GOLF
Dutch Ladies Open: Diksha finishes tied-9th, Hitaashee tied-12th
Indian golfer Diksha Dagar came up with steady 71 in the final round to finish tied-9th with an overall score of 4-under 212 in the Dutch Ladies Open, a part of the Ladies European Tour, in Hilversum, Netherlands.
It was the 24-year-old Diksha’s fourth top-10 finish as she produced rounds of 71, 70 and 71 over three days.
Behind Diksha, who has been on the Ladies European Tour (LET) since 2019, were rookies Hitaashee Bakshi (71-73-69) at tied-12th, and Avani Prashanth (77-70-67) at t-19th.
England’s Mimi Rhodes continued her sensational rookie season to claim her third LET title. She finished two shots clear of the field at the Goyer Golf & Country Club.
Diksha bogeyed once on the front nine but flourished on the back nine as she birdied the 10th, 12th and 18th holes.
In between, she dropped a bogey on the 16th. Her plan is to get at least one win ahead of her home event, the Hero Indian Open.
Hitaashee, playing her first LET event outside India, had an eagle on the Par-4 eighth besides three birdies and one bogey.
Avani, who began the week with a 77, produced a superb 5-under 67 with five birdies and no bogeys for the joint second-best score of the day.
Tvesa Malik (74-75) missed the cut and Pranavi Urs withdrew due to medical reasons after the first round.
-PTI
TABLE TENNIS
New junior table tennis league launched to develop grassroots
In a bid to foster sports development at the grassroots level, Dream Sports Foundation (DSF), the philanthropic arm of Dream Sports, today announced an exclusive partnership with Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT).
As the Youth Development partner, DSF will launch the inaugural Dream UTT Juniors, a U-15 Table Tennis tournament curated to provide professional league experience to emerging table tennis talent.
The inaugural Dream UTT Juniors will be held alongside the sixth edition of the Ultimate Table Tennis league in Ahmedabad from May 29 to June 8, 2025.
As part of the Dream UTT Juniors, the top eight boys and eight girls from the recently concluded Dream Sports Championship Table Tennis 2025 have been drafted into the eight franchises of UTT.
-Team Sportstar
SQUASH
National Doubles Squash Championship to be played in Chennai from May 20-23
The Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) on Monday announced that the HCL National doubles squash championship will be held from May 20 to 23 at the Indian Squash Academy (ISA) in Chennai.
The tournament will feature India’s top squash talents – including Abhay Singh, Velavan Senthilkumar, Joshna Chinappa, and Anahat Singh – competing for a total prize money of INR 3,30,000. The event will serve as a platform to select players to represent India at the Asian squash doubles championships, tentatively scheduled for July 4 to 7.
Cyrus Poncha, SRFI Secretary-General, said, “The National doubles championship plays a vital role in grooming talent for international competition.
“With strong performances last year, we are optimistic about India’s chances at the Asian championships. This tournament reflects our continued commitment to promoting excellence in squash.”
Top seeds:
Men: 1. Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar; 2. Rahul Baitha and Suraj Chand.
Women: 1. Anahat Singh and Joshna Chinappa; 2. R. Pooja Arthi and Rathika Suthanthira Seelan.
Mixed: 1. Abhay Singh and Anahat Singh; 2. Velavan Senthilkumar and Joshna Chinappa; 3. Rahul Baitha and Anjali Semwal; 4. Suraj Chand and Pooja Arthi.
– Team Sportstar
ESPORTS
S8UL unveils complete roster for Esports World Cup 2025
Indian esports organisation S8UL Esportsannounced its full roster across eight titles at the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2025, set to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from July 7 to August 24.
The organisation completed its roster by entering Fatal Fury with the signing of Peruvian-American fighting game veteran Marcoantonio Malpica (Yurikov).
S8UL complete roster for EWC 2025
Apex Legends: Rick Wirth (Sharky), Benjamin Spaseski (Jesko) and Tom Canty (Legacy)
Call of Duty: Warzone: Colin Bowers-Wilson (Trikempathy), Braxton Trice (Braxtvn), and Ryder Skarzinski (Ryda)
Chess: Nihal Sarin and Aravindh Chithambaram
EAFC25: Jonas Wirth (Jonny) and Aaron Rivera (Happy)
Fatal Fury: Marcoantonio Malpica (Yurikov)
Mobile Legends Bang Bang: Michael Cosgun (MobaZane), Ian Hohl (FwydChickn), Jang Seong-hun (Hoon), Ziameth-Jei Caluya (ZIA), Vo Trung (Shark), and Carlos Ortega Vega (Bestplayer1)
Starcraft II: Pyung Jae Koh (GuMiho)
Tekken 8: Arja Gamoori (Sephiblack) and Nino Schwarz (Nino)
-Team Sportstar
TENNIS
Junior Davis Cup: Indian boys lose to Uzbekistan in opening round
The Indian boys stumbled to a 1-2 defeat to Uzbekistan in the opening league match of the Asia-Oceania Junior Davis cup under-16 tennis tournament in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, on Monday.
Tavish Pahwa put India back on track after Prakaash Sarran had lost the first singles. However, in the doubles Tavish and Prakaash were beaten 10-6 in the super tie-break.
Seventh-seeded India will next play third seed Korea, which opened with a 3-0 victory over Malaysia, dropping three games in all while winning six sets.
The results:
Uzbekistan bt India 2-1 (Makmudbhek Beknazarov bt Prakaash Sarran 6-2, 6-0; Akmal Abdullaev lost to Tavish Pahwa 4-6, 3-6; Akmal & Makhmudbek bt Tavish & Prakaash 6-1, 6-7(3), [10-6]).
– Kamesh Srinivasan
BOXING
India’s Faizan Anwar beats Ghana’s Kpakpo in Super Fighter Series
India’s Faizan Anwar secured a dominant victory over Ghana’s Kpakpo Allotey in their 10-round welterweight international professional boxing clash, the main event of the Super Fighter Series 3, here.
The Dubai-based Anwar, who is originally from Kolkata, sent the crowd into an applause after every round as Bengaluru witnessed an intense fight hosted by Grassroot Boxing and Crown Boxing.
Ukraine’s Danylo Honcharu won the WBA Asia Middle-East Super Lightweight title after Ruslan Kamilov of Dagestan retired in Round 3 and a Technical Knock Out was awarded to the Ukrainian.
In other supporting contests, F. Zoramchhana of Mizoram beat the Bengaluru-based Harsh Saroha through a unanimous decision while another Bangalore based pro-boxer, Kamla Roka, also took a unanimous decision win over Mehakpreet of Punjab.
Rohit Choudhary, Aman Bahadur and Ritesh Singh Bisht also won their respective bouts.
In the women’s category, Rani Devi of Haryana defeated Aleksandra Sitnikova of Belarus through a unanimous decision.
-PTI