TABLE TENNIS
Ultimate Table Tennis Juniors set to be held in Ahmedabad from May 29
The inaugural Dream UTT junior table tennis tournament, featuring eight boys and eight girls of the franchise teams, is scheduled to be staged at the EKA Arena, Ahmedabad, on a league cum knock-out basis from May 29 to June 8.
The top eight boys and girls were selected from Dream Sports Championship staged in March, in which Sahil Rawat and Divyanshi Bhowmick emerged champions.
Each tie will feature two singles and a mixed doubles match. The semifinals will be played on June 7, and the final on June 8. All matches will streamed live on FanCode.
TEAMS
Ahmedabad SG Pipers: Abheek Kashyap, Mouboni Chatterjee.
Stanley’s Chennai Lions: Siddhanth Dhariwal, Divyanshi Bhowmick.
Dabang Delhi TTC: Akash Rajavelu, Dhaani Jain.
Dempo Goa Challegners: Sahil Rawat, Aarya Pedkar.
Jaipur Patriots: Trishal Surapureddy, Shreya Dhar.
Kolkata Thunder Blades: Ritvik Gupta, Swara Karmarkar.
PBG Pune Jaguars: Atharva Nawarange, Tushti Sood.
U Mumba TT: Prateek Tulsani, Ananya Muralidhar.
-Team Sportstar
SHOOTING
Sheoran and Dhanda finish on top in Shotgun National Trials
Lakshay Sheoran and Neeru Dhanda finished on top in the men’s and women’s category respectively in the trap finals of the second shotgun national trails in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Lakshay, who made the cut with a score of 120 in qualification, shot 43 in the finals, a two-shot difference over Jaswinder Singh, who finished second with a score of 41.
In the women’s finals, Nationals Games gold medallist Neeru edged Aashima Ahlawat 40-39 to secure the top spot.
Olympian Rajeshwari Kumari secured third place with a score of 31 while Bhowneesh Mendiratta finished third in the men’s category with a score of 33.
Earlier, in the qualification round, Jungsher S. Virk shot 119 to qualify for the finals behind Lakshay.
National champion Shardul Vihan, Jaswinder Singh, Bhowneesh and Rayyan Rizvi completed the top six with scores of 118, 117, 116 and 116 respectively.
Olympians Kynan Chenai (114) and Prithviraj Tondaiman (112) and World Cup finals silver medallist Vivaan Kapoor (113) failed to reach the finals.
In the women’s category, Neeru topped the qualification with a score of 115 followed by Preeti Rajak with 114, Aashima Ahlawat with 113, Rajeshwari with 110, Pragati Dubey with 109, and Addya Katyal finished in the top six.
A separate selection trial was not conducted for junior athletes and as a result, Bakhtyaruddin Malek who shot 114 and Addya Katyal with 108 were placed first in the junior men’s and women’s category respectively.
Tarvez Singh Sandhu who shot 111 and Udhav Singh Rathore with 110 were placed second and third while Ananya Yaduvanshi with 101 and Tanisska Senthilkumar with 98 took the second and third sports in the junior women’s trials.
The selection committee will consider the scores from the recently concluded ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany, for junior athletes who participated in that event, as selection trials two coincided with it.
Scores of such shooters will not be marked as “zero.”
-PTI
GOLF
Four Indians in action at Asia-Pacific junior golf championship
Two boys and two girls will represent India in the Asia-Pacific junior golf championship being played in Hong Kong.
Krish Chawla, Ranveer Mitroo, Saanvi Somu and Kashika Mishra will compete in a stroke play format. The scores will be tabulated for the team titles for boys and girls, and the best scores of the boys and girls will be taken from each team to calculate the mixed team championship.
-Team Sportstar
ROWING
IIS takes up the challenge of building women’s team
he Inspire Institute of Sports (IIS) has taken up the challenge of building the Indian women’s rowing team to be a competitive unit in the Nagoya Asian Games next year, by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Rowing Federation of India.
