Indian sports wrap, October 20: Olympian Jitu Rai supervises pistol shooting workshop; Bengal reaches Vinoo Mankad semifinals

SHOOTING

Jitu Rai supervises pistol shooting workshop

Olympian and Khel Ratna awardee Jitu Rai supervised a three-day pistol workshop named ‘Khojj’ at the Howrah Modern School shooting range in West Bengal, which concluded on Sunday.

The workshop from October 18 was conducted by Team GC (Ganguly consultancy), in collaboration with the West Bengal Rifle Association and saw 16 athletes in the first camp from various units across the state.

After the camp ended, Jitu said that an annual development program for the shooters could come good in the long run and that he was ready to dedicate himself to uplifting pistol shooting in Bengal.

He was also hopeful of having a number of players in the national ranking next year.

-Team Sportstar

GOLF

Bhullar slips to tied-7th as Maguire wins in dramatic playoff in Thailand

In-form Gaganjeet Bhullar slipped in the final round, dropping a crucial double bogey and a bogey over the last 11 holes to lose his grip on the title at the Black Mountain Championship here.

After giving away just two bogeys in his first 61 holes and leading by three after three rounds, Bhullar, who was 19-under going into the final day, could only manage an even-par 72 to stay at 19-under, slipping to a tied-seventh finish.

Despite being his best result of the season, it was a disappointing outcome for the 11-time Asian Tour winner.

Meanwhile, little-known American Michael Maguire shot a 7-under 65 and tied with his in-form compatriot John Catlin (66) at 23-under, proceeding to win the playoff.

It denied Catlin a third win of the year and gave Maguire his first success as a professional, playing his second season on the Asian Tour.

Maguire won on the second playoff holes with a par. Catlin missed his 15-footer for par.

-PTI

Varun Parkh wins Haryana Open

Varun Parikh of Ahmedabad edged out Rahil Gangjee on the fourth play-off hole after being tied at 17-under 271 in the Haryana Open golf tournament at the Panchkula Club on Sunday.

After having trailed the leader Gangjee by one shot overnight, the 26-year-old Varun came up with impressive birdie putts to bridge the gap.

The title was worth Rs.15 lakh and helped Varun climb from 48th to 16th spot in the PGTI ranking.

“The turning point was the 17th hole when I made a 30-footer for birdie. That gave me the momentum and helped me make the par putt on the next hole to force the play-off,” said Varun.

Dhruv Sheoran was third with 16-under 272, while Sachin Baisoya, Akshay Sharma and Veer Ahlawat tied fourth with 14-under 274.

Veer Ahlawat also crossed the one crore prize money mark for the season with his effort.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

HOCKEY

Sangrur Hockey Academy beats Ghumanhera Risers Academy 7-2 in Nehru junior hockey tournament

Sangrur Hockey Academy recovered from being down 0-2 in the first quarter to score a resounding 7-2 victory over Ghumanhera Risers Academy in the league phase of the Kanwarji 52nd Nehru junior hockey tournament at the Shivaji Stadium on Sunday.

Yuvraj Singh and Pankaj Phalswal put Delhi ahead 2-0 by the 15th minute. Sangrur dominated the next three quarters, especially with Ankur Ror and Nishant scoring two goals each.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

BASKETBALL

DPS Vasant Kunj beats DPS RK Puram in quarterfinals of Hansraj Prabhakar basketball tournament

Anvay scored 26 points to help Delhi Public School, Vasant Kunj, to a 51-37 victory over Delhi Public School, RK Puram, in the under-18 boys quarterfinals of the 35th Hansraj Prabhakar basketball tournament at the Oxford School courts, Vikaspuri, on Sunday.

Raunak scored the most for the RK Puram with 18 points.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

CRICKET

Bengal reaches semifinals of Vinoo Mankad Trophy after 11 years

Player-of-the-match Vishal Bhati’s all-round showing (35, 4/23) enabled Bengal to record a comprehensive 96-run win over Maharashtra and enter the under-19 Vinoo Mankad Trophy semifinals after 11 years.

Electing to bat in the quarterfinal clash at the Sanosara Cricket Ground ‘B’ in Rajkot on Sunday, Bengal rode on captain Chandrahas Dash (82, 112b, 6×4, 1×6) and Agniswar Das’ (73, 87b, 4×4, 1×6) half-centuries to post 269 for nine before restricting Maharashtra to 173.

Southpaw Bhati (35, 39b, 4×4, 2×6) added 74 runs with Ankit Chatterjee (30, 24b, 4×4, 1×6) for the opening stand. Later, he claimed the wickets of Devendra Patil, Neel Gandhi, Kiran Chormale and Yogesh Chavan with his left-arm spin.

Jeet Thakur and Ashutosh Kumar claimed two wickets apiece.

“It was a team effort. Maharashtra is one of the strongest teams. Every member of our team stepped up when it mattered,” Bengal under-19 head coach Sourashish Lahiri said.

Bengal will play the winner of Hyderabad and Chhattisgarh in the last-four.

-Team Sportstar