Indian sports wrap, September 24: Bopanna-Yuzuki pair through to Japan Open quarterfinals
TENNIS
Japan Open: Bopanna-Yuzuki pair reaches quarterfinals
Rohan Bopanna, in partnership with Takeru Yuzuki of Japan, beat Casper Ruud and Jordan Thompson 6-3, 6-4 in the doubles pre-quarterfinals of Japan Open in Tokyo on Wednesday.
The Indo-Japanese pair will next challenge the third seeds Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni of Argentina.
In the Jingshan Open in China, Riya Bhatia, who had beaten the fifth seed in singles, continued with her good run and made the doubles quarterfinals with Lian Tran of the Netherlands.
The results:
Japan Open:
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Rohan Bopanna & Takeru Yuzuki (Jpn) bt Casper Ruud (Nor) & Jordan Thompson (Aus) 6-3, 6-4.
Jingshan Open:
Doubles (quarterfinals): Yi Qiu Yu & Zheng Wushuang (Chn) bt Valeria Savinykh & Karman Thandi 6-0 (retired); Pre-quarterfinals: Riya Bhatia & Lian Tran (Ned) bt Ma Ye-Xin & Zhang Ying (Chn) 2-6, 6-3, [10-4]; Jodie Burrage (GBR) & Lulu Sun (Nzl) bt Arianne Hartono (Ned) & Prarthana Thombare 7-5, 6-1.
$30,000 ITF men, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt:
Singles (first round): S Mukund bt Vadym Konovchuk (Ukr) 6-1, 6-3; Michael Sobhy (Egy) bt Aditya Chopra 6-0, 6-2.
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Sergey Betov & Daniiil Ostapenkov bt Daniele Augenti (Ita) & Chinmaya Dev Chauhan 6-3, 6-2.
$30,000 ITF men, Sabadell, Spain:
Singles (first round): Dev Javia bt Francesco Forti (Ita) 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.
$15,000 ITF women, Kayseri, Turkey:
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Savannah Broadus (USA) & Madhurima Sawant bt Pia Praefke (Ger) & Mutsumi Uemura (Jpn) 6-4, 6-1.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
ITF 15k Gurugram: Sahira Singh outwits sixth seed Paola Lopez in first round
Sahira Singh during her first-round match against USA’s Paola Lopez at the USD 15,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the Tennis Project, Baliawas, Gurugram, on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit:
KAMESH SRINIVASAN
Sahira Singh during her first-round match against USA’s Paola Lopez at the USD 15,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the Tennis Project, Baliawas, Gurugram, on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit:
KAMESH SRINIVASAN
Sahira Singh kept her composure and played a strong game to outwit sixth seed Paola Lopez of USA 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 in the first round of the USD 15,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the Tennis Project, Baliawas, Gurugram, on Wednesday.
After having let top seed and eventual champion Zeel Desai off the hook last week in a tough three-setter. the 18-year-old Sahira was a lot more athletic and played every rally at her best to beat the big serving and fierce stroking Paola.
In fact, Sahira had run away with the first eight games to lead 6-0, 2-0, when the American regrouped her game to win a face-saving set. However, her revival was short lived as Sahira served and stroked at her best to race through the decider.
In the pre-quarterfinals, Sahira will face the Korean left-hander Jiho Shin.
Top seed Zeel Desai overcame the deceptively teasing game of Sohini Mohanty for the loss of three games, and will meet Sonal Patil who bounced back after losing the first set to oust Bela Tamhankar.
Soha Sadiq competed hard but the fourth seed Arina Arifullina emerged victorious in the third-set tie-break.
Shruti Ahlawat, the finalist last week, withdrew after one game owing to a shoulder strain.
Laxmisiri Dandu, Mahika Khanna and Akanksha Nitture were the other Indian players to make progress, and did so at the expense of compatriots.
RESULTS
Singles (first round): Zeel Desai bt Sohini Mohanty 6-3, 6-0; Sonal Patil bt Bela Tamhankar 2-6, 6-0, 6-4; Sahira Singh bt Paola Lopez (USA) 6-0, 4-6, 6-1; Anna Arifullina bt Soha Sadiq 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5); Maria Mikhailova bt Saumya Ronde 6-1, 6-4; Carolannn Delaunay (Cal) bt Shruti Ahlawat 1-0 (retired); Eva Desvignes (Sgp) bt Saumya Vig 6-3, 6-0; Sofiia Suslova bt Elena Jamshidi 6-2, 6-4; Vlada Mincheva bt Janani Ramesh 6-0, 6-2; Laxmisiri Dandu bt Laalitya Kalluri 6-0, 6-1; Mahika Khanna bt Abhaya Vemuri 7-6(4), 6-3; Akanksha Nitture bt Aahan 6-1, 6-0.
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Sravya Shivani & Pranjala Yadlapalli bt Pooja Ingale & Ishwari Matere 6-1, 6-3; Jennifer Luikham & Bela Tamhankar bt Paavanii Paathak & Sonal Patil 4-6, 6-3, [10-8]; Diva Bhatia & Sai Samhitha bt Laalitya Kalluri & Prathyusha Rachapudi 6-3, 6-3; Shihomi Leong (Mas) & Jiho Shin (Kor) bt Yashaswini Panwar & Saumya Vig 6-2, 6-1.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
GOLF
Zara Anand takes one shot lead at WPGT in Gurgram Lavanya Jadon lies second
Amateur Zara Anand produced the day’s best round of 2-under 70, which was one of the only two rounds under par, to open up a one shot lead in the 13th Leg of the Women’s Professional Golf Tour, in Gurugram on Wednesday.
