Indian sports news wrap, June 14

Chennai

SHOOTING

Gurpreet Singh wins 25m standard pistol gold at Kumar Surendra Singh Memorial

Olympian Gurpreet Singh shot 578 to clinch the men’s 25-metre standard pistol gold in the 21st Kumar Surendra Singh pistol championship at the Madhya Pradesh Academy, Bhopal, on Wednesday.

Gurpreet had won the gold with a record score of 581 in the last edition at the same venue.

Commonwealth Games gold medallist Omkar Singh wont he silver with 571, ahead of Udit Joshi (567).

Mukesh Nelavalli missed the bronze on lesser number of inner-10s, but won the junior gold with his score of 567.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

Anantjeet wins in men’s skeet at National Shotgun selection trials

Anantjeet Singh Naruka beat Gurfateh Singh Sandhu 5-4 in the shoot-off after the two were tied on 51 in men’s skeet in the fourth National shotgun selection trials at the Madhya Pradesh Academy in Bhopal on Wednesday.

Rituraj Singh Bundela finished third ahead of Atul Singh Rajawat, Karn Vikram Singh and Mohd. Hamza Sheikh.

Olympian Angad Vir Singh Bajwa was ninth with 114, while Gurjoat Singh Khangura was 11th with the same score. World Cup gold medallist Mairaj Ahmad Khan shot 111 for the 19th place among 24.

In women’s skeet, Raiza Dhillon beat World Cup silver medallist Ganemat Sekhon 50-49 for the top spot, after qualifying for the final with a modest score of 110.

Qualification topper Karttiki Singh Shaktawat (116) was fifth behind Areeba Khan and Maheshwari Chauhan. Asees Chhina was the other shooter to make the final.

Parinaaz Dhaliwal (106) and Darshna Rathore (105) finished ninth and tenth respectively.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

BOXING

Delhi and UP boxers make strong start at Youth Men’s National Championships

Delhi’s Aditya Bist after winning the bout at the 6th Men’s National Boxing Championship 2023.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Five Delhi and four Uttar Pradesh boxers registered comprehensive victories and started on a winning note on the opening day of the sixth Youth Men’s National Boxing Championships in Gangtok, Sikkim.

In the 54 kg round of 32 bout, Umesh Kumar started the proceedings for Delhi with his clinical display in a 5-0 unanimous win over Pawan Ventada of Arunachal Pradesh in a one-sided affair.

In the 75kg middleweight category, Delhi’s Aditya Bist and Assam’s Ganga Rabha fought fiercely in one of the most thrilling matches of the day. Both the boxers were at their attacking best right from the beginning and didn’t allow any breathing space for each other. Eventually, Aditya displayed his prowess and emerged victorious in a 4-3 split verdict to reach the pre-quarterfinals.

Three other Delhi boxers- Kapil Dev (60kg), Arman Singh Phogat (67kg) and Jay Tushir (92kg) won their respective bouts by the referee stopping the contest (RSC) as the pugilists from the capital showed their dominance. The trio advanced to the round of 16 stage after their respective wins.

The boxers from Uttar Pradesh also had a great day in the ring with Rohit Yadav (57kg) leading the way with his first-round knockout win against Meghalaya’s Khrawkupar Thangkiew. He will take on Haryana’s Akshat in the pre-quarterfinals.

Samir Ul Haq (51kg), Karan (60kg) and Vishal Tomar (71kg) were the other boxers from UP to win their respective round of 32 bouts.

2021 Asian Junior Champion Rohit Chamoli, who is representing Chandigarh in the 54kg weight category got a walkover from Chattisgarh’s Himanshu Verman and moved to the round of 16.

The championships will witness the participation of 337 budding boxers willing to make their mark at the National level.

-Team Sportstar

GOLF

Gaurika leads eighth leg of WPG Tour with impressive start

Gaurika Bishnoi revived memories from her last win here at the Clover Greens to shoot 4-under 68 and take the first-round lead in the eighth leg of the Women’s Pro Golf Tour on Wednesday.

