Indian sports wrap, March 7: Vani wins back-to-back titles at Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour leg, five-day camp in Bengaluru for visually-challenged cricketers

GOLF

Solid Vani makes no mistake on back nine to win second straight title

Vani Kapoor played a perfect back nine with one birdie and eight pars to card 1-under 71 and register a comfortable three-shot win over Ridhima Dilawari (70) and Rhea Jha (73) in the fifth leg of Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour in Gurugram on Friday.

It was the experienced Vani’s second straight victory, having won the fourth leg last month.

One of the most successful players in the history of WPGT, Vani held at least a share of the lead since day one. The DLF golfer was the sole leader after the first round and then shared the lead after 36 holes with Amandeep Drall and finally cruised to a fine victory at the end of the week.

Vani had rounds of 70-75-71 for an even par 216 over 54 holes and she was three shots clear of Ridhima (76-73-70) and Rhea (74-72-73) at the Classic Golf & Country Club.

Amandeep and Rhea Jha, who was the third player in the lead group, were both 2-over for the front nine with two bogeys each against no birdies.

Four players including Sneha Singh (77-75-70), who won the second and third legs, Kriti Chowhan (78-75-69), Yaalisai Verma (77-72-73) and amateur Ceerat Kang (76-72-74) were tied for the sixth place at 6-over 222.

-Press Trust of India

14-year-old Guntas becomes youngest Indian to make cut at WAAP; joins Mannat, Saanvi

Guntas Kaur Sandhu, who took a break from her ninth standard examinations back home, passed a different kind of test, as she became the youngest Indian to make the cut at the elite Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championships golf tournament in De Nang, Vietnam.

Guntas, who turned 14 on February 2, is making her debut at the WAAP, which began in 2018.

Playing in extremely windy conditions on a demanding layout, Guntas was often aggressive and played without fear at the picturesque but challenging Hoiana Shores Golf Club.

The tactics paid off for the tall youngster, who is just a month past her 14th birthday, as she shot 73-71 and made the cut comfortably in T-39th place.

Three of the six Indians made the weekend. They were led by Mannat Brar (67-76) who survived a disastrous start and a rough finish to be 1-over in Tied-30th. The other two were Guntas (73-71) at 2-over in Tied-39th and Saanvi Somu (72-74), playing her second WAAP, was 4-over and on the cutline at T-50.

The other three Indians, Heena Kang (76-73), Zara Anand (76-74) and Kashika Misra (78-79) missed the cut, which fell at 4-over with 52 players making the grade.

Right at the top of the leaderboard was Korea’s Hong Sumin (65-67) at 10-under with Australias Jazy Roberts (66-68) at 8-under tied with Malaysia’s Jeneath Wong (65-69.

-Press Trust of India

Sri Lankan Thangaraja coasts to five-shot win in Ahmedabad Open

Sri Lankan N Thangaraja played a steady fourth round of one-over 73, yet clinched the title with a five-shot margin over Yashas Chandra in the Rs. 1 crore Ahmedabad Open golf championship at the Kensville Golf and Country Club on Friday.

The 43-year-old Thangaraja had an overall eight-under 280 for his fifth title in the PGTI that fetched him a cheque of Rs. 15 lakh.

Yashas Chandra also had a last round of 73 as he finished runner-up with three-under 285, in collecting a prize of ten lakh rupees.

Michele Ortolani of Italy was the sole third with his two-under 286 following a par round on the fourth day. He pocketed Rs. 5,99,800.

With his overnight five-shot lead, Thangaraja admitted that he did not have to do anything fancy to ensure the title. He had a birdie and two bogeys on the final day.

“I made a solid start. When the gap between myself and the rest continued to widen, I looked to play regulation golf, trying to hit most fairways and greens. After the front-nine, I was quite confident of victory,” said Thangaraja, whose last title had come in 2023.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

CRICKET

Visually challenged women’s cricketers: Five-day camp in Bengaluru for top performers

The Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) is set to organise a five-day coaching camp for the top 29 women cricketers who delivered outstanding performances in the national championships over the years.

The camp will be held in Bengaluru from March 24 to 28 and will bring together players from across states, including 10-B1 cricketers, 9-B2 cricketers, and 10-B3 cricketers. B1, B2 and B3 are classifications of visually challenged sportspersons ranging from zero to partial visibility.

The camp will provide these cricketers with expert training, mentorship, and performance evaluations conducted by CABI’s panel of coaches and selectors, setting the stage for their future in national and international competitions.

“This camp is more than just training — it is about breaking barriers, nurturing raw talent, and building a future where women’s blind cricket thrives,” said Dr. Mahantesh G Kivadasannavar, the CABI chairman.

“With players coming in from different states, this initiative strengthens the foundation of women’s blind cricket in India and highlights the depth of talent in the sport.”

-Press Trust of India

TENNIS

ITF: Kristina Dmitruk eases past Vaidehi Chaudhari in quarterfinals

Kristina Dmitruk continued to assert the versatility of her game as she eased past Vaidehi Chaudhari 6-0, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the $30,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the Tennis Project, Baliyawas, on Friday.