As part of the drive, 20 women rowers went through a stringent selection process at the High Performance Centre in Bellary. The squad will be pruned to 14 athletes who will form the core group for long term training and international exposure.
The athletes will be guided by Angus Seller of Australia, both at the IIS and in Australia, where they would train with top international rowers in a high-performance environment.
“We see great potential in these women. With the right support, scientific guidance and consistent training, we are confident that they can break through at the international level. We will support them with everything. The goal is to build a winning mindset and fast-track their development for the Asian Games,” said the president of IIS, Manisha Malhotra.
“They are gifted rowers, but need to focus on building strength and endurance. I don’t see any reason why they can’t do well on the international circuit,” said Angus Seller.
“This partnership with IIS is a pivotal moment for Indian rowing. It brings a structured athlete development system for our women’s team,” said the president of Rowing Federation, Rajlaxmi Singh Deo.
-Team Sportstar
TENNIS
Rathi wins in first round at ITF tournament in Tunisia
Anjali Rathi beat Paris Sorbet of France 6-2, 6-1 in the first round of the $15,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Monastir, Tunisia, on Tuesday.
RESULTS
$30,000 ITF men, Coquimbo, Chile
Singles (first round): Aryan Shah bt Benjamin Perez (Chi) 6-0, 6-2.
$15,000 ITF men, Kayseri, Turkey
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Ali Habib (GBR) & Aryan Lakshmanan bt Bugra ozkoc & Aril Tuna (Tur) 7-6(5), 6-3.
$15,000 ITF men, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Aziz Dadabaev & Fayzullo Mirzaganiyev(Uzb) bt Madhwin Kamath & Kriish Tyagi 6-4, 7-5.
$30,000 ITF men, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Singles (first round): Maria Murcia (Col) bt Saumya Vig 6-1, 6-3; Raphaelle Lacasse (Can) bt Prathyusha Rachapudi 6-1, 6-4.
$15,000 ITF men, Monastir, Tunisia
Singles (first round): Anjali Rathi bt Paris Sorbet (Fra) 6-2, 6-1.
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Tanisha Kashyap & Arabella Koller (Aut) bt LIna Soussi (Tun) & Mirabelle Tahiri (USA) 6-3, 7-6(5).
-Team Sportstar
ARCHERY
Parneet, Bhajan in World youth championships squad
World championships compound women’s team gold medallist Parneet Kaur and Olympian Bhajan Kaur will be the prominent faces in the Indian squad selected for the World archery youth championships, to be held in Winnipeg, Canada, from August 17 to 24.
The archers were selected after a three-day trial conducted at the Army Sports Institute, Pune.
SQUAD
Junior (Under 21) – Recurve
Men: Paras Hooda, Juyel Sarkar, Mahesh Kumawat; Women: Bhajan Kaur, Vaishnavi Pawar, Basanti Mahato
Cadet (Under-18) – Recurve
Men: Soham Kanase, Aditya Pawar, Agastay Singh; Women: Gatha Khadake, Sharvari Shende, Jiana Kumar.
Junior – Compound
Men: Kushal Dalal, Thirumuru Gamesh Mani Ratnam, Mihir Apar; Women: Parneet Kaur, Tejal Salve, Taniparthi Chikitha;
Cadet – Compound
Men: Devansh Singh, Yogesh Joshi, Mohit Dagar; Women: Madala Surya Hamsini, Prithika Pradeep, Varenya Rana.
-Team Sportstar
SQUASH
British Open qualifiers: Anahat progresses to semis; Salunkhe, Chotrani lose first-round matches
Anahat Singh progressed to the semifinals of the British Open qualifiers in Birmingham on Tuesday.
However, Akanksha Salunkhe and Veer Chotrani both lost their respective first-round matches in the deciding game.
The 17-year-old Anahat, ranked 57th, survived a tough opener in which she trailed 8-10 to eventually beat World No. 81 Hayley Ward of South Africa in straight games in 33 minutes.
The rising Indian will be up against World No. 71 Millie Tomlinson of England in the semifinals on Wednesday.
