Indian sports wrap, April 4: Talwar wins Adani Invitational; Sports Minister announces more Khelo Games

GOLF

Saptak Talwar clinches Adani Invitational Golf Championship

Local resident Saptak Talwar came up with a flawless fourth-round score of five-under 67 to win his maiden title with an overall 13-under 275 in the Rs.1.5 crore Adani Invitational Golf Championship at the Jaypee Greens Golf and Spa Resort on Friday.

The 26-year-old Saptak had started the tournament with a similar five-under 67 but had slipped behind joint leaders Yuvraj Sandhu and Arjun Prasad over the next two rounds.

Eventually, Saptak beat Arjun by one stroke, while Yuvraj placed third with an 11-under 277.

Understandably familiar with the course, Saptak delivered a gritty performance, converting five birdies and saving par on the 16th for a bogey-free card. He did miss an eagle putt from five feet on the 12th but was quite proud of his overall execution.

“It is great to win at my home course in the presence of my family and friends. This is my fifth straight week of competition, and my endurance was my biggest asset this week. I knew I would get my opportunities and stay patient. The eight-feet par putt on the 16th was pivotal, as it helped to keep my card clean and gave me the confidence to finish well,” said Saptak, who collected the winner’s purse of Rs.22,50.000

Arjun also had five birdies, but had three bogeys as well, as he wound up with two-under 70. His second-place finish was worth Rs.15,00,000.

Two-time winner this season, Yuvraj had five birdies, but had to endure a double bogey and two bogeys for a one-under 71. He collected Rs.8,99,700.

Sri Lankan N Thangaraja had a hole-in-one on the 14th. He finished joint 17th at two-under 286, to collect Rs.2,04.300.

Saptak rose to fourth in the PGTI Order of Merit, as he took his winnings to Rs.38,70,423 for the season so far.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

Pranavi T-4 with five holes still to play in Rd 1 of Joburg Open

India’s Pranavi Urs was in fine form at 5-under through 13 holes before play was suspended in the opening round of the Joburg Ladies Open due to a flooded course at the Modderfontein Golf Club here.

When play was suspended, eight groups were yet to complete their rounds and will resume on Friday. Pranavi, tied for fourth with five holes remaining, is among them.

England’s Mimi Rhodes was able to finish 18 holes and continue her dream start in her rookie season, to lead with a round of 65 (-8) on the Par-73 course.

Pranavi, a former winner on her home Tour, started with a bogey on the Par-5 tenth but then recovered quickly with five birdies on the remaining eight holes on the back nine. She added one more on the second.

Apart from Pranavi, the other Indians had completed their round with Diksha Dagar (71) at T-21. Avani Prashanth and Tvesa Malik had a rough day with 4-over 77 each and were T-107th and will need a low second round to make the cut.

-PTI

KHELO INDIA GAMES

Sports Minister Mandaviya announces 14 different types of Khelo India Games

The seventh edition of the Khelo India Youth Games will be staged in five cities of Bihar from May 4 to 15.

Quite excited about Khelo India Games shaping into a strong foundation of Indian sports, the Union Sports Minister, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, said that there would be 14 different types of Khelo India Games through the season.

Interacting with the media on Friday, the Minister said that there would be Khelo India Tribal Games, beach games, martial arts games, water games etc.

There could be permanent venues for some of the Khelo India Games, with a full fledged calendar in place, to help everyone prepare well and plan their logistics.

With the digitisation of all data with regard to the athletes, their performances, the Minister stressed that there would be a large pool of several thousand athletes who would further be trained in world class facilities to help them meet international standards.

“Instead of sending our athletes abroad, which is basically done to get the sports science support, we will train our athletes at home with the best experts. Already there are such institutes in the country,” said the Minister, emphasising the importance of having a number of such centres across the country to tune the athletes on a regular basis, in different disciplines.

With the corporate sector being identified to support one game each, the government is confident that it would lead to professional management of sports, ensuring transparency, accountability and efficient governance of sports by the various national sports federations.

The minister felt that there was no dearth of sports power in the country, and that what was required was a robust system to channelise the resources going through a supply line and getting converted into impressive output, in terms of international medals.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

TENNIS

India ends Asia-Oceania World Junior group stage with win

India beat host Malaysia 3-0 to finish third in group-B in the Asia-Oceania World Junior Tennis under-14 girls championship in Kuching, Malaysia, on Friday.

India will play Uzbekistan in the first of the play-off matches to decide the 9th to 16th places.

Korea and Japan had qualified for the quarterfinals from India’s group. China, Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, New Zealand and Kazakhstan were the other teams to make the quarterfinals.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

Ribhav, Akshita clinch Asian U-16 titles

Ribhav Saroha beat Om Patel 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the boys final of the Asian Under-16 tennis tournament at the Joygaon Academy on Friday.

It was a double crown for Ribhav, who had earlier won the doubles title with Lakshya Chukka.

Akshita Antil beat Deepthi Venkatesan 7-6(10), 6-1 to clinch the girls title.

Akshita did not drop a set in the whole tournament, and conceded only 27 games in five rounds.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

Saketh, Ramkumar lose quarterfinals

Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanthan were beaten 7-5, 6-7(2), [10-4] by Daniel Cukierman and Joshua Paris in the doubles quarterfinals of the €145,250 Challenger tennis tournament in Menorca, Spain.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

India starts training for Billie Jean King Asia-Oceania tournament

The Indian team has assembled and started training for the Billie Jean King Cup Asia-Oceania women’s tennis tournament to be played at the Balewadi Stadium from April 8 to 12.

“Our most important task this week is to make sure our players are healthy, fit and sharp on court,” said the captain of the team, Vishal Uppal.

Ankita Raina, Sahaja Yamalapalli, Shrivalli Bhamidipaty, Vaidehi Chaudhari and Prarthana Thombare will try to help India win one of the two qualification spots from the competition. Teen sensation Maaya Rajeshwaran, who made the semifinals of the WTA event in Mumbai recently, has been kept as the reserve.

The tournament will be played on a league format. New Zealand, Taiwan, Korea, Thailand and Hong Kong will be the other teams in fray.

India fought till the last rubber in the event last year and narrowly missed the qualification spot, as it placed third behind China and Korea.

Meanwhile, Suhana was announced as the sponsor for the Indian team.

“We feel proud to be associated with the Indian women’s team for the Billie Jean King Cup,” said the Chairman of Suhana, Rajkumar Chordia.

The Tournament Director Sunder Iyer said that the best arrangements were being made for the event, and that entry for the fans would be free.

– Kamesh Srinivasan