MOTORSPORT
Maini to race for Ford-powered squad in new DTM season
India’s Arjun Maini will drive for the HRT Ford Performance team in his fifth year in the German touring car racing series.
Last year, Maini had secured the best result of his DTM career by finishing seventh in the drivers’ standings. In the previous three seasons (from 2021 to 2023), the 27-year-old from Bengaluru had finished 12th, 19th and 20th, respectively.
The official test day for the new DTM season will take place at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben on Wednesday.
Haupt Racing Team (HRT) enters two Ford Mustang GT3s in the top-class sprint series for the first time this year. The cockpits for Ford’s factory-supported DTM comeback after 36 years will be occupied by Maini and Fabio Scherer.
The opening race weekend is scheduled from April 25-27.
Maini has been competing successfully for HRT in various racing series since 2022 and achieved three podium finishes and one pole position in the DTM with the team last season. The Indian has made a total of 64 appearances in the prestigious sprint series to date.
-PTI
KABADDI
Yuva All Stars Championship: Yuva Mumba, Sonipat Spartans, Warriorz K.C record wins in Super 6 round
The Super 6 and head-to-head round of the Yuva All Stars Championship concluded on Tuesday, with the top three teams from the group and the loser of the head-to-head round qualifying for the playoffs.
Yuva Mumba, Sonipat Spartans, and Warriorz K.C. won their respective matches in the last set of Super 6 matches at the Vandana Kataria Indoor Stadium in Haridwar.
Yuva Mumba defeated the Junior Steelers 48-26 to earn a spot in the playoffs, while Sonipat Spartans defeated Palani Tuskers 44-33 to set up an eliminator clash against Warriorz K.C.
Warriorz beat Chandigarh Chargers 51-34, riding on the back of Nitin Singh’s 10 raid points.
The playoff round will include four matches – two eliminators, one semifinal, and a final. The loser of the head-to-head round will take on the third-placed team in the Super 6 round in Eliminator 1, while the top two teams from Super 6 will lock horns with each other in Eliminator 2. Both eliminators will be played on April 2.
The winner of Eliminator 1 and the winner of Eliminator 2 will face each other in the semifinal on Thursday. The winner of the clash will lock horns against the head-to-head winner in the final on Friday.
The head-to-head match between Jaipur Pink Cubs and Yuva Yoddhas was cancelled as the Pink Cubs had won two matches and booked a berth in the summit clash of the Yuva All Stars Championship 2025.
-Team Sportstar
GOLF
Adani invitational golf championship: Saptak Talwar shares lead with N Thangaraj
Local lad Saptak Talwar overcame an indifferent start to execute a spectacular front nine in jumping to a joint lead with Sri Lankan N Thangaraj, with a five-under 67 on the opening day of the Rs. 1.5 crore Adani invitational golf championship at the Jaypee Greens and Spa Resort on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old Saptak had two bogeys on the back nine and a birdie to be one-over. Thereafter, he had an eagle and four birdies in the first six holes, as his game roared to life. He stayed on par thereafter to be in the lead, one shot ahead of four others.
“I was adjusting to the greens here,” reasoned Saptak about his slow start.
Thangaraja, who had won one of the PGTI events last month, had a bogey free day, as he sank five birdies.
“The course feels a little longer than the last time I played here in 2013. It will require good driving and putting to score well here,” said Thangaraja.
Om Prakash Chouhan, Arjun Prasad, Md. Somrat Sikdar and Sunhit Bishnoi were breathing down the neck of the leaders, a shot away at four-under 68.
Yuvraj Sandhu and Shaurya Bhattacharya, two other champions in the events earlier, were tied 10th at two-under 70.
The leading scores:
1T. N Thangaraja, Saptak Talwar 67; 3T. Om Prakash Chouhan, Arjun Prasad, Md.Somrat Sikdar, Sunhit Bishnoi 68; 7T. Himmat Rai, Federico Zucchetti, Karandeep Kochhar 69; 10T. K Prabagaran, Aryan Anand, Arjun Sharma, Chiragh Kumar, Shaurya Bhattacharya, Dhruv Sheoran, Yuvraj Sandhu, Honey Baisoya 70.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
TENNIS
Nedunchezhiyan-Prashanth pair crash out in pre-quarterfinals of Challenger Menorca tournament
Top seeds Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Vijay Sundar Prashanth were beaten 6-2, 6-0 by wild card entrants Andrea Vavassori and Matteo Vavassori in the doubles pre-quarterfinals of the €145,250 Challenger tennis tournament in Menorca, Spain.
The results:
$680,140 ATP, Houston, USA
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Rafael Matos & Marcelo Zormann (Bra) bt Nicolas Barrientos (Col) & Rithvik Bollipalli 7-5, 6-4.
€145,250 Challenger, Menorca, Spain
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Andrea Vavassori & Matteo Vavassori (Ita) bt Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan & Vijay Sundar Prashanth 6-2, 6-0.
$30,000 ITF men, Santa Margherita Di Pula, Italy
Singles (first round): Mariano Tammaro (Ita) bt Manas Dhamne 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Gianrocco Filippo & Silvio Mencaglia (Ita) bt Chinmaya Dev Chauhan & Luca Parenti (Ita) 6-4, 6-0.
$40,000 ITF women, Bujumbura, Burundi
Singles (first round): Nahia Berecoechea (Fra) bt Pranjala Yadlapalli 1-6, 6-3, 6-2; Anjali Rathi bt Abhilasha Bista (Nep) 6-1, 6-3.
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Riya Bhatia & Sada Nahimana (Bdi) bt Sravya Shivani & Pooja Ingale 6-2, 6-1; Jasmijn Gimbrere (Ned) & Stephanie Visscher (Ned) bt Emma Van Poppel (Ned) & Pranjala Yadlapalli 6-1, 6-0; Weronika Falkowska (Pol) & Merel Hoedt (Ned) bt Priyanshi Bhandari & Diva Bhatia 6-1, 6-4.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Asian under-16 tennis tournament: Rabiah Dullet beats Adya Chaurasia in pre-quarterfinals
Rabiah Dullet beat second seed Adya Chaurasia 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in the girls’ pre-quarterfinals of the Asian under-16 tennis tournament at the Joygaon Academy on Tuesday.
The results (pre-quarterfinals):
Under-16 boys:Lakshya Chukka bt Arindam Joshi 1-6, 6-4, 6-0; Arsh Kathuria bt Armaan Dua 6-1, 6-2; Ribhav Saroha bt Shivraj Bhosale 6-1, 6-4; Divey Malik bt P Ishaayu 6-0, 6-0; D Tibrewal bt avi Agarwal 6-1, 7-5; Om Patel bt Harsh Marwaha 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; Krishank Joshi bt Bhavik Mittal 7-6(2), 6-3; Yashwin Dahiya bt Arjun Sastry 6-1, 6-1.
Under-16 girls: Aashi Kashyap bt Ruhin Kaushal 6-1, 6-2; K Hazarika bt Ridhhi Khanna 6-0, 6-4; Aafreen Rahil bt Siddhi Pandey 2-6, 7-5, 7-5; Akshita Antil bt Surmayee Sathe 6-1, 6-1; Dhani bt Keerti 6-2, 6-1; Deepthi Venkatesan bt Niesha Enja 6-4, 6-3; V Sana bt Sara Shaikh 6-0, 7-5; Rabiah Dullet bt Adya chaurasia 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
-Kamesh Srinivasan