HANDBALL
Asian Women’s Handball Championship: India beats Singapore, eyes best-ever finish
India beat Singapore 35-22 on Sunday at the Asian Women’s Handball Championship (AWHC) 2024 in New Delhi, opening up the opportunity for its best-ever finish at the tournament.
India, which has never finished above sixth in the competition, will face China on December 10 in the 5th/6th place playoff match.
Charged by the backing of their fans, India opened the placement match against Singapore with high energy, leading 9-6 midway through the first half, courtesy of Menika and Bhawana Sharma’s consistent scoring. At the other end, captain Diksha Kumari and goalkeeper Nina Shil–who also saved a penalty and was adjudged Player of the Match–made key saves to keep Singapore at bay. The host maintained its overall dominance on the other side of the interval, securing a comprehensive win.
Speaking on her team’s display in the tournament so far, captain Diksha Kumari said: “Our team has shown incredible spirit and resilience throughout this tournament, whether against Hong Kong, Singapore, Iran, and even Japan. Every match has been a learning experience for us, and we have pushed ourselves to compete with some of the best teams in Asia at our home. Scoring consistently and staying strong defensively, has been our focus, and we’re proud of how we’ve come together as a unit. This journey inspires us to aim higher.”
-Team Sportstar
ATHLETICS
National Junior Athletics Championships: Pole Vaulter Vanshika, race walker Nitin create National records
Haryana’s Vanshika Ghanghas won the gold medal and made national record in the Women’s U20 Pole Vault at the 39th National Junior Athletics Championships at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.
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BISWARANJAN ROUT/THE HINDU
Haryana’s Vanshika Ghanghas won the gold medal and made national record in the Women’s U20 Pole Vault at the 39th National Junior Athletics Championships at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.
| Photo Credit:
BISWARANJAN ROUT/THE HINDU
Pole vaulter Vanshika Ghanghas (under-20) and 5000m race walker Nitin Gupta (under-18) created National records to emerge as the most prominent performers on day two of the National junior athletics championships at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.
Asian youth silver medallist Vanshika, hailing from boxing hub Bhiwani, fell short of her personal best of 3.90m, which got her fourth place in this year’s National inter-state meet, but cornered glory here with 3.76m.
Gupta, from Unnao, sensed a record with two rounds to go and pushed for it towards the end to clock 20:01.64 to rewrite a six-year-old mark. This was his second gold after the one at the National youth championships in June.
Silver and bronze winners Tushar Panwar (20:20.63) and Sachin (20:21.93) respectively also bettered the National mark.
Aarti, who rewrote the National record (44:39.39) in the World junior championships in Lima, lowered the meet record to 47:21.68 while claiming the under-20 women’s 10000m race walk gold.
Haryana girl Pooja, who set the national record of 1.83m in Lima, achieved 1.82m to improve her own meet record in under-18 women’s high jump.
Abhinaya Rajarajan, who had equalled Dutee Chand’s under-18 national mark of 11.62 on Saturday, again went below the meet record with 11.66 in the 100m final.
RESULTS (Winners only)
Under-20: Men: 100m: Dondapatimurty Jayaram (Odi) 10.50; Discus: Ritik (Har) 55.96m; Hammer throw: Paramvir Singh (Pun) 68.03m; Decathlon: Manoj Kumar R. (TN) 6827.
Women: 100m: Sakshi Chavan (Guj) 11.86; 10000m race walk: Aarti (Har) 47:21.68 (NMR, Old, Mansi Negi, 47:30.94, 2022); Long jump: Susmita (Raj) 5.92m; High jump: Rimpal (Pun) 1.66m; Pole vault: Vanshika Ghanghas (Har) 3.76m (NR, Old 3.75m, A. Antony Mangalagiri, 2019); Hammer throw: Anishka Singh (UP) 52.72m.
Under-18: Men: 100m: Aadi Poojary (Mah) 10.736; 5000m race walk: Nitin Gupta (UP) 20:01.64 (NR, Old, 20:23.30 Suraj Panwar, 2018); Discus: Hemant Raghuwanshi (MP) 57.98m.
