Indian sports wrap, September 10: Sathiyan, Harmeet, Payas enter quarterfinals of UTT National Ranking Championships

TABLE TENNIS

National Ranking TT: Sathiyan, Harmeet, Payas enter quarterfinals

The pre-quarterfinals of the UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships saw most top-seeded players advance though not without a few hiccups.

In the men’s singles, fourth seed Ronit Bhanja fell early, but the remaining big names, including Ankur Bhattacharjee, Harmeet Desai, G. Sathiyan, and Payas Jain booked their quarterfinal spots.

SFR Snehit had to dig deep to oust Priyanuj Bhattacharyya 3-2, while Harmeet too survived a five-game match against Tharun Shanmugam.

The women’s singles witnessed tighter battles. Top seed Diya Chitale was stretched to five games by Assam’s Trisha Gogoi before scraping through. Seeded players Yashaswini Ghorpade and Sutirtha Mukherjee also endured full-distance wins, while Vadodara champion Anusha Kutumbale crashed out to Reeth Rishya in another thriller.

In the U-19 boys’ singles, only Bengal’s Oishik Ghosh faced a scare, coming from 0-2 down to beat Karnataka’s Atharva Nawaranage 3-2. Top seed P.B. Abhinand and other favourites — Kushal Chopda, Punit Biswas, and M. Balamurugan — progressed comfortably.

The U-19 girls’ singles largely stuck to the script, with Divyanshi Bhowmick, Jennifer Varghese, Ananya Muralidharan, and M. Hansini cruising into the last eight. Maharashtra’s Naisha Rewaskar, however, edged out Sukrati Sharma 3-2 in one of the closer ties.

– PTI

MORE SPORTS

Sports Ministry launches flexible coaching course for sports recruits in govt. departments

Sports quota recruits working in various government departments are set to be offered a flexible two-year Special Capacity Building Course at Patiala’s Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports to equip them with “professional coaching competencies”.

The course is set to commence from October 27 with September 25 being the last date to submit applications. The initiative is driven by Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya’s stated objective of ensuring that India’s athletes remain actively involved in the country’s sporting ecosystem even after their competitive careers wind up.

“Completion of all four levels leads to a Diploma-equivalent Certification in Sports Coaching,” stated a note from the sports ministry, which described it as “tailored for working professionals to complete within two years.” Disciplines that would be covered in the course are Athletics, Boxing, Judo, Hockey and Wrestling.

NIS already offers a prestigious diploma in coaching across 26 disciplines but this course differs from that module as it seeks to “reintegrate” athletes who are employed with government departments and have lost touch with sports.

“The major difference lies in flexibility. That course demands a one-year undisturbed run-time but this one can be completed in four levels across two years and even four years. The participants will also have the exit option after each level’s completion,” Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) Deputy Director Sibananda Mishra told PTI.

“Working professionals are unlikely to get a one-year break from their jobs to pursue a coaching course. But this course will allow them a longer window to complete the course as the mandatory offline training duration at NIS will be six weeks at a stretch,” he explained.

“The age bracket has also been kept at a rather 40-42 range so that we get a good response,” he added.

– PTI

BASKETBALL

Tamil Nadu boys and girls crowned champions in National Junior Championships

Tamil Nadu boys and girls emerged the champions in the 75th National Junior Basketball Championship which concluded at the Guru Nanak Dev Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.

Tamil Nadu boys beat host Punjab 81-76 with Venkat Dhanush top scoring with 32 points.

Tamil Nadu girls beat Gujarat 100-86, with Heema Vani and Noorul Shajitha scoring 52 points between them.

The champion teams were presented Rs.3,00,000 prize and the runner-up Rs. 2,00,000. Rajasthan boys and Maharashtra girls who finished third were awarded Rs. 1,00,000 each.

Mrigendra Singh Dhaliwal of Punjab and Aahana George of Gujarat were adjudged the “most valuable players’ in the boys and girls sections respectively, and were presented Rs.50,000 each.

Mohit Jogh Chand of Madhya Pradesh and Chanda Goutham of Punjab had the most three-pointers in the tournament and were awarded Rs. 25,000 each.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

GOLF

Roundglass announces launch of golf academy

After its successful forays into football, hockey and tennis over the last five years, Roundglass announced the launch of its golf academy at the Chandigarh Golf Club on Wednesday.

The first batch of 15 golfers, including seven girls, will include some of the familiar names like Mannat Brar and Guntas Kaur Sandhu.

Ojaswini Saraswat, Rehnoor Malik, Aryaman Rautela, Ayesha Gupta, Rashi Mishra, Rabab Kahlon, Anshul Mishra, Krish Chawla, Arjunveer Shishir, Danish Verma, Zorawar Sandhu, Sohrab Singh Talwar and Kabir Goyal will be the other players in the under-19 age group.

Dronacharya awardee coach Jaskirat Grewal will be the head coach. On of the top professionals in the country, Shubhankar Sharma will be the mentor and brand ambassador.

“Our focus is on nurturing young talent by providing world class infrastructure, supported by a dedicated team of coaches and mentors. Having Shubhankar’s involvement adds tremendous value as his insights and experience will be a source of inspiration and learning for the players,” said the Founder of Roundglass, Gurpreet Sunny Singh.

