Indian sports wrap, March 11: Rajnigandha Achievers clinches RMRM Gold Vase Cup with come-from-behind victory

POLO

Achievers lift the RMRM Gold Vase Cup

The Rajnigandha Achievers Polo Team emerged victorious at the Radha Mohan Rajinder Mohan (RMRM) Gold Vase Cup. It was the sixth consecutive win for the Achievers in the tournament. They edged past Sujan Indian Tigers with a narrow 6-5 win in the final match on Monday.

The tournament, held from March 4 to 9, brought together five exceptional teams vying for the prestigious title.

Coming from behind, the Achievers sealed their victory with two crucial goals in the final chukker. The team comprised Shivangi Jaisingh, Shamsheer Ali, Abhimanyu Pathak and Daniel Otamendi.

Notably, Shamsheer was instrumental in their success, scoring the opening goal, the equaliser, and ultimately, the winning goal.

The side now has its sights set on the upcoming Aditya Birla Memorial Cup, scheduled from March 24 to 30.

-Team Sportstar

KABADDI

Yuva All Stars Championship: Jaipur Pink Cubs edge past Warriorz K.C.; UP Falcons, Yuva Yoddhas, Sonipat Spartans register big wins on Day 6

Sonipat Spartans, Yuva Yoddhas, UP Falcons and Jaipur Pink Cubs registered victories on Day 6 to strengthen their positions in the Yuva All Stars Championship 2025 at the Vandana Kartaria Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.

Yoddhas thrashed Kurukshetra Warriors 55-27 in the reserve leg-fixture after suffering a narrow loss against the same opponent in the season opener of the Yuva All Stars Championship 2025. Both teams were at their best, before the Yoddhas inflicted an all-out and a Super Raid by Shivam Singh to take a 24-11 lead at half-time.

The Yoddhas continued to dominate the game as they inflicted two All Outs in the second half on the Warriors, denying them several chances. They won the match by 28 points and solidify their top spot in the Pool B standings with 25 points.

In the second game, the Spartans stunned the in-form Junior Steelers 49-32 in the second match. The Spartans took a strong seven-point lead by inflicting an all-out on the Steelers. However, the Haryana-based club got back into the game with an all-out on the Sonipat Spartans in the dying minutes of the first half. The half-time score read 19-17 in favour of the Spartans.

In the second half, the Spartans stole the show with an exceptional attacking and defensive performance, scoring 30 points. The Spartans have moved to the second position in Pool B, while the Steelers are third in Pool A.

The Falcons got the better of Palani Tuskers in the third encounter, winning 46-30. The Tuskers had a horrific start to the game, scoring just seven points in the first half. However, they regrouped and added 23 points to their tally in the second half. Despite their efforts, the Falcons were stronger and took home the victory.

In the last match of the day on Tuesday, the Pink Cubs defeated Warriorz 39-36 to settle the scores, having lost to the Warriorz 35-42 in the reverse fixture.

-Team Sportstar

TENNIS

Digvijay falls to eighth seed Lomakin in Chandigarh ITF event

Davis Cupper Digvijay Pratap Singh gave a good account of his game before being beaten 6-3, 6-7(0), 6-3 by eighth seed Grigoriy Lomakin of Kazakhstan in the first round of the $15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex on Tuesday.

It was the first match in the professional circuit for the 24-year-old Digvijay after he had missed more than a year and a half owing to injury.

Lomakin, seeded No.1 with Jay Clarke of Britain, however, was beaten in the doubles pre-quarterfinals by Filiberto Fumagalli of Italy and Aryan Lakshmanan.

Fourth seed Dev Javia beat his doubles partner, the towering Chirag Duhan 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. The two got together to reach the doubles quarterfinals.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

Aarjun Pandit beats Aarav Chawla in Gurugram ITF juniors first round

Second seed Aarjun Pandit overcame a sedate start to beat Aarav Chawla 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the first round of the ITF junior tennis tournament at the Tennis Project, Baliyawas, on Tuesday.

In the girls section, qualifier Anandita Upadhyay beat Prachi Malik in straight sets.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

Bhambri-Goransson beat Gille-Zielinski in Indian Wells

Yuki Bhambri in partnership with Andre Goransson of Sweden beat Sander Gille of Belgium and Jan Zielinski of Poland 3-6, 7-6(5), [10-8] in the doubles first round of the $13,042,410 ATP tennis tournament in Indian Wells, USA, on Monday.

The Indo-Swedish pair, which was one of the four teams to make a last-minute entry owing to the withdrawal of four other teams, will challenge the second seeds Harri Heliovaara of Finland and Henry Patten of Britain in the pre-quarterfinals.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

ATHLETICS

Haryana’s 16-year-old Nishchay stamps his authority in throwing events

Haryana’s 16-year-old shot putter Nishchay was the star attraction on the second day of the 20th National Youth Athletics Championships at the Patliputra Sports Complex in Patna on Tuesday.

A day after winning the discus throw gold, the young Haryana thrower clinched the top prize in shot put to swell his medal tally in the age group competition, which will also act as final selection to pick the national team for next month’s Asian Youth Athletics Championships in Saudi Arabia.

Nishchay’s gold medal winning throw in shot put was 18.93m and far ahead of his nearest rival.

“He (Nishchay) has potential to become a good thrower in future,” N. Ramesh, chief junior athletics coach, said.

Akhand Pratap Singh of Uttar Pradesh (17.97m) and Harpratap Singh from Punjab (17.40m) won the silver and bronze medals respectively.

Nishchay was excited to have crossed the 60m mark (62.14m) in the discus, but was a bit disappointed to have missed the 19m mark in shot put.

“My goal in shot put was to achieve my personal best of 19 plus but I missed it,” the promising thrower lamented.

-PTI

GOLF

Rookie Lavanya takes one-shot lead in sixth leg of WPGT

A birdie on the 18th helped rookie Lavanya Jadon take a one-shot lead with a score of 2-under 70 in the first round of sixth leg, in the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the DLF Golf and Country Club on Tuesday.

Lavanya had five birdies against three bogeys in her impressive round.

The Hero of Merit leader, Sneha Singh, who had won the title in the second and third legs, was four-under through 13 holes, following the only eagle of the day on the second hole, apart from five birdies. However, she had five bogeys and a double bogey on the fifth. A birdie on the 18th helped her to joint second 1-under 71 with amateur Anvvi Dahhiya.

The champion of the last two tournaments, Vani Kapoor had a par round to be placed fourth. She had birdies on the ninth and 14th, and bogeys on the eighth and 18th.

-Kamesh Srinivasan