Women: 100m: Abinaya Rajarajan (TN) 11.66 (NMR, Old, Rashmi Sheregar, 2015); High jump: Pooja (Har) 1.82m (NMR, Old, 1.81m, Pooja, 2023).
Under-16: Boys: 60m: Divyansh Kumar Raj (Bih) 6.99 (NR, 7.06, Mudavath Ganesh, 2024); Long jump: Amritpal Singh (Pun) 4.71m (NR, Old, 4.68m, 2024); Shot put: Nitesh Kumar (Har) 17.42m (NR, Old, 15.31m, Anurag, 2023).
Girls: 60m: Shourya Ambure (Mah) 7.60 (NR, Old, 7.77, V. Vikram, 2024); Shot put: Jamine Kaur (Pun) 13m.
Under-14: Girls: Triathlon: Arthi S.K. (TN) 2802 (NR, Old, 2520, K. Thakor Ahme, 2024).
Saturday’s result: Under-20: Men: 1500m: Sakir (Har) 3:52.76.
– Y.B. Sarangi
MORE SPORTS
Asia Pacific Deaf Games: India finishes fifth with eight gold, 18 silver and 29 bronze
The Indian team finished fifth on the medals table with eight gold, 18 silver and 29 bronze in the 10th Asia Pacific Deaf Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The 55 medals were won by the 68-member contingent that was accompanied by 15 coaches and support staff, apart from eight officials.
Of the eight gold, five were won by athletes Vinth Mani, Sandeep Kumar Swami, and Sameeha Barwin Mujib, apart from the 4 x 100 metres women’s relay and 4 x 400 mixed relay teams.
Two other gold medals were won by Sakshi Haridas and Milanmeet Kaur in judo, and one gold came through Sumit Dahiya in wrestling.
The Indian team also won medals in badminton, chess, table tennis and taekwondo.
Iran topped the medals table with 24 gold, 16 silver and 20 bronze.
The secretary general of the All India Sports Council of the Deaf (AISCD), G Suresh Kumar, expressed gratitude to the Union Sports Ministry for the generous funding to ensure participation of the Indian contingent in the Deaf Games that were being held after a nine-year gap.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
POLO
D’Monde Cup: Arion Achievers beats Jindal Panthers
Chris Mackenzie scored five goals to help Vimal Arion Achievers to a 6-5 victory over Jindal Panther in the final of the D’Monde Cup polo tournament at the Jaipur Polo ground here on Sunday.
Vishwarupe Bajaj was adjudged the ‘most valuable player’.
The results (final): Vimal Arion Achievers 6 (Chris Mackenzie 5, Vishwarupe Bajaj) bt Jindal Panther 5 (Siddhant Sharma 4, Simran Shergill).
-Kamesh Srinivasan
TENNIS
Indian team announced for Rod Laver junior challenge
A four-member team of Samarth Sahita, Aradhya Kshitij, Sohini Mohanty and Rishitha Basireddy led by captain Vikram Anand will represent India in the Asia-Oceania Rod Laver Junior Challenge tennis event to be staged at the Winchester Tennis Arena in Singapore from December 16 to 19.
Each match in the tournament will feature two boys singles, two girls singles, one boys doubles, one girls doubles, and a mixed doubles if needed to break the tie.
The champions of the five continents will compete in the World Wide Finals next year.
The Indian team of Manas Dhamne, Rushil Khosla, Sohini Mohanty and Asmi Adkar had won the world wide final last year in San Diego, California.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
WRESTLING
Haryana proved its powerhouse status in women’s wrestling by winning seven of the eight golds on the concluding day of the Senior National Wrestling Championship at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday.
The pick of the results were that of Priya and Radhika in the 76kg and 68kg categories respectively. Priya, 19, a world U-20 champion in 2023 and an Asian U-23 champion this year, dominated 2024 Paris Olympian and Services wrestler Reetika 10-0.
Radhika, 23, a silver medalist at Asian Championships earlier this year, overcame the challenge of Delhi’s Srishti 7-1.
“I entered the competition with only the gold in mind,” said Radhika, who didn’t drop a single point until the final bout. “So I am very happy to have achieved that. My next target is the 2026 Asian Games,” she added.
