Indian sports wrap, March 15: Saurav Ghosal pulls out of the HCL Challenger Tour squash tournament

SQUASH

India’s Saurav Ghosal has pulled out of the HCL Challenger Tour squash tournament scheduled in Chennai from March 17 to 21 due to an issue with his hip.

In a message to The Hindu on Saturday, the former World’s top 10 player said: “I am withdrawing from the tournament as something is going on with my right hip. I don’t know exactly what it is. I am in touch with a specialist and will try to figure it out.”

-Team Sportstar

SHOOTING

Indian shooters begin national camp ahead of World Cups in South America

The Indian shooters picked for the World Cup stages in Argentina and Peru have joined the national camp at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Ranges in New Delhi, beginning their final phase of preparations for the season ahead from Saturday.

Barring a few exceptions, most of the shooters in the 35-member squad reported to the camp on Friday and have started working with their respective coaches.

The first batch of shooters will leave for the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, the venue of the year’s first International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun (April 1-11) stage, on March 26.

The South American leg continues thereafter in Lima, Peru, where the second ISSF combined World Cup stage will be hosted from April 13-22.

As reported earlier, double Olympic bronze medallist Manu Bhaker will be the only Indian shooter to start in two individual events, the women’s 10m air pistol and the women’s 25m pistol.

Indian shooters will compete in 15 events across the disciplines of rifle, pistol and shotgun, including 12 individual and three mixed team events.

-PTI

GOLF

Kolkata Challenge: Joshua Berry claims sole lead after penultimate round

After setting the course record of 10-under 62 on day two, Joshua Berry carded a two-under 70 to claim sole lead after the penultimate round of the $300,000 Kolkata Challenge at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) in Kolkata on Saturday.

England golfer Berry’s three-day total of 12-under 204 gave him a one-shot advantage over second-placed Austrian Lukas Nemecz.

Om Prakash Chouhan, the joint leader in the first two rounds, shot a 73 to aggregate 207 and slip to tied-fifth position.

Arjun Prasad (68) was the next best Indian at joint-12th  spot with 210.

Gaganjeet Bhullar (71) and Dhruv Sheoran (73) were tied-15 ^th at 211. A stroke adrift, S.S.P. Chawrasia (73), Ajeetesh Sandhu (69) and Mohammad Sanju (69) placed tied-24 ^th.

– Team Sportstar

Rookie Avani and Pranavi make cut at Australian Women’s Classic

Rookie Avani Prashanth and Pranavi Urs made the cut at the weather-hit Australian Women’s Classic while the more experienced Diksha Dagar fell short.

Avani, playing her maiden season added even par 70 to her first round of 72 and was 2-over for 36 holes, lying Tied-40th.

Pranavi Urs (73-71) made the cut on the line as Top-60 and ties will play the final round. Pranavi is Tied-60th. Diksha Dagar, a two-time LET winner, carded 74-73 and missed the cut which fell at 4-over.

Sarah Kemp, who injured herself seriously in a freak golf cart accident and broke her tibia and fibula eight months ago, made a sensational comeback with a 62 (-8) and moved into a 2-shot lead with one round to go.

Avani bogeyed twice on the front nine on the third and the ninth but staged a good comeback on the back nine with birdies on the 11th and 17th.

Pranavi, winner of her home Tour’s Hero Order of Merit, had three birdies against four bogeys.

-PTI

Lahiri slips to 31st as Johnson shares lead with Niemann in SIngapore

Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri slipped places in the second round of the LIV Golf Singapore even as Dustin Johnson and Joaquin Niemann entered Sunday’s final round as the main contenders for the title.

Lahiri shot 1-over 72 on Saturday and is now even for the two rounds to be placed at tied-31st in the 54-player field.

Lahiri, who started with a birdie on the seventh, dropped a double bogey on the eighth. He bogeyed the 16th and the 17th and birdied the 18th, and added a birdie on his closing hole, the seventh, at the Sentosa Golf Club.

-PTI

Akshay Bhatia in shared lead at ‘THE PLAYERS’

Indian-American golfer Akshay Bhatia moved into joint lead at THE PLAYERS Championship with a 6-under 66 and reached 10-under 134.

He shared the lead with Australian Min Woo Lee (67-66).

The two-time PGA Tour winner, Bhatia, started from the 10th and had four birdies. On his second nine, he dropped shots on the first and the seventh, but also birdied four times.

Min Woo also started from the tenth and had seven birdies against one bogey on his final hole, the ninth. The duo was tied for the lead at 11-under 133.

Rory McIlroy was at the top of the leaderboard during his morning round that featured six birdies in 11 holes. This momentum though disappeared later. He had a pair of bogeys over the closing stretch, the last one on the par-5 ninth, for a 68 to finish two shots back.

Two-time defending champion Scottie Scheffler had to settle for a 70 and was six shots behind, still very much in the mix considering he rallied from five behind on the final day last year.

