Indian sports wrap, October 5: Shubhankar, Om Prakash falter at Alfred Dunhill

GOLF

Indian golfers disappoint at Alfred Dunhill

The first two rounds offered big disappointment for the Indians as Shubhankar Sharma and Om Prakash Chouhan were placed tied 139 and 154 respectively in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Sharma shot even par rounds at Carnoustie and Kingsbarns but that didn’t help his cause, while Chouhan was even further down with 71-75.

Sharma still has his round to go, while Chouhan will play his third round at Carnoustie.

Meanwhile, Nicolas Colsaerts relied on local knowledge as he shot a stunning 65 to share the lead with Cameron John after the second round.

The Belgian kicked off his campaign with a 65 at the Old Course at St Andrews and recorded the same score at the notoriously tricky Carnoustie to reach 14 under par and put himself in position to seal a fourth DP World Tour title and his first since 2019.

Scottish pair Grant Forrest and Martin Gilbert lead the team event on 24 under par after two rounds.

Colsaerts, the 2012 Ryder Cup star, who has mixed golf and commentary work this season, has been coming to this event for 20 years, and felt his experience of Carnoustie paid dividends as he shot eight birdies and a single bogey, including gains at the difficult ninth and 17th.

Australia’s John followed up his opening 62 at Kingsbarns with a 68 on the Old Course, grabbing a share of the lead with his brilliant birdie at the 17th.

John, who sits 1007th on the Official World Golf Ranking, sandwiched a disappointing double bogey at the fifth between birdies on the fourth and sixth before closing the front nine with a 25-foot birdie from off the ninth green.

A ten-foot birdie at the tenth took him to within a shot of the lead before a close-range gain on the 12th saw him join overnight leader Darren Fichardt at the top.

A series of pars followed before he holed from 22 feet at the 17th to get to 14 under and share the lead with Colsaerts.

Home favourite David Law and first-round leader Fichardt were in a tie for third a shot further back, one ahead of the four-strong group on 12 under.

England’s Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton emerged as the leading pair from Kingsbarns, getting to 11 under par after rounds of 65 and 68 respectively, to sit alongside Tom Vaillant of France and Welshman James Ashfield, who is making his professional debut this week.

-Press Trust of India

ARCHERY

2024 Asian Youth Archery Championship: Vaishnavi shines as India women win silver medal in recurve U-18 event

Rising Indian archer Vaishnavi Pawar impressed with her brilliant performance as the Indian team clinched the silver medal in the recurve U-18 women’s team category at the 2024 Asian Youth Archery Championship in Taipei City.

Vaishnavi generally took the first shot for the three-member Indian team, that also comprised Pranjal Tholiya and Jannat, in every round and handled the pressure quite well as the side pipped the mighty South Korea in the semifinal in a shoot-off.

The Indian team found itself in a similar situation after it fought back from a 2-4 deficit to force a shoot-off for the gold medal against the host, which ultimately prevailed.

“I am incredibly proud to represent India alongside my teammates. Beating South Korea in the semifinals was a significant milestone for us, and we are determined to keep striving for more. I am especially grateful for the unwavering support from the Punit Balan Group, which has been instrumental in my journey thus far. Winning silver at the Asian Youth Archery Championship is a testament to our hard work and dedication, and it inspires me to aim even higher in the future,” Vaishnavi commented.

Vaishnavi, who had finished fourth in the trials to make it to the Asian Youth Archery Championship, also reached the quarterfinals in the individual category.

-Team Sportstar