Indian sports wrap, March 14: Rough start for Diksha Dagar and Co. in Australian Women’s Classic opening round

GOLF

Rough start for Indian trio in Australian Women’s Classic

The Indian trio of rookie Avani Prashanth, Pranavi Urs and Diksha Dagar endured a tough day in the opening round of the 2025 Australian Women’s Classic in Coffs Harbour on Friday.

Prashanth, with 2-over 72 was the best placed at tied 55th, while Pranavi (73) and Diksha (74) were further behind in tied 79th and tied 88th. They were also hit by a lack of any practice rounds at a course which took a beating because of a cyclone.

Avani, a multiple winner on the Hero Women’s Pro Tour, while being an amateur, has now turned pro, and in her first event as a pro in Morocco, she was T-16. She had two bogeys and no birdies on the Par-70 course.

Pranavi, who missed the cut in her first event of 2025 in Saudi Arabia, had two birdies against five bogeys, while Diksha, who was the runner-up in Morocco, had just one birdie against five bogeys in her 74.

– PTI

Lahiri tied 25th as Johnson leads in Liv Singapore

India’s Anirban Lahiri was placed tied 25th after shooting 1-under 70 as American Dustin Johnson roared back to form with a bogey-free 63 to lead LIV Golf Singapore by three shots at the Sentosa Golf Club on Friday.

Lahiri had four birdies against three bogeys.

– PTI

Berry breaks course record to emerge joint leader in Kolkata Challenge

Nineteen-year-old English golfer Joshua Berry fired an amazing 62 to break the course record and emerge as the joint leader with Om Prakash Chouhan with a total of 10-under 134 after the second round of the $300,000 Kolkata Challenge at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) here on Friday.

Berry’s error-free performance lifted him 53 spots from his overnight 54th position. Chouhan’s four-under 68 saw him make a late surge and retain his shared lead.

Dhruv Sheoran returned a 71 to be the second Indian in the top-10. He occupied the tied-eighth place at six-under 138. Local favourite S.S.P. Chawrasia was tied-13th at 139 after carding 72.

– Y. B. Sarangi

TENNIS

Sriram Balaji in quarterfinals of Cap Cana Challenger

Sriram Balaji in partnership with Miguel Reyes-Varela of Mexico beat Tristan Boyer and Govind Nanda of USA 6-1, 6-3 in the doubles pre-quarterfinals of the $250,000 Challenger tennis tournament in Cap Cana, Dominican Republic.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

Diya sets final date against top seed Aishwarya in ITF junior

Second seed Diya Ramesh overcame an indifferent start to beat Aakruti Sonkusare 0-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the girls semifinals of the ITF junior tennis tournament at the Tennis Project, Baliyawas, on Friday.

In the final, Diya will challenge the top seed Aishwarya Jadhav.

Diya won the doubles title with Sohini Mohanty, beating Nainika Bendram and Aishwarya in straight sets.

In the boys event, the top two seeds Sehaj Singh Pawar and Aarjun Pandit set up a title clash.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

Ishaque beats Karan to make semis in ITF tourney

Ishaque Eqbal survived six match points to beat second seed Karan Singh 6-7(4), 7-6(8), 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the $15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex on Friday.

In a battle of wits that lasted three hours, Karan served 14 aces. However, it was Ishaque’s serving prowess that passed scrutiny as he wriggled out of the clutches of defeat while facing three match points at 0-40 in the tenth game of the second set.

Eqbal, who fired 11 aces himself, saved three more match points in the second set tie-break.

In the decider, Ishaque broke Karan’s serve decisively in the fourth game and held on to the advantage. While Ishaquel converted two of nine break points, Karan managed to win only one of seven break points.

In the semifinals, Ishaque will play third seed Woobin Shin of Korea.

Nitin Kumar Sinha went down fighting to Stefan Vujic of Australia in another battle of attrition in three hours and 43 minutes. The Aussie will play top seed Jay Clarke in the semifinals.

– Kamesh Srinivasan