losing the first set to get past Harshini Nagaraj.
The results
Under-18 boys (semifinals): Arnav Paparkar bt Roshan Santhosh (USA) 6-3, 0-6, 6-4; Arjun Rathi bt Kanata Ozaki (Jpn) 6-1, 6-0.
Doubles (final): Izyan Ahmad (USA) & Aaron Gabet (Fra) bt Fedor Altukhov & Egor Shcherbakov 6-4, 5-7, [10-8].
Under-18 girls (semifinals): Rishitha Basireddy bt Polina Sleptsova (Kaz) 6-3, 6-0; Nelli Ivanova bt Harshini Nagaraj 4-6, 6-0, 6-3.
Doubles (final): Malika Amirgalieva (Kaz) & Sara Oliveriusova (Cze) bt Aishwarya Jadhav & Aakruti Sonkusare 6-3, 7-6(1).
-Kamesh Srinivasan
HPCL Mittal tournament: Samriti beats Danica to clinch women’s title
Samriti Punyani beat Danica Fernando 6-3, 6-4 to clinch the women’s title in the HPCL Mittal Rs.200,000 AITA ranking tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex on Friday.
In the men’s final, top seed Sarthak Suden prevailed over the second seed Moksh Puri in three sets.
The results (finals):
Men: Sarthak Suden bt Moksh Puri 6-3, 5-7, 6-2.
Women: Samriti Punyani bt Danica Fernando 6-3, 6-4.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
PSPB inter-unit tournament: Bopanna-Sharan duo beats Vishnu and Yuki
Asian Games gold medallists Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan had to be at their competitive best to beat Vishnu Vardhan and Yuki Bhambri 6-7(5), 7-6(5), [10-7] in the decisive doubles to clinch the men’s team title for Indian Oil against Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in the 43rd PSPB inter-unit tennis tournament at the Deccan Gymkhana on Friday.
Earlier, Sumit Nagal equalised for Indian Oil by beating Yuki Bhambri in singles, after Divij had lost his singles match to Vishnu Vardhan.
In the women’s final, Indian Oil scored a 2-0 win over Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL). Riya Bhatia and Prarthana Thombare won the singles matches against Laxmisiri Dandu and Sohini Mohanty respectively.
The results
Team championship (finals):
Men: Indian Oil bt ONGC 2-1 (Divij Sharan lost to Vishnu Vardhan 3-6, 3-6; Sumit Nagal bt Yuki Bhambri 6-2, 6-3; Rohan Bopanna and Diivj Sharan bt Vishnu Vardhan & Yuki Bhambri 6-7(5), 7-6(5), [10-7]).
Women: Indian Oil bt GAIL 2-0 (Riya Bhatia bt Laxmisiri Dandu 6-3, 6-3; Prarthana Thombare bt Sohini Mohanty 6-3, 6-3).
Men’s doubles (final): Sumit Nagal & Divij Sharan bt VM Ranjeet & Vishnu Vardhan 9-6.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
ITF women’s tennis: Zeel Desai beats Germany’s Marie Vogt in quarterfinals
Zeel Desai edged out Marie Vogt of Germany 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3) in the quarterfinals of the $15,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Monastir, Tunisia, on Friday.
Results
$15,000 ITF men, Luanda, Angola Singles (quarterfinals): Robert Strombachs (Ger) bt Chirag Duhan 6-2, 6-2.
Doubles (semifinals): Robert Strombachs& Kai Wehnelt (Ger) w.o. Alan Bojarski (Pol) & Aryan Lakshmanan.
$25,000 ITF women, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Singles (second round): Daria Frayman (Cyp) bt Saumya Vig 6-2, 6-0.
$15,000 ITF women, Monastir, Tunisia Singles (quarterfinals): Zeel Desai bt Marie Vogt (Ger) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3).
-Kamesh Srinivasan
HOCKEY
Chandigarh, Mizoram, MP, Haryana win in women’s Sub-Junior Nationals hockey
Chandigarh, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana won their respective matches at the 14th Hockey India Sub-Junior Women’s National Championship here on Friday.
The day started with a tight match between Chandigarh and Kerala in Pool E in which the former prevailed 3-2. Dipanjali Tirkey (42nd minute), and Parameswari Pinapothula (48th) scored for Kerala, while Simran (44th) and Annu (56th) scored for Chandigarh.
The winning goal was scored by Chandigarh’s Tamanna (60th).
