GOLF
Pranavi, Diksha and Avani all set for Australian Women’s Classic
Indian golfers Pranavi Urs, Diksha Dagar, and Avani Prashanth will be eager to finally get some action at the Australian Women’s Classic from Friday after the last week’s event in Brisbane was called off due to Cyclone Alfred.
The three Indians were also due to play in Brisbane last week, but the event was called off due to the cyclone.
With limited opportunities for a practice round, they will have to settle for practice sessions at the range ahead of the competition.
The Ladies European Tour has confirmed the Australian Women’s Classic has been reduced to 54 holes due to heavy rainfall and flooding in the Coffs Coast region.
The tournament is now set to begin on Friday morning, with the first tee time scheduled at 7:30am local time.
-PTI
GOLF
Kolkata Challenge to see prominent Indian golfers in action
Prominent Indian golfers including Olympians Gaganjeet Bhullar, S.S.P. Chawrasia and Udayan Mane, Rahil Gangjee and Yuvraj Sandhu will be seen in action in the $300,000 Kolkata Challenge, starting at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) here on Thursday.
A total of 156 players from 31 countries will compete in the event, the first in the two-week Indian leg of the HotelPlanner Tour (earlier known as the Challenge Tour) and co-sanctioned by the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), on its return to the RCGC for the second successive year.
The field at the RCGC includes leading HotelPlanner Tour names such as English golfers Eddie Pepperell and Jamie Rutherford, Italy’s Renato Paratore, Spaniard Adri Arnaus and American Matt Oshrine.
The historic 7014-yard course, which favours long hitters and punishes inaccurate shots, will challenge the golfers with its large number of water hazards.
The second event of the Indian leg, Delhi Challenge, will be held at the Classic Golf and Country Club in Gurugram from March 20 to 23.
-Team Sportstar
GOLF
Vani Kapoor jumps to sole lead
Vani Kapoor shot an even par 72 for the second day in the sixth leg of the Hero Women’s Golf Tour in Gurugram on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Vani Kapoor shot an even par 72 for the second day in the sixth leg of the Hero Women’s Golf Tour in Gurugram on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Vani Kapoor jumped into the sole lead following an even par 72 for the second successive day in the sixth leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the DLF Golf and Country Club on Wednesday.
Looking for a hat-trick of titles in the circuit, Vani had five birdies, that were neutralised by four bogeys and a double bogey. Vani had a two-shot lead over Sneha Singh and amateur Anvvi Dahhiya.
Sneha was on par with Vani when she reached the 18th hole, but ended up with a double bogey. Anvvi had three birdies, apart from four bogeys and a double bogey that put her 3-over 75 for the day, the same as Sneha.
Overnight leader Lavanya Jadon who had shot 70 in the first round, had three birdies and eight bogeys, for a 5-over 77 round. She was fourth with 3-over 147. The cut fell at 163 and 25 players made it to the third and final round.
The leading scores
1. Vani Kapoor (72, 72) 144; 2T. Sneha Singh (71, 75), Anvvi Dahhiya (71, 75) 146; 4. Lavanya Jadon (70, 77) 147; 5T. Gaurika Bishnoi (74, 76), Amandeep Drall (74, 76) 150; 7. Ridhima Dilawari (78, 75) 153; 8. Gauri Karhade (75, 79) 154; 9T. Anvitha Narender (77, 78), Jasmine Shekar (76, 79) 155; 11. Keya Badugu (75, 81) 156; 12T. Alysha Dutt (82, 76), Durga Nittur (81, 77) 158; 14T. Kriti Chowhan (82, 77), Rhea Purvi (81, 78), Agrima Manral (75, 84) 159.
-Team Sportstar
Tennis
National Games champion Ishaque Eqbal beat fifth seed Prajwal Dev 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of the $15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex on Wednesday.
Ishaque will play Vishnu Vardhan who fought his way past Ajay Malik in three tough sets. Second seed Karan Singh beat Filiberto Fumagalli of Italy in straight sets to set up a second round against qualifier Rohan Mehra who battled past Yuvan Nandal in three sets.
