Indian sports wrap, January 25: Sandhu, Chawrasia and Rashid make cut in Manila

GOLF

Sandhu, Chawrasia and Rashid make cut in Manila

Ajeetesh Sandhu was the best of the three Indians to make the cut at the USD 500,000 Smart Infinity Philippine Open golf tournament, the season-opening event of the 2025 Asian Tour in Manila on Saturday.

Sandhu added 71 to his first two rounds of 67-70 to reach 2-under for 54 holes and was Tied-26th.

The other two Indians making the cut were SSP Chawrasia (69-73-67) at 1-under and was T-37, while Rashid Khan (70-72-69) was 1-over and T-49.

Sandhu dropped a bogey on the first hole but birdied the fifth and the seventh. There was another setback with a double bogey on Par-4 11th, and he then he birdied the 14th.

However he gave that shot back on the very next hole.

Yuvraj Sandhu and Rahil Gangjee had earlier missed the cut.

Japan’s Tomoya Ikemura fired his third straight round in the 60s to get to 8-under and one shot ahead of Sadom Kaewkanjana (65-66-72) at 7-under.

Sadom birdied two of his last three holes to extend his 36-hole lead to three shots at the halfway stage but dropped five shots between the fifth and the ninth on the front nine in the third round. He did make up with four birdies against one bogey on the back nine for a 72.

Five players Bjorn Hellgren, Julien Sale, Xiao Bowen, Kevin Yuan and Danthai Boonma share the third place at 6-under.

– PTI

Ahlawat makes cut at Ras Al Khaimah on DP World Tour

India’s Veer Ahlawat made his first cut on the DP World Tour after carding a fine three-under 69 in the second round of Ras Al Khaimah Championship.

The 28-year-old, who topped the PGTI Order of Merit in 2024 to earn a card onto the DPWT as per the alliance between the Tours, moved into the weekend rounds at a creditable five-under and was Tied-15th.

India’s other DPWT member Shubhankar Sharma also shot 69 on the second day, but his first round 75 cost him heavy as he missed the second straight cut this season.

Ahlawat had finished Tied-second at the Hero Indian Open at his home course, the DLF Golf and Country Club, a year ago, but he was not a member of the DPWT. He chose to focus on the PGTI and earned a passage into the bigger Tour.

Ahlawat dropped a shot early in the second round, but picked four birdies after that for a 69. He birdied the third seventh, eighth and the 15th.

Last week Ahlawat and Sharma missed the cut in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.

Marcus Armitage birdied his final two holes to remain in control of the Ras Al Khaimah Championship at the halfway stage.

The Englishman, who opened with a blistering nine-under par first round, followed that with a three-under par effort to reach 12-under on day two.

He goes into the final two rounds with a two-stroke advantage over countryman Dan Brown and Spain’s Alejandro del Rey at Al Hamra Golf Club.

Armitage birdied the third and fourth holes to overtake Brown and del Rey, who had set the target at 10-under, but sandwiched another birdie with bogeys at the seventh and ninth.

The 37-year-old dropped another shot at the par four 12th but steadied himself with a pair of pars before launching an assault on the final few holes.

The 2021 Porsche European Open champion converted from 23 feet on the par three 15th to return to double figures, before birdieing the final two holes for the second day in a row – and in style.

After missing the green at the 17th, he chipped in for birdie from the greenside rough before the almost holing his third shot from 99 yards at the par five 18th, leaving the simplest of tap ins to secure a round of 69.

Brown’s eight-under round of 64 was the best of the day and matched only by American Johannes Veerman who climbed 42 places to fourth.

Five players shared the fifth place at seven-under, including China’s Li Haotong and Dane Hamish Brown, who both posted seven under rounds of 65.

Englishman Daniel Gavins, the 2023 winner of the Ras Al Khaimah Championship, made more great memories at Al Hamra Golf Club, carding the second hole-in-one of his career at the par three seventh hole.

– PTI

BILLIARDS

National Billiards: Sourav Kothari beats Pankaj Advani in final

Billiards stalwart Sourav Kothari came up with two superb century breaks during the contest as he defeated multiple world champion Pankaj Advani 4-2 in the final of the National Billiards & Snooker Championship in Indore on Saturday.

