BADMINTON
Senior Nationals: Ayush, Aakarshi reach round of 16
Second seed Ayush Shetty entered the men’s singles last-16 with a comfortable 21-12, 21-13 victory over Tamil Nadu’s S. Kishore at the 2024 Senior National Badminton Championship at the KBA courts in Bengaluru on Saturday.
The 19-year-old from Railways shrugged off the tight defeat to Karnataka’s S. Bhargav in the team championship final two days ago in fine fashion. The win over Kishore was his second of the day, having beaten Punjab’s Shikhar Rallan in the morning by an equally lopsided 21-14, 21-6 scoreline in a round-of-64 clash.
Women’s top seed Aakarshi Kashyap also had a safe passage into the pre-quarters, thrashing Uttar Pradesh’s Taranjeet Kaur 21-14, 21-8.
The 23-year-old from Chhattisgarh had a slightly tougher round-of-64 rubber against Chandigarh’s Rijul Saini which she managed to win 19-21, 21-12, 21-13. But against Taranjeet, she played a near-perfect match, displaying an array of deceptive half-smashes and delicate dribbles to leave her opponent bamboozled.
Select results
Round of 32
Men: K. Sathish Kumar (TN) bt Ajay Nair (Ker) 21-9, 21-12; Ayush Shetty (Rly) bt S. Kishore (TN) 21-12, 21-13; Manraj Singh (Har) bt S. Bhargav (Kar) 21-11, 21-13; Rounak Chouhan (Chg) bt D.S. Saneeth (Kar) 21-11, 21-16; S. Rithvik Sanjeevi (TN) bt Chirag Sen (Rly) 12-21, 21-19, 21-15; Mithun Manjunath (Rly) bt Samarveer (Chd) 18-21, 21-17, 21-15; M. Raghu (Kar) bt Pranay Katta (Raj) 21-18, 18-21, 21-13; Sanskar Saraswat (Raj) bt Arya Bhivpathaki (Mah) 21-16, 21-15; Lakshay Sharma (Pun) bt Tushar Suveer (Kar) 12-21, 21-14, 21-18.
Women: Aakarshi Kashyap (Chg) bt Taranjeet Kaur (UP) 21-14, 21-8; Anmol Kharb (Har) bt Krishika Mahajan (J&K) 21-14, 21-14; Tanvi Sharma (Pun) bt Swati Solanki (MP) 21-12, 21-8; Adita Rao (Guj) bt Sadhana Fenelon (TN) 21-8, 16-21, 21-12; Tasnim Mir (Guj) bt Medhavi Nagar (Har) 19-21, 21-10, 21-13; Isharani Baruah (Asm) bt Navya Kanderi (AP) 21-13, 21-15; Devika Sihag (Har) bt K. Sreshta Reddy (Tel) 21-19, 24-22; Mansi Singh (UP) bt K. Vennala (Tel) 21-15, 21-19; Anupama Upadhyaya (Del) bt Ilishaa Pal (Kar) 20-22, 21-16, 21-8; Aalisha Naik (Mah) bt S. Sneha (Kar) 21-18, 21-10.
-N. Sudarshan
EQUESTRIAN
Junior National Equestrian Championship 2024 set to begin tomorrow
The Junior National Equestrian Championship (JNEC) 2024 will take place at the Army Polo & Riding Centre (APRC) in Delhi Cantt. The event is scheduled in two phases: December 22–24 and December 26–29.
The first phase of the competition has garnered an impressive 507 entries, with 470 individual participants and 37 teams across various equestrian disciplines including Dressage, Show Jumping, and Tent Pegging. This surge in participation highlights the growing interest and enthusiasm for equestrian sports in India.
Col. Jaiveer Singh, Secretary General of the Equestrian Federation of India, expressed his pride in the championship, noting, “The National Equestrian Championship 2024 showcases the immense talent and growing passion for equestrian sports in India. The impressive number of participants reflects the hard work and dedication of our riders, particularly the young generation. We are proud to provide this platform for athletes to display their skills and set new benchmarks in the sport.”
In the Dressage category, there will be 30 individual competitors and 7 teams in the Children-I group, while the Young Rider category will feature 10 individuals and 3 teams. Show Jumping has drawn a significant number of entries, with 127 individual participants and 23 teams in Children-I (Normal), 119 individual riders in Children-I (Side Event), and 21 individual riders each in the Young Rider (Normal) and Side Event categories. Tent Pegging, known for its precision and high energy, will include events such as Lance (39 individuals), Ring & Peg (33 individuals), Sword (36 individuals), and Lemon & Peg (34 individuals).
