Indian sports wrap, December 24: Unnati Hooda, Tanvi Sharma register wins in senior badminton nationals
BADMINTON
Unnati, Tanvi advance in Senior Nationals
Women’s top seed Unnati Hooda, World Junior Championships silver medallists Tanvi Sharma, Aakarshi Kashyap, and upcoming junior Rounak Chauhan registered convincing wins to advance in the 87th Senior National Badminton Championships in Vijayawada on Wednesday.
Unnati, who had a bye in the first round, hammered wildcard entrant Akanksha Matte 21-8, 21-18 while Tanvi began her campaign with a 21-10, 21-14 win over Asian Under-15 girls singles gold medallist Shaina Manimuthu.
Also advancing to the next round were the experienced Aakarshi, who defeated Asian Under-17 championships silver medallist Lakshya Rajesh 21-7, 21-9. Ashmita Chaliha got the better of Kavya Marvaniya 21-7, 21-11.
16th seed Purva Barve was the only seeded player to bite the dust as she went down 21-19, 17-21, 18-21 against M Meghana Reddy in the round of 64.
In the men’s singles event, 11th seed Chauhan defeated Ranveer Singh 21-9, 21-13 while 12th seed D.S. Saneeth beat Ankit Mondal 21-7, 21-11 to book their spots in the next round.
Guwahati Masters Super 100 champions Sanskar Saraswat also began his campaign in style with a 21-11, 21-13 win over Shikhar Rallan.
-Team Sportstar
GOLF
Tata Open golf to tee off in Jamshedpur on Thursday
Over 100 professionals will be vying for top honor in the season-ending Tata Open golf tournament which will tee off here on Thursday.
The Rs 2 crore prize money event will have a field of 126 professionals competing at the Beldih and Golmuri golf courses.
The top 50 players and ties will make the cut after two rounds.
The tournament will feature some of the top Indian professionals such as 2025 PGTI Order of Merit champion Yuvraj Sandhu, 2024 PGTI Order of Merit champion Veer Ahlawat, Shaurya Bhattacharya, Arjun Prasad, Manu Gandas, Angad Cheema, Om Prakash Chouhan (former champion), Ajeetesh Sandhu, Rashid Khan, Khalin Joshi and Chikkarangappa, to name a few.
– PTI
Aryan retains lead despite rocky start on second day at IGPL Invitational Sri Lanka
Aryan Roopa Anand grinded it out after a rocky start that saw him drop two bogeys in the first four holes of the second day of the IGPL Invitational Sri Lanka, the final event of the inaugural season of the IGPL Tour.
Overnight leader Aryan stayed in the lead at 11-under with local amateur Kaya Daluwatte and India’s seasoned S.S.P. Chawrasia tied second at 10-under, while Jeev Milkha Singh, four times winner on the European and Japan Tours, was fourth.
Gaganjeet Bhullar (67-67), winner of 11 Asian Tour titles, the most by any Indian, was tied fifth with former Asian Tour winner, Chiragh Kumar (71-63), IGPL’s Order of Merit contender, Aman Raj (66-68) and rookie pro, Veer Ganapathy (67-67). They were 8-under after 36 holes.
Chiragh had the day’s best card of 8-under 63, which included four birdies in a row from the fifth to the eighth and then four more in the last seven holes. Overall, he had nine birdies and one bogey. “That was the best I have played in a long time, since trying to come back from a series of serious injuries,” said Chiragh.
-Team Sportstar
KABADDI
Rohtak Royals appoints Surender Nada as head coach ahead of inaugural Kabaddi Champions League
Rohtak Royals on Wednesday announced the appointment of Surender Nada as its head coach ahead of the inaugural season of the Kabaddi Champions League (KCL).
Nada, a respected figure in Indian kabaddi, brings a wealth of experience, leadership, and tactical acumen to the Royals.
“I am honoured to take on the responsibility of Head Coach for Rohtak Royals,” Nada said in a release.
“This team represents a region with a deep-rooted kabaddi culture, and I am excited to work closely with the players to build a competitive unit that plays fearless and intelligent kabaddi.
“The Kabaddi Champions League is a great platform, and our goal will be to set high standards from the very first season.” Nada, widely regarded as one of the finest defenders, has been a key contributor to India’s success, winning gold medals at the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup, the 2017 Asian Kabaddi Championship, the 2018 Dubai Kabaddi Masters, and the 2019 South Asian Games.
-PTI
Published on Dec 24, 2025