Gaurika, a multiple winners on the WPG Tour, had won the title when the tour last came to Clover Greens in 2019.

Starting the day with birdies on second and third, Gaurika dropped a shot on third but played steady to get another birdie on par-3 eighth to turn in 2-under.

On the back nine, birdies on 11th and 13th were followed by a bogey on 14th, but back-to-back birdies on 16th and 17th saw Gaurika rise to 5-under.

However, a bogey on the closing 18th pulled her back to 4-under.

Seher Atwal indicated how much she had gained from the Ladies European Tour events as she played solid with four birdies against one bogey for a 69, and was sole second.

Four players, including two amateurs in Keerthana Reddy and Saanvi Somu and two young contenders in Hitaashee Bakshi and Sachika Singh, were tied for third with 1-under 71 each.

Kriti Chowhan and Jasmine Shekar were tied for seventh with even par 72 each.

But for Sneha Singh, a two-time winner this year, things did not go well as she was tied-ninth with a round of 73.

It was a mixed run for Sneha, who had six birdies but also gave away five bogeys and a double bogey.

Also tied at ninth with Sneha were Anisha Agarwalla and amateur Ayushi Dutta, who shot 73 each.

The seasoned Tvesa Malik had a rough start with four-over 76 that included a double bogey on par-4 third hole and a quadruple bogey on par-3 fourth hole.

-PTI

Diksha, Vani and Avani in focus at Amundi German Masters

Diksha Dagar and Vani Kapoor lead a strong Indian contingent of five women at the Amundi German Masters.

The Indian representation includes the hugely talented amateur Avani Prashanth, Amandeep Drall and Ridhima Dilawari.

Diksha, one of the only two Indian women to have tasted success on the Ladies European Tour, has been paired with Japan’s Yuri Onishi and Iceland’s Gudrun Bjorgvinsdottir, while young Avani will be in the first group of the day alongside a Thai duo Dolnapa Zukphokivanich and April Angurarasaranee.

Amandeep Drall, who came within a whisker of a maiden title at her home event, the Hero Women’s Indian Open late last year, plays with Linda Wessberg of Sweden and Anne Lise Caudal of France.

Vani Kapoor plays with Isabella Deilert of Sweden and Julie Boysen Hillestad of Norway, and Ridhima is grouped with England’s Florentyna Parker and Alexandra Swayne.

The event is in its second year and last year saw Sweden’s Maja Stark take top honours.

Last week’s top-five finishers Anne Van Dam and Gabriela Cowley look forward to good finishes, while no less than 15 Germans form the strong home challenge.

In 2022, Leonie Harm was the runner-up behind Maja Stark, while Olivia Cowan, winner of the 2022 Hero Indian Open was just a couple of shots further back after a good weekend.

They are also joined by the hugely talented Chiara Noja among others.

While India’s Aditi Ashok has been on top of the 2023 Race to Costa Del Sol, there could be some changes as the leader is not in the field.

Spain’s Ana Peláez Trivino sits only 50 points behind leader Aditi and will be hoping for a good result to become the new number, but she is not the only player vying for that spot.

Also in the race is Klara Davidson Spilkova, who was 10th last year in Amundi and is now fourth in the Race to Costa del Sol and could also overtake Ashok by finishing in first or second.

-PTI

TENNIS

Yuki-Saketh pair reaches quarterfinals at Nottingham Challenger

Second seeds Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni overcame a tough start to beat Yu Hsiou Hsu and Luke Saville 6-7(6), 6-1, [10-5] in the doubles pre-quarterfinals of the ATP Challenger tennis tournament on grass in Nottingham, Britain, on Wednesday.

In the $60,000 ITF women’s event in Sumter, USA, Karman Kaur Thandi cruised into the pre-quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Rasheeda McAdoo of USA.

-Team Sportstar