Indian sports wrap, June 2: Niki, Rithvik lose doubles finals with different partners

TENNIS

Niki, Rithvik lose doubles finals with different partners

Rithvik Bollipalli in partnership with Hans Verdugo of Mexico was beaten 6-4, 3-6, [10-7] in the doubles final by Liam Draxl and Benjamin Sigouin of Canada in the $82,000 Challenger tennis tournament in Little Rock, USA.

In another doubles final in the €74,825 Challenger in Vicenza, Italy, Niki Poonacha in partnership with Andre Begemann was beaten 6-3, 6-4 by Vladyslav Manafov and Patrik Niklas-Salminen.

In the $15,000 ITF men’s event in Kingston, Jamaica, the 18-year-old Aryan Shah made the singles final with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Kosuke Ogura of Japan.

-Team Sportstar

GOLF

Aditi Ashok tied-29th after tough third round at US Women’s Open

 Aditi Ashok endured another roller coaster round, carding a below-par 3-over 73 to go tied 29th on the third day of the US Women’s Open.

Aditi’s rounds included two birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey.

The double bogey came on the fourth, where she had lost two shots on the first day too.

Aditi’s first two rounds have been 73-71 and she is currently at 7-over in her 29th Major.

Aditi, who came close to a medal at the Tokyo Olympics, is still looking for her first top-20 finish in a Major.

On a course which has been difficult to score, only five players are under and there are three co-leaders.

The lead at 5-under is shared by Wichanee Meechai (69), Andrea Lee (67) and Minjee Lee (66).

Former British Open champion Hinako Shibuno had seven birdies for a 66 and was two behind.

Another shot back was Yuka Saso, who saved shots with her putter and one sublime shot over a bunker to a tight pin on the par-3 17th.

She dropped two shots late for a 69.

Nelly Korda, Rose Zhang and some other big stars have missed the cut on a tough course.

The prize purse this week is $2.4 million for the winner, by far the largest in women’s golf.

-PTI

Pranavi comes close to win in Sweden, finishes T-3; Tvesa 10th, Diksha 13th

Indian golfer Pranavi Urs came tantalisingly close to her maiden Ladies European Tour title before a late double bogey ruined those dreams as she settled for a Tied-third finish at the Dormy Open Helsingborg.

Playing her first season on the LET, the 21-year-old had a double bogey on the Par-4 16th. She fought back with a birdie-birdie finish but ended with a 10-under total.

It is, however, Pranavi’s best-ever finish on the LET. She was bidding to join Aditi Ashok (five wins) and Diksha Dagar (two wins) as the only Indians to have won on the LET.

It was a fine week for Indian golfers as Tvesa Malik shot 68 in the final round to add to 70-71 and sign off at Tied-10th.

While Paris Olympics-bound Diksha carded a 69 after 70-71 on the first two days and was Tied-13th. Vani Kapoor had missed the cut.

Pranavi fell one short of the playoff between amateur Helen Briem of Germany and French star Perrine Delacour.

Delacour got a birdie on the first play-off hole which was the 18th, and won the title, leaving Briem with the second place.

Earlier Briem set the target of 11-under after a sizzling final round of 8-under with nine birdies and a bogey in the final 14 holes.

Pranavi, once a leader at 10-under and 2-under for the day, was without a bogey till she came to the 16th. She dropped a double and fell down.

A birdie on the 17th meant Pranavi needed an eagle on the 18th to get into a play-off.

She managed only a birdie and moved up to Tied-3rd with Denmark’s Nicole Broch Estrup (68), who birdied four times in her last seven holes.

Pranavi, who won the Order of merit on her home Tour, the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour in 2022, was fifth in Lalla Meryem Cup and then seventh at the Aramco Team Series in Korea.

“This week has been pretty bad because of my back, I had to withdraw last week. That’s taken a little toll on my back but hopefully,” said Pranavi.

– PTI

SHOOTING

Ramita storms into final at Munich World Cup

Asian Games medallist Ramita Jindal asserted her class by making the women’s air rifle final with a score of 633.0 in the shooting World Cup in Munich on Sunday.

Ramita was the only Indian shooter to make the final, as Arjun Babuta shooting an impressive score of 635.1 in the men’s event was in the Ranking Points Only (RPO) section and thus was not eligible to make the final.

World Championship silver medallist Mehuli was also shooting in the RPO section, and had a score of 631.3. The two other Indian women shooters Tilottama Sen (629.3) and Elavenil Valarivan (628.3) placed 34th and 53rd in a field of 148 shooters.

Esha Singh qualified for the women’s 25m pistol final at the ISSF World Cup after scoring 293 in the qualification round here Sunday. Her effort placed her sixth but compatriot Rhythm Sangwan, who finished second in the 10m air pistol trials, could shoot only 281 to be placed 68th on day one of the competition.

In men’s air rifle, Sandeep Singh (631.4), Divyansh Singh Panwar (631.2) and World Champion Rudrankksh Patil (630.7) placed 10th, 13th and 18th respectively.

The finals will be shot on Monday.

-Kamesh Srinivasan, PTI

BOXING

Parul Adhikari, Pushpendra Rathi impress boxing lovers with their skill in the inaugural Global Boxing Series

A scintillating display of aggressive boxing by Delhi state champion Parul Adhikari in her first-ever pro-boxing bout and a dominant win by Pushpendra Rathi in the women’s and men’s Light Weight categories respectively set the tone for a successful debut of the Global Boxing Series here on Saturday night.