The results (first round):
Jay Clarke (GBR) bt Siddhant Banthia 6-3, 6-2; Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam bt Lawrence Bataljin (Aus) 6-1, 6-3; Stefan Vujic (Aus) bt Kriish Tyagi 6-1, 7-6(6); Siddharth Vishwakarma bt Faisal Qamar 6-1, 6-3; Sidharth Rawat bt Dalwinder Singh 7-6(4), 6-2; Manish Sureshkumar bt Sarthak Suden 6-4, 6-3; Vulinet Tashi (Kos) bt Maan Kesharwani 6-3, 6-4; Woobin Shin (Kor) bt Kabir Hans 6-2, 6-2; Ishaque Eqbal bt Prajwal Dev 6-3, 6-3; Vishnu Vadhan bt Ajay Malik 6-7(4), 7-6(1), 6-3; Rohan Mehra bt Yuvan Nandal 6-4, 0-6, 6-4; Karan Singh bt Filiberto Fumagalli (Ita) 6-0, 7-6(4).
-Team Sportstar
ATHLETICS
Suraj breaks 1000m junior national record
Uttarakhand’s Suraj Singh broke the under-18 boys 1000m National record on his way to winning the gold in the 20th National Youth Athletics Championships which concluded at the Patliputra Sports Complex on Wednesday.
Haryana won the overall team title while UP’s Nitin Gupta (boys, 5000m race walk) and Tamil Nadu’s Edwina Jason (girls, 400m) were adjudged as the championships’ best athletes.
The results (under-18, winners only):
Boys: 200m: Sayed Sabeer (Kar) 21.67s. 1000m: Suraj Singh (Utkd) 2:26.04s, under-18 National record, OR 2:27.20, Rahul Pal, 2010). Long jump: Shivam Yadav (UP) 7.26m. Javelin throw: Himanshu (Har) 72.00m. Girls: 200m: Prisha Mishra (Har) 24.72s. 1,000m: Nandani Rajbhar (UP) 2:55.68s. Javelin throw: Misti Karmakar (WB) 45.04m. High jump: Anchal Patil (Mah) 1.68m. Heptathlon: Anamika Ajesh (Ker) 4270.
-Team Sportstar
TENNIS
Anandita Upadyay reaches ITF juniors quarters
Qualifier Anandita Upadyay reached the girls quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over fourth seed Ishi Maheshwari in the ITF junior tennis tournament at the Tennis Project, Baliyawas, on Wednesday.
She will play Harsha Oruganti in the quarterfinals. Aishwarya Jadhav, Nainika Bendram, Aakruti Sonkusae, Sohini Mohanty, Jaya Kapoor and Diya Ramesh were the others to make the quarterfinals.
In the boys section, Gandharv Kothapalli beat fifth seed Aditya Mor 6-3, 7-6(4) to set up a quarterfinal against top seed Sehaj Pawar.
Vraj Gohil, Tanussh Ghildyal, Adhiraj Thakur, Aashravya Mehra, Prakaash Sarran and Aarjun Pandit were the other boys to reach the quarterfinals.
The results (pre-quarterfinals):
Under-18 boys: Sehaj Singh Pawar bt Hruthik Katakam 6-2, 6-3; Gandharv Kothapalli bt Aditya Mor 6-3, 7-6(4); Vraj Gohil bt Danila Kvasov (Uzb) 6-3, 7-6(5); Tanussh Ghildyal bt Vishal Vasudev 3-6, 6-3, 2-0 (retired); Adhiraj Thakur bt Amir Safaev (Uzb) 6-2, 6-2; Aashravya Mehra bt Vivaan Bidasaria 7-6(3), 6-0; Prakaash Sarran bt Amit Moond 6-2, 3-6, 6-4; Aarjun Pandit bt Mohamed Siddiqui 6-2, 6-0. Under-18 girls: Aishwarya Jadhav bt Apara Khandare 6-4, 6-2; Nainika Bendram bt Manshi Singh 6-2, 6-1; Anandita Upadhyay bt Ishi Maheshwari 6-2, 6-2; Harsha Oruganti bt Sunira Thapa (Nep) 7-5, 6-2; Aakruti Sonkusare bt Disha Behera 7-5, 6-2; Sohini Mohanty bt Yashika Shokeen 6-4, 6-4; Jaya Kapoor bt Aahida Singh 4-6, 6-1, 6-2; Diya Ramesh bt Swasti Singh 7-6(10) 6-3.
-Team Sportstar