Indian sports news wrap, January 29

GOLF

Shubhankar finishes tied 37, Olesen bags title at Ras Al Khaimah tourney

Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma endured a mixed final round for a total card of 10-under and finished at tied 37 in a low-scoring Ras Al Khaimah Championship here on Monday.

In the last round, Sharma blazed through the opening part with five birdies in the first eight holes, but then cooled off for a round of 4-under 68.

Sharma was 5-under and he had three more birdies, but he dropped a bogey on ninth, a double bogey on 10th and another bogey on 17th, before finishing with a birdie on the 18th.

Om Prakash Chouhan, the other Indian in the fray, missed the cut.

Chauhan was playing his first DP World Tour event since becoming a full member after topping the PGTI Order of Merit for 2023.

– PTI

TENNIS

Rutuja, Sahaja only Indians in $40,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament

Darja Semenistaja of Latvia leads another strong field in the $40,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament to be played at the Indore Tennis Club from Tuesday.

The foreign players, especially from Europe and Japan, have been capitalising on the series of international events in the country so far. The strength of the field could be gleaned from the fact that no Indian player has managed to get a seeding.

In fact, only Rutuja Bhosale and Sahaja Yamalapalli have gained entry into the tournament on the basis of their rank. Vaishnavi Adkar and Vaidehi Chaudhari did well to win two qualifying rounds to make the main draw. Vaishnavi was rewarded with a first round against top seed Darja Semenistaja. Vaidehi will play Saki Imamura of Japan.

Zeel Desai, Shrivalli Bhamidipaty, Diva Bhatia and Pehal Kharadkar have got the wild card entries.

BOXING

Indian boxer Mandeep Jangra won the US-based National Boxing Association’s intercontinental super featherweight title after defeating American Gerardo Esquivel at Toppenish City, Washington.

Undefeated in his professional career so far the 30-year-old, who trains under former Olympic silver-medallist Roy Jones Jr, dropped down from his previous 75kg weight class to compete for this title on Friday.

“This victory is not just mine but of every person who has supported me throughout the journey. My coaches, family, fans etc. stood with me. I dedicate this title to my country. I will try to continue achieving similar respect and titles for the country in the future also,” Jangra said in a media release.

Before the win against Esquivel, Jangra, who made his professional boxing debut in 2021, registered knockout wins in four out of his six fights.

Jangra had a decent run in the amateur circuit as welll and won a Commonwealth Games silver medal in the 2014 Glasgow edition.

The National Boxing Association (NBA) is a Florida-based sanctioning body for professional bouts.

– PTI

ATHLETICS

Spots up for grabs in Indian Open Race Walking

National teams for both men’s and women’s will be picked during the two-day Indian Open Race Walking competition, an Olympic qualifying competition, starting here on Tuesday.

The selected teams across the two categories will compete in the inaugural Marathon Race Walking Mixed Relay to be held in Turkey in April, with top 22 teams getting automatic qualification for the Paris Olympics.

The men’s 20km event is likely to witness a tight contest between national record holder Akashdeep Singh, Asian bronze medallist Vikash Singh, Paramjeet Bisht and Suraj Panwar.

The 23-year-old Panwar from Uttarakhand, who clocked 1:20:11 to narrowly miss the Paris Olympics qualification time of 1:20:10, will be determined to improve his timing.

He said, “I will try my best to breach the Olympic Games qualification time.” Akashdeep, Vikash and Bist have already achieved Paris qualification time will be aiming to consolidate their positions.

Each national federation is entitled to send three athletes in the 20km race walk.

The qualification period for race walkers is from December 31, 2022 to June 30, 2024.

Vikash set a personal best of 1:20:05 in Japan in March 2023 to better the Paris Olympic qualification time of 1:20:10.

He won bronze at the Asian meet held in Thailand, clocking 1:21:58 to finish 27th at the Budapest World Athletics Championships.

The men’s 20km event will have 51 athletes.

While 21 athletes will jostle for top three positions in the women’s 20km, Priyanka Goswami has qualified.

Priyanka will skip the event in Chandigarh as she is preparing for the Olympics in Australia.

The men’s 35km will have 26 athletes but the women’s 35km has attracted only eight entries only.

The competition will also be organised in the U-20 boys and girls section with a distance of 10km.

Two athletes from Sri Lanka, including one female, will also compete in the 20km event.

-PTI

KHELO INDIA YOUTH GAMES

Weightlifter Sanjana breaks own NR

Weightlifter A. Sanjana of Haryana was the toast of the sixth Khelo India Youth Games here on Monday as she broke her own National record in snatch, clean and jerk and total in the girls’ 76Kg category. She had created the record at the Asian Youth and junior championships in Greater Noida in August last year.

Maharashtra continues to lead the medals tally with 37 gold, 32 silver, 40 bronze medals while Tamil Nadu is in second position with 29 gold, 18 silver and 30 bronze medals.