Fifth seed Kristina stroked with considerable acumen, as she moved her opponent around with admirable variety in terms of depth and speed, to force the submission.

After such robust performances in the first two rounds, when she beat Shruti Ahlawat and Sahaja Yamalapalli, dropping seven games in all, it was an anticlimactic exit for Vaidehi. A sincere student of the game, two-time national champion Vaidehi will continue to get better with such matches.

The other Indian in the quarterfinals, Zeel Desai took time to settle into her rhythm and thus could not compete as well as she showed in the later part of the match against second seed Ekaterina Makarova.

Even though she managed to win only six games, Zeel was able to match her opponent stroke for stroke in the second half of the match.

Makarova will face Antonia Schmidt of Germany in the semifinals. The other semifinal will be between Kristina, and the Japanese qualifier Ikumi Yamazaki who saved a match point with a brilliant backhand winner to beat compatriot Haruka Kaji, the fourth seed, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 in a battle of wits that lasted four hours and two minutes.

Makarova and Ekaterina Reyngold beat Shrivalli Bhamidipaty and Vaidehi 6-2, 6-4 in the doubles semifinals, thus wiping out the Indian challenge. Polina Iatcenko and Mariia Tkacheva made the final with a hard fought 7-6(4), 7-6(7) win over the Japanese Rinon Okuwaki and Michika Ozeki.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

Challengers: Siddhant Banthia-Alexander qualify for doubles final

Siddhant Banthia in partnership with Alexander Donski of Bulgaria beat Alafia Ayeni of USA and Luka Pavlovic of France 6-4, 6-3 in the doubles semifinals of the $160,000 Challenger tennis tournament in Kigali, Rwanda, on Friday.

The Indo-Bulgarian pair will play Geoffrey Blancaneaux of France and Zdenek Kolar of Czech Republic in the final.

– Team Sportstar

CUE SPORTS

PSPB’s Ishpreet scripts history in quarters of CCI Snooker Classic

PSPB’s Ishpreet Singh Chadha scripted history of sorts by making a maximum 147-break during his 5-0 victory over Railways’ Dilip Kumar in a best-of-nine-frame quarterfinal match at the CCI Snooker Classic 2025 in Mumbai on Friday.

It was Mumbai-based Ishpreet’s maiden maximum in an open tournament and is the third Indian after the legendary Geet Sethi (Gujarat) and Aditya Mehta (Mumbai) to construct 147 breaks.

Sethi, winner of multiple national titles, had achieved the mark during the 1988 Guntur Nationals.

Mehta, a former national champion representing PSPB, constructed a 147 during the Asian Games selection tournament in Bangalore in 2013 and in a tournament in Germany on the pro circuit.

The 28-year-old Ishpreet, who participates in the World Snooker Tour, is coached by legendary two-time Asian snooker champion Yasin Merchant at the Khar Gymkhana.

Ishpreet showed impeccable touch and control and struck the balls with precision to get into perfect positions to play his shots. He played some astonishing pots before he polished the balls from the table to complete his remarkable feat.

On an adjacent table, current Asian and national champion in snooker Pankaj Advani also showed his class, defeating Malkeet Singh of Railways 5-1.

Earlier, qualifier Faisal Khan of Railways continued with his outstanding form as he churned out another sparkling performance to inflict a crushing 5-0 defeat on national runner-up and India No. 2 Brijesh Damani (PSPB) in a lop-sided quarter-final match.

On the side table, former national champion Kamal Chawla dashed the hopes of CCI member Hasan Badami, romping to a 5-1 (76-77, 63-49, 62-27, 56-8, 66-7, and 71-51) victory.

– PTI

HOCKEY

Senior Women’s National Hockey: Bengal holds UP after fine comeback, Mizoram beat TN 6-0

Trailing by three goals at the start of the last quarter, Bengal staged a remarkable comeback to hold Uttar Pradesh to a 3-3 draw, while Mizoram crushed Tamil Nadu 6-0 in the Senior Women’s National Hockey Championship in Panchkula on Friday.

In the day’s first match, Bengal and Uttar Pradesh shared the points after their stalemate in the Division ‘A’ game.

Sakshi Shukla (24’) scored the opening goal for Uttar Pradesh before Hina Bano (32’) and Anjali Mahto (51’) joined her teammate and struck once each.

On the other side, Rohita Minz (48’) opened the scoring for Bengal at the start of the fourth quarter, giving her side a chance to fight back into the match.

Selestina Horo (52’) and Anisha Dungdung (56’) then struck twice in the final moments to ensure an entertaining draw.

In the next match, Mizoram defeated Tamil Nadu 6-0 in their Division ‘A’ contest. Devika Sen (8’, 27’) scored a brace for Mizoram, while Dimple (1’), Lalthantluangi (2’), Deepika (26’) and Antim (45’) struck one each to help their team to a convincing win.

– PTI