The championship will kick off on December 22 at 8:30 AM, starting with Show Jumping events, followed by Dressage and Tent Pegging.
-Team Sportstar
FOOTBALL
Manipur to meet Odisha in Women’s National football final
Record 22-time champions Manipur eliminated Bengal, while Odisha ousted last year’s runners up Haryana to set up a summit clash in the 29th Senior Women’s National Football Championship for the Rajmata Jijabai Trophy in Narainpur, Chhattisgarh on Saturday.
In the semi-final, Manipur struck three second-half goals to rout Bengal 3-0.
Dangmei Grace (53’), Naorem Priyangka Devi (55’) and Hemam Shikly Devi (78’) scored for Manipur.
Odisha, who won the title once in 2010-11, scored once in each half through Pyari Xaxa (10’, 88’) to enter the final for the seventh time.
This will be a repeat of the 2018-19 final when Manipur edged out Odisha 2-1.
The final is slated on Monday.
-PTI
WEIGHTLIFTING
Koyel, Nilam win silver medals in Asian Youth Weightlifting Championships
India’s Koyel Bar and L. Nilam Devi won silver medals in the 55kg Youth and Junior categories to take the country’s tally to six in the Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships on Saturday.
Koyel heaved 79kg in snatch and 103kg in clean & jerk for an aggregate lift of 182kg for her silver, while Nilam lifted 86 in snatch and 104kg in clean & jerk fow an overall 190kg, which won her a silver in the junior category.
With this, India’s medal tally in the continental event swelled to six.
On Friday, India’s Jyoshna Sabar had created a youth Asian record for total lift on her way to winning the gold medal in the 40kg weight category.
Jyoshna had won the top prize in the 40kg youth girls category by heaving 135kg (60kg snatch + 75kg clean and jerk).
Payal too had claimed a gold medal, in the youth girls 45kg section with a total lift of 155kg (70 snatch + 85 clean and jerk).
Another Indian athlete named Payal had won bronze in junior girls 45kg competition, while Babulal Hembrom had ended third in the 49kg youth boys section after lifting 197 (88 snatch + 109 clean and jerk).
-PTI
TENNIS
ITF Women, Navi Mumbai: Bhatia-Desai pair loses doubles final
Third seeds Kanako Morisaki and Naho Sato of Japan beat Riya Bhatia and Zeel Desai 4-6, 6-3, [10-7] in the doubles final of the USD 40,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the Ganesh Naik Complex in Navi Mumbai on Saturday.
The Indian pair had recovered from being down 2-4 to win the next four games in the first set. However, Riya and Zeel were unable to make any such recovery from 1-4 in the second set. In the tie-break, the teams were on par at 6-6 before the Japanese pulled through, winning four of the next five points.
In singles, Thasaporn Naklo of Thailand and Priska Nugroho of Indonesia set up the title clash.
RESULTS
Singles (semifinals): Thasaporn Naklo (Tha) bt Tian Fangran (Chn) 6-3, 4-6, 6-1; Priska Nugroho (Ina) bt Ekaterina Reyngold 6-1, 3-1 (retired).
Doubles (final): Kanako Morisaki & Naho Sato (Jpn) bt Riya Bhatia & Zeel Desai 4-6, 6-3, [10-7].
-Team Sportstar
Chandra Bhushan clinches over-60 title at ITF Masters in Mumbai
Chandra Bhushan won the singles and doubles titles in the
over-60 section of the ITF Masters tennis tournament in Mumbai.
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Chandra Bhushan won the singles and doubles titles in the
over-60 section of the ITF Masters tennis tournament in Mumbai.
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Chandra Bhushan overcame a tough start to beat Sharad Tak 5-7, 6-2, [10-7] for the over-60 title in the ITF Masters tennis tournament at the Practennis courts in Khopoli.
In the women’s over-30 event, Tulsi Mehta emerged as the champion, blanking Pranita Pednekar in the final.
Chandra Bhushan won the doubles title with Pawan Jain, while Tulsi won the mixed doubles title with Aditya Khanna.
RESULTS (Finals)
Over-30: Prosonjit Paul bt Arun Bhosale 6-2, 7-5.
Over-35: Ajinkya Patankar bt Chand Shaikh 2-6, 6-2, [10-7].
Over-40: Aditya Khanna bt Sandeep Pawar 6-0, 6-4.