This was followed by another Pool E match in which Mizoram won 11-0 over Arunachal. Captain Laltlanchhungi (18th, 30th, 44th, 55th) was in tremendous form and scored four goals for her side, while Vanlalrinhlui (1st, 52nd, 58th), C Lalruatsiami (10th), Manglawmsang (19th), Lalthakimi (26th) and Laldinpuii (42nd) also chipped in with goals.
In Pool F, Delhi and Bihar shared the spoils after playing out a goalless draw.
In Pool H, Madhya Pradesh crushed Andhra Pradesh 11-1. Parmar Ronak (4th, 60th), Tanvi (12th, 19th), Sailu Pukhrambam (15th, 34th) and captain Krishna Sharma (30th, 53rd) scored two goals each for their side.
Gungun Kaur (13th), Bhabar Keshar (39th) and Rubi Rathore (43rd) also struck for Madhya Pradesh.
In Pool A, Haryana beat Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu 9-1, while Maharashtra and Punjab settled for a 2-2 draw in Pool G.
-PTI
Nehru tournament: CBDT beats Naval Tata Academy
Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) beat Naval Tata Academy, Jamshedpur, 3-1 in the tie-break after the teams were locked 3-3 in a league match of the SNBP 60th Nehru hockey tournament at the Shivaji Stadium on Friday.
(Mehkeet Singh, P.A. Machaiah and R Manikandan converted the chances in the shoot-off for CBDT. Ankush alone was successful in converting for the Jamshedpur team.
CBDT joined the Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB), Army XI, and Comptroller and Auditor General XI in the group for the quarterfinal league.
Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) beat Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) 4-1 to qualify for the quarterfinal league. It joined Indian Navy, Punjab National Bank and Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) in the other group.
The results (league):
Central Board of Direct Taxes 3 (P.A. Machaiah, Vikash Choudhary, R Manikandan) bt Naval Tata Academy, Jamshedpur, 3 (Mohamed Saeed, Simon Bodra, Ujjwal Pal) 3-1 (tie-break).
Indo Tibetan Border Police 4 (Vjay Kumar Gond 2, Rahul Yadav, Shubham) bt Central Reserve Police Force 1 (Rahul Sharma).
-Kamesh Srinivasan
BASKETBALL
39th National youth basketball c’ships: Karnataka girls beats Punjab but loses in boys section to UP
Deepika P.P. scored 23 points to guide Karnataka girls to a convincing 66-37 win over Punjab in a Group-B match on the opening day of the 39th National youth basketball championships at the Dumurjala Indoor Stadium, Howrah, on Friday.
However, in the boys section, Karnataka was beaten 77-56 by Uttar Pradesh in a Group B contest, whereas Punjab defeated Chandigarh 86-69.
Select results:
Level 1:
Boys: Group A: Telangana 69 (Saharsh Maheswar 18, Reyhan Ellore 13) bt Madhya Pradesh 64 (Krishna Sumeriya 16, Anuj Verma 16, Aditya Jayswal 10); Group B: Punjab 86 (Joypreet Singh Sidhu 23, Suhaan Masih 21, Ajinder Singh 15) bt Chandigarh 69 (Sachin 18, Kushnaz Singh Baidwan 14, Nikhil 14), Uttar Pradesh 77 (Ayush Kumar 25, Sanjay Mahakunda 17, Raj Singh 12, Sumit Kumar Singh 10) bt Karnataka 56 (Dev Charan Jonnalagadda 18, Samarth Manur 16).
Girls: Group A: Maharashtra 69 (Reva Kulkarni 26) bt Madhya Pradesh 42 (Vaishnavi Singh 10); Group B: Karnataka 66 (Deepika P.P. 23, Nidhi Umesh 13, Aditi Subramanian 12) bt Punjab 37 (Tishmeet Kaur 10, K.Vanshika 10).
Level 2:
Boys: Group C: Mizoram bt Goa 45-22; Group D: Chhattisgarh bt Odisha 80-67; Group F: Andhra Pradesh bt Arunachal Pradesh 68-10, Jharkhand bt Jammu and Kashmir 51-25.
Girls: Group C: Telangana bt Chandigarh 52-49, Chhattisgarh bt Uttarakhand 63-23; Group D: Delhi bt Bihar 54-11, Puducherry beat Goa 62-31; Group E: Assam bt Andaman and Nicobar 84-9, Himachal Pradesh bt Odisha 39-36; Group F: Jharkhand bt Arunachal Pradesh 44-8, Andhra Pradesh bt Jammu and Kashmir 62-11.
