Indian sports wrap, April 18: Veer, Anahat, Akanksha enter semifinals of Squash World Championship Asia qualifiers

SQUASH

Three Indians make semis of Worlds Asia qualifiers

Indian squash player Veer Chotrani advanced to the semifinals of the World Championship Qualifying Event (Asia) after logging a come-from-behind win over home favourite Mohammad Syafiq Kamal on Friday.

The second seeded Chotrani prevailed 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 against his sixth-seeded opponent to make the last-four stage.

The 17-year-old Anahat Singh, seeded fifth, produced a dominant display, defeating Japan’s Akari Midorikawa 11-1 11-7 11-5 in the women’s quarterfinals. She will take on eighth-seeded Helen Tang of Hong Kong in the semifinals on Saturday.

Akanksha Salunkhe also made it to the last four after beating Singapore’s Wai Yhann Au Yeong 11-0, 11-3, 11-3. She will meet Hong Kong’s Toby Tse.

However, Tanvi Khanna bowed out of the women’s singles competition after going down 5-11, 6-11, 12-10, 9-11 against Hong Kong’s Helen Tang in a quarterfinal game.

Khanna had upstaged top seed N Ching Cheng of Hong Kong in her previous match.

The winners of the tournament will qualify for the world championships scheduled in Chicago from May 9 to 17.

-PTI

BOXING

India Sends Strong Contingent to Asian U-15, U-17 Boxing Championships in Jordan

India has fielded a 56-member youth boxing squad – 30 U-15 and 26 U-17 pugilists – for the Asian U-15 and U-17 Boxing Championships, which will be held in Amman, Jordan, from April 17 to May 1.

This is the first event organised by Asian Boxing, endorsed by both the Olympic Council of Asia and the newly formed World Boxing.

Standout names in the U-17 boys’ squad include Sahil Duhan and Devansh, who clinched silver and bronze, respectively, at the 2024 Asian Junior Championship, along with Tikam Singh, the SGFI 2024 gold medallist.

On the girls’ side, Samiksha Singh, Anshika, and Khushi Chand were among the medal winners at the 2024 Asian School Boys & Girls Boxing Championships in Al Ain.

The U-15 lineup features Ravi Sihag, a bronze medalist from the Asian School Boys Championship in Al Ain in 2024, as well as the 2024 sub-junior national girls boxing champion (64-67 kg), Trushna Mohite.

The team, accompanied by coaching staff and officials, travelled to Amman on April 17, with preliminaries beginning on April 19 following the draw on April 18.

-Team Sportstar

GOLF

Tapendra wins Calance Open

Tapendra Ghai endured the tense moments in the climax to clinch the title with a one-shot margin following a par-70 in the fourth round of the Rs. 1 crore Calance Open at the Qutab Golf Course on Friday.

The 29-year-old Tapendra had an overall score of 17-under 263 in clinching his second title on the PGTI tour after the one in 2018. He pocketed Rs. 15 lakh as the champion’s purse.

“It feels great to win after six years. I would like to thank my coach Ricky Jaswal for his support and guidance,” said Tapendra, who had three birdies and three bogeys in the final round.

Champion Tapendra Ghai receives the trophy from Amit Govil, Chairman, Calance Group (right) and Vijay Singh, Vice Chairman, DDA.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

“It was a day when birdies were not easy. The par saves kept me in the game. I sank a couple of 15-footers for pars that gave me the confidence to get the job done,” he said.

Honey Baisoya had a chance to force the play-off, but missed a birdie putt narrowly on the 18th. He won 7,99,900 for finishing joint second with Arjun Prasad who had the best card of the day at eight-under 62.

Kshitij Naveed Kaul who had set the course record of 60, had a fourth round of six-under 64 that placed him joint fourth and fetched him a prize of Rs.4,99,800.

Yash Majmudar had a second straight 63, and was joint fifth with Yuvraj Sandhu and Pukhraj Singh Gill. The trio collected Rs. 3,49,967 each.

The Chairman of Calance Group, Amit Govil and the Vice Chairman of DDA, Vijay Singh, presented the trophy.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

Shubhankar Sharma fails to make cut at China Open despite improvement

Shubhankar Sharma bounced back from an 82 in the first round with a fine 69 in the second but failed to make the cut at the Volvo China Open 2025.

Sharma, who started the second round from the tenth, had a bogey on the 12th but birdied the 14th and the 18th to be 1-under at the turn.

On the second nine he had four birdies, a bogey and a double bogey on ninth for a 69 at the Enhance Anting Golf Club.

Despite improving his score by 13 shots as compared to the first day, Sharma could not make the cut for the first time after the Magical Kenya Open nearly two months back.

In these two months, Shubhankar played four events including the Hero Indian Open 2025 and made the cut in all of them.

– PTI

Tennis

AITA announces teams for Asian under-12 Tennis Championship

The All India Tennis Association (AITA) has announced an eight-member Indian team for the Asian under-12 tennis championship to be played in Islamabad, Pakistan, from May 26 to 30.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

Tennis

Niki Poonacha enters quarterfinals

Niki Poonacha in partnership with Sergio Gornes of Spain beat Francisco Rocha and Henrique Rocha 6-2 6-4 in the doubles quarterfinals of the €181,250 Challenger tennis tournament in Oeiras, Portugal.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

CHESS

Koneru, Divya joint-second after FIDE Women’s Grand Prix fifth round

Zhu Jiner maintained her sole lead at the end of the fifth round of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix Chess at Amanora-The Fern, Pune, on Friday. The Indian duo of Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh are following her in joint second position just half-a-point behind.

On a day where there was just one decisive result — R. Vaishali scored a much needed win against Munguntuul Batkhuyag of Mongolia — top-seeded Humpy drew with fellow Telugu D. Harika, while the second seeded Zhu split the point with Nurgyul Salimova of Bulgaria.

With four rounds remaining, Zhu is on four points, while Humpy and Divya are on 3.5. Saturday is a rest day.

– P. K. Ajith Kumar

INDIAN FOOTBALL

IWL: East Bengal finishes title-winning season with win against Gokulam Kerala

East Bengal FC’s first-half blitz was enough to beat Gokulam Kerala FC 3-0 in IWL 2024-25 at the East Bengal ground on Friday.

East Bengal was already sure to be champion before a ball had been kicked, but the result meant it beat every team in the league en route to the title. All three goals were scored in the first half.

Elshaddai Acheampong (27’, 37’) got the Red and Golds’ party rolling with two goals, before Soumya Guguloth (42’) added one minutes ahead of the half-time whistle.

In the other game on the final matchday of the season, Nita FA held Kickstart FC to a thrilling 4-4 draw at the Capital Football Arena thanks to a spirited second-half comeback. Kickstart led 4-1 at half-time.

Having already secured safety from relegation — courtesy Odisha FC’s defeat in their final match — Nita FA played without the weight of pressure and ended the season in sixth place with 14 points from as many matches. Meanwhile, Kickstart FC, which looked to finish on a high, wrapped up its season in fourth place with 18 points from the same number of games.

– Team Sportstar