Indian sports news wrap, October 18

BADMINTON
India beat Australia 3-2 in BWF World Jr Mixed Team C’ships

Teen shuttler Unnati Hooda shone brightly as India eked out a 3-2 win over Australia in their third Group B match of the mixed team event of BWF World Junior Championships on Tuesday.

Hooda, the 15-year-old from Haryana, kept India afloat in the tie after men’s doubles pair of Arsh Mohammad and Abhinav Thakur lost the opening match. Women’s pair of Isharani Baruah and Devika Sihag, and mixed doubles combination of Vignesh Thathineni and Srinidhi Narayanan then claimed victories in the last two matches as India emerged winners.

Earlier, Arsh and Abhinav failed to get across Ricky Tang and Otto Xing De Zhao, going down 12-21 17-21 to hand over the advantage to Australia.

Unnati, Odisha Open champion, dished out a clinical performance to outclass Sydney Go 21-6 21-9 to bring India back in the contest.

In the men’s singles match, Bharat Raghav’s fight ended with a narrow 19-21 21-16 15-21 loss to Jack Yu as Australia lead 2-1.

Isharani and Devika then took centrestage and defeated Australia’s Dania Nugroho and Catrina Chia-Yu Tan 21-8 21-8 to make it 2-2.

Vignesh and Srinidhi then provided the finishing touch with a 21-12 21-16 win over Otto Xing De Zhao and Yuelin Zhang to take India home.

India had defeated Iceland 5-0, before suffering a 0-5 loss to China. The fifth seeds will take on Slovenia in their final Group B match.

India had signed off at the 12th place in the last edition in 2019. The country’s best result was a fourth-place finish in the 2008 edition.

India are currently placed behind China in the second position in their group. Only the team finishing at the top will qualify for the quarterfinals, while the second-placed teams will compete for places 9-16.

The team finishing third will play for positions 17-24, while fourth-placed sides will compete for 25-32 positions and fifth-placed teams for 33-38 spots.

India had lost to China 0-5 in its second group match on Tuesday.

-PTI

GOLF
Aditi Ashok to participate in Women’s Indian Open starting Oct 20

Aditi Ashok will be one of the top Indian golfers who will be in seen in action in the Hero Women’s Indian Open which gets underway at the DLF Golf and Country Club from Thursday.

The 24-year-old from Bengaluru became the first woman from the country to win on the Ladies European Tour (LET) by clinching the Women’s Indian Open in 2016.

She progressed quickly from there, adding two more LET wins in 2016 and 2017 and earning a card on the toughest Tour in the world, the LPGA in the United States.

In 57 starts on the LET, Aditi has had three wins and 18 top-10s. Last year at the Tokyo Olympics, she came agonisingly close to getting onto the podium by finishing fourth.

Aditi, who made her debut in this tournament in 2011, turned in superb performances between 2011 and 2015 in her five appearances as an amateur. She made the cut four times, finished in top-10 once, twice in top-15 and missed the cut only once.

In fact, Aditi had won a pro event on the domestic Women’s Golf Tour while still being an amateur. She turned pro in 2016 and lifted the silverware that year itself.

-PTI

Lahiri finishes 10th in Liv golf in Jeddah

Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri finished Tied-10th in the LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah leg of the series with a final round of 69 here.

The 36-year-old Indian, who began the week despite suffering from flu, did a fine job by putting together a strong week with rounds of 67-66-69 at the Par-70 course at Royal Greens.

His final round of 69 included an eagle on Par-4 first hole but he also bogeyed the 11th and 12th and double bogeyed 13th on Sunday.

In his three previous appearances on the LIV Series, he was second in Boston, 23rd in Chicago and 41st in Bangkok.

At the top, Brooks Koepka beat Peter Uihlein on the third play-off hole to win the event. It was his first win in the series.

In the team event, Koepka’s team that included Uihlein, his brother Chase Koepka and Jason Kokrak won the honours. Fireballs led by Garcia were second and Crushers, led by Bryson DeChambeau and including Lahiri, were third.

The next event in Miami will be the final one and will be a team event. It will be held Oct 28-30 at Doral.

-PTI

Delhi Gold Club League

BMW-Deutsche Motoren emerged as the most emphatic winner among the semifinalists of the Delhi Golf Club League after beating Athletic Drive 10.5-5 here on Tuesday.

In the semifinals, BMW-Deutsche-Motoren faces The A-team and Christie’s Golf meets Baale Golf.

