Indian sports news wrap, July 11

GOLF

Gaurika returns to battle Neha, Tvesa and Sneha in 11th Leg of Hero WPGT

After a long-awaited win last week, Neha Tripathi will hope to continue her winning momentum when she leads the 39-players field at the 11th Leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour starting on Wednesday.

The 31-year-old seasoned pro, who turned pro back in 2010, went through more than four and a half years without a win before beating back a strong challenge from a bunch of younger players, some of whom are still amateurs.

“I knew I was on the right track and I was playing well, but last week all pieces fell in place,” said Neha. “It is always nice to get the win and it brings a lot of satisfaction with it.’ Tvesa Malik is another one looking for that satisfaction after a couple of tough seasons on the Ladies European Tour, where she only has a limited status this season. Tvesa, who has been playing mostly on the European Tour for the past few seasons, last won on the Hero WPGT in 2021. And now, she is trying to play herself back into form through the Tour, where the 27-year-old started back in 2017.

Gaurika Bishnoi, who missed the last two events due to personal commitments, won her last start, which was the eighth leg and is back for the 11th Leg.

Gaurika, who has been working on some aspects of her game, is hoping to get into the right frame by the time before the LET’s Qualifying School comes around.

She has won twice this season at the sixth Leg at the Classic Golf and Country Club and the eighth Leg at Clover Greens. She was also runner-up at the fifth leg in Golden Greens and the seventh Leg at the DLF Golf and Country Club.

Sneha Singh is the only player besides Gaurika to have won more than once this season. She is leading the Order of Merit and her success this season includes wins in the third leg at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club and the fifth leg at the Golden Greens in Gurugram.

-PTI

MORE SPORTS

Pro Panja League: Kiraak Hyderabad announces full squad

Hyderabad-based franchise Kiraak Hyderabad of the Pro Panja League announced the full squad for the inaugural season which will be held at Indira Gandhi International Stadium in Delhi from July 28.

“We are really excited to take this forward. I would like to thank Ms. Preeti Jhangiani and Mr. Parvin Dabas (co-founder of the League) for this opportunity. I would like to wish the other teams best of luck ahead of the tournament. Let’s have a good season and enjoy all the exciting matches,” Gautam Reddy, owner of the Kiraak Hyderabad, said.

“We have a well-balanced squad and I am sure that our players will give their everything when they are competing,” he said.

V V SUBRAHMANYAM

BOXING

Haryana boxers shine on day 2 at Junior Men’s National Championships

Haryana’s young pugilists Sikander and Yogesh Dhanda started their junior National Championships campaign with identical 5-0 victories on the second day of competitions on Tuesday.

Another Haryana boxer Vansh also moved to the next round after a hard fought 3-2 win.

Sikander started the day in the 48kg category against Harshit Gahlot of Delhi and looked in control from the first round itself. Harshit had no answers to the powerful punches of Sikander who secured an easy unanimous win.

Yogesh (57kg) showed a similar display of power and precision against V Akash of Karnataka to cruise into the next round with a 5-0 win.

Contrary to the first two results, Vansh (50kg) had to push really hard to get the win over Manish Gurjar of Rajasthan. Both the boxers started with an aggressive intent and traded a lot of blows but as the bout progressed, Vansh got hold of the proceedings and came out 3-2 victorious.

In another 48kg category bout, Divash Katare of Services was on top of his game against Anjin Anu Thomas of Kerala as he dominated from the beginning, which led the referee to stop the contest (RSC) in the first round.

Ishwinder Singh (66kg) and Sahil Jethi (48kg) of Punjab scored an identical 5-0 win over Manteg Singh of Chandigarh and Soyam Malick of Bengal respectively.

Both the boxers outshone their opponents with ease and didn’t give a chance of any comeback to secure the win.

-PTI