KABADDI
Yuva Kabaddi Series: Aravalli Arrows hands Palani Tuskers first Defeat; Murthal Magnets secures maiden win
The 11th Yuva Kabaddi Series — Division 1, held at the Karpagam Academy of Higher Education in Coimbatore, delivered a day of surprises, with the Palani Tuskers suffering its first defeat and the Murthal Magnets finally breaking its winless streak on Tuesday.
The day began with the Magnets claiming their maiden win by defeating the Karpagam Raiders 40-32. Vinay delivered a stellar all-round performance, contributing 15 raid points and three tackle points. Despite R. Gowtham’s 14 raid points for the Raiders, a lack of support from his teammates resulted in their loss.
In the second match, the Sonipat Spartans handed the Jaipur Thunders its fifth consecutive defeat with a 45-33 victory. Ankit Saharwa led the Spartans’ charge with 12 raid points, while Naveen Sharma and Pankaj contributed six tackle points each. For Jaipur, Praveen’s High 5 and Mohit Gurjar’s all-round effort weren’t enough to turn the tide.
The third game saw the Aravalli Arrows stun the previously unbeaten Tuskers with a 35-28 victory. Ankit Jat was the standout performer, securing nine tackle points, while Chetan Choudhary earned a High 5. Despite M. Esakkiraja’s High 5 for the Tuskers, their raiding unit fell short, leading to their first defeat.
The final match of the day featured a close contest between the Kurukshetra Warriors and the Chennai Tamizhans, with the Warriors edging out a 32-30 win. Sachin Jagbir shone with 14 raid points, while Sachin added a High 5 to the Warriors’ tally. For Chennai, Stanly Packiaraj recorded a Super 10 and Sakthivel R earned a High 5, but their efforts fell just short.
JANUARY 8 SCHEDULE
Match 21, Jaipur Thunders vs Murthal Magnets, 10:00 AM IST
Match 22, Karpagam Raiders vs Sonipat Spartans, 11:30 AM IST
Match 23, Aravalli Arrows vs Chennai Tamizhans, 3:45 PM IST
Match 24, Palani Tuskers vs Kurukshetra Warriors, 5:15 PM IST
-Team Sportstar
MOTORSPORTS
Indian riders Geoffrey, Kavin, Johann, Nadine join Gaman Racing, to train in Spain
Promising Indian riders Geoffrey Emmanuel, Kavin Quintal, Johann Emmanuel and Nadine Balaji have joined Gaman Racing and the quartet will be training in Spain ahead of the 2025 season.
The Spanish racing giants inked a deal with Gusto Racing India in this regard, and Geoffrey, Kavin, and Johann will train at MotorLand Aragon, Gaman Racing’s state-of-the-art facility in Spain.
“Our vision is to create a strong pipeline of future champions. This partnership with Gaman Racing is our vision to train and create Indian riders of international standard,” said Emmanuel Jebaraj, leader of Gusto Racing.
The four riders achieved notable milestones in 2024, where Geoffrey competed in the Moto2 European Championship at FIM JuniorGP, with five podiums in the Supersport 600 class at the Qatar Superstock Championship (QSTK).
Kavin became the first Indian rider in WorldSBK’s Supersport 300 class, and achieved success in the FIM JuniorGP STK class. He also excelled in the Asia Road Racing Championship (AP250 class).
While Johann delivered good performances in the European Talent Cup (FIM JuniorGP) and the Thailand Talent Cup, with multiple wins in QSTK’s Supersport 300 class, the lady rider, Nadine secured podium finishes in the Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship.
-PTI
TENNIS
ITF junior tennis tournament: Samarth Sahita beats Varun Verma
Samarth Sahita broke little sweat in beating Varun Verma 6-4, 6-4 in the pre-quarterfinals of the ITF junior tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex on Wednesday.
Varun had beaten the seventh seed Ilya Maltsev, but could not handle the fluent game of wild card entrant Samarth, ranked a modest 428 in the international junior circuit.
Samarth will battle the top seed, the men’s national champion, Rethin Pranav in the quarterfinals. Rethin served with punch and stroked with purpose to outclass Alexey Shibaev for the loss of five games.
Arnav Paparkar was the other Indian boy to make the quarterfinals. He did so by arresting a mid-match slump to oust Emanuel Ivanisevic of Croatia in three sets. At one stage, the Croat was so frustrated that he smashed his racquet into two pieces.
