HOCKEY
Eight U-21 teams set to compete from March 18 in final phase of National Women’s Hockey League
The final phase of the inaugural National Women’s Hockey League 2024-25 is set to commence on March 18 at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh AstroTurf Hockey Stadium in Ranchi. The U-21 tournament will see eight of the top state teams of the country compete for the title in a round-robin league format.
The teams participating are Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Bengal, Mizoram, Manipur, and Odisha.
The tournament will be played in a single pool with each team facing the other once. The winner of each match will be awarded three points, while draws will secure a single point. The team standing atop the points table at the end of the league matches will be crowned champion.
Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey stated, “We are excited to see the young players compete at such a high level. It is crucial to have youngsters compete in domestic tournaments all around the year for their growth. I wish all the players and coaches all the best and hope we get to see some great matches and rising talents in the ranks.”
The opening match is set to be played between Haryana and Manipur on March 18 at 7AM IST, followed by clashes between Odisha and Bengal and Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra at 9AM and 11AM respectively. The last match of the day will see Jharkhand face Mizoram at 6:30PM IST.
-Team Sportstar
TENNIS
ITF: Jay Clarke to start as top seed
The champion of the last tournament in Chandigarh, Jay Clarke of Britain, will start as the top seed in the $15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament to be played at the Gujarat University Tennis Academy from Tuesday.
A bunch of Indian players Aryan Shah, Dev Javia, Prajwal Dev, Siddharth Vishwakarma and Sidharth Rawat, seeded fourth to eighth in that order, will try to capitalise on another good opportunity at home to improve their ranking.
Karan Singh had to pull out this week owing to a twisted ankle suffered during the last tournament. He is reportedly recovering well for the subsequent events scheduled in the country.
The semifinalist of the last tournament, the reigning National Games champion Ishaque Eqbal will open against qualifier Rishi Reddy.
Davis Cupper Digvijay Pratap Singh will play the runner-up of the last tournament, Woobin Shin of Korea.
Fourth seed Aryan Shah will start against qualifier Vulinet Tashi of Kosovo.
Overall, a potentially exciting week of action for Indian tennis.
The seedings:
1. Jay Clarke (GBR), 2. Alexandr Binda (Ita), 3. Woobin Shin (Kor), 4. Aryan Shah, 5. Dev Javia, 6. Prajwal Dev, 7. Siddharth Vishwakarma, 8. Sidharth Rawat.
– Team Sportstar
BASKETBALL
Inaugural U-23 competition to begin in Guwahati
The inaugural National under-23 basketball championships will start at the Sarusajai Indoor Stadium in Guwahati on Tuesday. Altogether 30 men’s and 25 women’s teams will participate in this championships, which will be played on league-cum-knockout basis.
The teams have been divided into eight groups in the men’s section and six in the women’s section. Top two teams from each group will qualify for the knockout stage.
-Y. B. Sarangi
KABADDI
Yuva All Stars Championship: Kurukshetra Warriors, Palani Tuskers share spoils in high-octane clash; Warriorz K.C., Yuva Yoddhas, Jaipur Pink Cubs win on Day 12
Yuva Yoddhas, Jaipur Pink Cubs, and Warriorz K.C. won their respective matches on Day 12 of the Yuva All Stars Championship in Haridwar on Monday, while Palani Tukers and Kurukshetra Warriors played out a draw.
The Yoddhas replace Yuva Mumba at the top of the Pool B standings with 33 points. Meanwhile, the Vipers are placed at the bottom of Pool A with eight points from nine encounters. Yoddhas’ Shivam Singh was the star player with 13 raid points, including 11 touchpoints and two bonus points.
In the second match, Warriorz K.C. beat the UP Falcons 38-28. The Falcons got off to a great start, picking up some early points and inflicting an All Out on their opponent. They went into the half-time break with an 18-13 lead. Punit Kumar’s Super Raid helped the Warriorz K.C. inflict an All Out and take a one-point lead in the early moments of the second half.
Later in the day, Kurukshetra Warriors and Palani Tuskers played out a thrilling 38-38 tie. The Warriors took a 4-0 lead following a Super Raid in the first raid of the match. Palani Tuskers levelled the game with two Super Tackles, but the Kurukshetra inflicted an All Out to take a four-point lead.
Jaipur Pink Cubs defeated Junior Steelers 36-27 in a Pool A encounter. An evenly-contested first half ended 17-15 in favour of the Pink Cubs, but the Steelers levelled the scores 18-18 in the early moments of the second half. The Jaipur-based club bagged eight points in a row before conceding a point to Haryana. They held onto their lead tightly and won the match by nine points.
– Team Sportstar