Indian sports wrap, September 10: EFI announces selection trials for Jumping Children’s Classics

EQUESTRIAN

EFI announces selection trials for FEI Jumping Children’s Classics 2024

Promising riders like Puneet Jhakar, Yug Shokeen, Sreshth Raju Mantena, and Harshvardhan Singh Gulia will take part in the Equestrian Federation of India selection trials on Wednesday for the upcoming FEI Jumping Children’s Classics 2024 event.

The FEI event will take place from September 12-14 at the Embassy International Riding School in Bangalore.

Around 50 of India’s young riders will participate in these events, competing across three age categories; Gold (Age 12-14), Silver (Age 10-14), and Bronze (Age 10-14). 

The EFI CSN Show Jumping event will culminate in the selection of the top four riders in the Silver and Bronze categories, who will then go on to represent India in the prestigious FEI Jumping Children’s Classics 2024 and compete for worldwide team ranking.

The Gold category winners will be ranked globally and if the winners are placed in the top 16 in world ranking, the riders will then get a chance to compete and represent Indian in the finale in Mexico.

“We are thrilled to host these prestigious events, which offer our young riders a chance to compete and demonstrate their exceptional talent. The EFI CSN Show Jumping event and the FEI Jumping Children’s Classics are crucial not only for showcasing our athletes on the global stage but also for bringing together the next generation of national talent and observing their development and progress. We eagerly anticipate witnessing the future stars of Indian equestrian in action,” said Col. Jaiveer Singh, Secretary General, Equestrian Federation of India.

– Team Sportstar

GOLF

Keen tussle on cards as Women’s Pro Golf Tour resumes in Delhi

The cream of Indian women’s golf including Hitaashee Bakshi, Sneha Singh, and Tvesa Malik will be back in action as the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour resumes with the 11th leg at the Delhi Golf Club.

The field is huge with 46 players and the purse is a handsome sum of Rs.14 lakh.

Led by the leader on the Hero Order of Merit, Hitaashee, and last year’s No. 1 Sneha Singh, the field includes almost all the stars barring Diksha Dagar, Pranavi Urs and Vani Kapoor who have opted to rest before playing on the Ladies European Tour later this month.

Hitaashee and Sneha will need to contend with proven names like Tvesa, Amandeep Drall, Ridhima Dilawari, Neha Tripathi and Seher Atwal, all of whom have international experience and aspirations of going on to the LET and further.

While the Tour resumes after a gap of almost six weeks, the players have been playing in international events and some other domestic Pro-Ams.

Sneha who went to the United States has qualified for the second stage of the LPGA Qualifying while Hitaashee has been playing in South East Asia and was third at the Singapore Ladies Masters.

There are as many as nine amateurs and they are led by teenaged Zara Anand, who was recently T-10 at the Junior Asia Pacific Championships in Manila. Her teammate Keerthana Rajeev is also in the field.

The top amateur is Mannat Brar, who created history by becoming the first Indian to qualify for the semi-finals of the R&A Juniors in United Kingdom. She is also the current the All India Ladies Amateur champion, and she beat Zara in the final.

The competition will be keen as the flagship event in India, the Hero Women’s Indian Open, is scheduled next month and the top stars from the domestic Tour will get a spot in this prestigious event which is co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour and the Women’s Golf Association of India.

– PTI

HOCKEY

SAI, Steel Plants Sports Board make quarters of inter-department national tourney

Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Steel Plants Sports Board entered the quarterfinals from their respective pools after recording contrasting results in the 4th Hockey India Senior Men Inter-Department National Championship in Pune on Tuesday.

On a day of do-or-die battles for qualifications, SAI beat Central Board of Direct Taxes (CDT) 5-1 to claim second spot in Pool A with 9 points behind Petroleum Sports Promotion Board who topped the pool.

Lalit Negi (6th), Neeraj (28th), Pankaj (38th – p.s, 53rd – p.c) and Rajat Minz (54th) scored for SAI. CDT reduced the margin through a Nachappa LR (44th) strike.

Steel Plants Sports Board made it in second position from Pool B after Dena Bank dramatically struck in the final minute to draw the game 3-3.

Pradhan Somanna Pudiyokkada Somaiah converted a penalty corner to help Dena Bank earn a point.

Earlier, Chandanda Aiyanna Nikkin Thimmaiah (4th); Somanna Km (33rd) scored for Dena Bank. For the Steel Plants Sports Board, it was Dilbar Barla (5st); Bara Rabi (53rd) and Abdul Qadir (55th) who scored.

As a result, Steel Plants Board finished with 7 points (4 matches) and qualified for the knockouts.

Pool B had a thrilling finish as the already-qualified Railway Sports Promotion Board faced a tough challenge from All India Police Sports Control Board (AIPSCB). RSPB staged a fightback from a 2-3 deficit to win 4-3.

RSPB ended up unbeaten in Pool B.

RSPB scored through Parampreet Singh (4th – p.c), Yuvraj Walmiki (21st), Darshan Vibhav Gawkar (54th) and Simranjot Singh (56th). Varinder Singh (37th – p.c; 45th) and Haris Mohammad (11th – p.c) struck for the police team.

The loss impacted AIPSCB (6) which missed to qualify after finishing third behind Steel Plants Board (7) by a point.

– PTI