In the girls section, the national women’s finalist, Maaya Rajeshwaran continued to demonstrate her growing confidence by racing past qualifier Manon Favier of France 6-0, 6-3. Maaya was in a spot of bother in the second set when she trailed 1-3 but found the range of her strokes to outwit the French.
Maaya will play Rada Zolotareva in the quarterfinals. The latter expressed her strong game by beating Rishitha Basireddy for the loss of five games.
Aishwarya Jadhav teased fifth seed Petra Konjikusic of Serbia in a marathon before losing in the third set tie-break.
The results (pre-quarterfinals):
Under-18 boys: Rethin Pranav bt Alexey Shibaev 6-2, 6-3; Samarth Sahita bt Varun Verma 6-4, 6-4; Donghyun Hwang (Kor) bt Daniel Tazabekov (Kaz) 6-3, 6-0; Arnav Paparkar bt Emanuel Ivanisevic (Cro) 6-3, 0-6, 6-4; Hyeon Seok Seo (Kor) bt Roman Kharlamov 6-4, 6-2; Arturs Zagars (Lat) bt Kanata Ozaki (Jpn) 6-3, 6-3; Damir Zhalgasbay (Kaz) bt Hitesh Chauhan 6-4, 5-7, 6-3; Roshan Santhosh (USA) bt Maximus Zavier Wong (Sgp) 6-4, 6-2.
Under-18 girls: Polina Berezina bt Yuka Naito (Jpn) 6-3, 1-0 (retired); Polina Kuharenko bt Irem Kurt (Tur) 7-5, 6-1; Ekaterina Tupitsyna bt Anna Perelman 0-6, 6-4, 6-4; Allegra Davies (GBR) bt Aoi Watanabe (Jpn) 6-3, 6-1; Rada Zolotareva bt Rishitha Basireddy 6-1, 6-4; Maaya Rajeshwaran bt Manon Favier (Fra) 6-0, 6-3; Eleejah Inisan (Fra) bt Priyanka Rana (USA) 6-0, 6-0.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
ITF men’s tennis tournament: Sidharth Rawat edges past Oliver Crawford
Qualifier Sidharth Rawat fought his way past second seed Oliver Crawford of Britain 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-0 in the first round of the $30,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament at the Arera Club on Tuesday.
In the pre-quarterfinals, Sidharth will play fellow qualifier Rohan Mehra.
S.D. Prajwal Dev eased past Aryan Shah for the loss of four games. He will next challenge the fifth seed Yurii Dzhavakian of Ukraine.
Vishnu Vardhan went down in three sets to sixth seed Eric Vanshelboim of Ukraine.
The results (first round):
Mathys Erhard (Fra) bt Constintin Kouzmine (Fra) 7-6(5), 6-4; Luca Castelnuovo (Sui) bt Dhakshineswar Suresh 7-5 (retired); Eric Vanshelboim (Ukr) bt Vishnu Vardhan 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-2; Alastair Gray (GBR) bt Chirag Duhan 6-1, 6-4; Kosuke Ogura (Jpn) bt Sai Karteek Reddy 5-7, 6-4, 7-5; Maxim Zhukov bt Yuvan Nandal 6-4, 7-5; Vladyslav Orlov (Ukr) bt Uisung Park (Kor) 6-4, 7-5; Sergey Fomin (Uzb) bt Bogdan Bobrov 6-1, 6-1; Yurii Dzhavakian (Ukr) bt GOLJang (Kor) 6-3, 6-4; SD Prajwal Dev bt Aryan Shah 6-4, 6-0; Rohan Mehra bt Parth Aggarwal 6-3, 6-4; Sidharth Rawat bt Oliver Crawford (GBR) 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-0.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
GOLF
Sneha shares lead with Rhea and Durga in Leg 1 of Hero WPGT
Sneha Singh shared the lead with Rhea Purvi Saravanan and Durga Nittur in the opening round of the first leg of the 2025 season on the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour on Wednesday.
The three shot even par 72 each at the Golmuri Golf Club.
Amandeep Drall and Jasmine Shekar were one shot behind in tied fourth place at 73 while four players, including Lavanya Jadon who is making her pro debut, Neha Tripathi, Ananya Garg and amateur Saanvi Somu carded 3-over 75 each to be tied sixth.
