Indian sports wrap, December 17: Indian blind women’s cricket team meets Sachin Tendulkar
CRICKET
Sachin Tendulkar meets Blind Women’s T20 World Cup Champion
Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar met the Indian blind women’s cricket team, the newly crowned T20 Blind Cricket World Cup champion, at the MIG Cricket Club in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Sachin spent nearly an hour with the players, congratulating them on their historic achievement and listening to their journeys.
Praising their determination, Sachin said the team had overcome formidable challenges to chase their dreams and cross the final hurdle by winning the World Cup. He noted that their hard work and perseverance would be remembered and celebrated well beyond the tournament.
He also acknowledged the crucial role played by the players’ families, particularly their parents, for offering encouragement and freedom rather than limitations, enabling the athletes to pursue the sport at the highest level.
“Meeting Sachin sir was like a dream come true. We have always played with passion and belief, but hearing words of encouragement from him has touched our hearts deeply. This moment will stay with us for life and will motivate us to work even harder and carry Indian cricket to greater heights,” said captain of the Indian Women’s Blind Cricket Team, Deepika TC, about meeting the cricketing legend.
-Team Sportstar
Wasim powers India Seniors to seven-wicket win over India A
Wasim Iqbal cracked a 45-ball 85 to help India Seniors to a commanding seven-wicket victory over India A in the second match of the Physical Disability Series on Wednesday. India A put on a modest 143 for six batting first with Jitendra VN scoring 35 and Akash Patil making 37 not out.
In response, India Seniors chased down the target with more than five overs to spare, making 144 for three in 14.5 overs at the Wankhede Stadium.
The scores:
India A: 143/6 in 20 overs (Akash Patil 37 not out, Jitendra VN 35 not out.; Vipin 1/15, Vikrant Keni 1/10, Vikas Yadav 1/11, Jaswant Singh 1/20).
India Seniors: 144/3 in 14.5 overs (Wasim Iqbal 85 not out, Vrushant Gunjal 32; Santosh Choube 3/24).
-PTI
SHOOTING
Anantjeet, Darshna clinch mixed team skeet gold at National Shooting Championship
Asian Champion shooters Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Darshna Rathore produced a consistent performance to win the Senior Skeet Mixed Team gold medal, at the 68th National Shooting Championship Competitions (Shotgun) on Wednesday.
The Rajasthan duo defeated the Uttar Pradesh pair of Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Areeba Khan 45-43 in a closely contested gold medal match to seal the title at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range.
Anantjeet hit 21 targets and Darshna contributed 24 to hold off Mairaj (21) and Areeba (22) in the gold medal match.
Earlier in the day, Rajasthan topped the qualification standings with 143 hits as Anantjeet shot 73 and Darshna added 70, securing a direct berth in the gold medal match.
Uttar Pradesh booked its place in the final after edging past Haryana in a shootout during qualification. The pairing of Mairaj (74) and Areeba (68) was tied with Haryana on 142, before prevailing 4-3 in the shootout.
Haryana’s team of Raiza Dhillon (72) with 21 hits and Ishaan Singh Libra (70) with 20 hits subsequently went on to secure the bronze medal, defeating Madhya Pradesh 41–39 in the third-place match.
The Madhya Pradesh duo of Rituraj Bundela (20) and Mansi Raghuwanshi (19) finished fourth.
In the Junior Skeet Mixed Team event, the Telangana pairing of Yuvek Battula and Lakku Venkat Lakshmi contributed 19 hits each to secure the title.
Madhya Pradesh fought hard with Jyotiraditya Sisodiya hitting 17 and Vanshika Tiwari adding 20 hits, but ultimately finished one point short in a closely contested final.
The junior bronze medal went to Punjab as Harmehar Singh Lally and Parmeet Kaur claimed the third place with 40 hits over the Rajasthan pair of Yashasvi Rathore and Yashwardhan S Rajawat, who finished with 39 hits.
Earlier, in the junior qualification, Telangana topped the standings with 141 targets through Yuvek (73) and Venkat Lakshmi (66) to secure their spot in the gold medal match along with Madhya Pradesh, who finished in second place with 140 hits through Vanshika (71) and Jyotiraditya (69).
Punjab finished third with an aggregate of 136 hits (Harmehar – 73 and Parmeet Kaur – 63) and Rajasthan finished fourth with a total of 133 hits (Yashasvi -70 and Yashwardhan – 63).
The 10m Air Pistol Women’s finals is scheduled on Thursday.
-PTI
BADMINTON
Aman, Punyashloka win close matches in Gautam Thakkar Memorial
It was tough competition in the opening round of the Boys U-15 Singles matches, with most of them going the distance in the Yonex-Sunrise Gautam Thakkar Memorial Junior State Badminton Championships at the Bombay Gymkhana on Wednesday.
Aman Anand kept his nerves in the final game to get the better of Sharva Birajdar 15-9, 10-15 15-6. In another match, Punyashloka Routray gathered his wits after losing the first game tp beat Parth Kataria 10-15, 15-10, 15-6.
Close matches were also witnessed in the Girls U-15 category with Aradhya Mohite and Gauravi Deshmukh winning in three games.
Brief Score:
Boys U-15 Round 64: Aman Anand bt Sharva Birajdar 15-9, 10-15, 15-6; Punyashloka Routray bt Parth Kataria 10-15, 15-10,15-6; Reyansh Agarwal bt Sharvil Banugade15-8,12-15, 15-8; Aaryan Nambiar bt Krithik M 11-15, 15-13, 15-13.
Boys U-11 Round 64: Samarth Sagar (6) bt Dhruv Salgaonkar 18-16, 15-13; Ziaan Ghiya bt Vihaan Gaikwad 15-13,16-18, 15-11; Lakshya Gaur bt Pavit Setty 15-10, 15-13; ditya Nayak bt Malhaar Shimpi 15-11, 15-13.
Girls U-15 Round 64: Anvisha Ghorpade (1) bt Anvi More 15-8, 15-10; Aradhya Mohite bt Aarna Chandak 11-15, 15-11, 15-13; Gauravi Deshmukh bt Hreaana Kukreja 15-9, 7-15, 15-6.
Published on Dec 17, 2025