Over-45: Haresh Ramchandani bt Devendra Krishna 6-7(4), 6-4, [10-6].
Over-50: Nitten Kirrtane bt Ajit Maruti Sail 6-4, 6-4.
Over-55: Raj Dutt bt Sanjeev Magon 6-3, 6-2.
Over-60: Chandra Bhushan bt Sharad Tak 5-7, 6-2, [10-7].
Over-65: Ajeet Bhardwaj bt OP Dikshit 6-2, 7-6(4).
Over-70: Surinder Mohan Sharma bt George Thomas 6-4, 6-4.
Over-75: MS Venkatachalam bt Darshan Lal Maria 6-2, 6-2.
Women: Over-30: Tulsi Mehta bt Pranita Pednekar 6-0, 6-0.
-Team Sportstar
GOLF
Tata Steel Championship: Yashas Chandra takes lead after third round
Yashas Chandra climbed to the top of the leaderboard with a flawless 5-under 66 in the third round of the Rs. 3 crore Tata Steel golf championship at the Beldih and Golmuri golf courses in Jamshedpur on Saturday.
Yashas rose by four places to the sole lead with his score of 14-under 199. Udayan Mane sustained his strong performance to be in the second spot with 13-under 200, following a round of 68.
The 29-year-old Yashas came up with four birdies on the first nine, and stayed on par in the second course.
“I am delighted with the way I struck the ball today. I also hit it close on both courses. The only disappointment was missing a few putts in Beldih. The biggest challenge is getting the speed right on the greens,” said Yashas, as he highlighted the challenges of competing on two different courses of nine holes each, at the same time.
Overnight leader Saarthak Chhibber had a tough time, shooting 6-over 77, and fell to the joint 14th spot with three others including Jamal Hossain of Bangladesh.
Leaderboard
1. Yashas Chandra (69, 64, 66) 199; 2. Udayan Mane (67, 65, 68) 200; 3T. Sudhir Sharma (70, 64, 67), N Thangaraja (Sri) (65, 66, 70) 201; 5. Amardeep Malik (67, 64, 71) 202; 6T. Yuvraj Sandhu (71, 69, 63); Veer Ahlawat (67, 68, 68) 203; 8T. Om Pakash Chouhan (68, 6, 68), C Muniyappa (70, 65, 69) 204; 10T. Gaurav Pratap Singh (69, 70, 66), Gaganjeet Bhullar (71, 67, 67), Milind Soni (68, 69, 8), Shamim Khan (66, 68, 71) 205; 14. Abhinav Lohan (69, 67, 70), Rohan Dhole Patil (66, 69,71), Jamal Hossain (Ban) (66, 68, 72), Saarthak Chhibber (65, 64, 77) 206; 18T. M Dharma (66, 73, 68), SSP Chawrasia (67, 71, 69),Rahil Gangjee (71, 67, 69), Mohd. Azhar (70, 67, 70) 207.
-Team Sportstar
Ajeetesh secures Asian Tour card despite bogey-bogey finish
Ajeetesh Sandhu was the sole Indian to secure an Asian Tour card for 2025 despite a tense bogey-bogey finish at the Final Qualifying school, on Saturday.
The Chandigarh golfer, who a week earlier won on his home tour, shot 1-over 72 to finish T-23.
The top 35 and ties secured their playing rights for 2025 and will join those who have kept their cards through Order of Merit.
Sandhu, who shared the lead after day one, was in the top-10 with two holes to go. He finished with two bogeys but managed to gain the all-important card.
The Asian Tour’s new season starts with the Philippine Open at Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club, from January 23-26, and is followed the week after by the International Series India.
Japan’s Takumi Murakami took top spot. Murakami, the leader at the start of the day, fired a one-under-par 70 to finish on 20-under and beat Korean Kyungnam Kang by one.
Kang shot a 69, while his compatriot Doyeob Mun claimed third, another shot back following a 68. Australian Jack Thompson (68) tied for fourth with China’s Bai Zhengkai (67).
In a dramatic finish to secure the 35th card, Thailand’s Charng-Tai Sudsom birdied his final two holes to fire a brave 65 to finish on 10 under and hence avoid an 11-man sudden-death play-off for the final place.
China’s Wu Ashun, a four-time winner in Europe, was one of the players on nine under to miss out. He bogeyed his last three holes to end a season of great disappointment as he also failed to keep his card on the DP World Tour by the narrowest of margins.
He finished 115th on the Order of Merit, just nine points behind Ross Fisher from England who made it through in 114th place.
-PTI
