Indian sports news wrap, February 8
TENNIS
Prajwal Dev gets wild card entry for Bengaluru Open
The Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA) is pleased to announce a wild card for talented Prjawal Dev in the singles main draw of the Bengaluru Open.
The 27-year Dev was also named a reserve in the Indian Davis Cup team for the tie against Pakistan.
Dev had a decent 2023 season in which he ended a runner-up at the ITF15k event in Thailand and also reached the semifinals in three other tournaments, including Mysuru.
“I would like to thank KSLTA for the wonderful opportunity to play in the main draw. I am privileged to receive the wild card, and I am looking forward to the tournament. Hopefully, I can do well. I am coming off a good week in Chennai, and hopefully, I continue with that,” said Prajwal Dev currently ranked 611.
“Expectation is there, and I am hopeful I will live up to that,” he said.
Having the Davis Cuppers in action, the KSLTA will soon announce more main draw wild cards for the tournament, which will conclude on February 18.
“Prajwal has the potential to break into top-500 soon, and we want to give him an opportunity to achieve the feat at the earliest. He is a very talented player, and support at the right time is what a player needs. Our endeavour is to support local talent,” said Sunil Yajaman, the Tournament Director.
“We are delighted to give this opportunity to Prajwal. Hopefully, he will make full use of it,” Yajaman further added.
-Team Sportstar
AITA tennis tournament: Ishwari beats second seed Sahira
Ishwari Matere beat second seed Sahira Singh 7-6(3), 6-3 in the women’s semifinal of the Rs.200,000 AITA ranking tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex on Thursday.
In the final, Ishwari will play top seed Anjali Rathi. Ishwari won the doubles title in partnership with Ruma Gaikaiwari.
In the men’s section, Paramveer Bajwa set up a title clash against Arjun Rathi. Aditya Mor won the doubles title with coach Paramveer Bajwa.
Results
Men (semifinals): Paramveer Bajwa bt Bikramjeet Chawla 6-4, 6-3; Arjun Rathi bt Aditya Mor 6-0, 6-2.
Doubles (final): Aditya Mor & Paramveer Bajwa bt Atharva Sharma & Jagmeet Singh 7-6(6), 7-5.
Women (semifinals): Anjali Rathi bt Mahika Khanna 7-5, 6-2; Ishwari Matere bt Sahira Singh 7-6(3), 6-3.
Doubles (final): Ishwari Matere & Ruma Gaikaiwari bt Mrinalini Sharma & Anjali Rathi 6-2, 6-3.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
GOLF
Sneha opens five-shot lead over Hitaashee
Sneha Singh carded a 3-under 69 to extend her lead over arch-rival Hitaashee Bakshi to five shots after round two of the fourth leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour.
Sneha, winner of the Hero Order of Merit last season, registered a hat-trick of birdies on the backnine to recover from two bogeys.
Sneha with 70-69 is now 5-under 139 and leads Hitaashee Bakshi (72-72) who had a par round for the second straight day.
Hitaashee is even par for two days as Sneha is the only player with under-par rounds on both days.
The day’s amateur star was Zara Anand (74-72), who with three birdies in the last four holes rose to the Tied third spot alongside Khushi Khanijau (72-74). They are both at 2-over 146.
The top 20 and ties made the cut in the Rs.10 lakh event and the cut fell at 159.
-PTI
Diksha Dagar off to fine start in Kenya, shoots 2-under round
India’s Diksha Dagar shot two-under 71 to make a fine start at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open on Thursday.
Diksha, who was third in the LET Order of Merit last year, was tied seventh and two shots behind the leaders at the Par-73 Vipingo Ridge course.
Vani Kapoor and Pranavi Urs also had fine starts but gave up those gains to drop down later as the Ladies European Tour opened for the 2024 season.
Vani was set for an under-par score at 2-under after 17 but a double bogey on the closing 18th saw her finish at even par 73 and was tied 16th.
Pranavi had a flying start and was 3-under through seven holes. She was still 2-under after 15 holes before she dropped dramatically. She had a double bogey on the 16th and fell to even par and then dropped to 1-over with a closing bogey on the 18th. She was tied 32nd.
Amateur Avani Prashanth, who after finishing T-9 in Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific in Thailand flew to Kenya, was having a tough time at 8-over and will need a very low round to have a chance of making the cut. Avani Prashanth was in Top-10 last year.
-PTI
WRESTLING
120 wrestlers selected to be part of National coaching camp
Altogether 120 wrestlers, 40 each in men’s freestyle, Greco Roman and women’s sections, have been selected to be part of the National coaching camps in the run-up to the Olympics.
The ad-hoc committee running the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on Thursday picked the National medallists in each weight category (including non-Olympic weights) of the freestyle, Greco Roman and women’s sections for the camps. The men’s camp will be held in Sonepat, while the women’s camp will be at Patiala from February 9 until the Olympic Games.
The panel will decide on the participation of some elite wrestlers such as Ravi Dahiya, Bajrang Punia, Deepak Punia, Aman Sehrawat and Antim Panghal, the only Indian to earn an Olympic quota place so far, after getting to know about their plans, which may include overseas training.
The Asian Olympic qualifier will be held from April 19 to 21, while the World Olympic qualifier will be from May 9 to 12.
-Y.B. Sarangi