CRICKET
Bihar’s domestic cricket tournament begins, BCA announces women’s U-23 One-Day squad
The Bihar Cricket Association (BCA)‘s men’s senior One-Day Trophy began on Sunday. The domestic tournament features teams from across the State.
The districts have been divided into eight zones: Western, Mithila, Shahabad, Magadh, Pataliputra, Angika, Central, and Seemanchal. In the initial phase, teams from each zone will be competing against each other at the zonal level.
A total of 72 matches will be played in the league stage, running until March 13. The second phase of the tournament will then feature the quarterfinals, semifinals, and the final.
BCA President Rakesh Tiwari said, “The men’s senior One-Day Trophy aims to enhance the competitiveness of cricket in Bihar while providing a crucial platform for emerging players. Our selectors will be closely monitoring standout performances to identify and nurture new talent for Bihar’s senior team in the future.”
Meanwhile, Bihar also announced the squad for BCCI’s upcoming U-23 women’s One Day tournament 2024-25. Yashita Singh will captain the squad, while Preeti Kumari will be her deputy. A total of 20 players have been named.
-Team Sportstar
KABADDI
Yuva All Stars Championship 2025 to kick off in Haridwar from March 6
Yuva All Stars Championship 2025, a first-of-its-kind tournament in the kabaddi ecosystem, will begin on March 6 at the Vandna Kataria Indoor Stadium in Haridwar.
The Championship will conclude on April 4 with a grand finale. Four matches will be played among 12 teams every day at 10.15 AM, 11.45 AM, 4 PM and 5.30 PM respectively. Fans can watch the matches live on FanCode.
Vikas Gautam, CEO, Yuva Kabaddi Series, said, “This is a battle of the best, featuring a format never seen before in Kabaddi. Get ready for high-octane matches over the next 30 days, where the nation’s brightest young talents will showcase their skills on a grand stage.
“The Yuva All Stars Championship is a dream come true, giving young Kabaddi players an opportunity to display their talent to the world in the most competitive environment. Wishing all the participants the very best—this is the first step toward reaching new heights with Yuva,” he added.
The teams have been slotted into two pools—A and B— based on rankings from the division rounds of the 11th edition of the Yuva Kabaddi Series (YKS).
-Team Sportstar
TENNIS
Sohyun Park clinches India W50 title in Ahmedabad
Sohyun Park of Korea outplayed top seed Arina Rodionova of Australia 6-3, 6-0 in the final of the USD 40,000 ITF Women’s Tennis Tournament at the Ahmedabad Tennis Foundation courts on Sunday.
It was the seventh singles title in the professional circuit for the 22-year-old Korean, who had dropped one set on way to the title, in the semifinals to Vaidehi Chaudhari.
It was an unexpectedly one-sided affair as the 35-year-old Arina, ranked a career-best 97 last year, had been in fighting form, winning three of her four matches in three sets each. She had outplayed Mariia Tkacheva in the semifinals for the loss of two games but was unable to be at her best in the final.
While Arina goes to better events, the rest of the players move to Gurugram for the $30,000 tournament next week.
The results (final): Sohyun Park (Kor) bt Arina Rodionova (Aus) 6-3, 6-0.
-Team Sportstar
Shri Ram College of Commerce through to Inter-College final
Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) beat Hansraj College 2-1 in the semifinals of the Delhi University inter-college men’s tennis tournament at the Sri Venkateswara College.
In the final, SRCC will play Sri Guru Gobind Singh College which beat St. Stephen’s College 2-0.
The results (semifinals): Sri Guru Gobind Singh College bt St. Stephen’s College 2-0 (M Vedant bt Shafaat Ali 6-2; S Aniket bt K Agneya 6-2).
Shri Ram College of Commerce bt Hansraj College 2-1 (Manish bt S Khush 6-1; S Varun lost to Avik 3-6; Manish & Varun bt Avik & Omansh 7-6(7)).
-Team Sportstar
HOCKEY
Hockey Women’s Senior Nationals: Telangana, Delhi register wins on Day 2
The second day of 15th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship, held at the Tau Devi Lal Hockey Stadium, Panchkula saw Telangana Hockey and Delhi Hockey claim victories in Division B while Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Hockey won their Division C match.
In Pool A of Division B, Telangana Hockey started their campaign on a high with a 3-1 win over Assam Hockey to open the day’s events. Assam Hockey struck the first blow with an impressive field goal by Captain Munmuni Das (14’); however, Telangana Hockey were prompt with their reply as they registered three quick goals in the second quarter itself from Prativa Kindo (23’), Sumi Mundari (26’) and Pooja Rathod (28’) to win the match.
In the second Division B match of the day, Delhi Hockey built on their win from Saturday as they edged out Hockey Himachal 1-0 in Pool B. Neha (14’) successfully converted a penalty corner in the first quarter to score the match’s only goal. Delhi Hockey’s resilient defending over the next three quarters ensured they claimed all the points and continued their winning streak.
The last game of the day in Division B ended in a 1-1 draw as both Chhattisgarh Hockey and Hockey Chandigarh couldn’t be separated over the four quarters. In what was a tightly contested affair, Anjali (47’) finally broke the deadlock for Chhattisgarh Hockey in the fourth quarter. The lead, however, only stood for two minutes as Hockey Chandigarh replied with an equaliser courtesy of Sonu’s (49’) field goal.
In Division C, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Hockey defeated Hockey Gujarat 2-0 to open their campaign in Pool A.
-Team Sportstar
POLO
Godara, Marambio guides Delta Mayfair to victory in Sawai Man Singh Gold Vase
Dhruvpal Godara and Santiago Marambio combined well to help Delta Mayfair to a 7-6 victory over Achievers Dynamix in the final of the Sawai Man Singh Gold Vase polo tournament at the Jaipur Polo ground on Sunday.
The results (final):
Delta Mayfair 7 (Dhruvpal Godara 4, Santiago Marambio 3) bt Achievers Dynamix 6 (Daniel Otamendi 3, Shamsheer Ali 2, Abhimanyu Pathak).
-Kamesh Srinivasan
