EQUESTRIAN
Junior National Equestrian C’ship: Lakdawala triumphs in Young Rider showjumping
Chennai’s Ali Hatim Lakdawala, riding Leonardo Van Holli, clocked an impressive 33.31 seconds to clinch the Young Rider Showjumping champion title at the Junior National Equestrian Championship here.
Siddhant Jaiswal, Jaiveer Verma, and Geethika Tikkisetty secured first place with a cumulative score of 178.22 in the Young Rider (age group 18-21) team dressage event at the Army Polo & Riding Club.
Lakdawala edged past AEF Cup CSIY-B silver medallist E Surya Aditya, astride Calimero (37.22 seconds), while AEF Cup CSIJ-B silver medallist Geethika Tikkisetty, riding Brogonenn Saint Paer, secured third place with a time of 40.93 seconds in the show jumping category.
In the Children, I (age group 12-14) team dressage event, the quartet of Inaara Mehta Luthria, Ananya Sajit Haridas, Subh Chowdhari, and Pranav Deepak emerged victorious with 226.18 points.
Divyaraj Singh Rathore, Jaiwant Nawle, Aradhy Singh Chouhan and Sresh Raju Mantena (210.24 points) secured the silver medal, while Puneet Jhakhar, Swara Tihrani, Zara Swittens, and Agastya Sharma (206.26 points) finished third.
The tent pegging event had Dhoni Om Chand, riding Mrignani, take first place in the lance category with 51.5 points, winning the tie-breaker against Mohammad Alhamad Chishty astride Rani. Sahil (Candy) finished third with 47.5 points.
-PTI
CRICKET
Players observe a minute’s silence in memory of former Ranji player Suvojit Banerjee
Players of First Division clubs mourned the death of former Ranji Trophy player Suvojit Banerjee, 39, and observed a minute’s silence before the start of the matches at different venues in Kolkata on Tuesday.
Banerjee, who passed away on Monday, made his debut for Bengal in a Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Odisha in November 2014. He played three Ranji Trophy and four List-A matches and captained East Bengal.
-Team Sportstar
BASKETBALL
SRM University wins South Zone inter-university women’s championship
SRM University, winner of the South Zone inter-university women’s championship held at the Assumption College in Changanassery
| Photo Credit:
STAN RAYAN
SRM University, winner of the South Zone inter-university women’s championship held at the Assumption College in Changanassery
| Photo Credit:
STAN RAYAN
A. Nitika and S. Harithra consistently came up with impressive performances as Chennai’s SRM University won the South Zone inter-university women’s basketball championship at the Assumption College in Changanassery on Tuesday.
SRM finished with an all-win record in the four-team league phase and emerged champion while the host Mahatma Gandhi University (Kottayam) finished runner-up with two wins. SRM’s Nitika and Harithra led the scoring in all three league matches. Calicut (one win) was third and Bengaluru’s Christ was fourth.
All the four teams qualified for the all-India varsities championship which will be held at Kurukshetra later.
RESULTS (Semifinal league)
SRM, Chennai 65 (A. Nitika 23, S. Harithra 18) bt Calicut 62 (Lakshmi Raj 16, Ashlin Shiju 14); SRM 80 (Nitika 26, Harithra 25, Sona Resalin 10) bt MG, Kottayam 71 (Irin Elsa John 25, Akshaya Philip 16, Chinnu Koshy 13, Sandra Francis 12 ); SRM 63 (Harithra 23, Nitika 18) bt Christ, Bengaluru 57 (Gunjan Nikhil Mantri 14, Prathibha Shetty 10).
MG 77 (Akshaya Philip 17, Irin Elsa John 13, E.S. Anakamol 11, S.S. Krishna Priya 10) bt Calicut 45 (Aleena Jaison 11). MG, Kottayam 41 bt Christ 25; Calicut 31 (Aleena Jaison 11) bt Christ 25.
-Stan Rayan
TENNIS
ITF Women, Ahmedabad: Humera, Maaya reach second round
Humera Baharmus beat sixth seed Tanisha Kashyap 2-6, 6-0, 6-3 in the first round of the $15,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the Ace Academy in Palodiya, Ahmedabad, on Tuesday.
In the pre-quarterfinals, Humera will play Jizel Fernandes of Britain.
Maaya Rajeshwaran beat wild card Khushali Modi 6-2, 6-3 to set up a second-round match against eighth seed Anri Nagata of Japan. Maya also made the doubles quarterfinals with Lakshmi Prabha.
