Indian sports wrap, February 29
HOCKEY
Karthi to play in CHA super division league
The 59th Chennai Hockey Association super division league will be held at the SDAT-Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium from March 1 to 24. India players, S. Karthi, S. Mareeswaran and most of the players who had played for the Tamil Nadu State in the recently concluded Senior Nationals in Chennai will be taking part.
Fourteen teams divided into two groups are participating in the league and the top two teams from each group will clash in the semifinals.
Speaking to newspersons here on Wednesday, V. Baskaran, CHA president, said the Association is keen to finish the league on time. “There will be no postponements this time as there aren’t any major tournaments clashing with the league. It will definitely be a better league than last time,” he said.
Mohammed Muneer, the tournament director, said CHA is planning to use the services of umpires from other districts of Tamil Nadu to ensure better quality.
The promoted teams are Tamil Nadu Postal and Adyar United.
The teams:
Pool A: ICF, SDAT, AG’s Office, Income Tax, FCI, Southern Railway, Tamil Nadu Postal.
Pool B: IOB, Indian Bank, Tamil Nadu Police, GST & Central Excise, Greater Chennai City Police, SBI, Adyar United.
-Keerthivasan K
GOLF
Randhawa starts with 69, lies 51st in New Zealand
Veteran Indian golfer Jyoti Randhawa, who plans to divide his time between the Asian Tour and Legends European Tour, got off to a decent start at the New Zealand Open, carding a two-under 69 in the opening round here on Thursday.
The 50-year-old Indian, who is a former Asian Tour No. 1, was placed Tied-51st after the first round in an event that features a Pro-Am format.
Starting from the 10th tee, Randhawa went through the back-nine in a strong four-under 32 and was five-under with a birdie on the first hole.
Then came a crippling triple bogey on Par-4 fifth hole and his score dropped to two-under. He is the only Indian in the field this week.
Another veteran Scott Hend, who has 10 victories, shot a seven-under 64 to take a share of the first-round lead with countryman Matthew Griffin, who won this event in 2016.
Hend made a remarkable recovery from prostate cancer two years ago and last year won on the European Seniors Tour.
The event is being played at two courses, the Remarkables Course and the Coronet Course at Millbrook Resort, just outside Queenstown.
-PTI
Aditi makes even par start to occupy T-23rd place in Singapore
Indian golfer Aditi Ashok, playing her second event on LPGA’s Asian Swing, opened with an action-packed even par round to be placed tied-23rd at the HSBC Women’s Championship golf tournament here.
Aditi, ranked 40th in the world, is lying inside top-25 in the 66-player field in the USD 1.8 million event, being played at the Tanjong Course on the Sentosa Island.
Aditi had five birdies and as many bogeys with eight pars. She found only half the greens in regulations and nine of the 14 fairways.
Last week Aditi was T-31 in Honda LPGA Thailand.
American Sarah Schmelzel, who made 20 cuts in 27 starts with two top-10s in 2023, led the field with 4-under 68, that had five birdies between the first and the eighth holes. Her lone bogey was on the Par-4 12th.
Swede Linn Grant was tied second with 69 alongside world No. 1 Lilia Vu and German Esther Henseleit.
The 29-time LPGA winner, Lydia Ko, looking for a win that will get her into the LPGA Hall of Fame automatically, had a rough start with a 4-over 76 with four bogeys and no birdies.
The Amundi Evian Championship winner Celine Boutier (73) was T-30.
Two-time defending champion Jin Young Ko shot 1-under 71 and is T-10.
This is the 16th edition of the HSBC Women’s World Championship, an event, which is often referred to as “Asia’s Major”.
-PTI