The results (women):
53kg: Gold: Jyoti (Har) bt Kavita Mali (Raj) 12-1; Bronze: Swati (Mah) bt Banita Patra (Odi) 2-0, Sushma Shokeen (Del) bt Gopavva Manjunath (Kar) 10-0.
55kg: Gold: Meenakshi (Har) bt Jyoti (Ser) 11-1; Bronze: Bhavika Patel (Guj) bt Jugnu Bhardwaj (Bih) 3-1, Dhanshri (Mah) bt Kirti (Del) 3-3.
57kg: Gold: Tapsya (Har) bt Aashlelsha (Mah) 10-0; Bronze: Neetu (Chd) bt Shalina Siddhi (Kar) 6-6, Hansaben Rathore (MP) bt Anu Kumari (Bih) 2-0.
59kg: Gold: Anjali (Har) bt Tanu (Pun) 10-0; Bronze: Tanvi (Mah) bt Varsha Pandey (MP) 2-0, Manju (Del) bt Anshul (Chd) 12-2.
62kg: Gold: Bhagyashree (Mah) bt Khushi Thakur (HP) 10-0; Bronze: Kalpana (Har) bt Juhi Kumari (Bih) 9-0, Sapna Kumari (Pun) bt Gopi Bakhalakiya (Guj) 18-7.
65kg: Gold: Manisha (Har) bt Monika (Raj) 8-4; Bronze: Jaspreet Kaur (Pun) bt Prinsita Siddi (Kar) 9-0, Shiksha (Del) bt Vaishnavi (Mah) 12-2.
68kg: Gold: Radhika (Har) bt Srishti (Del) 7-1; Bronze: Priyanka (Ser) bt Shivani (Mah) 2-0, Sonika Kumar (HP) bt Leena Siddhi (Kar) 5-0.
76kg: Gold: Priya (Har) bt Reetika (Ser) 10-0; Bronze: Navjot Kaur (Pun) bt Shaik Neha (Tel) 2-0, Amruta (Mah) bt Anjumol Joseph (Ker) 11-3.
– N Sudarshan
CUE SPORTS
Atit Shah retains Kerala billiards title
Defending champion Atit B. Shah of Coronation Club defeated Kottayam YMCA’s V.M. Benny 3-0 and completed a hattrick of triumphs in the Kerala State senior billiards title at the Lotus Club in Kochi on Sunday night.
FILE PHOTO: Atit B. Shah
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Special arrangement
FILE PHOTO: Atit B. Shah
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement
“This was probably one of my easiest finals. And I think this is my seventh or eighth State title,” Atit, a 46-year-old spices businessman from Mattancherry, told The Hindu minutes after the triumph.
“The final did not see any big break…just 30s and 40s.”
The State senior snooker championship is likely to begin later this week.
The results (150-up, best-of-3 frames):
Final: Atit B. Shah (Coronation Club, Mattancherry) bt V.M. Benny (YMCA, Ktm) 3-0 (151-54, 150-41, 150-70).
Semifinals: Atit bt S.A.K. Jailany (KDH, Munnar) 3-0 (151-97, 151-90, 150-131); Benny bt Ashok Mahawar (Coronation) 3-0 (151-89, 150-67, 150-140).
– Stan Rayan
BRIDGE
Asha-Pooja, Vasanti-Gopika top contenders in Ashok Ruia Memorial Winter National Bridge Tournament
The pair of Asha Sharma and Pooja Batra as well as Vasanti Shah and Gopika Tandon secured the top two positions after the initial 22 rounds of qualifying at the Ashok Ruia Memorial Winter National Bridge Tournament, in Pune on Sunday.
The event, which has been organised by Pune Region Bridge Association, is sanctioned by the Bridge Federation of India (BFI) and the Maharashtra Bridge Association (MBA) and has drawn top bridge players from across the country.
The other pairs who have qualified for the final round include Shital Bansal and Sarika Mittal, Alka Kshirsagar and Bharti Dey and Ekta Chadha and Bina Malhotra.
The women’s pairs event will consist of 10 rounds of five deals each, totalling 50 deals. The top 18 pairs will advance to the all-play-all round-robin stage, where the pair with the highest score will be crowned the national champions.
The tournament will also feature mixed pairs, senior team events, and the highly anticipated match-point pairs event.
– PTI
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com