GOLF
Diksha makes great final charge but loses play-off, Avani finishes 16th
India’s Diksha Dagar came within striking distance of winning her third Ladies European Tour title, before losing a play-off at the Lalla Meryem Cup golf tournament in Rabat.
The 24-year-old, starting the day at 3-under total and in tied-14th place, made a great charge in the final round with a superb 6-under 67 card that helped her set the clubhouse target of 9-under.
Cara Gainer of England joined her there later as Nuria Iturrioz, who at one stage reached 10-under, and Shannon Nan fell back.
Diksha gave it her best and it was still a good start to the season. Having started the day in T-14 spot, she made seven birdies across the last 18 holes, and dropped her only shot of the day on hole 14.
Diksha will now travel to Saudi Arabia for next week’s PIF Saudi Ladies International, along with Gainer.
Golfer Avani Prashanth.
| Photo Credit:
MURALI KUMAR K / The Hindu
Golfer Avani Prashanth.
| Photo Credit:
MURALI KUMAR K / The Hindu
Debutant Avani Prashanth dropped three bogeys in the middle of the round with some errant shots and a three-putt on the ninth but managed to shoot 70 and made it to the top-20, finishing tied-16th.
She does have top-10 finishes on the LET but those came when she was still an amateur.
The third Indian in fray Tvesa Malik missed the cut.
Diksha birdied second, fourth, eighth, 11th, 13th at which point she was 5-under for the day. She dropped a shot on the 14th but got back birdies on the 15th and the 17th for a 6-under.
Gainer secured her first Ladies European Tour (LET) victory as she won in a play-off against Diksha after moving ahead on a crowded leaderboard.
Going into the final day, only a two-shot difference separated the top 10, making it a tight leaderboard with lots of players in contention to win the season opener.
The 29-year-old rolled in birdies on holes two, four and eight, before another three off the bounce on the back nine. She dropped her only two shots of the day on the front nine.
Sweden’s Kajsa Arwefjall finished as the highest rookie in tied-eighth spot and marks a solid start to her first LET season.
Tan, who came into the final round with a one-shot lead, finished eight-under-par after 54 holes. The Singaporean, who won the season opener last year in Kenya, had back-to-back birdies on the 11th and 12th holes, with a further birdie on 15.
The 20-year-old dropped two shots on the front and back nine to finish in third place.
Two players — Ireland’s Lauren Walsh and Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz — finished in a share of fourth place on seven-under-par after three rounds. Walsh had a round of 68(-5), one shot behind the clubhouse record, as she climbed 17 places on the final day.
Iturrioz is familiar with this course and has a good track record in this tournament having won in 2016 and 2019.
Next week, the LET heads to Riyadh for the PIF Saudi Ladies International which takes place from February 13-15.
-Press Trust of India
Aditi Ashok shoots 69 to move to tied 44 on LPGA
Aditi Ashok moved up marginally with a third round 2-under 69 at the Founders Cup on the LPGA.
The Indian, who shot 72-70 on the first two days, is now 2-under and Tied-44th as the day saw some gusting winds.
This is Aditi’s first event of the season and the second of the year after the Tournament of Champions last week.
Yealimi Noh birdied eight of the last 11 holes for an 8-under 63 and a one-stroke lead over three-time champion Jin Young Ko.
Noh had an 18-under 195 total. She opened with a 68 and shot 64 on Friday to get into the final group with Ko.
After gusting wind slowed the players on the opening holes at Bradenton Country Club, Noh and Ko each made their first birdie of the day on the par-5 eighth.
Trying to win the event on a fourth venue, Ko birdied five of the final 11 for a 66.
-Press Trust of India
Rayhan Thomas drops triple bogey to slip to 15th in Korn Ferry
Rayhan Thomas shared the lead in the early stages of the third round, but then stalled at the Astara Golf Championship, slipping to tied 15th.
Rayhan faltered badly at the finish with a triple bogey on the 18th before which he bogeyed the eighth and the 14th at the Lagos Course at Country Club de Bogotá.
It was particularly disappointing as the eighth was a Par-5, where he dropped a shot and the 18th was also a Par-5, where dropped a triple bogey.
He finished with 1-over 72 and slipped to 10-under and tied 15tth.
Kyle Westmoreland set the course record, carding a 10-under 61 to take the third-round lead.
Johnny Keefer carded a bogey-free 10-under 61, tying his career low round and matched Westmoreland for the Lagos Course record.
The runner-up at last week’s Panama Championship is two shot behind Westmoreland First-year member Seungtaek Lee (66) at 14-under was tied third with South African Christo Lamprecht (67) and two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner Tyson Alexander (66).
-Press Trust of India
Jeev Milkha lands an ace as he finishes T-28 in Champions Tour
India’s Jeev Milkha Singh made an ace in his round of 75 as he finished tied 28th in the season-opener on the PGA TOUR Champions on Sunday.
Jeev, who had rounds of 74-72 on the first two days ended with a total of 2-over as Miguel Angel Jimenez (69) edged Steven Alker for a two-stroke victory.