Kothari, a former world billiards champion who is currently No.2 in the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) ranking, won 150-31, 30-154, 9-151, 150-25, 150-90 and 152-147 in a contest where Advani fought till the very end.

The two Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) cueists were unwilling to give an inch, with Sourav coming up with a 106-point break to take the first set. Advani then had superb breaks of 130 and 94 as he took the next two frames to take a 2-1 lead.

However, Sourav the World Billiards champion in 2018 and Arjuna Awardee in 2016, took the next three frames to take the title, although Advani fought tooth and nail in the sixth and last frame by coming up with a break of 99 before losing by just five points.

– PTI

TENNIS

AITA National-ranking tournament: Nitin, Pooja clinch titles

Nitin Kumar Sinha, the second seed from Kolkata, shocked the top-seeded J. Vishnu Vardhan 6-3, 6-4 and won the men’s singles title in the Naushad Mather Memorial AITA National-ranking tennis tournament at the Regional Sports Centre in Kochi on Saturday.

Vishnu – who played men’s doubles with Leander Paes in the 2012 London Olympics and had won a mixed doubles silver with Sania Mirza at the 2010 Asian Games – does not have age on his side. He is 37 now and the 25-year-old Nitin came up with a power-packed performance to claim the title.

Nitin broke Vishnu in the opening game, twice in the second set and produced 10 aces in all during the nearly two-hour final.

“I had beaten him in our recent matches,” said Nitin, hinting that he was confident of taking the title.

A former national champion, Vishnu feels tennis keeps him healthy and young.

“Now, I don’t have any ranking goals to achieve…there are a few things in my game which I know if I can fix them, I can play at a much better level. I know I have the experience and maturity on my side,” said Vishnu.

Meanwhile, Pune’s top-seeded Pooja Ingale had a much easier time against the third-seeded Laxmi Siri Dandu in the women’s final, winning 6-4, 6-1.

“I wouldn’t say it was easy but today, I was very happy with the way I played, that might have made it look easy but it was a good match,” said the 23-year-old Pooja who had taken the women’s doubles title on Friday.

KTA patron Noordin Mather and Sunayini Naushad Mather gave away the prizes.

– Stan Rayan

ITF junior: Arjun Rathi beats Poland’s Chlodnicki in final

Arjun Rathi beat Jan Chlodnicki of Poland 6-4, 6-2 in the final of the ITF junior tennis tournament at the Bengal Tennis Association Complex on Saturday.

It was a gritty fare from the 17-year-old Arjun, who trains with coach Aditya Sachdeva at the Roundglass Academy in Chandigarh. Arjun won three of his five matches after losing the first set. It was his third singles title in the international circuit, following the ones in Nairobi and Delhi.

Polina Kuharenko won the girls’ title, and it was her second successive title, following the triumph in Chandigarh.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

BASKETBALL

International stars Amjyot, Anmolpreet to lead Punjab men’s and women’s teams in National Games

International stars Amjyot Singh Gill and Anmolpreet Kaur Pannu will lead the Punjab basketball men’s and women’s teams in the National Games being staged in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, from January 28.

Punjab men had won the title last time in Goa.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

MORE SPORTS

Khelo India Winter Games: Telangana lead medal tally; ITBP tame Army in ice-hockey

Pranav Madav Surapaneni won Telangana’s second gold in the Khelo India Winter Games’ ice-skating competition, but all attention on Saturday was on the blockbuster ice-hockey league match between the Indian Army and ITBP in which the latter prevailed.

With about 10 minutes left on the clock, Stanzin Mingure scored twice in succession to script a dramatic 3-1 victory for ITBP as Army’s defence collapsed in the third and final period of the contest.

On the day all roads led to the 5000-capacity NDS sports complex for the Army versus ITBP ice-hockey match. Like always, the stands were full with Armymen, dressed in their olive green attire, backing their team in big numbers.

But it was Mohammed Ismail who struck first blood for ITBP in the second minute of a match that often got a bit physical.

Tsewang Dorjey drew level for Army with a lovely flick at the far post early in the second period, but Indian Army, the defending champion, lost control in the third period and suffered their first loss of the Games.