“With the right structure and support, we can consistently generate world class players. At Roundglass Academy, our goal is to provide an high performance eco-system that nurtures talent from a young age, focusing not just on technical skills but on overall physical, mental and emotional growth,” said Jaskirat Grewal.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

Shaurya takes sole lead

Shaurya Binu overcame a rough start to emerge as the sole leader with a three-under 69 on the opening day of the Rs. 1.5 crore IGPL golf tournament at the Chandigarh Golf Club.

After being two over by the sixth hole, Shaurya recovered to be on par by the 13th, and wound up the day in a flourish with three successive birdies.

“I really loved the play today,” said Shaurya, who has been working with coach Laurence Brotheridge over the last three months.

Shaurya Binu who led on the opening day of the IGPL golf tournament in Chandigarh.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Seasoned professional Gaganjeet Bhullar, M Dharma and Krish Chawla followed with two-under 70.

Three young players who turned professional, Veer Ganapathy, Kartik Singh and Raghav Chug had a good outing. Veer shot par, while the other two shot one-over 73.

Among the women players, Jahanvi Bakshi had the best performance as she shot a one-over 73. Mannat Brar had two-over 74, while Vidhatri Urs was three-over 75.

There is no cut to be applied and all the players competing over three rounds will get their share of prize, with the champion set to make Rs. 22.5 lakh.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

SQUASH

Tanvi, Veer in semifinals

Tanvi Khanna sustained her strong game and sailed past third seed Enora Villard of France 11-4, 11-9, 11-9 in 27 minutes in the women’s quarterfinals of the HCL $9,000 PSA Challenger squash tournament at the Otters Club.

In the semifinals, Tanvi will face compatriot and second seed Akanksha Salunkhe. The other semifinal will be between top seed Amina El Rihany of Egypt and Ching Hei Fung of Hong Kong.

In the $9,000 men’s event, top seed Veer Chotrani overcame a slow start to beat Seif Shenawy of Egypt 9-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-3. He will play Ming Hong Tang of Hong Kong in the semifinals.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

MOTORSPORT

Rising Indian talents join AKCEL GP Academy’s global Line-Up

AKCEL GP Academy announced a dynamic line-up of rising stars to compete in the 2025-26 Rotax Max and IAME UAE Karting Championships as part of its inaugural season.

The line-up features Atiqa Asif Mir, Rivaan Dev Preetham, Rehan Khan Rasheed, Ridhaan A, Krishay Gutte, and Jagrat Detroja from India, Brando Londono from Canada and Linas Volungevicius from Lithuania.

– Team Sportstar

Hyderabad to host ISRL Round 2

The Indian Supercross Racing League (ISRL), the world’s first-of-its-kind franchise-based Supercross racing league, announced Hyderabad as the official host city for round 2 of the league.

The event officially announced GMC Balayogi Athletic Stadium, Gachibowli as the venue for ISRL Season 2’s Hyderabad races set to be held on December 6 and 7.

The safety of the turf and the track remain the top priority, ensuring that the stadium can return to full operation immediately without a single issue once the event concludes.

– Team Sportstar

TENNIS

Prarthana loses close match

Prarthana Thombare in partnership with Arianne Hartono went down fighting 1-6, 7-5, [8-10] to Yvonne Cavalle-Reiimers and Alicia Linana in the doubles pre-quarterfinals of the $275,094 WTA tennis tournament
in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

CRICKET

Williams joins Maharashtra as director

Maharashtra Cricket Association has appointed Shaun Williams as the director of cricket.

The Australian was the head coach of Maharashtra between 2008 and 2012, and played a pivotal role in the team’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy win in 2010. Under his guidance, the team also reached the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals.

The seasoned Australian coach has worked with teams like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the past.
| Photo Credit:
MCA

“His track record with Maharashtra cricket is highly impressive, and his international experience and expertise will greatly benefit the Maharashtra cricket team,” said Rohit Pawar, the president of Maharashtra Cricket Association.

“Under his leadership, the team’s quality and strength will be further reinforced and Maharashtra cricket’s reputation will be strengthened both nationally and internationally. Additionally, the professional coaching programs established by him will empower state-level coaches by significantly enhancing their skills, which is critical for the long-term success of Maharashtra cricket,” he said.

The seasoned Australian coach has worked with teams like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the past.

– Team Sportstar

MP clinches first-innings lead

Madhya Pradesh off-spinner Adheer Pratap Singh (8/48) ran through the KSCA XI batting on the second day of their KSCA-Dr. (Capt.) K. Thimmappiah Memorial tournament match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

The two other wickets – of opener Macneil Hadley and number three K.V. Aneesh – were taken by pacer Aryan Pandey.

Adheer’s big haul helped MPCA dismiss KSCA XI for 138 and grab a handy first-innings lead. In reply, MPCA moved to 150 for four to establish an overall lead of 174 runs.

In another match, fast bowler M. Venkatesh (5/28) and spinner Abhishek Ahlawat (4/65) starred for KSCA Secretary’s XI against Assam CA. Venkatesh and Ahlawat dismissed Assam CA for 140, giving their side
the innings lead. Only Riyan Parag (39 and 4/106) came good for the visitor.

At Mysuru, Ankit Kalsi’s 187 powered Himachal Pradesh to a commanding 447 for six against Baroda CA.

– Team Sportstar

Published on Sep 10, 2025