Indian sports wrap, March 23: India qualifies for FIBA Asia Cup 2025; Mohun Bagan beat East Bengal, wins Calcutta League

BASKETBALL

India qualifies for FIBA Asia Cup 2025 with thrilling win over Bahrain

India pulled off a coup, displaying spunk and excellent end-game skills to outwit Bahrain 81-77 in a thriller on Saturday night to qualify for the FIBA men’s Asia Cup 2025.

India will now travel to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for the Continental tournament to be held from August 5 to 17.

Certainly not the favourite, India outplayed Iraq 97-77 and then Bahrain in the Qualifying tournament for the third-placed teams in Group-H. India led 39-38 against Bahrain at half time and then pulled away in the third, taking a 62-55 lead. It held its own in the fourth and final quarter to clinch a famous victory. The last time India beat Bahrain was in 2013.

Harsh Dagar was the star of India with 28 points with 6-3 pointers. He had three rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Gurbaz Sandhu was the next top-scorer with 15 points. Kanwar Sandhu did his part to perfection, scoring 15 points while Pranav Prince and Hafeez picked 11 points each. One of the main reasons for India’s victory was its three pointers, which India’s head coach Scott Flemming has been harping on. It converted 14 times out of 29 attempts.

Entering the fourth quarter, India appeared to have the match in its control, having taken a 62-55 lead. However, Bahrain fought back to snatch two-point lead at 77-75. Arvind Krishnan produced a three-pointer for 78-77 with just one minute and 38 seconds left. It was a tense last few seconds as both teams fought hard. In the dying seconds, Prince forced a turnover when he deflected Mosti Rashed’s inbound pass. After the final whistle, the team erupted in joy.

India has now qualified the Asia Cup for the 11th straight time- a streak that dates back to 2001.

“Really proud of our guys coming in here and winning two games when it easily could’ve gone the other way. This is now our third win in the Asia Cup Qualifiers and these are uncharted areas that we haven’t had for a long time in India. It’s all about them. I’m just trying to put them in a position to win and they take over from here. We still have things to work on … really glad, really proud of these guys. We’re going to the Asia Cup,” said Flemming.

– Team Sportstar

WEIGHTLIFTING

Jaspreet Kaur breaks powerlifting national record at Khelo India Para Games 2025

Punjab powerlifter Jaspreet Kaur grabbed the spotlight as she bettered her own the national record in 45kg category to win the gold on the fourth day of the Khelo India Para Games (KIPG) 2025 in New Delhi on Sunday.

The 31-year-old Kaur lifted 101kg to become the first athlete in KIPG 2025 to break the national record.

Kaur, who had also won the gold medal in the same event in the 2023 edition, broke her own previous national record of 100kg.

“I wanted to perform even better this time around. Shattering a national record has also helped me climb up the national rankings,” she told SAI Media.

Lifting 16kg more in less than two years was no easy feat. Kaur went through intense training, researched various new techniques, and made changes to her diet to retain fitness.

But the biggest challenge to surpass was dealing with the anxiety issues.

“I made my debut in 2022 at the nationals. So, I always felt I was quite new to the sport. It took me a while to realise that to develop strength and muscle, it would take time.

“It does not happen overnight. It took me three years to deliver such performances,” said Kaur, who had polio at the age of three.

– PTI

HOCKEY

Mohun Bagan beats East Bengal to win Calcutta Premier Hockey League

Mohun Bagan defeated East Bengal 3-1 in the final to claim the Calcutta Premier Hockey League crown at the Dumurjala Hockey Ground in Howrah on Sunday.

The traditional rivals had set up the Kolkata derby title clash after securing the top two places on the points table.

Bagan earned a prize money of INR 3 lakh, while the runner-up, EB, got INR 2 lakh. Highest scorer of the league, Abharan Sudev of Bagan, and best player, Atul Deep of EB, received ₹10,000 each.

