Indian sports wrap, April 17: All Indians in action make quarterfinals of Squash World Championship Asia qualifiers

SQUASH

Tanvi Khanna, Anahat Singh in quarterfinals

Indian squash player Tanvi Khanna caused a major upset, defeating top seed N Ching Cheng of Hong Kong in the opening round of the World Championship Qualifying Event (Asia) in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

Tanvi, ranked 134th in the world defeated the Hong Kong player, ranked 76th, 3-1 (11-7 11-8 8-11 12-10) to book a place in the quarterfinals .She will take on Helen Tang of Hong Kong (World rank 97) in the last-eight.

In another opening round match, leading India player Anahat Singh (No. 63) easily defeated Philippines’ lower-ranked Jemyca Aribado (No. 126) 3-0 (11-4 11-5 11-7). Anahat will take on Japanese opponent Akari Midorikawa in the quarterfinals.

Second seeded Akanksha Salunkhe (No. 70) overcame Japan’s lower-ranked Risa Sugimoto 3-0 (11-4 11-3 11-8) to set up a quarterfinal clash against sixth seed Wai Yhann Au Yeong of Singapore.

In men’s competition, Veer Chotrani, ranked 63rd in the world, defeated lower-ranked Malaysian rival Ong Sai Hung 3-0 (11-7 11-8 14-12) to enter the quarterfinal. He will meet another Malaysian Mohammad Syafiq Kamal in the last-eight.

– PTI

GOLF

Tapendra takes four-shot lead in Calance Open

Tapendra Ghai shot the best score of the third round, an eight-under 62, to take a four-shot lead at 17-under 193 in the Rs. 1 crore Calance Open at the Qutab Golf Course on Thursday.

The 29-year-old Tapendra had nine birdies and a bogey on the 14th. It was a great recovery for Tapendra who had a joint lead in the first round with six-under 64, on the par-70 course.

“I started well with singles putts on the first eight holes. I also managed to close it out with birdies on the last three. I made a lot more putts than in the first round,” said Tapendra, who had spent three years on the course as a junior before it was re-designed.

Honey Baisoya, Pukhran Singh Gill and Yuvraj Sandhu were joint second at 13-under 193, following scores of 65, 66 and 67 respectively in the third round.

The overnight leader, Kshitij Naveed Kaul, who had shot a course record 10-under 60 in the second round, had a tough time, and returned a card of three-over 73 that put him joint 10th with Gaurav Pratap Singh. The latter shot identical 67 in all three rounds.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

TENNIS

Bopanna-Shelton knocked out of Bavarian International

The men’s singles pair of Rohan Bopanna and Ben Shelton was beaten 6-4, 7-5 in the doubles quarterfinals by Sander Gille and Jan Zielinski in the Bavarian International Tennis Championships in Munich, Germany, on Thursday.

The Indo-American pair collected 90 ATP points and 20,720 euros.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

MORE SPORTS

Junior sports minister Khadse inaugurates indoor kabaddi hall at SAI Bengaluru

Minister of State for Sports Raksha Khadse on Thursday inaugurated the newly-constructed indoor kabaddi hall at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Bengaluru campus.

The minister was on a two-day visit to the SAI Centre to gain first-hand insights into the implementation of government schemes at the grassroots level.
| Photo Credit:
R. V. Moorthy/The Hindu

Khadse held extensive interactions with foreign coaches of various disciplines, including Dragan (volleyball), Ronald (race walking), Claudio (middle and long-distance running), and discussed their training methodologies, international best practices, and the adaptability of their expertise to Indian athletes.

She also held discussions with Indian coaches and former athletes like Sahana Kumari and Ashwini Akkunji and sprint coach Harish.

The minister was on a two-day visit to the SAI Centre to gain first-hand insights into the implementation of government schemes at the grassroots level.

She also joined a dinner hosted for elite athletes, including Olympians, Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand awardees and members of the senior women’s hockey team, athletics and para-athletics squads.

-PTI

CHESS

Zhu maintains sole lead after Round 4

China’s Zhu Jiner maintained her sole lead at the end of the fourth round of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix Women’s Chess at Amanora-The Fern, Pune, on Thursday.

The second seed defeated Alina Kashlinskaya of Poland to move to 3.5 points.

Top seed Koneru Humpy, who defeated Russian Polina Shuvalova, is in the joint second place with three points, along with fellow-Indian Divya Deshmukh.

The win against Salome Melia was the third in four games for Divya, who had lost in the previous round. In another all-Indian affair, D. Harika and R. Vaishali played out a draw, the only one of the day.

Five rounds remain.

-P. K. Ajith Kumar

ATHLETICS

Indians add two bronze medals on 3rd day of Asian U-18 Athletics C‘ship

India picked up a bronze medal each through discus thrower Lakshita Mahlawat and 100m hurdler Shourya Ambure on the third day of the Asian Under-18 Athletics Championship in Dammam, Saudi Arabia on Thursday.

Lakshita produced an effort of 41.30m to win the bronze in U-18 girls’ discus throw event. China’s Ma Chenyi (53.81m) and Zhao Anqi (47.89m) took the gold and silver respectively.

Shourya added another bronze in U-18 girls’ 100m hurdles, clocking 13.80 seconds. China’s Bao Yinyin (13.71) and He Yihui (13.76) won the gold and silver respectively.

On Wednesday, Nitin Gupta (boys 5000m race walk), Tannu (girls 400m) won a silver medal each, while Nishchay (boys discus throw) and Aarti (girls 100m) clinched bronze apiece.

– PTI