Indian sports news wrap, June 18: Aditi remains in hunt for another top-10 finish

Chennai

GOLF

Aditi shoots 72, remains in hunt for another top-10 finish at LPGA Classic

Aditi Ashok struggled to find rhythm at the LPGA Classic in Belmont but still did well enough to bring home an even par 72 and stay on course for another positive result.

Aditi, who has had a good run so far this year, more so in the last three months, hit fewer greens in regulation, and that meant fewer birdie opportunities on the tree-lined course.

After two bogey-free rounds on the first two days, she had two birdies and two bogeys and was tied-13 with one more round to go, at the Blythefield Country Club.

Following rounds of 68-67-72, Aditi is 207 and has fallen six shots behind leader Amy Yang, who birdied all five par 5s as she shot her third straight 5-under 67 to take a third-round lead.

Aditi, who has played the most Majors by an Indian (men and women), is also due to play two majors in the next few weeks.

The Grand Rapids-area event is the final tournament before the major Women’s PGA next week at Baltusrol and the US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach from July 6–9.

The 33-year-old leader Yang, who has won all four of her LPGA Tour titles in Asia, is seeking her first one in the United States. Yang bounced back from bogeys on the par-3 11th and 13th to birdie the par-5 14th, par-4 17th, and par-5 18th to reach 15-under 201.

The 34-year-old South African Ashleigh Buhai, who won the LPGA Classic last week, shot 66, which included an eagle on the 18th. Buhai is 14-under and one behind the leader.

Also tied for second with Buhai were the second-round leaders, Japan’s Ayaka Furue (69) and China’s Xiyu Lin (66).

It was a bogey-free day for Xiyu Lin, who carded a 6-under 66 on a moving day. Lin made six birdies in round three, four of which came on the four par 5s, as she rose from T-12 into a tie for second at 14-under.

Ariya Jutanugarn (66), Hyo Joo Kim (69), and Leona Maguire (69) were 13 under, and the defending champion Jennifer Kupcho (69) was 12 under, with Manon De Roey (69) and Lindsey Weaver-Wright (69).

Kupcho had an eagle and four birdies but made three bogeys for the second day in a row.

-PTI

Mid-round stumble sees Diksha Dagar finish third in Germany

Indian golfer Diksha Dagar produced a third top-10 finish in her last four starts as she finished tied third in the Amundi German Masters here.

Diksha (72) finished tied third with German star Sophie Hausmann (64) even as Dubai-based Kristyna Napoleaova beat Cara Gainer in the first play-off hole after the two shot 71 each in the final round and totalled 14-under.

Diksha, who began the fourth and final round two shots behind Cara Gainer and Kristyna Napoleaova, did stumble on the first hole with a bogey, but she soon found the rhythm with three birdies between the second and fifth and added a fourth birdie for the day and went into the shared lead after eight holes of the final day.

Then came the nightmare as Diksha bogeyed three holes in a row from ninth to 11th and dropped from 14-under to 11-under.

With no gains nor losses in the last seven holes, Diksha finished with 72 and a total of 11-under and three behind Cara Gainer (71) and Kristyna Napoleaova (71), who went into a play-off, extending her wait for a second title on the Ladies European Tour.

Kristyna went on to win the title on the first play-off hole.

Among the other Indians, Avani Prashanth (70) found some steadiness that seemed to have deserted her after a brilliant first round of 65. She finished T-39, while Vani Kapoor (70) was T-56th and Ridhima Dilawari (80) was 69th

-PTI

SHOOTING

Tondaiman wins trap event at National shotgun selection trials

Prithivraj beat Olympian Kynan Chenai 46-43, after having qualified with 121, following a series of 23, 24, 25, 24, 25.
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement

World Cup bronze medallist Prithviraj Tondaiman asserted himself by winning the trap event in the fourth National shotgun selection trials at the Madhya Pradesh Academy in Bhopal on Sunday.

Prithivraj beat Olympian Kynan Chenai 46-43, after having qualified with 121, following a series of 23, 24, 25, 24, 25.

Asian Games silver medallist Lakshay Sheoran rose to the bronze position after having qualified in the sixth place with 119.

Olympic quota winner Bhowneesh Mendiratta also had a good outing, shooting 121 in qualification, and placing fourth.

Fahd Sultan (122) had topped qualification along with Kynan, but ended up fifth, ahead of former World Champion Manavjit Sandhu, who came up with a 25 in the last round to make the final.

Bakhtyaruddin Malek missed the final by one point, while Vivaan Kapoor finished eighth with 116.

In women’s trap, Rajeshwari Kumari beat Manisha Keer 48-43 for the top spot, after having qualified with a score of 111. Pragati Dubey took the third spot, ahead of the other finalists, Olympian Shagun Chowdhary, Sabeera Haris and Neeru.

Preeti Rajak shot 109 and missed the final by one point. Shreyasi Singh placed 12th with 106, as she could not recover sufficiently following a first round of 18.

