GOLF
Rough start for Indian trio in Australian Women’s Classic
The Indian trio of rookie Avani Prashanth, Pranavi Urs and Diksha Dagar endured a tough day in the opening round of the 2025 Australian Women’s Classic in Coffs Harbour on Friday.
Prashanth, with 2-over 72 was the best placed at tied 55th, while Pranavi (73) and Diksha (74) were further behind in tied 79th and tied 88th. They were also hit by a lack of any practice rounds at a course which took a beating because of a cyclone.
Avani, a multiple winner on the Hero Women’s Pro Tour, while being an amateur, has now turned pro, and in her first event as a pro in Morocco, she was T-16. She had two bogeys and no birdies on the Par-70 course.
Pranavi, who missed the cut in her first event of 2025 in Saudi Arabia, had two birdies against five bogeys, while Diksha, who was the runner-up in Morocco, had just one birdie against five bogeys in her 74.
– PTI
Lahiri tied 25th as Johnson leads in Liv Singapore
India’s Anirban Lahiri was placed tied 25th after shooting 1-under 70 as American Dustin Johnson roared back to form with a bogey-free 63 to lead LIV Golf Singapore by three shots at the Sentosa Golf Club on Friday.
Lahiri had four birdies against three bogeys.
– PTI
TENNIS
Sriram Balaji in quarterfinals of Cap Cana Challenger
Sriram Balaji in partnership with Miguel Reyes-Varela of Mexico beat Tristan Boyer and Govind Nanda of USA 6-1, 6-3 in the doubles pre-quarterfinals of the $250,000 Challenger tennis tournament in Cap Cana, Dominican Republic.
The results:
$250,000 Challenger, Cap Cana, Dominican Republic
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Santiago Gonzalez (Mex) & Lucas Miedler (Aut) bt Nicolas Barrientos (Col) & Rithvik Bollipalli 7-6(5), 6-3; Sriram Balaji & Miguel Reyes-Varela (Mex) bt Tristan Boyer & Govind Nanda (USA) 6-1, 6-3.
€91,250 Challenger, Cherbourg, France
Doubles (quarterfinals): Lukas Pokorny (Svk) & Giorgio Ricca (Ita) bt Vijay Sundar Prashanth & Szymon Walkkow (Pol) 6-4, 7-6(11).
$40,000 ITF women, Shenzhen, China
Doubles (semifinals): Zongyu Li & Fang Ying Xun (Chn) bt Priska Nugroho (Ina) & Ankita Raina 7-5, 6-4.
$30,000 ITF women, Nonthaburi, Thailand
Doubles (semifinals): Shrivalli Bhamidipaty & Vaidehi Chaudhari bt Thasaporn Naklo & Bunyawi Thamchaiwat (Tha) 5-7, 6-4, [10-5].
– Kamesh Srinivasan
Diya sets final date against top seed Aishwarya in ITF junior
Second seed Diya Ramesh overcame an indifferent start to beat Aakruti Sonkusare 0-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the girls semifinals of the ITF junior tennis tournament at the Tennis Project, Baliyawas, on Friday.
In the final, Diya will challenge the top seed Aishwarya Jadhav.
Diya won the doubles title with Sohini Mohanty, beating Nainika Bendram and Aishwarya in straight sets.
In the boys event, the top two seeds Sehaj Singh Pawar and Aarjun Pandit set up a title clash.
The results:
Under-18 boys (semifinals): Sehaj Singh Pawar bt Vraj Gohil 2-6, 6-2, 6-1; Aarjun Pandit bt Aashravya Mehra 6-4, 6-3.
Doubles (final): Aarav Chawla & Tanussh Ghildyal bt Gandharv Kothapalli & Aarjun Pandit 6-2, 6-2.
Under-18 girls (semifinals): Aishwarya Jadhav bt Harsha Oruganti 6-2, 6-2; Diya Ramesh bt Aakruti Sonkusare 0-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Doubles (final): Diya Ramesh & Sohini Mohanty bt Nainika Bendram & Aishwarya Jadhav 6-2, 6-4.
– Kamesh Srinivasan
Ishaque beats Karan to make semis in ITF tourney
Ishaque Eqbal survived six match points to beat second seed Karan Singh 6-7(4), 7-6(8), 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the $15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex on Friday.
In a battle of wits that lasted three hours, Karan served 14 aces. However, it was Ishaque’s serving prowess that passed scrutiny as he wriggled out of the clutches of defeat while facing three match points at 0-40 in the tenth game of the second set.
Eqbal, who fired 11 aces himself, saved three more match points in the second set tie-break.
In the decider, Ishaque broke Karan’s serve decisively in the fourth game and held on to the advantage. While Ishaquel converted two of nine break points, Karan managed to win only one of seven break points.
In the semifinals, Ishaque will play third seed Woobin Shin of Korea.
Nitin Kumar Sinha went down fighting to Stefan Vujic of Australia in another battle of attrition in three hours and 43 minutes. The Aussie will play top seed Jay Clarke in the semifinals.
The results:
Singles (quarterfinals): Jay Clarke (GBR) bt Madhwin Kamath 7-5, 4-1 (retired); Stefan Vujic (Aus) bt Nitin Kumar Sinha 7-6(11), 6-7(2), 6-2; Woobin Shin (Kor) bt Manish Sureshkumar 7-5, 7-6(1); Ishaque Eqbal bt Karan Singh 6-7(4), 7-6(8), 6-3.
Doubles (semifinals): Filiberto Fumagalli 9Ita) & Aryan Lakshmanan bt Sai Karteek Reddy & Vishnu Vardhan 7-6(5), 0-6, [10-8]; Prajwal Dev & Nitin Kumar Sinha bt Chirag Duhan & Dev Javia 6-0, 4-1 (retired).
– Kamesh Srinivasan