– Team Sportstar

TENNIS

Miami Open 2025: Yuki Bhambri set to replace Rohan Bopanna as India No. 1 in doubles

Yuki Bhambri and Portugal’s Nuno Borges defeated Rohan Bopanna and Croatia’s Ivan Dodig 6-4, 3-6, [10-7] in the opening round of men’s doubles at the Miami Open on Saturday.

With this result, Bhambri is set to replace Bopanna as India No. 1 in ATP Doubles Rankings.

Bopanna, with Australia’s Matthew Ebden, had won the title in Miami last year. However, due to his first-round loss, the 45-year-old has dropped from 21st to 43rd in the live rankings. On the other hand, Bhambri has jumped from 37th to 29th.

Bhambri and Borges will face the Czech-British pair of Adam Pavlasek and Jamie Murray for a place in the quarterfinals. Murray and Pavlasek beat the fourth seeds, Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina, 10-7 in the super tie-break.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

ITF men’s tournament: Top seed Jay Clarke beats Italian Alexandr Binda

Top seed Jay Clarke of Britain beat second seed Alexandr Binda of Italy 6-3, 7-6(4) in the final of the $15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament at the Gujarat University Tennis Academy on Sunday.

It was the second successive title for the 26-year-old Jay, following his title last week in Chandigarh.

It was the 14th career singles title for Jay, who had competed in the four Challengers in India earlier this season in Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune and Delhi, but had managed to win only three matches in all.

Jay, ranked a career-best 153 in 2019, had dropped only one set in two weeks in the ITF events, and that was to Aryan Shah in the semifinals in the current event.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

GOLF

Women’s NSW Open: Diksha finishes 11th, Pranavi 14th as Mimi Rhodes wins in Australia

Diksha Dagar and Pranavi Urs dropped crucial shots near the finish and missed finishing in the top-10 of the Ford Women’s NSW Open in Australia.

Diksha and Pranavi shot 1-over 72 each to finish T-11 and T-14, while another Indian Avani Prashanth also had a tough finish with a triple bogey on the 18th to finish T-36th.

Australian Mimi Rhodes rode on her two early birdies on second and the fourth and parred the rest of the way for 2-under 69 for a 17-under total that gave her a maiden Ladies European Tour title.

The 23-year-old rookie was followed by Kirsten Rudgeley (68) and Italian Alessandro Fanali (70) who were tied for second at 15-under.

Diksha, who began with six pars, suffered back to back bogeys on the seventh and the eighth.

However, she made up for it with birdies on 10th, 11th and the 14th.

A top-10 finish was in sight till she double bogeyed the 16th to finish 1-over and had a total of 8-under.

– PTI

Quim Vidal reigns supreme over defending champion Joshua England in Delhi Challenge

Spaniard Quim Vidal won the play-off on the third hole to beat the champion of the last tournament Joshua Berry of England after the two tied for the top spot with 18-under 270 in the USD 300,000 Delhi Challenge golf tournament at the Classic Golf and Country Club on Sunday.

Quim Vidal felicitated with the prize money in the USD 300,000 Delhi Challenge golf tournament at the Classic Golf and Country Club.
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Special Arrangement

It was a brilliant finish by Vidal. After starting the day with a three-shot lead, Vidal had to make a 30-feet eagle putt on the 18th to force the play-off with a one-under 71 for the fourth round.

Joshua had six birdies and two bogeys for his round of 68.

Arjun Prasad made six birdies and a bogey in his fourth round of 67 to be the best Indian performer at tied sixth place with 15-under 273.

The champion won INR 41,28,000 and the runner-up INR 28,38,000. Arjun pocketed INR .7,53,360.

“I knew I had to make an eagle to get in the play-off. I was so focussed on making that putt. It was probably the only long putt I made all day. It was special,” said Vidal who eventually clinched the title with a brilliant birdie on the third play-off hole.

“The play-off was so tough. I didn’t know how it was going to end,” conceded Vidal.

-Kamesh Srinivasan