Ramit Tandon (World No. 35), Abhay Singh (World No. 38) and Velavan Senthilkumar (World No. 45) have qualified for the main draw of the event, which takes place from May 31 to June 8, on the basis of their PSA Rankings.
RESULTS (First round)
Women
[6] Anahat Singh beat Hayley Ward (RSA) 3-0 (12-10, 11-3, 11-9)
Madeleine Hylland (NOR) beat Akanksha Salunkhe 3-2 (11-6, 11-7, 4-11, 5-11, 11-9)
Men
David Bernet (SUI) beat [7] Veer Chotrani 3-2 (11-9, 14-12, 11-13, 5-11, 12-10)
-Team Sportstar
FOOTBALL
Delhi defends men’s National U20 football title
Delhi came back from a two-goal deficit to beat Mizoram 4-2 in extra time in the summit clash and defend the Men’s U-20 National Football Championship title here on Tuesday.
Super-sub Laishram Rahul Meitei (90+1st, 108th) emerged the hero, scoring twice, including one in extra time, as Delhi made a remarkable fightback in an ill-tempered final match that saw as many as 10 expulsions.
Mizoram ended the match with eight players, while Delhi was down to nine.
Arya Kashyap (48th) and Prashan Jajo (110th) scored the other two goals for Delhi.
Mesak C Lalrinngheta (39th) and PC Pazawna (45+2nd) had given Mizoram a 2-0 lead at halftime.
It was a final of contrasting halves. Mizoram dominated the first 45 minutes, but Delhi responded with a second-half resurgence that turned the match on its head, eventually sealing the title in emphatic fashion in extra time.
Delhi had beaten Karnataka in the penalty shootout in the 2024 edition final.
-PTI
WRESTLING
National U-17 c’ships: Haryana claims 18 gold medals
Haryana wrestlers claimed 18 gold medals in the National under-17 championships, which concluded at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Stadium, Palwal, on Tuesday
The results (winners only):
Men
Freestyle: 45kg: Shivam (Har); 48kg: Mahsun Bin Ali (Tel); 51kg: Dhanraj Jamnik (Mah); 55kg: Nishant (Har); 60kg: Sitender (Har); 65kg: Gourav Punia (Del); 71kg: Sujay Tanpure (Mah); 80kg: Saurabh Yadav (UP); 92kg: Arjun Ruhil (Har); 110kg: Lacky (Har).
Greco Roman: 45kg: Yash Kamanna (Mah); 48kg: Aditya Jadhav (Mah); 51kg: Yuvraj Kamanna (Mah); 55kg: Ashish Kumar (Pun); 60kg: Ritesh (Har); 65kg: Anuj (Har); 71kg: Vinit (Har); 80kg: Sachin Kumar (Har); 92kg: Nitin (Har); 110kg: Hardeep (Har).
Women
40kg: Cheshta (Har); 43kg: Rachana (Har); 46kg: Rutuja Gurav (Mah); 49kg: Anjali (Har); 53kg: Saarika (Har); 57kg: Moni (Del); 61kg: Tina Punia (Har); 65kg: Ashvini Vishnoi (Raj); 69kg: Manisha (Har); 73kg: Kajal (Har).
-Team Sportstar
BOXING
Five Indians set for quarterfinal clashes at Thailand Open
India will have five boxers in action at the 4th Thailand Open International Boxing Tournament in Bangkok on Wednesday, all aiming for semifinal spots.
In the men’s draw, Jugnoo (85kg) will face Kazakhstan’s Bekzat Tangatar, while Deepak (75kg) is set to take on South Korea’s Kim Hyeon-tae in two high-stakes quarterfinal bouts.
In the women’s category, Tamanna (51kg) will meet Liu Yu-Shan of Chinese Taipei, Priya (57kg) goes up against South Korea’s Park Ah-hyun, and Anjali (75kg) will square off with Japan’s Naoka Kasahara.
India has fielded a 19-member strong contingent in the prestigious tournament that has attracted talented boxers from powerhouses like China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, South Korea, and host Thailand.
-PTI