HOCKEY
Defending champion Punjab opened its campaign on a rousing note with a 10-1 victory over Chhattisgarh in a Pool-A match of the Senior National men’s hockey championship on Friday.
In a keenly contested Pool-G contest, Maharashtra resolutely fought back from a 0-2 deficit to pull off a 2-2 draw. With two wins in Pool F, Uttar Pradesh will be keen to beat J&K on Saturday in its final group match and top the group to enter the quarterfinals.
In another interesting Pool-H match on Saturday, the winner of Bengal and Manipur will most likely top the group and reach the last eight.
The results:
Pool-A: Punjab 10 (Gursahibjit Singh 5, 35, Ravneet Singh 15, Pardeep Singh 16, Balwinder Singh 41, 55, Angad Bir Singh 52, Maninder Singh 53, Gurjinder Singh 54, Sudarshan Singh 58) bt Chhattisgarh 1 (Tarun Yadav 44).
B: Mizoram 6 (Mohit Kathoute 5, C. Stalin Abilash 18, Zothanpuia 27, H. Trishul Ganapathi 34, 39, Lalramlua 58) bt Himachal 3 (Dharmesh Singh 37, Harsh 41, 46).
E: Rajasthan 4 (Keshav Pandey 26, 45, Vijendra Singh 31, 40) bt Arunachal 3 (Sandeep Pathak 2, 44, Abhinav Singh 33).
E: Odisha 6 (Amandeep Lakra 11, Sanjeep Nilam Xess 18, Sudeep Chirmako 34, Pratap Lakra 37, Rajat Akash Tirkey 43, Kerobin Lakra 55) bt Le Puducherry 2 (Nabin Kujur 21, T. Arun Kumar 45).
G: Maharashtra 2 (Sayyad Niyaz Rahim 35, Devindar Walmiki 60) drew with Jharkhand 2 (Simon Bodra 23, Love Light Kujur 34).
H: Bengal 11 (Rajendra Oram 2, 44, Raushan Kumar 4, Amon Mirash Tirkey 6, 45, Alsam Lakra 12, 49, Tarun Adhikari 20, Nitish Neupane 22, 36, 41, Santosh Barla 60) bt Bihar 1 (Saurav Kumar 24, Anuj Raj 55).
-Team Sportstar
TENNIS
AITA women’s tournament: Third seed Anjali beats second seed Sahira
Third seed Anjali Rathi beat second seed Sahira Singh 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the final of the Rs.2,50,000 AITA women’s tennis tournament at the Joygaon Academy on Friday.
The 18-year-old Anjali had earlier knocked out the top seed Yubrani Banerjee in straight sets. In fact, Anjali had dropped only 22 games in all in the first four rounds.
It was another addition to the trophy collection of the Rathi family, as Anjali’s brother Arjun Rathi had won the ITF junior title in Nairobi, Kenya, last week. Both players train at the Roundglass Academy in Chandigarh, under chief coach Aditya Sachdeva.
Yubrani won the doubles title in partnership with Kashish Bhatia, beating the second seeds, Divya Bhardwaj and Chandana Potugari in straight sets.
The results (finals)
Singles: Anjali Rathi bt Sahira Singh 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Doubles: Yubrani Banerjee & Kashish Bhatia bt Divya Bhardwaj & Chandana Potugari 6-1, 7-6(3).
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Men’s ITF tournament: Aryan Shah beats national champion Rethi in quarterfinals
Davis Cupper Aryan Shah asserted his consistent game as he beat the national champion Rethin Pranav 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the $25,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament at the Kalinga Stadium on Friday.
In a battle of wits that lasted two hours and 26 minutes, Aryan converted six of nine breakpoints to pull through, even as Rethin lost the grip on his serve in the decider.
In the semifinals, Aryan will challenge the top seed, Dalibor Svrcina of the Czech Republic.
Two other Indian hopes Karan Singh and S.D. Prajwal Dev were also beaten, as Bogdan Bobrov set up the other semifinal against Nick Chappell.
In the doubles semifinals, top seeds Egor Agafonov and Bogdan Bobrov turned the match around from the brink of defeat, to beat Ishaque Eqbal and Faisal Qamar 10-8 in the super tie-break.
They will play Rishab Agarwal and Kabir Hans in the final.
The results
The results
Singles (quarterfinals): Dalibor Svrcina (Cze) bt Dev Javia 6-4, 6-1; Aryan Shah bt Rethin Pranav 5-7, 6-4, 6-2; Bogdan Bobrov bt Karan Singh 6-3, 6-0; Nick Chappell (USA) bt S.D Prajwal Dev 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 (retired).