“The team’s strategy worked perfectly, bringing us closer to securing the victory today. I managed to score a goal for the team and I am happy with that. The Khelo India Winter Games are being professionally managed and such an open environment encourages us to perform better,” said ITBP’s centre forward Ismail in a chat with SAI Media.

After Nayana Sri Talluri on Friday, Pranav Madav Surapaneni won Telangana’s second gold of the skating competition. It came in the 500m short track for men at NDS.

Maharashtra and host Ladakh also won their first skating gold medals on Saturday but it’s Telangana which leads the medal tally.

Ishaan Darvekar bagged Maharashtra’s first gold of the skating competition by winning the 1000m short track event at the NDS. In a rather one-sided race, Darvekar clocked 2:02.33 seconds ahead of teammate Vyom Sawant (2:04.90 secs) and Tiluck Keisam of Delhi, who timed 2:10.78.

At the end of day three of the competition, Maharashtra is third with a total haul of five skating medals (one gold, one silver and three bronze) while Karnataka are second with three medals (one gold and two silvers), all from ice skating.

Schoolboy Surapaneni clocked 56.86 seconds to win the 500m short track gold. It was quite a tight race as number two (Samrudh SD of Karnataka) and number three (Sumit Tapkir of Maharashtra) were separated by a few seconds.

There was joy for host Ladakh at the Gupuks Pond. Shabana Zara (2:09.69 seconds) and Tasniya Shamim (2:13.95 seconds) made it a one-two for Ladakh in the 1000-metre-long track for women.

For 14-year-old Shabana, it was her first gold at the Khelo India Winter Games, although she participated last year too. Tasniya tasted success in KIWG last year, winning a gold, silver and bronze under different categories.

-PTI

PICKLEBALL

Bengaluru Jawans dominates Hyderabad Superstars to extend winning streak

Bengaluru Jawans continued its unbeaten run in the World Pickleball League with a commanding 3-1 victory over Hyderabad Superstars on Day 2. The Jawans showcased their dominance and consistency across the five matches leaving Hyderabad searching for its first win of the tournament.

The men’s singles opened the proceedings, with Bengaluru’s Jack Foster delivering a clinical performance against Superstars’ Kuldip Mahajan wearing the Hyderabad blue. In the women’s doubles, the pairings of Alejandra Bobaria Lopez and Trang (Bengaluru) and Grigoriu and Cavataio (Hyderabad) fought tooth and nail in a game filled with spectacular rallies and smashes. The match ended in a rare 8-8 draw, highlighting the intense competition between the teams.

Bengaluru consolidated its position in the men’s doubles, where Marcello Jardim and Mauro Garcia put on a dominant display against Hyderabad’s Ross Whittaker and Max Freeman. The women’s singles provided the most gripping contest of the day.

Hyderabad’s Karolina Owczarek started strong, racing to a 7-2 lead. However, Bengaluru’s Alejandra Borobia turned the game around in a thrilling comeback, eventually winning 21-10 and securing the tie for the Jawans. Hyderabad salvaged some pride in the mixed doubles, with Max Freeman and Madalina Grigoriu defeating Bengaluru’s Jack Foster and Vrushali Thakare 9-7 in a tightly contested mixed double encounter.

– Team Sportstar

CUE SPORTS

National Billiards: Sourav Kothari beats Pankaj Advani in final

Billiards stalwart Sourav Kothari came up with two superb century breaks during the contest as he defeated multiple world champion Pankaj Advani 4-2 in the final of the National Billiards & Snooker Championship on Saturday.

Kothari, a former world billiards champion who is currently No.2 in the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) ranking, won 150-31, 30-154, 9-151, 150-25, 150-90 and 152-147 in a contest where Advani fought till the very end.

The two Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) cueists were unwilling to give an inch, with Sourav coming up with a 106-point break to take the first set. Advani then had superb breaks of 130 and 94 as he took the next two frames to take a 2-1 lead.

However, Sourav, the World Billiards champion in 2018 and Arjuna Awardee in 2016, took the next three frames to take the title, although Advani fought tooth and nail in the sixth and last frame by coming up with a break of 99 before losing by just five points.

Scores: Sourav Kothari beat Pankaj Advani 4-2 (150-31, 30-154, 9-151, 150-25, 150-90, 152-147)

-PTI