Rhea, who was in the third group going out in the morning was 3-over through 14 holes, before she hit a fine patch with three birdies in the last four holes. She birdied the 15th, 17th and 18th to be the clubhouse leader at 72.
Later Sneha Singh, the 2023 Hero Order of Merit winner, and Durga Nittur joined her in shared lead at 72.
Sneha had an eventful day with four birdies and four bogeys, while Durga had three birdies and three bogeys.
Amandeep Drall opened with a birdie and then had two bogeys on the back nine on the 10th and 18th to total 73. Jasmine, who won twice in the last three events in the 2024 season, had four birdies and five bogeys in her round of 73.
Ananya Garg did not have a single par in her first seven holes as she had three birdies and four bogeys. She then had a double bogey on the 11th and a bogey on 15th but closed with a birdie.
Lavanya, playing her first pro event had three bogeys and no birdies on a challenging day.
Neha Tripathi, one of the most experienced in the field, had just one birdie against four bogeys, while amateur Saanvi Somu went to 5-over before closing with a pair of birdies on the last two holes for her 75.
Anvitha Narender (76) rounded of the top 10.
-PTI
BASKETBALL
National basketball championship: Sahaj Pratap Sekhon shines for Railways against Punjab
Sahaj Pratap Sekhon (22) sank a three-pointer with three seconds left for the hooter to help Railways to a thrilling 73-72 victory over Punjab in a group-B league match of the 74th National basketball championship at the Sidsar Sports Complex on Wednesday.
With another day of league matches to go, Railways, Tamil Nadu, Services, Punjab and Karnataka had secured their entry into the quarterfinals in the men’s section.
In the women’s section, Punjab, Delhi and Kerala along with Railways and Tamil Nadu had confirmed their quarterfinal entry.
The results (league):
Men: Group-A: Kerala 63 (Sejin Mathew 18, Joshua Oommen 17, Grigo Varghese 14) bt Services 52 (Sahil 19, Gaurav Chandal 13).
Tamil Nadu 83 (Prashanth Rawat 21, Aravind Kumar 16, Baldhaneswar 13, Muin Bek 12) bt Rajasthan 60 (Sharad Dhadhich 18).
Group-B: Railways 73 (Sahaj Pratap Singh Sekhon 22, Palpreet Singh 18) bt Punjab 72 (Kanwar Gurbaz Singh Sandhu 20, Nawaz Singh Panaich 16, Gurwinder Singh 13, Amjot Gill 10).
Women: Group-A: Railways 83 (Vaishnavi Yadav 13, Sathiya Senthilkumar 12, Dharshini 11, K Sathya 10) bt Karnataka 33 (CN Supritha 12, Ruth Blessen 11).
Delhi 70 (Preeti Kumar 20, Prakriti Ranjan 19, Namrata 15) bt Punjab 57 (Kanishka Dhir 18, Manmeet Kaur 13, Komalpreet Kaur 10).
Group-B: Tamil Nadu 72 (Krithika Sureshbabu 14, Anumaria 13, NIka Amuthan 12) bt Chhattisgarh 63 (Divyani Gangwal 17, Diya Sam 12, Shanti Xaxa 12, Nisha Kashyap 11, Neha Karwa 11).
Kerala 71 (sreekala Rani 25, VJ Jayalakshmi 16, Susan Florentina 15) bt Tamil Nadu 52 (Krithika Sureshbabu 14, J Ishwarya 11).
-Kamesh Srinivasan
TABLE TENNIS
Paddler Hansini emerges youngest U19 national champion
Promising 15-year-old Hansini M of Tamil Nadu became the youngest ever champion in the Under-19 category at the Interstate Junior and Youth National Championship on Wednesday.
Hansini overcame Haryana’s Suhana Saini 4-2 in the final.
A Class 10 student at the PS Senior Secondary School, Mylapore, Chennai, Hansini’s achievements are quite remarkable.
She was a member of the Indian Under-15 youth team and achieved a world ranking of 20 in 2024.
She also had won titles at the Under-13 National Championship in 2021, the Hopes tournament in 2021, besides holding the world No.1 rank in the Under-13 category.
Hansini, a recipient of the Khelo India scholarship awarded by the Government of India, had also clinched multiple gold medals at the World Table Tennis Youth Contender tournaments.
-PTI
