GOLF
Gill, Ghai, Baisoya share first-round lead at Calance Open
Pukhraj Singh Gill of Ludhiana was in joint lead with Tapendra Ghai and Honey Baisoya with a six-under 64 on the opening day of the Rs.1 crore Calance Open at the Qutab Golf Course on Tuesday.
After an early bogey, Pukhraj had seven birdies to go six-under on the par-70 course, which is hosting a PGTI event after 15 years.
“I had played on this course as a junior. It has changed a lot and poses more challenges now. The fairways are narrow and it is a risk-reward course,” said Pukhraj.
Honey had a bogey-free round while Tapendra had eight birdies and two bogeys.
While Chandigarh-based 15-year-old Neil Jolly shot 68 to be the highest-placed amateur at tied 23rd, the champion of the last tournament Sachin Baisoya shot three-over 73 and was tied 95th.
The leading scores:
1 T. Pukhraj Singh Gill, Tapendra Ghai, Honey Baisoya (64); 4 T. Kapil Kumar, Shankar Das, Karandeep Kocchhar, Yuvraj Sandhu, Badal Hossain (65); 9 T. Ravi Kumar, K Prabagaran (66); 11 T. Shivendra Sisodia, Kartik Sharma, Varun Parikh, Dhruv Sheoran, Aniket Sawant, Abhinav Lohan, Akshay Neranjen, Arjun Prasad, Md. Solayeman, Gaurav Pratap Singh, Bikramjit Singh Sandhu, R Mari Muthu (67).
-Kamesh Srinivasan
ATHLETICS
Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad named ambassador for TCS World 10K Bengaluru
Dalilah Muhammad, the 2016 Rio Olympics gold medallist in women’s 400m hurdles, has been named the International Event Ambassador for the 17th edition of the TCS World 10K Bengaluru, scheduled to be held on April 27.
The American, considered one of the best quarter-milers the sport has seen, also secured the silver at Tokyo 2020, behind Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. She was part of the famed American 4x400m relay team – comprising the legendary Allyson Felix – that won gold in Tokyo.
The 35-year-old, who has multiple World Championship titles to her name, made history at the 2019 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, breaking the 400m hurdles world record with a time of 52.20s, bettering Yuliya Pechonkina’s 52.34s set in 2003. Muhammad further improved it to 52.16s at the World Championships in Doha later that year.
-Team Sportstar
TENNIS
Aryan loses in first round of Ivory Coast $60,000 challenger
Fifth seed Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania beat Aryan Shah 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the first round of the $60,000 Challenger tennis tournament in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on Tuesday.
The results:
$60,000 Challenger, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Singles (first round): Ricardas Berankis (Ltu) bt Aryan Shah 3-6, 6-2,
6-4; Michael Geerts (Bel) bt Adil Kalyanpur 6-1, 6-3.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
CHESS
FIDE Women’s Grand Prix Pune: Divya Deshmukh, Zhu Jiner take early lead after second round
Divya Deshmukh and second seed Zhu Jiner of China took an early lead in the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix Chess at Amanora-The Fern, Pune, on Tuesday.
The seventh-seeded Divya defeated fellow-Indian R. Vaishali, seeded sixth, in the second round. Zhu had to wait longer for her victory against Mongolia’s Mungutuul Batkhuyag.
Russia’s Polina Shuvalova, who drew with Nurgyul Salimova of Bulgaria, is in second place with 1.5 points. Top seed Koneru Humpy, who was held to a draw by Salome Milia of Georgia, is on one point.
Vaishali and D. Harika are on half-a-point. Seven rounds remain.
The results (second round):
Salome Milia (Geo) 0.5 drew with Koneru Humpy 1; Divya Deshmukh 2 bt R. Vaishali 0.5; Polina Shuvalova (Rus) 1.5 drew with Nurgyul Salimova (Bul) 0.5; D. Harika 0.5 drew with Alina Kashlinskaya (Pol); Mungutuul Batkhuyag (Mng) 1 lost to Zhu Jiner (Chn) 2.
Third-round pairing: Zhu v Melia; Kashlinskaya v Batkhuyag; Salimova v Harika; Vaishali v Shuvalova; Humpy v Divya.
– Team Sportstar
MOTORSPORT
Rivaan Dev Preetham finishes P11 in second round of Champions of the Future Academy
Rivaan Dev Preetham finished P11 in the second round of the Champions of the Future Academy Programme.
The 11-year-old, the only Indian to have won a race in the history of FIA Motorsport Games, logged a poor qualifying time due to a strategy that did not work.
He qualified fifth among 37 competitors from around the world and finished P5 in the second heat. He went on to post another top-15 result, finishing 11th in the second final and garnering 22 points.
Rivaan clocked a best lap of 1 minute and 02.442 seconds.
-PTI
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com