RESULTS
Singles (first round): Ekaterina Yashina bt Prathyusha Rachapudi 6-3, 6-0; Paavanii Paathak bt Nidhitra Rajmohan 6-3, 6-3; Soha Sadiq bt Kashish Bhatia 4-0 (retired); Akanksha Nitture bt Priyanshi Bhandari 6-2, 6-2; Honoka Kobayashi (Jpn) bt Yashaswini Panwar 7-5, 6-0; Anjali Rathi bt Chevika Sama 6-2, 5-7, 6-1; Valeria Monko bt Madhurima Sawant 6-1, 6-2; Elena Jamshidi (Den) bt Abhilasha Bista (Nep) 6-0, 6-1; Anri Nagata (Jpn) bt Sahira Singh 6-2, 6-2; Maaya Rajeshwaran bt Khushali Modi 6-2, 6-3; Lakshmi Prabha bt Sonal Patil 1-6, 6-3, 6-1; Vaishnavi Adkar bt Priyanka Rana (USA) 6-1, 6-0; Humera Baharmus bt Tanisha Kashyap 2-6, 6-0, 6-3; Jizel Fernandes (GBR) bt Maria Mikhailova 6-2, 6-2; Pooja Ingale bt Mirudhula Palanivel 6-2, 6-2; Zeel Desai bt Saumya Ronde 6-2, 6-0.
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Lakshmi Prabha & Maaya Rajeshwaran bt Humera Baharmus & Diva Bhatia 7-6(2), 6-3; Vaishnavi Adkar & Pooja Ingale bt Abhaya Vemuri & Apurva Vemuri 6-4, 7-6(5)
-Team Sportstar
MOTORSPORT
Hero MotoSports names Cornejo as new rider, reveals 3-member side for Dakar
Hero MotoSports Team Rally on Tuesday named young Chilean rider Nacho Cornejo as its new recruit, while announcing a three-member team for the Dakar Rally 2025.
Cornejo will team up with Sebastian Buhler and 2024 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) winner Ross Branch.
This will be the team’s ninth appearance in the world’s toughest race, scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia from January 3 to 17.
It was a memorable 2024 for the young team as it secured an overall second finish.
In the 12-stage 2024 edition, Branch led the race for four days and remained in second spot for eight days, eventually finishing second overall, making Hero MotoCorp the first Indian manufacturer team to make it to the Dakar podium.
For Botswana’s Branch, this will be his third Dakar outing with the team.
Buhler, a German living in Portugal, has given consistent performances this year, marking his biggest achievement by securing his first FIM World Championship race podium at Rally Raid Portugal, where he finished second overall.
At the 2024 Dakar Rally, Buhler came close to winning his first Dakar stage.
Young Chilean rider Cornejo boasts of an impressive Dakar record, including a fourth-place finish in 2020 and nine stage wins.
The 47th Dakar Rally will kick off in Bisha, featuring a prologue and 12 stages spanning 7,700 km across the vast desert. For the first time, five stages will have separate courses for FIM and FIA vehicles, covering 45 per cent of the timed distance.
Dakar 2025 will also be the opening race of the fourth edition of the World Rally Raid Championship (W2RC).
Hero MotoSports is a Rally GP-class participant at the W2RC 2025 and will attend its five rounds starting with the Dakar, followed by the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge (February), South African Safari Rally (May), BP Ultimate Rally Raid in Portugal (September), and finally closing the season with the Rallye du Maroc (October).
“2024 has been an incredible year for us. Finishing second at Dakar, a first for any Indian manufacturer, and winning the 2024 World Championship has given us a new level of respect and recognition in motorsports,” Wolfgang Fischer, the team manager said.
-PTI
WEIGHTLIFTING
Parv Chaudhary win two bronze medals in Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting C’ships
Parv Chaudhary secured two bronze medals in 96kg category to continue India’s domination at the Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships on Tuesday.
Chaudhary won the medals in clean and jerk and total sections. He had a total lift of 303 kg.
India thus won a 12 medals in total, including three gold, four silver and five bronze. Besides, there were 8 medals in snatch and 10 medals in clean and jerk sections.
Medals are awarded separately for snatch, clean and jerk, and total lift in continental, World Cups and World Championships.
-PTI
ARCHERY
Dola and Rahul Banerjee signs MoU with KIIT University
International archers Dola Banerjee and her brother Rahul Banerjee on Tuesday signed an MoU with the KIIT University, in the presence of the University’s founder Dr. Achyuta Samanta, to upgrade KIIT’s existing archery facility in Bhubaneswar to a centre of excellence.
Grassroots outreach, holistic development of archers, expert coaching and world class facilities are the highlights of this initiative which targets to produce archers for elite events such as the World University Games and the Olympics.
-Y.B. Sarangi
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com