Indian sports wrap, February 22: Indian archers top medal table at Asia Cup Stage I

ARCHERY

Asia Cup Stage I: India tops medal table

Indian archers claimed eight medals, including five gold, to finish atop the medals table at the Asia Cup Stage-1 in Bangkok on Saturday.

Vishnu Choudhary secured gold medals in recurve men’s individual, beating compatriot Rahul 6-2 in the final, and team events. He also bagged a silver with women’s individual champion Basanti Mahato in the mixed team event.

Kushal Dalal captured two gold medals, in men’s individual and team, in the compound division.

– Team Sportstar

GOLF

Kenya Open: Ahlawat makes cut with birdie finish

Veer Ahlawat’s rounds of 70-72 gave him an even-par total, allowing him to make a last-minute cut at the Magical Kenya Open.

Ahlawat started his second round very early and then had to wait for the rest of the afternoon to know whether he had made the cut.

The 28-year-old rookie, who shot a 1-under 71 in the first round after a disappointing finish with three bogeys in his last four holes, was staring at a missed cut when he came to the 17th tee in the second round.

This time, Ahlawat produced two great birdies on the closing holes to move from 3-over to 1-over and give himself a chance to make the cut.

Meanwhile, fellow Indian Shubhankar Sharma endured another tough week as he carded 71-72 and missed the cut by one.

Ahlawat, who was runner-up at the Indian Open last year, bogeyed the second and the seventh and got his first birdie on the eighth.

– PTI

TENNIS

Maha Open ATP Challenger 2025: India’s Jeevan, Prashant lift doubles crown; Holt to clash with Svrcina in singles title clash

Top seeds Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Vijay Sundar Prashanth of India registered a 3-6, 6-3, [10-0] win over the second-seeded Australian pair of Blake Bayldon and Matthew Christopher Romios to emerge as the doubles champions at the Maha Open ATP Challenger 100 Men’s Tennis Championship at the Mhalunge Balewadi Tennis Stadium in Pune on Saturday.

It was the first title together for Jeevan and Prashant, and whilst it was the third title for Prashant in Pune, the win today for the Indian team fetched them prize money of INR 7 Lakhs and 100 ATP points, which pushed Jeevan to 94 Prashant to 104 in the world rankings, respectively.

In the singles finals, on Sunday, the sixth seeded American Brandon Holt will take on unseeded Dalibor Svrcina of the Czech Republic.

Earlier, in the semifinals, the 26-year-old and sixth seed Holt, ranked 153 in the world took an hour and 34 minutes to get past eighth-seeded Alexis Galarneau of Canada winning 7-5, 6-4. Holt led 5-0 in the first set before the wily Canadian Galarneau came back to level scores at 5-5, but could not close out the set. Brandon now leads 3-2 in the head-to-head battle with the Canadian.

The 22-year-old Svrcina and a regular in the Indian Futures circuit made it to his first Challenger finals, getting past crowd favourite Khumoyun Sultanov of Uzbekistan winning 6-7(8), 6-0, 3-1(Retd). The match which looked to go the distance had to be stopped as Khumoyun retired after complaining of breathlessness and fatigue due to heat.

-Team Sportstar

Arina Rodionova to headline ITF event in Ahmedabad

Arina Rodionova of Australia is scheduled to be the top seed in the $40,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament being played at the Ahmedabad City Tennis Foundation courts from Sunday.

The country’s leading players, Sahaja Yamalapalli and Ankita Raina are expected to be seeded in the main draw. Shrivalli Bhamidipaty, Vaidehi Chaudhari, Vaishnavi Adkar, Pranjala Yadlapalli, Riya Bhatia and Zeel Desai are the other Indian players getting direct entry into the main event, that will begin on Tuesday.

The bigger draw for the main event has ensured the entry of eight Indian players, apart from the wild card entrants Saumya Vig, Priyanshi Bhandari and Vidhi Jani.

With six foreigners in the qualifying draw of 32, it is a great opportunity for the Indian players to enhance their international ranking so as to facilitate their entry in future events.

Carlota Cirez, Ekaterina Makarova, Haruka Kaji, Amandine Hesse and Mei Yamaguchi are some of the leading players expected to be seeded in the main event.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

KABADDI

71st Senior National Kabaddi Championships: Maharashtra, Haryana, Services advance in dominant fashion

Services’ Naveen Kumar in action during the 71st Senior National Kabaddi Championships in Cuttack.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

The knockout stages of the 71st Senior National Kabaddi Championships kicked off with four compelling Round of 16 clashes at Cuttack’s Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, setting up two mouth-watering quarterfinal encounters.

Defending champions Haryana, which was guided by star Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) players like defender Yogesh Kathuniya and raider Ashu Malik were pushed hard by Tamil Nadu in what proved to be the most competitive fixture of the day. Despite Tamil Nadu’s spirited resistance, Haryana’s superior raiding unit helped them secure a 48-41 victory in a high-scoring encounter.

The Naveen Kumar-led Services demonstrated why they remain one of the tournament favourites with a clinical dismantling of Madhya Pradesh.

The servicemen’s disciplined defence and aggressive raiding combination proved too much for Madhya Pradesh to handle, resulting in a commanding 57-22 scoreline.

Punjab, another kabaddi powerhouse, made light work of Bihar with a dominant 47-18 victory. Its experienced squad controlled the proceedings from start to finish, barely allowing Bihar any momentum throughout the match.

Host state Odisha’s campaign came to an end as it fell to Maharashtra 43-26. Despite vocal home support, Maharashtra had guidance from the likes of Akash Shinde, Ajit Chouhan and Pankaj Mohite showed through as they steadily built their lead to secure a comfortable win.

Haryana will face Services, while Maharashtra will look to continue their impressive form against Punjab in the quarterfinal.

-Team Sportstar

BASKETBALL

INBL Pro League: Gujarat Stallions come from behind to beat Delhi Dribblers 81-76

Joshua Duach top scored with 29 points as Gujarat Stallions scored an 81-76 victory over Delhi Dribblers after trailing 34-35 at halftime in the INBL Pro Basketball League at the Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium on Saturday. The teams were locked 57-57 at the end of the third quarter.

It was the sixth win from 10 matches for the Gujarat team and it became the first team to confirm its place in the semifinals with 12 points.

Chennai Heat and Punjab Warriors followed with five wins from nine matches each.

It was a memorable fare from the Punjab team, as it overcame a 20-point deficit at halftime to beat Hyderabad Falcons 76-75 in the first match of the day.

Stokley Chaffee top-scored for the Punjab team with 18 points. Punjab trailed 31-51 at the interval and reduced the gap to seven points at 56-63 at the end of the third quarter, before pulling through in the climax.

Hyderabad Falcons, Mumbai Titans and Delhi Dribblers followed with eight points each, following four wins.

-Kamesh Srinivasan