TENNIS
AITA ranking tennis tournament: Samriti Punyani upsets second seed Saily Thakkar in quarters
Samriti Punyani knocked out the second seed Saily Thakkar 6-3, 6-4 in the women’s quarterfinals of the HPCL-Mittal Rs.200,000 AITA ranking tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex on Wednesday.
The results (quarterfinals) :
Men: Sarthak Suden bt Vansh Yadav 6-1, 6-2; Omar Sumar bt Mayank Yadav 7-5, 7-5; Keshav Dangi bt Sourav Kumar Yadav 6-0, 6-2; Moksh Puri bt Anshumat Srivastava 6-2, 6-2.
Women: Vidula Amar bt Suhani Gaur 6-1, 6-2; Danica Fernando bt Lakshmi Gowda 6-1, 6-1; Jeetesh Kumari bt Sreenidhi Amireddy 6-3, 6-3; Samriti Punyani bt Saily Thakkar 6-3, 6-4.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
ATHLETICS
AFI plans to organise workshops to strengthen coaching
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has planned to organise 10 workshops on various topics with the help of leading experts to strengthen the coaching system in the country.
There will be two workshops on sprints and hurdles, with focus on speed training. Two more on throws, with the focus on biomechanics and technical model of throws. Two other workshops will deal with middle and long distance running, with the focus on latest method for endurance training for high performance.
Two workshops will deal with jumps, with the emphasis on biomechanics and technical model of jumps.
There will also be a workshop on strength and conditioning, apart from one on general training methods.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
HOCKEY
Sub-Junior Women National C’ship: Chhattisgarh, TN, UP, MP among winners on day 2
Chhattisgarh Hockey, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh Hockey, Hockey Gujarat, Hockey Madhya Pradesh and Delhi Hockey registered crucial wins on the second day of the 14th Hockey India Sub-Junior Women National Championship on Wednesday.
In the first fixture of the day, Chhattisgarh Hockey blanked Telangana Hockey 7-0 in a pool B match with Damini Khusro (31’, 48’), captain Sidar Madhu (36’, 38’) and Shyamlee Ray (44’, 45’) scoring braces and Anjli Ekka (54’) contributing with a solitary goal.
Uttar Pradesh Hockey prevailed 5-0 over Hockey Uttarakhand in a Pool D fixture with Chauhan Shraddha (13’, 60’), Mitra Akansha (28’), Sonkar Payl (29’) and Sanjana Raikwar (37’) emerging as the goalscorers for the winning side.
In Pool G, Vala Khushaliben (18’) scored the only goal as Hockey Gujarat edged past Hockey Assam 1-0 in a close match to win three points.
Hockey Madhya Pradesh dominated its match in Pool H, beating Hockey Bengal 15-0.
Sujata Jayant (16’, 23’, 60’) and Bhabar Keshar (32’, 34’, 38’) bagged three goals each, while Sallu Pukhrambam (7’, 26’), Parmar Ronak (40’, 42’), Rubi Rathore (49’, 50’), Tanvi (27’), Naz Nousheen (29’) and Sarathe Samiksha (53’) also featured on the scoresheet.
In Pool C, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu was handed a 5-0 victory after their opponent Hockey Himachal forfeited the match.
Similarly, Delhi Hockey was awarded a 5-0 win after Hockey Jammu and Kashmir forfeited the match.
-PTI
SQUASH
Xtreme squash C’ships: Riya Maheshwari defeats Prisha Rana in U17 pre-quarters
Riya Maheshwari beat Prisha Rana 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8 in the under-17 girls pre-quarterfinals of the Xtreme squash championship at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium on Wednesday.
The results (pre-quarterfinals):
Boys : Under-19: Udit Mishra bt Vedant Rungta 11-0, 11-1, 11-0 Shaurya Tripathi bt Kabir Sahni 4-11, 13-11, 11-6, 11-7; Haris Khan bt Arslan Sheikh 11-6, 12-10, 9-11, 11-7; Yusha Nafees bt Ashu 11-4, 11-2, 11-2; Aakash Pathak bt Aadi Singh 11-4, 11-2, 11-0; Aryaveer Dewan bt Raj Yaav 12-10, 11-6, 11-7; Priyanshu Kumar bt Shreshth Chauhan 8-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-8; Abhiraj Singh bt Ahaan Bera 11-3, 11-6, 11-9.
Under-17: Parth Kumar Tiwari bt Anuvrat Bengani 11-0, 11-1, 11-2; Parthvir Singh bt Arnav Khandelwal 11-8, 11-4, 11-8; Yuvaditya Jain bt Anand Rao 11-5, 11-5, 11-4; Arjun Morey bt Gurkeerat Singh 11-7, 11-4, 11-4; Raghav Vashishtha bt Devyansh Bhansali 11-2, 11-3, 11-2; Abhinav Kumar bt Kavya Agarwal 11-1, 11-4, 11-2; Ijaz Mohammed bt Krishiv Dube 11-5, 11-5, 11-4; Shiv Dev Mittal bt Rajveer Grover 11-7, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9.
Girls: Under-17: Garima Nagar bt Meher Gupta 11-5, 11-5, 11-6; Kavya Sood bt Naija Tripathi 11-0, 11-1, 11-3; Riya Maheshwari bt Prisha Rana 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8.
Under-15: Niranjana Nair bt Avantika Sehgal 11-2, 11-7 11-1 Samaira Saroha bt Eshanya Nahar 11-7, 11-6, 11-2 Tanaya Kelkar bt Gargi Arya 11-4, 8-11, 11-7, 12-10.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
GOLF
Aditi, Diksha, Pranavi and Tvesa in season-ending event in Spain
Defending champion Aditi Ashok will lead a strong Indian challenge at the season-ending Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España, starting Thursday.
Joining Aditi will be Diksha Dagar, a two-time LET winner, Pranavi Urs and Tvesa Malik, multiple winners on their home Tour, the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour.
Aditi will get her title defence underway alongside Belgium’s Manon De Roey and England’s Bronte Law.
Pranavi will play with Annabel Dimmock of England and Ana Pelaez Trivino of Spain, while Diksha tees off with Nastasia Nadaud of France and Agatha Sauzon, also of France.
Tvesa is drawn with Ines Laklalech of Morocco and Chloe Williams of Wales.
Last year, Aditi produced rounds of 69-68-68-66 at Real Club de Golf Las Brisas to win her fifth Ladies European Tour (LET) title by two strokes over Anne Van Dam.
Reflecting on her victory, the 26-year-old didn’t remember a lot of the tournament but was reminded by a recent post on the LET social media channels. Aditi recalled how she stayed patient on the final day in 2023.
“Actually, I forgot quite a lot of what happened last year because when I saw the highlight reel and I saw my scorecard, I realized, I made so many birdies coming in,” she said.
“That final day was a bit of a test of patience for me because I felt like nothing was happening all day and then I finally dropped some putts and got the win.
“I always enjoy coming back to this tournament because even before I won, I played well here, I finished second once, I think top-five and top-ten a couple times. It was a good week.”
This year’s tournament is being played at a different venue with Real Club Guadalhorce Golf in Malaga hosting the event for the first time.
Aditi splits her time throughout the year playing on the LET and the LPGA Tour, however in the latter part of the year she has taken time out and spent a longer period at home.
“I was a little golfed out. I played a lot of weeks in a row this year and just felt like I needed a bit of a break, so, I just went home for five, six weeks and got enough practice in.
“I was excited for this week, but I just needed a few weeks off to just go to the gym and practice because I felt like I was playing and trying to do stuff on the golf course, but it wasn’t happening because I hadn’t practiced enough.
– PTI
