Indian sports wrap, October 26: Indian Railways wins World Railway Volleyball Championship

VOLLEYBALL

Indian Railways wins World Railway Volleyball Championship

Indian Railways beat host Germany in the final of the World Railway Volleyball Championship 2024 at Schwerin, Germany on Saturday.

It defeated Suisse 3-0 in the semifinal and extended its winning streak to three games en route to the summit clash.

The team did not lose a set and went on to win 3-0 against Germany, beating it 25-17, 25-16, 25-19.

-Team Sportstar

GOLF

Sneha, Avani miss out as Indian-American Gurleen moves ahead at LPGA Q-Series

Indian golfers Sneha Singh and Avani Prashanth, who skipped the Hero Women’s Indian Open as it clashed with the LPGA Q-Series Qualifying, failed to reach the the Final Stage.

Sneha, the 2023 domestic Order of Merit winner, shot rounds of 73-72-73-78 to finish at 8-over and was Tied-144th, while Avani with rounds of 80-74-72-72 was 10-over and T-167 at the Plantation Golf and Country Club.

Meanwhile, first-generation Indian-American, Gurleen Kaur, who had a low key first year on the LPGA, will make an attempt to get back to the Tour as she made the Q-Series finals.

The 24-year-old, who played 15 events and made the cut in five, finished T-12 with cards of 70-70-70-69 to be 9-under as the top 35 and ties moved into the Final Stage.

The 2024 Qualifying Stage of LPGA Q-Series came to a close with 43 golfers advancing to Final Qualifying, all with a chance to earn LPGA Tour membership for the 2025 season.

England’s Mimi Rhodes and French amateur Adela Cernousek ultimately shared the top honours at Qualifying with the pair finishing the 72-hole event tied at 14-under.

Rounding out the top five were Melanie Green, Zoe Antoinette Campos and Bi Shin. Green and Campos were T3 while Shin signed off in solo fifth place.

The Final Qualifying portion of LPGA Q-Series will be held at Magnolia Grove Golf Club from December 5-9. The top-25 competitors and ties at the conclusion of Final Qualifying will earn their LPGA Tour cards for the 2025 season

– PTI

Shubhankar slips to 51st at Genesis Championships

Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma carded a disappointing four-over 76 in the third round to lie Tied-51st at the Genesis Championship on the DP World Tour.

Sharma (71-68-76) struggled to build on his solid second round that had helped him make the cut as he was one-under for three rounds.

Byeong Hun An overcame a challenging day to set up a thrilling final-round showdown with fellow South Korean Tom Kim at the top.

The home favourite had birdied the most holes during the first two rounds and looked set to accelerate from the chasing pack when he picked up a shot at the first on a glorious Saturday at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea.

However, the World Number 36 only picked up two more shots, alongside two bogeys, in his one-under 71 to sit alongside Kim at 12 under par.

The pair is one shot ahead of Frenchman Antoine Rozner, who carded a seven-under 65 to initially set the clubhouse target, and Portugal’s Ricardo Gouveia and Italian Francesco Laporta in Incheon.

Gouveia, who started the week in 154th place, moved up to provisional 107th in the Race to Dubai Rankings after carding a three-under 69 to boost his chances of earning his playing rights for next season.

Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino and Spaniard Alejandro Del Rey are at ten-under. South African Brandon Stone, New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier and first round leader Ivan Cantero are one shot further back.

– PTI

Golfer Rayhan tied second in International Series Bangkok

Indian golfer Rayhan Thomas followed up his second-round 63 with a 6-under 64 on the third day to put himself in a position to challenge for the title at the International Series Bangkok on Saturday.

The UAE-based player is now 14-under for three rounds and lying tied second with five others.

Thomas was one of three Indians to make the cut in the tournament. While Thomas was 14-under after three days, Gaganjeet Bhullar (65-66-68) was 11-under and tied 17th and Karandeep Kochhar (66-669-65) was 10-under and tied 24th.

American Peter Uihlein (64-62-67) opened up a three-shot lead at the Thai Country Club. He fired a three-under-par 67 for a three-round aggregate of 17-under.

The tournament is the sixth stop on the International Series this year and provides the pathway to the the LIV Golf League.

Sitting in second place with Rayhan are Pakistan’s Ahmad Baig (63), a star on this year’s Asian Development Tour (ADT), Swede Charlie Lindh (65), Max Lee Chieh-po (67) from Chinese-Taipei and Australian Maverick Antcliff (69).

American John Catlin shot the lowest round of the week, a 61, and is another stroke back with Filipino Miguel Tabuena (65) and David Boriboonsub (67) from Thailand.

Thomas is catching the eye despite having only played a handful of events since turning professional this year.

