MOTORSPORTS
Asia Pacific Rally Championship gets record entries for Asia Zone round in Chennai
A record number of 21 entries have been confirmed for the Asia Zone round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC), scheduled from April 25th to 27th at the Madras International Circuit.
The APRC Asia Cup will be held alongside the FMSCI Indu Chandhok Memorial Indian Rally Championship (INRC) and will be organised by the Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC).
The first round was held in New Zealand early this month, and after the second round in Chennai, three more rounds will take place, with the final and title-deciding round taking place alongside the World Rally Championship event from November 6 to 8 in Japan.
The recce of all 21 cars was completed today at the Special Stages.
“I am absolutely thrilled to see a record number of entries in the FIA APRC segment. I am coming in as contributor to support this round and I am also extending my support for a couple of other rounds,” Vamcy Merla, promoter of the APRC India round and the title sponsor of the INRC, said.
Defending champions of the APRC India leg, Harkrishan Wadia and Kunal Kashyap of Arka Motorsports, and the reigning National champions, Karna Kadur and Musa Sherif, will spearhead the competition. The
They will be given a tough challenge by former INRC champion and ERC round winner Amittrajit Ghosh, 2019 INRC champion Chetan Shivram and co-driver E Shivaprakash and Hyderabad’s Naveen Puligilla, who has entered with co-driver Santhosh Thomas.
Naveen recently won the RC3 class of the Kenyan Rally Championship, part of the World Rally Championship circuit. Arnav Pratap Singh, with co-driver Rohit N, and Janson Saldanha, with PVS Murthy, will be the other drivers to watch out for.
Anushriya Gulati of Shimla will be the only lady entry while Hyderabad’s Jeet Jhabhak will debut the Hyundai i20 in the INRC.
“He (Merla) has always spontaneously agreed to support the event in the interest of the sport without expecting anything in return. This is the kind of spirit and support that the MMSC enjoys with Vamcy Merla as the promoter of the FIA APRC event in India and the Indu Chandhok Memorial South India Rally 2025,” Vicky Chandhok, President of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship working group, said.
BOXING
Asian U-15 & U-17 Boxing Championships: Five more Indians advance to semifinals
Five Indian boxers, including three boys and two girls, advanced to the semifinals of the Asian U-15 Championships here.
From the men’s U-15 championship, Nelson Khwairakpam (55 kg) secured a Referee Stops Contest (RSC) win in the first round over Chinese Taipei’s Wang Sheng-Yang on the fifth day of competitions on Wednesday.
Abhijeet (61 kg) and Lakshay Phogat (64 kg) cruised to 5-0 victories against opponents from Kyrgyzstan and Jordan, respectively in their quarterfinal bouts.
Among the girls, Princi (52 kg) delivered a strong 5-0 result over Ukraine’s Yeva Kubanova.
Samruddhi Satish Shinde (55 kg) wrapped up her bout with an RSC in the third round against Ukraine’s Kseniia Savina.
Six Indians had already made their way into the semifinals on Tuesday.
Results:
Men’s U-15 – Quarterfinals: 52 kg: Ravi Sihag (IND) lost to Elshod Shakirjonov (UZB) – WP 2:3 55 kg: Nelson Khwairakpam (IND) def. Wang Sheng-Yang (TPE) – RSC R1 58 kg: Naman Saini (IND) lost to Jakhongirjon Usmankulov (UZB) – WP 0:5 61 kg: Abhijeet (IND) def. Mukhammad Burkhanov (KGZ) – WP 5:0 64 kg: Lakshay Phogat (IND) def. Laith Ajailat (JOR) – WP 5:0
-PTI
Tennis
Sherry enters quarterfinals of U18 quarterfinals of AITA Junior National Series
Sherry Sharma beat second seed Riya Sachdeva 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the under-18 girls Quarterfinals of the AITA National Series Junior Tennis Tournament at the CLTA Complex on Thursday.
The results:
Under-18 boys (quarterfinals): Swaraaj Dhamdhere bt Vivaan Bidasaria 6-3, 6-2; Armaan Walia bt Dhruv Ghanghas 6-4, 6-0; Ribhav Saroha bt Anuj Tahsildar 6-2, 6-2; Nithin Barath bt Megh Patel 6-2, 1-6, 6-2.
Doubles (final): Swaraj Dhamdhere & Neev Kothari bt Shreyas Dogial & Dhruv Ghanghas 2-6, 7-6(6), [10-7].
Under-18 girls (quarterfinals): Ranjhana Sangram bt Manshi Singh 6-4 6-4; Shagun Kumari bt Pal Upadhyay 7-6(5), 6-2; Nainika Bendram bt Iha Joshi 6-3, 6-2; Sherry Sharma bt Riya Sachdeva 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
Doubles (final): Nainika Bendram & Riya Sachdeva bt Afreen Rahil & Ranjhana Sangram 6-2, 7-6(2).
-Kamesh Srinivasan
SHOOTING
TS Divya wins gold at Kumar Surendra Singh Championship
TS Divya with her medal at the Kumar Surendra Singh Championship in Bhopal.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
TS Divya with her medal at the Kumar Surendra Singh Championship in Bhopal.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Divya Subbaraju was in top form as she beat Riya Thatte 31-28 for the 25-metre sports pistol gold in the 23rd Kumar Surendra Singh Shooting Championship at the Madhya Pradesh Academy on Thursday.
The 29-year-old Divya had topped qualification with 586 and shot a strong final to assert her supremacy in a strong field, which included Asian Games and multiple World Cup gold medallist Rahi Sarnobat.
Naamya Kapoor won the junior gold, beating Tejaswani 34-33.
RESULTS
25m sports pistol: Women: 1. TS Divya 31 (586); 2. Riya Thatte 28 (581); 3. Arshdeep Kaur 23 (578).
Juniors: 1. Naamya Kapoor 34 (570); 2. Tejaswani 33 (572); 3. Prisha Gupta 30 (569).
-Team Sportstar
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