Indian sports wrap, November 16: Advani, Damani advance to knockouts in World Cup of snooker

Here’s bringing the results, scores, and other updates you need to know from sports happening across the length and breadth of the country.

CUE SPORTS

Advani, Damani advance to knockouts in World Cup of snooker

Ace Indian cueists Pankaj Advani and Brijesh Damani advanced to the knockout rounds with wins from their respective groups of the World Cup of snooker in Muscat on Sunday.

Advani, owner of 28 world titles across cue sports disciplines, outclassed Hesham Alsaqer of Bahrain 3-0 for his second win in Group ‘M’.

He had breaks of 74 and 56 in his lopsided victory. Advani had earlier beaten Oman’s Hussain Allawati 3-0 in his opening match.

Damani, who missed out on the knockouts of the IBSF World Snooker in Doha last week, downed American Hasanain Alsultani 3-1 in his second match in Group ‘J’.

The Kolkatan had demolished Ihab Al-Salih 3-0 in his opener.

Among other Indians, Aditya Mehta notched up one win in Group ‘R’, while Hussain Khan had one win and a loss apiece in Group ‘K’.

Dhvaj Haria, the Indian 6-red snooker champion, bowed out of the individual event with two narrow losses in Group ‘H’.

-PTI

PICKLEBALL

Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat lead the medal tally at the inaugural Indian Pickleball Nationals 2025  

Maharashtra leads the pack with three golds and five silvers, followed by Karnataka with three golds and one silver after the fourth and final day of the Indian Pickleball Nationals 2025.

Gujarat holds three gold medals, while Telangana has earned two golds and one silver. West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Rajasthan have secured two medals each, with Goa and Assam also registering one win apiece. These results set up a thrilling finish as remaining medal matches continue to unfold. 

Among some of the highlights in the women’s categories, Naomi Amalsadiwala and Pearl Amalsadiwala produced one of the most commanding scorelines of the tournament in the Open Women’s Doubles Final, defeating Monica Menon and Sharmada Balu with a clinical 15–1 victory to secure the title. Meanwhile, the 40+ Mixed Doubles saw Ranjith Sarvanan Kamini Murugaboopathy defeat Shilpa Sham and Avilay Jha, 15-6. 

Tamil Nadu enjoyed a strong presence in the senior divisions. In the 70+ Men’s Doubles with Naharaj Subramanian and SL Rajiv Reddy top the group of five pairs with consistency and tactical discipline to take the title. Tamil Nadu added another major win in the 40+ Mixed Doubles, where Ranjith Sarvanan and Kamini Murugaboopathy registered a convincing 15–6 victory over Shilpa Sham and Avilay Jha. 

This event is the first official Pickleball Nationals since the sport received National Sports Federation (NSF) recognition from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports featured more than 1,800+ matches across interstate team events and open national categories, with participation from over 20 states.

– Team Sportstar

MOTORSPORTS

Dhruvh Goswami wins both LGB Formula 4 races at JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship

The curtains came down on the 28th JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship at the Kari Motor Speedway here on Sunday with action-packed races overflowing with emotions, and new champions emerging in several categories.

Dhruvh Goswami (MSport) won both races on Sunday to be be crowned the new champion in the LGB Formula 4 category, the blue riband event of the competition, after entering the final Round 3 weekend trailing championship leader Diljith T S (Dark Don Racing).

Monith Kumaran Srinivasan of Ahura Racing won the Rookie title in the LGB Formula 4 category.

Round 4 of the FIA-certified Formula 4 Indian Championship, part of the Indian Racing Festival, was run alongside this championship and saw South African Luviwe Sambudla record his first win of the season in the day’s opening race and Kenya’s Shane Chandaria clinch the second race.

It was a pole-to-chequered flag finish by Sambudla in a race that saw Indian driver Ishaan Madesh of Kolkata Royal Tigers nose ahead of Saishiva Sankaran (Speed Demons Delhi) in the final laps to take third place behind teammate Ghazi Motlekar from Mozambique.

In the second race, Chandaria won from pole while Motlekar climbed from fourth position to finish second. French driver Sachel Rotge (Kichcha’s Kings Bengaluru), who won on Saturday, finished third after staring from the same position on the grid, while Madesh fended off Sankaran to finish fourth in a close battle.

Having sealed the title in the professional category with a race to spare on Saturday in the Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup, presented by JK Tyre, Bengaluru rider Anish Shetty didn’t get complacent, finishing the season with a victory for what was his second title in this category.

Bryan Nicholas of Pondicherry bagged the title in the Amateur class of the Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup.

Balaji Raju secured the Rookie crown in the JK Tyre Levitas Cup, India’s newest single-make racing series that debuted this season, by winning both races of the day. Jai Prashanth Venkat won the Gentlemen category, stamping his authority in a season the Coimbatore driver has clearly dominated.

SHOOTING

Commonwealth Games medallist C.K. Choudhary to have High Performance Training Camp in Howrah

In a bid to hone shooting talents from West Bengal, Commonwealth Games medallist C.K. Choudhary will conduct a High Performance Training Camp between November 16 and 20 at the Parashuram Shooting Academy in Howrah.

Additional Commissioner of Police, Solomon Nesakumar, will be participating in the camp, which will also have participants from several parts of the state.

Choudhary is an ex-army man and a distinguished pistol-shooting coach associated with Gagan Narang Sports Promotion Foundation (GFG), Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ), and Project Leap.

He has also been associated with the Army Marksmanship Unit.

A former competitive shooter, C.K. Choudhary has represented India at major international events such as the Asian Games, World Cups, and World Military Games.

HOCKEY

Army lifts Beighton Cup title

Army defeated Indian Air Force 2-0 in the final to win the title in the Beighton Cup at the Vivekananda Hockey Stadium here on Sunday.

The result: Army 2 (Simrandeep Singh 38, Sagar Shingade 45) bt Indian Air Force 0.

-Team Sportstar

Published on Nov 16, 2025