“I graduated at the end of May, so I just turned pro, kind of at the start of June,” said Thomas, who went to Oklahoma State.

In August, he won on his debut on the Professional Golf Tour of India, winning the Coimbatore Open. Before that he finished tied-eighth in the International Series Morocco.

“I’ve gained confidence every week, which is good. I’ve been able to step up at the right times, and so it’s been trending the right way, and hopefully I can keep it going.”

– PTI

CRICKET

Vinoo Mankad Trophy: Gujarat beats Bengal by 10 wickets in final

Gujarat rode on off-break bowler Rudra N. Patel’s four-wicket haul to outplay Bengal by 10 wickets in the final and lift the under-19 Vinoo Mankad Trophy at the Sanosara Cricket Ground ‘B’ in Rajkot on Saturday.

Electing to bat, Bengal crumbled under pressure as player-of-the-match Rudra picked up four wickets. No.8 batter Debangshu Pakhira (37) top-scored for Bengal with a patient knock.

In reply, Gujarat openers Rudra Mayur Patel (33 n.o., 54b, 4×4, 1×6) and Krrish Chauhan (61 n.o., 10×4) helped their side achieve the target inside 22 overs.

Bengal all-rounder Vishal Bhati was adjudged the player-of-the-series.

-Y.B.Sarangi

POLO

Bhopal Pataudi Cup: Siddhant Sharma guides Jindal Panther to victory

Siddhant Sharma hammered six goals in guiding Jindal Panther to victory over Army Red in the semifinals of the Bhopal Pataudi Cup polo tournament at the Jaipur Polo ground here on Saturday.

In the final to be played at the same venue at 3.30 p.m. on Sunday, Jindal Panther will take on Achievers, which beat Delta Polo 6-4.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

HOCKEY

Nehru girls tournament: Bidyaluxmi shines as Iramdam Maheikol School beats St. Anthony 17-0

Bidyaluxmi Devi smashed eight goals to power Iramdam Maheikol School, Langmeidong, Manipur, to a 17-0 victory over St. Anthony High School, Bandez, Goa, in a league match of the Charanjit Rai 30th Nehru girls hockey tournament at the Shivaji Stadium on Saturday.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

TENNIS

ITF women’s tennis: Top seeds Ankita and Dalila win in doubles semifinals

Top seeds Ankita Raina and Dalila Jakupovic beat Jana Kolodynska and Katarina Kuzmova 6-4, 6-3 in the doubles semifinals of the $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Kayseri, Turkey, on Saturday.

In the final, the Indo-Slovenian pair will meet Isabella Aguirre and Abigail Rencheli of USA.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

AITA men’s tennis: Former national champion VM Ranjeet beats Lokesh in final

Former national champion VM Ranjeet outplayed Lokesh Punn 6-1, 6-1 in the final of the Rs.100,000 AITA men’s tennis tournament at the Godspeed Academy on Saturday.

Ranjeet was earlier stretched by the talented junior, Aarjun Pandit, before he prevailed 7-6(0), 1-6, 6-1 in the semifinals.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

FOOTBALL

Super League Kerala: Thrissur finally finds its magic, shocks Calicut for its first SLK win

One could almost feel the Calicut FC stars licking their lips, ready for a sumptuous party, as they landed at the Payyanad Stadium here on Saturday evening for their Super League Kerala match against Thrissur Magic FC.

Calicut was already in the semifinal, the first to get in, while Thrissur was at the bottom of the table, losing six of the eight games it had played till today.

The Thrissur goalkeeper Pratheesh pulled off some stunning saves. Here he is seen going for an attempt from Calicut striker Kervens Belfort.
| Photo Credit:
Sakeer Hussain

But Thrissur finally found its magic on Saturday as it shocked table-topper Calicut with a 1-0 victory, its first win in this inaugural SLK season, though it came a little too late in the day.

K.P. Shamnad scored the match-winner with a 10th-minute header.

Already out of the semifinal race, Thrissur had nothing to lose, and it played freely. It put up a strong defence, kept the leading goal scorer Kervens Belfort on a tight leash, cut out the space for the other Calicut stars and even managed an early goal.

The goal came off a throw-in, after which Thrissur’s Shamnad and Calicut’s Andres Nia rose high to meet the ball, but it was the former who headed it in.

Thrissur should have finished with a bigger margin, but its captain, Lucas Eduardo, missed a penalty with his attempt hitting the right post around the 80th minute. The Calicut goalkeeper Vishal Joon, who had earned a yellow while bringing down Thrissur’s Alex Santos inside the box earlier, was later sent off with a second yellow after arguing with the referee. At the other end, the Thrissur goalkeeper V.V. Pratheesh had an outstanding day, pulling off countless saves.

-Stan Rayan