Jeev used a 7-Iron on. the 164-yard Par-3 14th hole for the season’s first ace on the Tour and this was the first PGA TOUR Champions hole-in-one at the Trophy Hassan II and the first on the PGA TOUR Champions this season.
Standing on the tee at the par-4 17th hole, Jimenez and Alker were tied at 9-under par when Jiménez drove the green and converted for eagle. Alker made par, which proved to be the deciding margin.
The win marks the first for the 61-year-old Spaniard since the 2022 (Boeing Classic) and it takes his total to 14 career wins on PGA TOUR champions. Jiménez’s 14 wins are tied for the fourth-most among active PGA TOUR Champions players. Jiménez shot 70-69-69 for 11-under 208.
Finishing the tournament at 11-under, Jiménez set a new tournament record for PGA TOUR Champions at the Trophy Hassan II.
New Zealand’s Steven Alker – who held at least a share of the lead after each of the first two rounds – recorded a two-under 71 on the day to finish two shots behind Jiménez.
-Press Trust of India
Lahiri finishes tied 12th as Meronk takes Liv Riyadh title
India’s Anirban Lahiri shot a bogey-free 3-under 69 and finished tied 12th at the opening event of the Liv Golf Series on Sunday.
Lahiri, starting from third in the shotgun start, birdied the 13th, 15th and the first and parred the rest for a 69. His earlier rounds were 69-67 and he totalled 11-under for the week.
His team Crushers finished fourth.
Cleeks’ Adrian Meronk faced some tense moments on the back nine as Jon Rahm made a big charge early in the front nine despite a bogey start. Meronk held on for 71 despite back-to-back bogeys and was 17-under as Rahm (67) ended second at 15-under with three 67s on three days.
It was the 31-year-old Meronk’s first individual title since joining LIV Golf.
Rahm’s Legion XIII spent the final round mostly in cruise control, their substantial lead never seriously threatened on the team leaderboard. They totalled 50-under as scores of all players are counted for all three days. Rippers were second at 39-under and tied with RangeGoats.
-Press Trust of India
HOCKEY
Kolkata’s Salt Lake hockey stadium gets FIH Category 2 certificate
Kolkata has become the latest international hockey venue in India after the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangana, Salt Lake has been granted Category 2 certificate by the world body (FIH) for hosting national and international matches.
“Congrats to Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangana, Salt Lake, Kolkata for earning the FIH Category 2 Certificate! A big step forward for hockey excellence,” Hockey India posted on ‘X’.
As per the FIH Field Certification, at the time of the event the field shall be certified as an FIH Category 1 or Category 2 field.
FIH Category 1 fields are designed primarily to host top-level international hockey tournaments, while FIH Category 2 fields are designed to host top-level national tournaments and international matches.
Kolkata has joined the club of cities like Bhubaneswar, considered as India’s hockey hub, Raipur, Ranchi, Chennai and New Delhi among others to get the green signal for hosting international matches.
In its certification to the venue, the FIH stated: “FIH is pleased to confirm that this hockey field has been tested and shown to comply with the requirements of an FIH Category 2 hockey field.”
The certification of the venue is valid until December 13, 2027.
-Press Trust of India
ATHLETICS
High hurdlers Jyothi Yarraji and Tejas Shirse win third straight gold in National Games
FILE PHOTO: Jyothi Yarraji won gold in women 100m Hurdles at the National Games in Dehradun.
| Photo Credit:
Ritu Raj Konwart/ The Hindu
FILE PHOTO: Jyothi Yarraji won gold in women 100m Hurdles at the National Games in Dehradun.
| Photo Credit:
Ritu Raj Konwart/ The Hindu
Andhra Pradesh’s Jyothi Yarraji and Tejas Shirse of Maharashtra on Sunday won their third successive gold medals in the women’s 110m hurdles and men’s 100m hurdles respectively after clocking Games record times on the second day of athletics competitions in the National Games here Sunday.
Shirse and Yarraji, both national record holders in their respective events, had won gold in 2022 and 2023 editions in Gujarat and Goa.
The 25-year-old Yarraji, the reigning Asian champion and silver medallist in the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, clocked 13.10 seconds in the final to better her own earlier National Games record of 13.22 seconds, which she had set in the 2023 edition.
Her national record stands at 12.78 seconds which he had set in 2023.
Moumita Mondal of West Bengal claimed the silver with a time of 13.36 seconds while Nithya Ramraj (13.60 seconds) of Tamil Nadu took the bronze.
The 22-year-old Shirse clocked 13.65 seconds to better her own earlier National Games record of 13.71 seconds which he had set in the 2023 edition. He had clocked 13.84 seconds while winning the gold in the 2022 edition.
His national record stands at 13.41 seconds which he had set last year.
Manav Rajanarayanan of Tamil Nadu won the silver with a time of 14.03 seconds while Muhammed Lazan (14.23 seconds) of Kerala took the bronze.
Former national record holder and 2015 edition gold medallist Siddhanth Thingalaya, representing Maharashtra, did not finish the final race.