Zara, who joins an American University on a golf scholarship later this year, is now even par 144 for two rounds. She had five birdies against three bogeys on the day.
Zara moved ahead of the first round leader, Lavanya Jadon (73-72) who had three birdies, two of them in the first three holes and all three bogeys on her card came on the back nine.
Experienced Amandeep Drall, a former runner-up at the Indian Open, added 73 to her first round 74 to be third at 3-over 147, while Astha Madan (75-74) was fourth.
Amandeep had two birdies, both on the front nine against three bogeys.
Astha Madan opened with a birdie and a double bogey, but over the next 16 holes she had birdies on the third and the 17th and parred the other holes.
Promising young amateur Ananyaa Sood (76-74) and Kriti Chowhan (76-74) were tied for the fifth place at 6-over 150.
Vani Kapoor, who has four wins this season, was struggling to find her touch, as she managed only 76 after the first round of 75 and was tied seventh with Jahaanvie Walia (76-75).
Gaurika Bishnoi (77-75) was tied with two amateurs Mannat Brar (76-76) and Lavanya Gupta (75-77) for the tenth place.
The cut fell at 164 and 31 players made the cut.
-PTI
Jamal Hossain opens up three-shot lead with stunning 62 on day two
Bangladeshi golfer Jamal Hossain extended his lead to three shots with a stunning eight-under 62 in round two of the Telangana Golconda Masters in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
Jamal (61-62), the first-round leader by one shot who has been bogey-free in the tournament so far, took his total to an impressive 17-under 123 at the Hyderabad Golf Association (HGA).
Chandigarh’s Akshay Sharma (62-64) signed for a 64 to continue in second place for the second straight day. Akshay’s total stood at 14-under 126.
Angad Cheema (66-62), another Chandigarh player, ended the day in third place at 12-under 128 after he matched the day’s best score of 62 also shot by leader Jamal.
Chandimandir-based Chandarjeet Yadav created history by making the first-ever hole-in-one on a Par-4 on the PGTI.
Chandarjeet’s drive found the hole on the 369-yard-long Par-4 14th. Yadav struck a score of 71 to total one-over 141 as he missed the cut by one shot.
The cut fell at even-par 140. Fifty-five professionals made the cut.
The 40-year-old Jamal, a 10th tee starter on day two, continued from where he left in round one as he collected two birdies and an eagle on the back-nine.
His eagle-two on the Par-4 15th came after his tee shot hit the flagstick and landed next to the hole. The man currently placed 14th on the PGTI Order of Merit then added four more birdies on the front-nine thanks to his outstanding chipping and putting.
“I posted a lower score in round one but I felt I played better today. Soon after Chandarjeet made a hole-in-one on a Par-4, I too came very close to achieving the feat on the 15th. My round just took off after that eagle,” said Jamal.
Akshay too had an error-free day. He picked up two birdies on the front-nine and four more on the back-nine. Like Jamal, he drove the Par-4 15th green, which set up a birdie for him.
Akshay also displayed some terrific chipping and putting that came to his rescue when he missed the greens.
Delhi’s Arjun Prasad, currently second in the PGTI’s merit list, came up with a 65 to be tied eighth at six-under 134.
Hyderabad-based professionals Mohd Azhar (68) and Vishesh Sharma (70) were placed tied 35th at two-under 138.
-PTI
HOCKEY
Surjit Academy seals semifinal berth in Punjab Hockey League
Host Surjit Academy, Jalandhar, executed a 6-1 victory over Namdhari Academy to secure the fourth semifinal spot in the Punjab hockey league at the Surjit Singh Stadium on Wednesday.
With 22 points, the Surjit Academy drew the table topper SAI, Sonipat, in the semifinals. SAI had topped the table with 39 points, four better than Roundglass Academy.
Roundglass went on a target practice before the semifinals scheduled on Friday against the third-placed team, Naval Tata Academy (27), by hammering ten goals against Ghumanhera Risers, Delhi.
The results (league):
Naval Tata Academy, Jamshedpur, 4 (Anish Dungdung 2, Afridi, Tintus Hemrom) bt SDAT Academy, Tamil Nadu, 1 (V Manimaran).
Roundglass Academy 10 (Inderjit Singh 3, Sukhpreet Singh, Gursewak Singh, Japnit Singh, Prince Singh, Amandeep, Varinder Singh, Gurwinder Singh) bt Ghumanhera Risers, Delhi, 1 (Nikil).
SAI, Sonipat, 2 (Mannu Malik, Nitin) bt SGPC Academy, Amritsar, 0
Surjit Academy, Jalandhar, 6 (Karan Singh 2, Charanjeet Singh, Manroop Singh, Jashanpreet Singh, Navdeer Kumar) bt Namdhari Academy 1 (Gobind Patel).
-Kamesh Srinivasan
CRICKET
Manan Vohra’s double ton goes in vain in UTCA’s loss to Himachal Pradesh
A double century by Manan Vohra went in vain as the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association defeated the UT Cricket Association by four wickets in the 30th All India JP Atray Memorial Cricket Tournament on Wednesday.
In another match, the Comptroller and Auditor General overcame the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) by 101 runs.
The scores:
CAG 323/7in 50 overs (Manendra 152, Ankit Kaushik 79) beat PCA 222 in 45.2 (Dhruv Rahul Jindal 86, Shubham Singh 4/39).
UTCA 366/1 in 50 overs (Manan Vohra 208 n.o., Devang Kaushik 41) lost to HPCA 370/6 in 50 overs (Rahul Chouhan 122, Kushal Pal 62, Abhimanyu Siongh 45, Praval Partap 42, Rohit Narang 39).
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Published on Sep 24, 2025