Indian Sports Wrap, May 26: India pips China to top medals tally at ISSF Junior World Championships

SHOOTING

Tejaswini wins gold in women’s 25m pistol as India top medals tally

In a memorable show, India’s Tejaswini claimed the gold medal in the women’s 25m pistol event to help the country pip China and finish on top of the standings in the ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl on Monday.

This was the 20-year-old from Haryana’s first individual World Cup medal, India’s 11th of the campaign and its third gold, to go with four silver and bronze each.

China also won three gold but has just an additional bronze in its tally.

The Indian shot 31 in the final as Alina Nestsiarovich of the Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) shot 29 for silver and Hungary’s Miriam Jako, 23, for the bronze medal.

Tejaswini, who began the day 24th on the grid, after day one of qualification had yielded 282 out of a possible 300 points.

In the second rapid-fire round on Monday, she shot a strong 293, which gave her a total of 575 and fourth place overall in the 50-strong field.

She would be the only Indian among four participants to make the top-eight, as Riya Shirish Thatte, the best-placed overnight, shot a 92 in her final rapid-fire series to total 569, thereby missing out by four points, while Miriam, a double junior European Champion, took the eighth spot.

As the 10 series of five rapid-fire shots final began, Tejawini blasted off the blocks with two successive scores of four and had 16-year-old Chinese qualification topper Zhao Taotao for company.

That neck-and-neck fight lasted till the fifth series when the Indian shot another four to Zhao’s one, effectively putting an end to her challenge.

Tejaswini tackled the other challengers with remarkable calmness and consistency. It came from Chinese Taipei’s Cheng Yen-Ching and Miriam and finally from Alina, but none could come close as Tejaswini closed out clinically.

Among other Indians, Naamya Kapoor too shot well to rise up to 18th spot with 289 on the day for a total of 568.

Divanshi, the reigning world champion in the event, shot 564 to finish 24th and Riya settled for the 15th spot overall.

India has now topped four of the last five ISSF Junior competitions, including the previous combined World Cup in Suhl in 2023 and the combined Junior World Championships in Lima, Peru last year.

-PTI

GOLF

Akshay Bhatia slips on final day to finish tied 22nd

Indian-American golfer Akshay Bhatia slipped down the leaderboard on the final day to finish tied 22nd as he played his first over par round of the week at the Charles Schwab here.

It was a day when the conditions were tough and the scoring was not easy. Bhatia shot 4-over 74 and ended -22, after being tied 4th a day earlier. He had three strong rounds to put himself in contention for a solid finish.

He started his final round with a birdie on the first hole, followed by four pars and after that he began dropping shots. He had a bogey on the sixth and more followed on the seventh and the ninth.

The back nine was also a struggle as Bhatia had a double bogey on the 11th and then dropped another shot on the 13th hole. The birdie on the 16th hole was a small consolation after the struggles.

Having started the day with a total score of eight under par Bhatia finished the tournament with a total of four under.

Ben Griffin finally beat his closest rival for the event Matti Schmid. In windy conditions that tested the field, Griffin was able to secure the title with a hard-earned round of one over par. This win marks Griffin’s second PGA win and first individual title.

– PTI

Aditi makes last round push to finish in top 10 in Mexico

Playa Del Carmen (Mexico), May 26 (PTI) Indian golfer Aditi Ashok played three under on the final day to secure her first top 10 finish of the season at the MEXICO Riviera Maya Open, here.

With a final round 69, Aditi was Tied-ninth, her best this season.

Starting her final round on the front nine, Aditi picked up shots on the third and fifth holes. On the back nine she started with consecutive birdies on the 10th and 11th holes before she dropped those shots on the 12th with a double bogey.

The double bogey would be her only rough patch during the round. She closed off her round with her fifth birdie on the 16th hole.

Chisato Iwai played the best round of the day to win her first LPGA title.

Iwai opened her final day on the front nine with five birdies in the first six holes. The back nine looked to be a similar story as she birdied the 10th and 13th holes.

After her sole bogey of the round on the 14th hole Iwai slowed down and kept a clean sheet on the final four holes to finish the round with a score of 66 six under and closed the campaign six shots ahead of Jenny Bae.

Her total score for the tournament was 12 under par for a six-shot win.

LPGA rookie and day three leader Jenny Bae had a poor start to her final day that was in direct contrast to Iwai.

Bae opened the day with bogeys on the first and second holes and went on to finish with 73 to be second at a distant 6-under. Haeji Kang (71) was third at 5-under.

– PTI