Shirse and Yarraji have been competing in 60m hurdles in the indoor circuit abroad since last month. Both also hold 60m hurdles national records.
– PTI
TENNIS
Dhamne wins maiden Pro ITF singles title in Tunisia
Qualifier Manas Dhamne beat Lorenzo Carboni of Italy 2-6, 6-0, 6-2 in the final of the $15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament in Monastir, Tunisia.
It was the maiden title in the professional circuit for the 17-year-old Manas, who trains at the Piatti Centre in Italy.
Manas had beaten the top seed Alberto Camposo of Spain for the loss of five games in the semifinals.
It was an admirable effort by Manas as he won eight matches to clinch the title. In the three qualifying rounds, Manas asserted himself by dropping only two games in each round.
It will be a strong preparation for Manas when he gets to play the Challenger tournament in Pune next week.
The results:
$15,000 ITF men, Monastir, Tunisia
Singles (final): Manas Dhamne bt Lorenzo Carboni (Ita) 2-6, 6-0, 6-2; Semifinals: Manas bt Alberto Campos (Esp) 6-4, 6-3.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Delhi Open Challenger Preview
Aryan Shah got off to a strong start in the Challenger tennis tournament in Delhi on Sunday.
| Photo Credit:
Kamesh Srinivasan
Aryan Shah got off to a strong start in the Challenger tennis tournament in Delhi on Sunday.
| Photo Credit:
Kamesh Srinivasan
It will be another big opportunity for the cream of Indian tennis to capitalise on a high-quality event in the $100,000 Delhi Open Challenger tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex from Monday.
Quite understandably, the opposition will be stiff as two of the three Indian wild cards run into seeded players in the first round.
Davis Cupper Karan Singh will open the campaign on Monday against eighth seed Timofey Skatov of Kazakhstan.
It is virtually a home court for Karan who had trained at the National Centre for quite some time. He may not be that familiar with the pace of the centre court but will be keen to show his big game, as he had done in the Davis Cup tie recently.
S Mukund will play fourth seed Lloyd Harris of South Africa. Mukund who led the Indian team to a 4-0 victory over Togo at the same venture in the Davis Cup tie, will have one more day to tune his game for the challenge.
Ramkumar Ramanathan will face the semifinalist of the Challenger last week in Chennai, Dalibor Svrcina of the Czech Republic in the first round.
In the qualifying event on Sunday, Aryan Shah beat third seed Blake Ellis of Australia 6-4, 6-3. He will play Masamichi Imamura of Japan in the second and final qualifying round on Monday.
Sidharth Rawat went down fighting 6-3, 4-6, 6-7(2) to fifth seed Alexey Zakharov. Parth Aggarwal and Chirag Duhan bowed out to Kimmer Coppejans of Belgium and Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic respectively.
The seedings:
1. Vit Kopriva (Cze), 2. Billy Harris (GBR), 3. Tristan Schoolkate (Aus), 4. Lloyd Harris (RSA), 5. Elmer Moller (Den), 6. Shintaro Mochizuki (Jpn), 7. Sho Shimabukuro (Jpn), 8. Timofey Skatov (Kaz).
-Kamesh Srinivasan
NETBALL
Haryana pockets 2 gold from netball in National Games
Haryana clinched two gold medals in netball as their men’s and women’s teams beat hosts Uttarakhand and Rajasthan in the finals respectively at the National Games here on Sunday.
In the men’s team final, Haryana won a closely-fought match 74-71 over Uttarakhand to win the gold. Himachal Pradesh and Delhi won a bronze each.
Haryana had beaten Delhi and Uttarakhand had defeated Himachal Pradesh in the semifinals on Saturday.
In the women’s team final, Haryana beat Rajasthan 57-55 to pocket the gold. Telangana and Uttarakhand won a bronze medal each.
Haryana had defeated Telangana while Rajasthan beat Uttarakhand in the semifinals.
Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender’s goal ring.
-PTI
BASKETBALL
INBL Pro league: Gujarat Stallions defeats Punjab Warriors 83-74
Trendon Hankerson top scored with 24 points, had six rebounds and five assists, to guide Gujarat Stallions to a 83-74 victory over Punjab Warriors in the INBL Pro basketball league at the Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium on Sunday.
It was the first victory in three matches for the Gujarat team, which was locked 49-49 at half time. Even at the end of the third quarter, the two teams were tied 61-61. In the last quarter, Gujarat stepped it up to pull through.
Jock Perry (15) was the other key player for Gujarat as he also had 10 rebounds and five assists. Prince Tyagi, Tushal Singh, Joshua Duach and Nate Roberts chipped in with useful contributions toe earn the victory for Gujarat.
Lucas Barker top-scored for Punjab with 19 points while skipper Gurbaz Sandhu scored 13.
The results:
Gujarat Stallions 83 (Trendon Hankerson 24, Jock Perry 15, Prince Tyagi 11, Tushal Singh 10, Joshua Duach 10) bt Punjab Warriors 74 (Lucas Barker 19, Gurbaz Sandhu 13, Uche Dibiamaka 12).
-Kamesh Srinivasan