Bhatia said, “I honestly felt the same (as a day earlier), but today, I had a much more intense focus. It takes so much to win a tournament like THE PLAYERS, and I just have to carry this mentality into the weekend.”

-PTI

Keita Nakajima and 15 other champions to participate in Hero Indian Open championship

Defending champion Keita Nakajima of Japan will have 15 other champions of the DP World Tour to contend with, in the Hero Indian Open golf championship to be staged at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurugram from March 27 to 30.

Ryggs Johnston, Johannes Veerman, John Parry, Callum Hill who have won titles this season will be featuring in the line up for the Indian event.

Darius Van Driel, Jordan Gumberg, Adrian Otaegui, Nacho Elvira, Guido Migliozzi, Marcel Siem, Ewen Ferguson, david Ravetto, Frederic Lacroix, Angel Hidalgo and Julien Guerrier, the champions of last season have also confirmed their participation in the $2.25 million event.

The 24-year-old Nakajima, had beaten Veer Ahlawat, Sebastian Soderberg and Johannes Veerman to the title in the last edition. All the three will once again be competing in the championship.

The strong field would inspire Nakajima to emulate Kenji Hosoishi (1967-68), Jyoti Randhawa (2006-07) and SSP Chawrasia (2016-17), who have all won the Indian Open back to back.

The field will also feature Ollie Schniederjans who had recently won the International Series event at the same venue, beating the US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau.

The championship will have free entry for all the golf enthusiasts who make it a point to visit the venue.

– Team Sportstar

ATHLETICS

Indian athletes continue to shine in Special Olympics Winter Games

India’s impressive run at the Special Olympics Winter Games continued with the athletes adding as many as 15 more medals to the country’s tally in Turin, Italy.

India’s total medal count has now risen to 24, building on the nine medals secured in the earlier events.

In alpine skiing, Deepak Thakur and Giridhar displayed exceptional skills to clinch gold medals in the Intermediate Super G M04 and M05 categories respectively, while Abhishek Kumar secured a silver in the Novice Super G M01 category.

Radha Devi also delivered a stellar performance, earning a silver medal in the Intermediate Super G F03 event.

Adding to India’s success on the ice, Ziara Porter showcased impressive speed and determination to claim silver medals in 111M F1 event and 222M F2 event of short track speed skating, while Tanshu won a bronze in the 777M M2 category and a silver in 500M M3 category.

India’s presence in cross country skiing was also felt as Akriti put in a commendable effort to secure a bronze medal in the 50M Classical Technique Final F03.

India’s snowshoeing athletes also delivered some stellar performances, further boosting the medal count.

Vasu Tiwari secured a gold medal in the 50M Race M03 event, while Jahangir and Tanya won silver medals in the 50M Race M04 and F02 categories respectively.

Shalini Chauhan added to the tally with a bronze in the 50M Race F03 category. In the 200M Race, Anil Kumar emerged victorious with a gold medal in the MP 12 division, while Harleen Kaur clinched silver in the F12 division.

-PTI

TENNIS

ITF junior: Sehaj, Aishwarya win titles across categories

Top seeds Sehaj Singh Pawar and Aishwarya Jadhav won the boys and girls titles respectively in the ITF junior tennis tournament at the Tennis Project, Baliyawas, on Saturday.

– Team Sportstar

ITF: Woobin Shin beats Ishaque Eqbal in semifinals

Third seed Woobin Shin of Korea stopped the fine run of Ishaque Eqbal with a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(2) victory in the semifinals of the $15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex on Saturday.

In the final, the Korean will face top seed Jay Clarke of Britain.

In the doubles final, top seeds Filiberto Fumagalli of Italy and Aryan Lakshmanan saved a match point to beat the second seeds Prajwal Dev and Nitin Kumar Sinha 2-6, 6-4, [11-9].

It was the maiden title in the professional circuit for the 19-year-old Lakshmanan, while it was the second title for the 22-year-old Fumagalli.

– Team Sportstar

ITF: Shrivalli-Vaidehi pair beats second seed Kovapitukted-Naito duo in final

Third seeds Shrivalli Bhamidipaty and Vaidehi Chaudhari beat second seeds Punnin Kovapitukted and Yuki Naito 6-4, 6-3 in the doubles final of the $30,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Nonthaburi, Thailand, on Saturday.

It was the first title of the season and fourth title as a pair for Shrivalli and Vaidehi in the professional circuit.

– Team Sportstar

CRICKET

Cricket Association of Bengal’s Vision 2028 begins third phase

The third phase of Cricket Association of Bengal’s Vision 2028, with a focus on under-19 and under-15 girls, began at the Jadavpur University ground in Salt Lake, Kolkata on Saturday.

Former Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary coached the batters, while former India pacers Venkatesh Prasad and Ashok Dinda took charge of their area of expertise. Another international, leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani, guided the spinners.

Former India women’s cricketer Purnima Chowdhury is also part of the coaching group. Altogether 20 under-19 and 23 under-15 girls are attending the camp.

-Team Sportstar