-Y.B.Sarangi
SQUASH
Xtreme Open: Yusha beats Udit in U-19 boys’ semifinal
Yusha Nafees beat top seed Udit Mishra 11-7, 11-1, 11-3 in the under-19 boys semifinals of the Xtreme Open squash tournament at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium on Friday.
In the final, Yusha will face the current US Open under-15 champion Aryaveer Dewan, who sailed past second seed Abhiraj Singh 11-6, 11-4, 11-3.
Results
Boys
Under-19: Yusha Nafees bt Udit Mishra 11-7, 11-1, 11-3; Aryaveer Dewan bt Abhiraj Singh 11-6, 11-4, 11-3.
Under-17: Parthvir Singh bt Arjun Morey 11-6, 11-9, 11-5; Raghav Vashishtha bt Ijaz Mohammed 11-6, 11-7, 11-8.
Under-15: Shresht Iyer bt Raghavendra Thirani 11-2, 11-3, 11-4; Harshal Rana bt Reyansh Kulshreshtha 11-7, 11-5, 13-15, 9-11, 11-2.
Under-13: Prabhav Bajoria bt Viaan Khemani 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4; Abhyuday Arora bt Ansh Kumar 12-10, 11-4, 11-3.
Under-11: Prahlad Singh Majithia bt Agastya Uppal 11-5, 11-6, 11-2; Nirvaan Uppal bt Shaurya Bakshi 11-1, 11-3, 11-2.
Girls
Under-17: Sanvi Batar bt Ishika Anand 11-7, 11-6, 11-3; Kaashvi Mangal bt Riya Maheshwari 11-1, 11-2, 11-2.
Under-15: Anya Sood bt Niranjana Nair 11-4, 11-4, 11-5; Maira Ghosh bt Saanvi Bakshi 11-6, 11-5, 11-9.
Under-13: Nandikasree Kalaivanan bt Rashi Choudhary 13-11, 13-11, 8-11, 11-8; Chhavi Panchal bt Prernaa Kanoi 11-2, 11-2, 11-2.
Under-11: Jerusha Jebindran bt Suhasini Mishra 10-12, 11-5, 11-9, 11-4; Aarna Rao bt Shravanthi Sendilnath 3-11, 11-3, 12-10, 11-4.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
KHO-KHO
Junior National Kho-Kho C’ship: Maharashtra clinch double gold medals
Maharashtra’s boys and girls teams clinched gold medals at the 43rd Junior National Kho-Kho Championship, which concluded here on Friday. It is the 19th consecutive gold medal for the boys’ team and overall, their 35th in the competition. The girls’ team bagged their 10th title win in a row and overall, their 26th in the history of the championship.
The championship was held at the Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar Sports Stadium here.
In the boys’ final, Maharashtra defeated Odisha 33-29. The winners led the game 18-14 at halftime as their triumph was marked by an all-round contribution from Jitendra Vasave, Krishna Bansode, Parth Devkate and Prem Dalvi.
In the girls’ summit clash, it was once again a contest between Maharashtra and Odisha in which the former emerged winners 24-20.
Maharashtra held a lead of 14-10 at the halfway mark, and players including Tanvi Bhosale, Sneha Lamkane, Pranali Kale, Suhani Dhotre, and Prajakta Birajdar shone in their win.
“Teams earned ‘dream points’ when a batch of three players defends for four minutes, with additional points awarded for every subsequent minute until out the whole batch,” a release said.
“Maharashtra’s boys earned 1 dream point, while the girls earned 4. Odisha’s boys earned 1 point,” it added.
Awards: Veer Abhimanyu Award: Jitendra Vasave (Maharashtra) Janaki Award: Suhani Dhotre (Maharashtra) Best attacker: Prem Dalvi (Maharashtra), Lisa Rani (Odisha) Best defender: Bapi Murmu (Odisha), Tanvi Bhosale (Maharashtra).
-PTI
ADMINISTRATION
Roy Choudhury elected as Bengal Olympic Association president
Chandan Roy Choudhury defeated incumbent president Swapan Banerjee 45-20 in the Bengal Olympic Association (BOA) elections in Kolkata on Friday.
Amid allegations of inaction against Banerjee, the younger brother of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the victory of the Roy Choudhury-led panel, which had the backing of the ruling Trinamool Congress, was a foregone conclusion.
Roy Choudhury is also the president of the West Bengal State Weightlifting Association and the secretary of the prestigious Calcutta Rowing Club.
Jahar Das was elected the general secretary of the BOA, while Kamal Kumar Maitra was chosen the treasurer.
– Team Sportstar
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com