Indian sports wrap, January 16: India’s Rayhan Thomas finishes T-27 on Korn Ferry Tour in US
GOLF
Korn Ferry Tour: India’s Rayhan Thomas finishes T-27
India’s Rayhan Thomas put together four under-par rounds and finished T-27 in his first start as a member of the Korn Ferry Tour in the United States.
The 25-year-old Dubai-born Indian, who turned pro last year and registered a win on the Indian PGTI Tour, shot rounds of 68-68-66-69 to total 9-under 271 at The Bahamas Golf Classic at Atlantis Paradise Island.
Thomas had three birdies against two bogeys in his final round 69.
American Hank Lebioda earned his first Korn Ferry Tour title, beating S H Kim of South Korea with a birdie on the first playoff hole at The Ocean Course in the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour season opener.
Lebioda, who was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease as a college freshman in 2012, has always demonstrated a fighting spirit in his professional golf pursuits.
It was the 31-year-old Lebioda’s first Korn Ferry Tour title in his 62nd start. Lebioda played the PGA TOUR full-time from 2019 to 2023 before losing his card, and he’s returning to the Korn Ferry Tour, from which he first graduated in 2018.
Lebioda shot 66 in the final round for a four-round total of 18-under 262 to overcome a four-stroke deficit to 54-hole leader John VanDerLaan (76), who slipped to T-9.
Kim, who played the last two seasons on the PGA TOUR, shot a final-round 63 to make up a seven-stroke deficit and earn his spot in the playoff.
The top 20 on the Korn Ferry will earn a PGA Tour card for 2026. Till last year, it was top 30 who earned the card.
-PTI
TENNIS
ITF: Riya Bhatia lose to Miyazaki in pre-quarters
Riya Bhatia missed her chances to beat fourth seed Yuriko Lily Miyazaki of Japan in the pre-quarterfinals of the $40,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex on Thursday.
On a bright afternoon, Riya gave herself a lot of chances but the fighting Miyazaki stayed in the hunt to pull through the climax with ease.
Yuriko Miyazaki overcame Riya Bhatia to reach quarterfinals
of the ITF women’s tennis tournament in Delhi on Thursday.
| Photo Credit:
Kamesh Srinivasan
Yuriko Miyazaki overcame Riya Bhatia to reach quarterfinals
of the ITF women’s tennis tournament in Delhi on Thursday.
| Photo Credit:
Kamesh Srinivasan
It was commendable that Riya could pull off the second set with an ace, after having squandered a 4-1 lead. Later, she did well to march into the doubles semifinals in partnership with Vaidehi Chaudhari.
After having played for three hours in the first round of singles, when she emerged the only Indian to enter the second round, it was praiseworthy of Riya that she was able to sustain the physical and mental energy to fight hard in singles and progress in doubles.
Ankita Raina also made the doubles semifinals in partnership with Naiktha Bains of Britain, as the pair beat the second seeds Dalila Jakupovic and Laura Pigossi 10-3 in the super tie-break.
The results:
Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Darja Semenistaja (Lat) bt Ekaterina Maklakova 6-2, 6-0; Anastasia Tikhonova bt Naho Sato (Jpn) 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-2; Maia Kozyreva bt Priska Nugroho (Ina) 6-2, 6-3; Dalila Jakupovic (Slo) bt Alevtina Ibragimova 6-1, 6-0; Yuriko Miyazaki (GBR) bt Riya Bhatia 6-4, 4-6, 6-1; Laura Samson (Cze) bt Tina Smith (Aus) 6-4, 7-5; Panna Udvardy (Hun) bt Mei Yamaguchi (Jpn) 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Doubles (quarterfinals): Maria Kozyreva & Anastasia Tikhonova bt Alicia Barnett (GBR) & Prarthana Thombare 7-5, 6-3; Jessie Aney & Jessica Failla (USA) bt Darja Semenistaja (Lat) & Panna Udvardy (Hun) 6-4, 6-4; Riya Bhatia & Vaidehi Chaudhari bt Maria Ramirez (Mex) & Ekaterina Yashina 4-6, 6-3, [10-5]; Naiktha Bains (GBR) & Ankita Raina bt Dalila Jakupovic (Slo) & Laura Pigossi (Bra) 6-2, 3-6, [10-3].
– Team Sportstar
BR Adtiyan memorial: Manish Suresh Kumar upsets Ramkumar
Manish Suresh Kumar, former National Champion, pulled off a stunning upset, defeating top seed Ramkumar in the BR Adityan memorial at SDAT Nungambakkam in Chennai.