Seema Tomar struggled with the last two rounds as she returned scores of 17 and 16, that eventually pulled her down to the 26th spot with 99.

The team for the Asian Games, apart from the Asian Championship which would offer Olympic quota places, would be finalised soon by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).

-Kamesh Srinivasan

TENNIS

Karman Thandi reaches ITF final in US

Second seed Karman Kaur Thandi beat fifth seed Maria Mateas 7-5, 6-3 in the semifinals of the $60,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Sumter, USA.

In the final, Karman was scheduled to play Yulia Starodubtseva of Ukraine.

In the $15,000 ITF men’s event in Jakarta, Indonesia, top seeds Siddhant Banthia and Sai Karteek Reddy won the doubles title. It was the fifth doubles title in the professional circuit for Banthia, while it was the fourth for Reddy.

– Team Sportstar

FOOTBALL

Manipur edge Bengal in a five-goal thriller

Defending champions Manipur edged Bengal 3-2 in their Senior Women’s National Football Championship final round group B game here on Sunday.

Skipper Ngangom Bala Devi opened the scoring for Manipur in the 17th minute and Serto Lynda Kom doubled the lead in the 40th minute. Just before the two sides headed into the break, Mousumi Murmu pulled one back for Bengal as the scoreline read 2-1 at half time.

Lynda Kom added another for Manipur before the hour mark as it looked to take three points with its commanding display. However, it was dealt a late scare as Bengal skipper Sangita Basfore made it 3-2 in a resurgent move. But the reigning champions held it till the final whistle to bag their second consecutive victory in the tournament.

Indian Railways rout Himachal

Indian Railways bounced back from its opening match defeat by registering a massive 7-1 victory over Himachal Pradesh. After the scoreline read 1-1 at the half time, Railways struck six times in the second session to make it a one-sided affair.

Haryana bag three points again

Haryana continued with its fine form with a second successive win. The north Indian state downed Maharashtra 4-0, courtesy a brace from Renu Rani.

Rani, who was adjudged the player of the match, netted once in each half to give Haryana a 2-0 lead.

A late penalty by Santosh in the 86th minute took the game completely away from Maharashtra. Furthermore, skipper Ritu Rani put the game to bed in the additional time to make it 4-0.

– PTI

BOXING

Youth Men’s Nationals: Eleven SSCB boxers reach finals

SSCB’s Arman (red) after his win in the 80kg semifinal over MP’s Prasant Khatana at the sixth Youth Men’s National Boxing Championships in Gangtok, Sikkim.
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Eleven pugilists from the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) reached the finals of the ongoing sixth Youth Men’s National Boxing Championships in Gangtok, Sikkim after winning their respective semifinal matches.

SSCB’s Arman (80kg) defeated Prasant Khatana of Madhya Pradesh by a unanimous decision to reach the final of the tournament. Arman dominated the bout from the get-go and landed some heavy punches on his opponent to gain an early advantage in the first round.

The next two rounds also saw the Services’ boxer dominating his opponent with swift movement and accurate punches. He will now face Ishan Kataria of Haryana in the final. SSCB’s Rishi also played brilliantly in the semifinal and defeated Haryana’s Vishesh by 3-0 to reach the final of the Championships.

Apart from Arman and Rishi, nine other boxers- Aryan (51kg), Ashish (54kg), Nikhil (57kg), M Hanthoi (60kg), Ankush (67kg), Preet Malik (71kg), Yogesh (75kg), Ayran (86kg) and Harsh (92kg) have also reached the finals.   

Haryana’s pugilists also showcased tremendous display in the semifinals as a total of six boxers from the state will play for the final prize. Asian Junior Champion Bharat Joon (92kg) was at his imperious best during his semifinal bout as he defeated Avchal Shai of Madhya Pradesh by RSC.

Bharat Joon began the bout with aggressive intent and gained an advantage over his opponent in the first round. The referee soon stopped the contest to declare Joon the winner. He will now play against Harsh of SSCB in the final.

Apart from Joon, Akshat(57kg), Yashwardhan Singh (63.5kg), Rupesh (67kg), Ishan Kataria (80kg) and Lakshay Rathi (92+kg) will also represent Haryana in the finals.

– Team Sportstar

VOLLEYBALL

AVC Challenge Cup: India beats Australia 3-1 in Pool C match

India fought through a slow start to later clinch a 3-1 victory (13-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-14) against Australia in Pool C of the 2023 AVC Challenge Cup for Women on Sunday at the Tri Dharma Petrokimia Gresik Gymnasium in East Java, Indonesia.

Kambath Poyilil Anushree unleashed a total of 20 attacks as India’s chief scorer, to lead all players on the board. Captain Nirmal contributed another 14 markers in the victory.

Sunday’s four-set match completed Pool C of the Preliminary Round, as teams now await their respective match-ups for the cross-over classifications with Pool A on Wednesday, June 21. 

– Team Sportstar