Results
Quarterfinals: Baale Golf bt Birdie Machine 10-5.5; BMW-Deutsche Motoren bt Athletic Drive 10.5-5; The ‘A’ Team bt MMG Coca-Cola 12.5-3; Christie’s Golf bt Delhi Tigers 11.5-3.5.
-Rakesh Rao

TABLE TENNIS
Delhi High Court orders fresh elections to TTFI

The Delhi High Court has ordered fresh elections in the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), with the electoral process completed on or before November 15.

This is in keeping with the deadline indicated by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), as per its letter dated August 15, 2022, to the Committee of Administrators (CoA).

Justice Rekha Palli also barred the already-suspended members of the TTFI Executive Committee from taking part in the election process.

She named former judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Vineet Saran, as the Returning Officer. He will be paid Rs. 7.50 lakh, besides secretarial expenses, by the TTFI.

-Rakesh Rao

TENNIS
Fenesta National sub-junior tennis championship

Mahalingam Kandhavel was clever and crafty as he knocked out the top seed Tejas Ahuja 6-4, 6-1 in the under-16 boys second round of the Fenesta National sub-junior tennis championship at the DLTA Complex on Tuesday.

Having won the under-18 doubles title with Rethin Pranav, Mahalingam was quite sharp and toyed with his opponent with deceptive game.

In the under-16 girls second round, Yashika turned the match around midway to beat Manognya Madasu 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-2. In another match, Mahika Khanna pipped Aleena Farid 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4).

Results
Under-16 boys (second round): Mahalingam Kandhavel bt Tejas Ahuja 6-4, 6-1; Trishant Dandu bt Hrisheek Vavilapally 6-3, 2-6, 6-4; Dhiraj Reddy bt Priyansh Barthwal 6-3, 6-2; Tanussh Ghildyal bt Arya Kallambella 6-4, 7-5; Swastik Sharma bt Levin Mydeen 6-1, 6-3; Hitesh Chauhan bt Karan Rawat 6-2, 6-0; Deepam Malik bt Yashasvi Balhara 6-0, 6-4; Aarjun Pandit bt Praneel Sharma 6-4, 6-3; Samarth Sahita bt Ved Thakur 6-4, 6-1; Vraj Gohil bt Naishik Ganagama 6-3, 6-2; Samprit Sharma bt Siddhant Sharma 7-5, 6-1; Arjun Rathi bt Fateh Singh 6-4, 6-3; Dhruv Sachdeva bt Shanker Heisnam 1-6, 6-1, 7-5; Simardeep Sawhney bt Bharat Phulwaria 6-1, 6-4; Aradhya Kshitij bt Antariksh Tamuly 6-3, 6-2; Debasis Sahoo bt Jevin Kanani 6-2, 6-4.
Under-16 girls (second round): Asmi Adkar bt Saily Thakkar 6-0, 6-0; Saumya Ronde bt Divya Ungrish 6-1, 6-4; Sejal Bhutada bt Shaivi Dalal 4-6, 6-2, 6-4; Sreenidhi Balaji bt Princy Mandagall 6-3, 3-6, 6-1; Saijayani Banerjee bt Harithashri Venkatesh 6-2, 6-2; Yashika bt Manognya Madasu2-6, 7-6(5), 6-2; Laxmi Siri Dandu bt Nainika REddy 5-7, 6-1, 6-0; N Harshini bt Suhani Gaur 6-2, 6-3; Maaya Rajeshwaran bt Aditi Tyagi 6-4, 6-0; Pehal Kharadkar bt Isheeta Midha 7-5, 6-1; Niyati Kukreti bt Divya Sharma 7-6(7), 6-2; Aishwarya Jadhav bt Aarushi Raval 6-0, 6-2; Janvi Asawa bt Shagun Kumari 7-5, 6-1; Mahika Khanna bt Aleena Farid 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4); Riya Sachdeva bt Tamanna Panwar 6-3, 6-1; Aakruti Sonkusare bt Mehak Kapoor 6-2, 6-4.
-Kamesh Srinivasan

Rouen WTA challenger tournament: Raina, van der Hoek reaches doubles semifinals

Ankita Raina in partnership with Rosalie van der Hoek beat Estelle Cascino and Viktoriya Tomova 6-2, 7-5 in the doubles quarterfinals of the €115,000 WTA tennis tournament in Rouen, France, on Tuesday.

In the quarterfinals, Ankita and Rosalie will challenge the top seeds Natela Dzalamidze and Kamilla Rakhimova.