The results:

Swimming:

Boys: 4x100m medley: 1. Maharashtra 3:56.99; 2. Karnataka; 3. TN; 100m freestyle: 1. Rishabh Anupam Das (Mah) 52.06; 2. Tirthank Pegu (Asm); Lucky Ali Khan (Raj); 100m butterfly: 1. Jananjoy Jyoti Hazarika (Asm) 55.56s; 2. Salil Prashant Bhagwat (Mah); 3. Heer Sunil Pitroda (Guj); 400m freestyle: 1. Yug Chelani (Raj) 4:05.23s; 2. Gotteti Sampath Kumar Yadav (AP); 3. Ronak Nitin Sawant (Mah); 50m backstroke: 1. Rishabh Anupam Das (Mah) 26.49s; 2. Akash Mani (Kar); 3. Nithik Nathela (TN).

Girls: 100m freestyle: 1. S. Rujula (Kar) 59.27s; 2. Saleh Dhansura (Mah); 3. Jahnabi Kashyap (Asm); 50m backstroke: 1. Rujuta Prasad Rajadnya (Mah) 31.04s; 2. Aarushi Agarwal (Kar); 3. Deeksha Sivakumar (TN); 400m medley: 1. Thanya Shadakshari (Kar) 5:10.24s; 2. Sreenithi Natesan (TN); 3. Raghvi Ramanujam (Mah).

Weightlifting:

Girls: 76Kg: 1. A. Sanjana (Har) snatch (90) (OR: 86Kg); clean & jerk (116) (OR: 113Kg); 206Kg (OR: 198Kg); 2. Greshna Thorat (Mah); 3. M. A. Hasinashrin (TN); 71Kg: 1. Chelsi (Del); 2. Manju (Har); 3. J. Devisri (AP).

Men: 96Kg: 1. Parv Chaudhary (UP) 160Kg; 2. A. Arunesh Babu (AP); 3. Aditya (Har).

Tennis: Girls: Singles: 1. Wani Sayali (Mah); 2. Soha Nandini (WB); 3. Vartikar Pritha (Mah); Doubles: 1. Vartikar Pritha & Wani Sayali (Mah); 2. Kotecha Tan & Mirchandani Subhankrita (WB); 3. Syndrela Das & Subhankrita (WB).

Shooting: Skeet: Boys: 1. Gurfateh Singh Sandhu (Pun); 2. Zorawar Singh Bedi (Pun); 3. Harazeez Singh Atwal (Pun); Girls: Devyani Rathore (Raj); 2. Yashasvi Rathore (Raj); 3. Venkat Lakshmi Lakku (Tri).

Wrestling: Boys: freestyle: 51Kg: 1. Soham Sunil Kumbhar (Mah); 2. Anuj Yadav (UP); 3. Abhishek (Har) & Chirag Dahiya (Del); 65Kg: 1. Sagar (Del); 2. Tanishq Pravin Kadam (Mah); 3. Harsh (UP) & Mohit Kumar (Del); Greco Roman: 71Kg: 1. Sahil (Chd); 2. Sohamraj Jagannath More (Mah); 3. Sunil Kumar (Del) & Mahesh Rathore (MP); 80Kg: 1. Abhay (Har); 2., Anuj Dahiya (Har); 3. Sunny Baisla (UP) & Akarsh Mishra (Uttr).

Girls: 49Kg: 1. Naina (Har); 2. Kanak (Del); 3. Ritika (Har) & Nandani Verma (MP); 69Kg: 1. Tanu Sharma (Har); 2. Manisha (Har); 3. Palak Yadav (Raj) & Trupti Narayan Bhavar (Mah).

Football: Boys: Semifinal: Punjab 1 (Dharamvir Singh) bt Odisha 0.

-Team Sportstar

BOXING

Nikhat, Lovlina among 19 Indians to take part in Strandja Memorial

Two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen and Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain will be among the 19 Indians competing in the Strandja Memorial boxing tournament beginning in Sofia, Bulgaria on February 1.

The squad participating in the Strandja meet is different from the one that will compete at the Olympic qualifiers later in February.

Nikhat, Preeti and Lovlina have already secured an Olympic quota while no male boxer is yet to do that.

World championships silver medallist Amit will lead a dense men’s field.

Result

Elite Men: Barun Singh Shagolshem (48kg), Amit (51kg), Sachin (57kg), Akash Ramesh Gorkha (60kg), Vanshaj (63.50kg), Rajat (67kg), Akash (71kg), Deepak (75kg), Abhimanyu Loura (80kg), Jugnoo (86 kg), Naveen Kumar (92kg), (Sagar 92+kg).

Elite Women: Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Preeti (54kg), Sakshi (57kg), Manisha (60kg), Arundhati Choudhary (66kg), Lovlina Borgohain (75kg).

-PTI