Indian sports wrap, June 9: Narayanan, Deepan, Petrosyan continue winning streaks on Delhi GM Open Day 3

CHESS

Narayanan, Deepan, Petrosyan continue winning streaks on Delhi GM Open Day 3

The third day of the 21st Delhi International Open Grandmasters Chess Tournament 2025 delivered another thrilling chapter at Tivoli Gardens, Chattarpur, as round 4 featured several high-stakes matchups and standout performances from both Indian and international contenders.

India’s top seed GM Narayanan S L led the charge with a solid win over Vietnam’s GM Nguyen Duc Hoa, while GM Diptayan Ghosh, GM Deepan Chakkravarthy, and GM Abhijeet Gupta each registered clinical victories to maintain their momentum.

Among international players, GM Manuel Petrosyan, GM Mihail Nikitenko, GM Mamikon Gharibyan, GM Boris Savchenko, and GM Luka Paichadze also continued their winning runs with confident performances.

The day also saw key draws in closely contested games, including GM Aleksej Aleksandrov vs GM Karthik Venkataraman, and IM Aronyak Ghosh vs GM Mikulas Manik, as top boards fought to hold ground in an increasingly tight field.

Adding to India’s strong showing at the top, IM Dinesh Sharma and IM Harsh Suresh notched up important wins to stay in the lead group, while GM Aditya S Samant continued his consistent run with another solid victory, keeping himself in contention as the tournament progresses.

-Team Sportstar

GOLF

Diksha shoots over par, out of top 10; Kouskova secures Tenerife Women’s Open title

Diksha Dagar carded a dismal 1-over par 73 in the final round to finish tied 14th at the Tenerife Women’s Open.

The Indian had been well placed to secure a top 10 finish after the third day, but a difficult final round saw her slip five places with a cumulative score of 4-under 284.

The other Indian player to make the cut was Avani Prashanth, who, after a rough third round, played a fine final round of 4-under 68 and rose 23 spots to finish tied 20th.

Sara Kouskova, who moved into the lead at the end of the third day, converted that into her second consecutive LET title. Kouskova shot 1-under 71 with five birdies, two bogeys and one double bogey. She finished at 9-under and one shot clear of second-placed German Helen Briem (70).

She has now become the third Czech player to win two LET titles alongside Klara Davidson Spilkova and Jana Melichova. Kouskova is now placed second in the order of merit.

– PTI

Saptak Talwar struggles in final round, finishes 44th

India’s Saptak Talwar struggled in windy conditions to card a 7-over 78 in the final round, finishing tied 44th at the Swiss Challenge in Lucerne.

After three steady under-par rounds had positioned him for a strong finish, the Indian golfer struggled on the final day and slipped out of contention. Talwar, who was inside the top 20 heading into the last round, tumbled down the leader board to end the tournament tied for 44th.

– PTI

MOTORSPORT

Racing prodigy Atiqa Mir first Indian to secure top-10 finish at Rotax Euro Trophy

Ten-year-old Indian racing sensation Atiqa Mir added another first to her name by securing a creditable top-10 finish in the Rotax Euro Trophy, a major international karting series.

The Akcel GP-backed driver finished ninth in the Rotax Euro Trophy Round 2 staged at Steel Ring Circuit over the weekend.

Atiqa, the first Indian to get financial and technical support from Formula 1, had a strong qualifying, finishing seventh in her group. She had the misfortune of having two bumper penalties but despite that, she finished in 10th place after the heats.

Atiqa, who is mentored by India’s first Formula 1 driver Narain Karthikeyan, qualified for the finals and was 10th on the grid. Atiqa ended as the highest placed Indian and Asian in the highly competitive field.

The Rotax Euro Trophy (RMCET) is a major international karting championship for drivers who race using Rotax MAX engines, which are some of the most popular kart engines globally.

Among Formula 1 drivers who have raced in this series in their formative years are reigning world champion Max Verstappen, George Russell, Lando Norris and current championship leader Oscar Piastri.

-Team Sportstar

TENNIS

Sahaja-Hiroko pair wins doubles title at Santo Domingo ITF women’s tennis tournament

Sahaja Yamalapalli and Hiroko Kuwata after winning the ITF women’s tennis tournament in Santo Domingo.
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Sahaja Yamalapalli, in partnership with Hiroko Kuwata of Japan, beat Esther Adeshina and Sofia Dominguez in the doubles final of the $30,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

It was a maiden doubles title in the professional circuit for the 24-year-old Sahaja, who has four singles titles to her credit.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

Nagal loses in first round again

There was no end to the struggles of India’s singles player Sumit Nagal, who yet again suffered a first-round exit from the ATP Challenger circuit here on Monday.

Sixth seed Nagal lost 4-6, 6-7 (4) to French unseeded player Geoffrey Blancaneaux in the opening round of the Euro 145,250 clay court event.

Nagal was down by a set and a break when he broke back in the eighth game of the second set to draw parity, raising hopes to stretch the contest to a decider.

Blancaneaux and Nagal struggled to hold their serves, and the second set had to be decided via a tie-breaker, in which the local favourite prevailed.

It was Nagal’s sixth first-round defeat on the Challenger circuit in the 2025 season. He had started the season inside the top 100, but his ranking has now plummeted to 170.

-PTI