The results
€115,000 WTA, Rouen, France
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Rosalie Van der Hoek (Ned) & Ankita Raina bt Estelle Cascino (Fra) & Viktoriya Tomova (Bul) 6-2, 7-5.
$159,360 Challenger, Busan, Korea
Singles (first round): Christopher O’Connell (Aus) bt Sasikumar Mukund 6-4, 6-2.
€45,730 Challenger, Vilnius, Lithuania
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Dan Added & Theo Arribage (Fra) bt Ramkumar Ramanathan & Szymon Walkow (Pol) 6-4, 6 2.
$15,000 ITF men, Monastir, Tunisia
Singles (first round): Niki Poonacha bt Sun Qian (Chn) 6-1, 6-0.
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Li Hanwen & Wang Xiaofei (Chn) bt Mohamed Ali Abibsi (Alg) & Sai Karteek Reddy Ganta 6-2, 6-2; Maximus Jones (Tha) & Henrique Rocha (Por) bt Ritvik Choudary Bollipalli & Niki Poonacha 6-3, 6-3.
$15,000 ITF men, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Nikita Ianin & Egor Khotchenkov bt Koray Kirci (Tur) & Rishab Agarwal 6-4, 6-7(3), [10-7].
$15,000 ITF women, Monastir, Tunisia
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Hanne Vandewinkel (Bel) & Radka Zelnickova (Svk) bt Emma Tothova (Svk) & Bhuvana Kalva 6-3, 1-0 (retired).
$15,000 ITF women, sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Dong Na & Shi Han (Chn) bt Danielle Daley (GBR) & Ashmitha Easwaramurthi 6-3, 6-4.
-Kamesh Srinivasan

SHOOTING
Shooting World C’Ships: Indian juniors win three gold medal in air rifle and pistol team events

The Indian juniors won three gold medals in air rifle and air pistol team events to swell the tally to eight gold in the shooting World Championship in Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday.

India was second on the medals table with eight gold, three silver and seven bronze medals. China was leading with 18 gold, 11 silver and 7 bronze.

The Indian teams were dominant in air rifle, winning both the junior men’s and women’s events, beating China 17-11 and 16-2 respectively.

The junior men’s team was Sri Karthik Sabari Raj, Divyansh Singh Panwar and Vidit Jain. The team was able to assert itself by leading at every stage, even though China was breathing down the neck.

The junior women’s team of Tilottama Sen, Nancy and Ramita Jindal was dominant right through in overwhelming China for the gold.

The junior women’s team of Shikha Narwal, Esha Singh and Varsha Singh won the air pistol gold, beating China 16-6 after the latter was marginally ahead in the second stage of qualification.

There was also a bronze medal in rapid fire pistol junior men’s team event, as Sameer Ghulia, Udhayveer Sidhu and Adarsh Singh beat the Italian team 16-2. China and Korea won the gold and silver respectively.

In the 50-metre free pistol, Arjun Singh Cheema shot 557 and missed the bronze by three points. Omkar Singh shot 550 for the 14th spot.

In 50-metre rifle prone event, Swapnil Kusale (621.4), Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (619.8) and Niraj Kumar (614.7) finished 32nd, 38t and 65th respectively.

The Indian teams had qualified for both the gold and bronze medal matches in rapid fire junior mixed team competition.

The results
Air rifle junior men’s team: 1. India (Sri Karthik Sabari Raj, Divyansh Singh Panwar, Vidit Jain) 17 (626.8) 937.9; 2. China (DuLinshu, zhuMingshuai, Lei Haohan) 11 (625.8) 937.4; 3. USA 17 (620.2) 933.1; 4. Austria 7 (618.4) 927.7.
Air rifle junior women’s team: 1. India (Tilottama Sen, Nancy, Ramita Jindal) 16 627.6) 941.5; 2. China (Liu Yafei, Shen Ying, Yang Lanlan) 2 (626.2) 939.8; 3. Finland 17 (624.9) 931.6; 4. Norway 9 (625.4) 935.8.
Air pistol junior women’s team: 1. India (Shikha Narwal, Esha Singh, Varsha Singh) 16 (576) 855; 2. China (Shen Yiyao, Wang Siyu, Zhao Nan) 6 (578) 855; 3. Korea 16 (569 836; 4. USA 4 (566) 850.
Rapid fire pistol junior men’s team: 1. China 17 (576) 880; 2. Korea 15 (570) 873; 3. India (Sameer Gulia, Udhayveer Sidhu, Adarsh Singh) 16 (562) 877; 4. Italy (Michello Palella, Matteo Mashovalerio, Luca Arrighi) 2 (540) 850.