Manish overcame a three-hour grueling contest to win 7-5 6-7(8) 6-4 and will now face Eric Vanshelboim in the quarterfinals.
Results:
Main Draw Singles Pre-Quarterfinals: WC- Manish Suresh Kumar Bt S1- Ramkumar Ramanathan 7-5 6-7(8) 6-4, S8- Eric Vanshelboim(UKR) Bt Uisung Park (KOR) 6-2 6-3, Q- Grigoriy Lomakin Bt S3- Karan Singh 3-6 6-4 7-5 Egor Agafonov Bt S7-Takuya Kumasaka (JPN) 6-4 6-3, S5- Yusuke TAKAHASHI Bt Ryuki Matsuda 3-6 6-4 6-2, S4- Stefanos Sakellaridis (GRE) Bt Aryan Shah 6-3 7-6(5),S6-Yuril Dzhavakian (UKR) Bt WC Siddhant Banthia 6-4 6-3, S2- Oliver Crawford (GBR) Bt Q- Chirag Duhan 6-0 7-6(6).
Men’s Doubles Quarterfinals: Ishaque Eqbal / Aryan Shah Bt S1- Egor Agafonov / Grigoriy Lomakin 3-6 6-0 11-9, Yuta Kawahashi / Ryuki Matsuda Bt S4- Siddhant Banthia / Vishnu Vardhan 6-4 6-4, Stefanos Sakellaridis (GRE) / Nitin Kumar Sinha Bt S D Prajwal Dev / Adil Kalyanpur 6-3 7-5, Chirag Duhan / Dev Javia Bt Ayush Sharma / Karan Singh 7-6(2) 6-4
– Team Sportstar
ITF: Maaya beats qualifier in juniors tournament
Maaya Rajeshwaran bounced back from a slow start to beat qualifier Antonina Sushkova of Ukraine 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the ITF junior tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex on Thursday.
It was the eighth successive singles win for the 15-year-old Maaya who had won the title last week in Delhi. In the semifinals, Maaya will play Polina Kuharenko who had put out the second seed victoria Milovanova in the first round.
The results (quarterfinals):
Under-18 boys: Donghyun Hwang (Kor) bt Emanuel Ivanisevic (Cro) 6-3, 7-5; Erasyl Bakhtiyar (Kaz) bt Alexey Shibaev 6-1, 6-3; Ruslan Kastsiukevich bt Artem Bogomolov 6-4, 2-6, 6-1; Roman Kharlamov bt Kerem Yilmaz (Tur) 7-5, 6-1.
Under-18 girls: Daria Koreshkova bt Miku Kitakoka (Jpn) 6-2, 6-4; Masa Jankovic (Srb) bt Albina Kakenova (Kaz) 6-2, 6-4; Maaya Rajeshwaran bt Antonina Sushkova (Ukr) 2-6, 6-2, 6-4; Polina Kuharenko bt Yuka Naito (Jpn) 6-1, 7-5.
– Kamesh Srinivasan
FOOTBALL
One of the two promoted teams, Nita Football Academy pulled off an impressive 2-2 draw, after being down by two goals, against former champion Sethu FC in the Indian Women’s League at the Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Thursday.
Malavika (red) scores for Sethu FC.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Malavika (red) scores for Sethu FC.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
The first 20-odd minutes was a masterclass by Sethu on possession-based football. Malavika made quite a few good passes from the right, but all went unheeded. In fact, one of her crosses ricocheted after hitting the far post.
Fittingly, the 21-year-old from Kerala scored twice in a matter of six minutes. Her first was a header from close range off a corner and the second was a beauty—a blinder from around 20 yards—that beat the ‘keeper Sasmita Parida all ends up.
From there on began the decline of Sethu and the rise of Nita FA. Nita FA took control and attacked with regularity.
Jabamani Tudu (2) celebrates after scoring the equaliser.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Jabamani Tudu (2) celebrates after scoring the equaliser.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Soon, Gifty Acheampong pulled one back, by converting a forceful header and the teams went for the break. The second session largely belonged to Nita and the visitor came close to scoring quite a few goals. Fittingly, Jabamani Tudu tapped one home from close that might made NITA FA head coach Paromita sit happy.
The result:
Sethu FC 2 (Malavika 6, 12) drew with Nita FA 2 (Gifty Acheampong 27, Jabamani Tudu 74).
– Team Sportstar