GOLF
Aditi lies seventh at halfway mark in Evian Championship
Aditi Ashok stayed in the top-10 with a solid round of two-under 69 to be tied seventh at half way mark at The Amundi Evian Championship at Aix-Les-Bains.
Aditi, who has never had a top-10 finish in her previous 34 Major starts, with rounds of 67-69 at the Par-71 Evian Resort Golf Club now lies four shots behind the leader, South Korea’s Somi Lee (67-65), who is 10 under par.
Aditi started from the tenth and two birdies and one bogey on either side of the course. She birdied the 11th, 17th, second and the seventh and dropped shots on the 14th and the sixth.
Aditi’s best showing in a Major came at the 2024 Evian, when she was Tied-17th. This is her 19th cut in 35 Major starts, the most by any Indian golfer, male or female.
After 36 holes of action at Evian Resort Golf Club, 74 players made the cut which fell at two-over par.
– PTI
SHOOTING
Neeru Dhanda finishes fourth
Neeru Dhanda was unlucky to miss a medal after a brave effort in women’s trap when she placed fourth in the Shotgun World Cup in Lonato, Italy, on Saturday.
Neeru shot 115, and qualified in the sixth place by beating Alessia Iezzi of Italy 2-1 in the shoot-off.
After 35 birds in the final, Neeru was tied in the second place with 30 along with the eventual silver and bronze medallists Silvana Stanco of Italy and Lada Denisova, but got eliminated owing to her sixth place in qualification. It was a very creditable effort in a strong field of 101 shooters.
Silvana had topped qualification and Denisova was fifth in qualification.
Preeti Rajak did well to shoot 25 in the fifth round and placed eighth, missing qualification by one point.
In the men’s event, Zoravar Singh Sandhu shot 121, following 24 in the last round. With five shooters vying for the last two berths in the final with that score, Zoravar lost early in the shoot-off.
Jaswinder Singh and Lakshay Sheoran shot identical 116 and placed 53rd and 59th respectively. In the RPO section, National champion Shardul Vihan shot 116 and Yugan Muthukumaar 106.
The results:
Trap: Women: 1. Laetisha Scanlan (Aus) 45 (120); 2. Silvana Stanco (Ita) 43 (121); 3. Lada Denisova (AIN) 34 (116); 4. Neeru Dhanda 30 (115); 8. Preeti Rajak 114; 76. Pragati Dubey 100; RPO: Aashima Ahlawat 114; Nilaa Rajaa Baalu 97.
– Kamesh Srinivasan
FUTSAL
AIFF Futsal Club Championship to kick off on August 3 in Rudrapur
The AIFF Futsal Club Championship will be held from August 3 to 18 at the Shri Manoj Sarkar Stadium in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand.
Seventeen clubs will compete for the trophy in the fourth edition of the tournament.
The teams have been drawn into four groups — three with four teams and one with five. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals.
Uttarakhand side Corbett FC are the defending champions, having defeated Golazo FC 3-2 in the 2023-24 final in Vadodara.
They will aim to retain the title on home soil and become the first club to win the tournament more than once.
Delhi FC won the inaugural edition in 2021-22, followed by Minerva Academy FC in 2022-23.
DRAW
Group A: Aphuyemi FC, Reallona FC, Triumph FC, Juggernaut FC, Minerva Academy FC
Group B: Bhawanipore FC, Thlangtiang Futsal Club, Corbett FC, Golazo FC
Group C: Hazrat Nizamuddin Club, Pondicherry United Football Academy, K3 Futsal Club, Goal Hunterz FC
Group D: TOFA, Ambelim Sports Club, Real Malabar FC Kondotty, OGP Club.
– PTI
TENNIS
Sumit Nagal loses semifinals in Italy
Qualifier Matej Dodig of Croatia stopped the fine run of Sumit Nagal with a 6-3, 6-4 victory in the semifinals of the €145,250 Challenger tennis tournament in Trieste, Italy, on Saturday.
Sumit had also made the cut through the qualifying event and had beaten the top seed Chun-Hsin Tseng of Chinese Taipei in the third set tie-break of the first round. Sumit collected 29 ATP points, including four for qualification, and €7,225.
The results:
$200,000 WTA, Newport, USA Doubles (quarterfinals): Arianne Hartono (Ned) & Prarthana Thombare bt Petra Hule (Aus) & Gabriela Lee (Rou) 5-7, 6-3, [10-7].
$40,000 ITF women, Corroios Seixal, Portugal Doubles (final): Eudice Chong (Hkg) & En Shuo Liang (Tpe) bt Riya Bhatia & Elena Micic (Aus) 6-1, 6-0; Semifinals: Chong & Liang bt Ankita Raina & Alice Robbe (Fra) 6-4, 5-7, [10-5]; Riya & Elena bt Sofia Costoulas (Bel) & Aline Korneeva 6-3, 7-6(2).
€145,250 Challenger, Trieste, Italy Singles (semifinals): Matej Dodig (Cro) bt Sumit Nagal 6-3, 6-4.
€145,250 Challenger, Iasi, Romania Doubles (semifinals): Cleeve Harper (Can) & Ryan Seggerman (USA) bt Siddhant Banthia & Alexander Donski (Bul) 3-6, 7-5, [10-8]; Szymon Kielan & Filip Pieczonka (Pol) bt Arjun Kadhe & Vijay Sundar Prashanth 2-6, 7-6(6), [10-7].
$200,000 Challenger, Newport, USA Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Niki Poonacha & Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan bt Patric Maloney & Tyler Zink (USA) 7-5, 4-6, [10-7].
$30,000 ITF men, Dallas, USA Singles (quarterfinals): Dhakshineswar Suresh bt Leo Vithoontien (Jpn) 6-2, 6-3.
$30,000 ITF men, Bastia Lucciana, France Doubles (semifinals): Prajwal Dev & Nitin Kumar Sinha bt Adan Da Silva & Yanis Durand (Fra) 7-6(4), 6-1.
$15,000 ITF men, Hillcrest, South Africa Doubles (semifinals): Devin Badenhorst (RSA) & Luc Koenig (GBR) bt Aditya Balsekar & Daniil Sarksian (Arm) 6-2, 6-0.
$15,000 ITF men, Monastir, Tunisia Singles (semifinals): Karan Singh bt Joaquin Guilleme (NCA) 6-1, 6-3.
– Team Sportstar
WRESTLING
Indian freestyle wrestlers win five medals at the Asian under-20 championships
Indian freestyle wrestlers won five medals, including two gold, at the Asian under-20 championships in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Saturday. Ankush (57kg) and Amit (79kg) secured gold medals, while Ashwani (65kg) picked up a silver. Sourabh (70kg) and Vishal (97kg) managed bronze medals.
– Team Sportstar
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com