Doubles (semifinals): Egor Agafonov & Bogdan Bobrov bt Ishaque Eqbal & Faisal Qamar 3-6, 7-6(6), [10-8]; Rishab Agarwal & Kabir Hans bt Siddhant Banthia & Vishnu Vardhan 6-2, 7-6(4).
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Helsinki Challenger: Divij-Daniel duo beaten in doubles quarterfinals
Divij Sharan in partnership with Daniel Cukierman of Israel was beaten 3-6, 6-4, [10-8] by Marco Borlotti and Patrik Niklas-Salminen in the doubles quarterfinals of the €148,625 Challenger tennis tournament in Helsinki, Finland.
The results
The results
€148,625 Challenger, Helsinki, Finland Doubles (quarterfinals): Marco Bortolotti (Ita) & Patrik Niklas-Salminen (Fin) bt Daniel Cukierman (Isr) & Divij Sharan 3-6, 6-4, [10-8].
$25,000 ITF men, Maputo, Mozambique Doubles (quarterfinals): Ryoto Tachi (Jpn) & Yash Yadav w.o. Olaf Pieczkowski & Kacper Szymkowiak (Pol); Thando Longwe-Smit & Dylan Salton (RSA) bt Parth Aggarwal & Atharva Sharma 6-1, 6-4.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
GOLF
The Poona Club Open: Kaul establishes two-shot lead, Parikh matches course record of 63
Kshitij Naveed Kaul of Delhi, the overnight joint leader, posted a solid four-under 67 in round three to establish a two-shot lead at a total of 16-under 197 at The Poona Club Open on Friday.
Ahmedabad’s Varun Parikh, a winner on the PGTI last month, matched the course record of eight-under 63 to climb into second place at 14-under 199 in the Rs 1 crore event.
TATA Steel PGTI Ranking leader Veer Ahlawat of Gurugram signed for an error-free 66 to move into tied third place at 13-under 200. Chandigarh’s Karandeep Kochhar, the overnight joint leader, struck a 70 on Friday that pushed him down to tied third along with Ahlawat.
Divyansh Dubey (66) was the highest-placed among the Pune-based professionals as he was placed tied eighth at nine-under 204.
Olympian Udayan Mane submitted a card of 70 to end the day in tied 25th at four-under 209.
The 26-year-old Parikh (67-69-63), a two-time winner on the PGTI and currently placed 17th on the PGTI Order of Merit, equalled the course record held by six other players (Kapil Kumar, Samarth Dwivedi, C Muniyappa, Chikkarangappa S, S Madaiah and Vijay Kumar) and jumped seven spots from his overnight tied ninth, courtesy his nine birdies that came at the cost of a lone bogey.
Parikh’s round featured five consecutive birdies from the 10th to the 14th.
-PTI
POLO
Cavalry Gold Cup: Jindal Panther beats Delta Polo in semifinals
Simran Shergill scored the match-winner in the sudden-death chukker to help Jindal Panther to a 8-7 victory over Delta Polo in the semifinals of the Habanos Cavalry Gold Cup polo tournament at the Jaipur polo ground on Friday.
In the final to be played on Sunday at the same venue, Jindal Panther will meet Achievers, which got past Vimal Arion Achievers 6-5.
Results
Achievers 6 (Chris Mackenzie 3, Abhimanyu Pathak 3) bt Vimal Arion Achievers 5 (Shamsheer Ali 3, Kuldeep Singh Rathore 2).
Jindal Panther 8 (Siddhant Sharma 3, Hurr Ali 3, Simran Shergill 2) bt Delta Polo 7 (Santiago Marambio 6, Naveen Singh).
-Kamesh Srinivasan
CUE SPORTS
Pankaj Advani reaches final of IBSF World Billiards Championship
Pankaj Advani edged closer to his 28th world title, securing a spot in the final of the IBSF World Billiards Championship (150-up format) with a 4-2 win over fellow Indian Sourav Kothari in Doha on Friday.
The match, an all-Indian affair, showcased high-quality billiards as Advani, the 27-time world champion, made a strong start to clinch the opening frame in the semifinal.
Kothari responded by taking the second frame to level the score.
However, Advani shifted into top gear and showcased his unmatched precision and tactical brilliance to claim the next two frames and establish a 3-1 lead.
Kothari mounted a spirited fightback in the fifth frame, narrowing the deficit to 3-2. But Advani, determined to seal the contest, left no room for a comeback as he delivered a superlative performance in the sixth frame to close the match 4-2.
Advani will now face England’s Robert Hall in the final of championship being played in the 150-up format.
Hall, a seasoned competitor, earned his berth in the final by overcoming multiple world champion Peter Gilchrist of Singapore 4-1.
-PTI
