Indian sports wrap, October 3: Senthilkumar, Chotrani bow out in Charlottesville Open quarters

SQUASH

India’s Velavan Senthilkumar and Veer Chotrani lost in the quarterfinals of the Charlottesville Open squash, a USD 31,250 PSA Copper event, in Charlottesville (US) on Thursday.

Reigning National champion and fourth seed Senthilkumar went down to Salman Khalil, with the Egyptian winning 12-10, 9-11, 11-8, 11-3.

Seventh seed Chotrani lost to American top seed Timothy Brownell 6-11, 11-9, 1-11, 6-11.

Senthilkumar and Chotrani, along with Abhay Singh and Ramit Tandon, will next compete in the Open Squash Classic, a USD 74,000 PSA Bronze event, in New York starting October 5.

GOLF

Bhullar rises to second in rain-hit Jakarta International C’ships

Indian golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar fired a brilliant five-under 65 in the opening round and followed it up with another impressive 65 on day two to climb to second place at the rain-affected Jakarta International Championship here on Friday.

Bhullar sits just one shot behind Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert (64-65) even though the second round is yet to be completed.

The 37-year-old started with an eagle on the first hole of the first round but was unable to complete his first round as darkness fell. He came back on the second morning and finished his round before proceeding to touch double digits 10-under.

Bhullar has five wins in Indonesia from his total of 11 on the Asian Tour. He is now looking for a sixth success in the country.

Suteepat Prateeptienchai, the first round leader, had played only five holes and had two birdies. His total was 9-under with 13 holes to go.

The second best Indian after Bhullar was S Chikkarangappa (69-67), who showed that he is slowly getting back to form. He was currently T-26th.

Rahil Gangjee, who carded a bogey-free 4-under 66 to be placed at T-16 after Day 1, was one over at the 8th hole in the second round. Khalin Joshi and Viraj Madappa carded 2-under 68 in the opening round. Karandeep Kochhar and Ajeetesh Sandhu had shot rounds of even par to be placed at T-83 after day 1.

SSP Chawrasia and Yuvraj Sandhu played rounds of 1-over 71 to place themselves at T-98. Rashid Khan shot 3-over 73 (T-135) and Shiv Kapur shot 4-over 74 (T-138) after round 1.

-PTI

Rayhan Thomas off to a fine start with 64 in Korn Ferry

Indian-origin golfer Rayhan Thomas was off to a splendid start at the Compliance Solutions Championship, shooting 7-under 64 to be Tied-16th in the penultimate event of the Korn Ferry Tour, where leader Davis Chatfield shot a sub-60 total of 12-under 59.

Indo-Canadian Sudarshan Yellamaraju carded 6-under 65 at The Patriot Golf Club and is now placed T-24.

Thomas had nine birdies against two bogeys in the first round. He started the day on the back nine with a birdie and went on to make six more birdies on the back nine.

Thomas, who birdied from the sixth to the ninth, added another one on the 10th to make it five in a row. A bogey on the second and the eighth with birdies in between on the fourth and the sixth, saw him get 64.

Yellamaraju began his first round on the back nine and played a bogey free first round that included four birdies and one eagle.

Three consecutive birdies on the 14th, 15th and 16th holes along with a birdie on the fifth and the eagle on the first hole saw him card six under for the day.

Thomas started this week placed 106 on the Korn Ferry points list and will be looking to use the strong start to the week to break into the top 100 and earn a conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Yellamaraju is currently placed 18th on the same list and would aim for a strong finish this week to stay within the top 20 and secure his card to the PGA Tour.

-PTI

Slow start for Akshay Bhatia, four-way lead at Sanderson 

Akshay Bhatia had a disappointing start to the 2025 Sanderson Farms Championship as he was placed tied for 88th after shooting an even par card on the opening day tournament, here.

Bhatia, entering as the betting favourite, bogeyed the seventh and the eighth and turned in 2-over. Birdies on the 10th, 12th and the 13th saw him get under par but bogeys on the 14th and 16th dashed his hopes despite a birdie in between on the 15th.

He needs a fast start on the second day to move up the leader board and stay in the tournament.

There was a four-way tie for the lead with Eric Cole, Sam Ryder, Danny Walker, and Garrick Higgo all sharing the first–round lead at 7-under 65.

-PTI

Published on Oct 03, 2025