Parul banked on her reach and ability to land punches with quick left-right combination to beat Muskan Srivastava in a split-decision verdict while Rathi scored a Technical Knock Out against Jayanth Gunji.

In the other high-quality bouts, Maharashtra’s Malhar Bhosale scored a Technical Knock-Out (TKO) over Tensubam Meitei of Manipur in Super Welterweight,

Hyderabad’s Suresh Pasham knocked out Mukesh NK in Round 3 of the Welterweight category, Tamil Nadu’s Pradesh A defeated Rajkumar Wagh by TKO in Round 2 of the Super Fly category and his state-mate Hashir got the better of Samuel Harijana by unanimous decision in Super Bantamweight category.

– Team Sportstar

SURFING

Indian Open for Surfing 2024 concludes, TN surfers crowned champions

Tamil Nadu surfers Ajeesh Ali and Kamali Moorthy were crowned champions of the fifth Indian Open of Surfing 2024 in the men’s and women’s events respectively.

The three-day surfing extravaganza at the Munda beach in Mulky near Mangaluru concluded on Sunday on a high note.

Both Ajeesh and Kamali swept the top honours in all four categories, including Men’s Open, Women’s Open, Groms Boys and U-16 and Groms Girls and U-16 at the tournament known to be the official national championship of the Surfing Federation of India, the governing body for surfing and stand-up paddling.

Ajeesh Ali, who competed in the Paris Olympics qualifiers (2023 ISA World Surfing Games, El Salvador) last year, was crowned the new IOS champion in the Men’s Open category.

Teenage sensation Kamali Moorthi completed a double victory by winning both the Women’s Open and Groms Girls & U-16 categories, successfully defending her titles.

Another Tamil Nadu teenager, Tayin Arun, impressed the judges with his manoeuvres and was crowned the new IOS champion in the Groms Boys and U-16 categories.

The three-day premier surfing competition of India was organised by the Surfing Swami Foundation and hosted by the Mantra Surf Club.

Venkata Ramana Akkaraju, Chairman of the New Mangalore Port Authority, and Dhananjaya Shetty, Director of the Surfing Swami Foundation, awarded the winners with cash prizes, trophies, and certificates.

The final day’s action began with the semifinals of the Groms 16 and Under Boys category.

Local favourite Pradeep Pujar led the pack with a score of 8.80, advancing to the finals alongside Prahlad Sriram (8.50), Harish P (8.26), and Tayin Arun (6.76).

One of the judges of surfing events in the field, Dylan Amar from Indonesia, was convinced that the venue (Munda Beach in Sasihitlu village) had the right conditions and the qualities to emerge as a highly competitive surfing destination.

“Over the three days, the athletes put on an impressive show. If they maintain this level of effort, Indian surfers could soon make it to the Olympics,” he noted.

Tamil Nadu surfers Dhamayanthi Sriram and Mahathi Srinivasabharathi qualified for the finals with scores of 4.57 and 3.54, respectively.

Kamali Moorthi, the top seed from Tamil Nadu, had already been granted a final spot based on her national ranking.

Tayin Arun won his first title at IOS with a score of 10.17. Harish P (8.40) and Prahlad Sriram (7.47) made it a thrilling competition, finishing second and third, respectively.

Mantra Surf Club’s Pradeep Pujar finished fourth with a score of 5.34.

The highlight event of the day was the Men’s Open Surfing final, another all Tamil Nadu affair, featuring the top-seeded surfers from across the country.

Ajeesh Ali, who represented India at the 2023 ISA World Surfing Games in El Salvador, walked away with the championship title with the highest score of the day (14.70).

The intense action and thrilling competition in the category captivated the audience.

Srikanth D (12.57) and Sanjaikumar S (11.10) bagged the runner-up and second runner-up titles, respectively, while Sanjay Selvamani came fourth with a score of 6.17.

Ajeesh Ali said, “I am thrilled to have won the title today after being the runner-up in the previous edition. Winning the Indian Open of Surfing was something I desperately wanted. My experience in El Salvador last year for the Paris Olympics qualifiers allowed me to compete with some of the world’s best surfers and learn a great deal from them. The conditions today were challenging with slow waves, but luckily, I had a board specifically for such conditions. The competition was fierce as my fellow surfers are among the best in the country.”

Kamali scored 12.40 in the finals, narrowly edging out 2022 champion Sugar Banarse from Goa, who scored 12.23 and finished as the runner-up by just 0.17 points. Neha Vaid from Mumbai came in third with a score of 2.97.

Kamali said, “I am thrilled to have successfully defended both my titles at the Indian Open of Surfing. Surfing in Mangaluru has always been a joy, and today was no different. The Women’s Open category was challenging because I was competing against Sugar Banarse, the 2022 champion.”

– PTI

CHESS

World Junior Chess Championship: Harshit Pawar shocks top seed Abhimanyu Mishra

Playing the game of his life, India’s Harshit Pawar shocked top seed and youngest ever Grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra in the first round of World Junior Chess Championship here on Sunday.

While the day was not devoid of upsets, Pawar was the star, especially as he did everything right from the early middle game against the young American opponent.

After the first round, as many as 51 players emerged with a perfect score and Artiom Stribuk of Russia was the only other major casualty in the day as he was beaten by V S Nandish.

In the girls’ section, top seed Divya Deshmukh started of with an expected victory over Anupam M Sreekumar. The second highest rated Indian, Rakshitha Ravi defeated compatriot G Shivamshika to match Divya on points.

– PTI