Indian sports wrap, October 25: Five Indians confirm medals at Badminton Asia U-17 & U-15 Championships

BADMINTON

India’s strong run at the Badminton Asia U-17 & U-15 Championships reached new heights on Friday, with five Indian shuttlers securing semifinal berths—and in turn, confirming medals—in Chengdu.

The highlight of the day came from Lakshya Rajesh, who produced a spirited fightback to upset top seed Lalita Sattayathadakoon of Thailand 11-21, 21-16, 21-19 in the U-17 girls’ singles quarterfinals. Her win capped off a superb day for the Indian contingent, which now features across multiple semifinal categories.

Joining Lakshya in the last four is sixth seed Diksha Sudhakar, who powered past Indonesia’s Raisya Affatunisa 21-17, 21-8 in another commanding display. In the boys’ singles, Jagsher Singh Khangurra continued his fine form with a straight-games victory over Zhan Shing Yui of Hong Kong China, winning 21-13, 21-14.

India also celebrated progress in doubles, as Jangjeet Singh Kajla and Jananika Ramesh advanced to the U-17 mixed doubles semifinals following the retirement of their Chinese opponents. Earlier, top-seeded Shaina Manimuthu eased into the U-15 girls’ singles semifinals with a 21-14, 21-16 win over Japan’s Yubuki Azumaya.

-Team Sportstar

GOLF

Bhullar lying seventh in Manila after third round

Gaganjeet Bhullar stayed in the mix despite a closing bogey on the 18th in the third round of the International Series Philippines.

Bhullar, who has been in the Top-10 since the first round, is now Tied-seventh with rounds of 67-69-67 and is 13-under.

Bhullar is four shots behind the three co-leaders, Sampson Zheng (62), Miguel Tabuena (65) and Sarit Suwannarut (69), who are all at 17-under.

On a day when he found 11 of the 14 fairways and 15 of the 18 greens, Bhullar still needed 28 putts.

He birdied three times on the front nine of the Sta Elena Golf Club and then added three more on the 13th, 16th, and 17th to get to six-under for the day. A bogey on the 18th pulled him back slightly.

Karandeep Kochhar (67) with eight birdies against three bogeys was inside the Top-20 at T-19, and Ajeetesh Sandhu (72) with an eagle, two birdies, two bogeys and two double bogeys was T-50th.

Yosuke Asaji (65) is tied fourth at 16-under, while Dean Burmester (65) and Kazuki Higa (68) are tied fifth at 14-under.

-PTI

Published on Oct 25, 2025