Indian sports news wrap: March 10

Here are all the major updates, scores and results of Indians from the world of sports on Sunday, March 10

CRICKET

DY Patil Red claims 18th DY Patil T20 Cup

DY Patil Red claimed the 18th DY Patil T20 Cup after it thrashed Income Tax by 48 runs in the final at the DY Patil Stadium on Saturday night. 

After being asked to bat, DY Patil Red posted 221 for nine. In its response, Income Tax finished at 173 for nine in 20 overs.

Red openers Siddharth Patidar (43) and Aman Khan (43) added a brisk 70 runs for the opening wicket. Then there were regular partnerships throughout the innings. Nitish Rana (38) and Abdul Samad (32) played crucial hands. For Income Tax the best bowlers were Shahbaz Ahmed (2-37) and Ishan Porel (2-44). 

The chase for Income Tax never really took off. There was brief resistance when Sheldon Jackson (31) and Anuj Rawat (35) played valiant knocks. But that was just not enough as Red completed the formalities quite easily. 

The 59-run eighth wicket stand between Sumit Kumar and M Mohammed (30) delayed the inevitable. But in the end, Income Tax ended on 173-9 in their 20 overs.  For Red, the best bowlers were Abhinandan Singh (3-17), Varun Chakravarthy (2-20), Nitish Rana (2-31).

-Team Sportstar

SQUASH

Bristol Open squash: Breanne edges out Urwashi 3-2 in semis

Urwashi Joshi’s impressive run at the University of the West of England the Bristol Open was snapped in the semifinals by Breanne Flynn of Ireland, who pulled off a come-from-behind 3-2 win late on Saturday.

High on confidence after accounting for two seeded players in the previous rounds of the USD 3000 PSA Challenger Tour event, the Indian world No 153 took early control of the match by winning the opening two games 16-14 and 11-6.

However, higher-ranked Breanne drew deep from her reserves to win the next three 11-8, 11-6 and 11-4 to deny the Maharashtra player a maiden PSA final appearance.

-Team Sportstar

ATHLETICS

Steeple-chaser Ekta breaks junior national record, climbs to second spot in under-20 World list

After taking the 5000m gold comfortably in the morning, Madhya Pradesh’s Ekta Pradeep Dey broke the women’s 3000m steeple chase record by a massive 19 seconds on the concluding evening of the 22 ^nd National Federation Cup junior (under-20) athletics championships on Sunday.

That makes the 18-year-old, who clocked 10:10.08s, the second-fastest in the world in the under-20 age-group this year, behind Kenyan Sharon Chepkemoi (10:07.67s).

Incidentally, Ekta had clocked a mediocre 11:04.68 while finishing sixth in the Junior Nationals in Coimbatore in November 2023.

Meanwhile UP’s Sharuk Khan broke his own meet record in the men’s 3000m steeple chase.

The results (winners only):

Men: 200m: Dondapati Mrutyam (Odi) 21.59s. 800M: Vinod Kumar Banoth (Tel) 1:51.30s. 5000M: Vinod Singh (MP) 14:22.32s. 400m hurdles: Murad Sirman (Guj) 52.31s. 3000M steeple chase: Sharuk Khan (UP) 8:57.90s MR, OR 9:05.42. High jump: R. Castro Raj (TN) 1.95m. Triple jump: Bhupendra Singh Bisht (Ukd) 15.08m. Javelin throw: Dipanshu Sharma (UP) 68.89m.

Women: 200m: Dodla Sai Sangeetha (Tel) 24.58s. 800m: Laxita Vinod Sandilea (Guj) 2:09.01s. 5000M: Ekta Pradeep Dey (MP) 17:08.81s. 400M hurdles: Shreeya Rajesh (Kar) 59.30s MR, OR 1:00.36s. 3000M steeple chase: Ekta Pradeep Dey (MP) 10:10.08s NR, OR 10:29.50s. Triple jump: Rishika Aswathi (UP) 12.40m. Javelin throw: Deepika (Har) 48.71m. Shot put: Tamanna (Har) 14.56m. Heptathlon: Pavana Nagaraj (Kar) 5076 pts.

-Stan Rayan

TENNIS

ITF women’s tournament: Second seed Dalila Jakupovic beats Yeonwoo Ku

Second seed Dalila Jakupovic beat Yeonwoo Ku 6-1, 6-2 in the final of the Maha Urja $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the MSLTA Academy on Sunday.

It was a double crown for the 32-year-old Dalila who had won her 23rd doubles title with Irina Maria Bara of Romania.

It was the seventh singles title for Dalila who converted seven of 10 break points to beat the wiry Korean in an hour and 20 minutes.

Ku struggled with her serve and made eight double faults. She managed to hold serve only once in the match and was unable to convert seven game points in what proved to be the last game of the match.

It was a commendable fare from the 20-year-old Ku, as she was playing her second successive singles final, and had earlier made the doubles final as well in partnership with Justina Mikulskyte.

The champion collected Rs.3,25,000 and 35 WTA points. The runner-up got Rs.1,75,000 and 22 points.

The results (final): Dalila Jakupovic (Slo) bt Yeonwoo Ku (Kor) 6-1, 6-2.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

GOLF

Diksha moves to tied sixth place as Pranavi drops to 22nd

Indian golfer Diksha Dagar shot 2-under-70 in strong windy conditions to stay afloat at the Aramco Team Series in Tampa, Florida.

Dagar, third on the LET Order of Merit last season, is now 5-under for 36 holes and lying tied sixth, as she moved up from overnight T-16 at the Feather Sound Country Club.

Other Indian in the fray, Pranavi Urs, who was tied-fifth after the first round, slipped down the leaderboard with a 2-over 74. Pranavi is now 2-under for 36 holes and T-22, down from T-5 after the first day.

“I had a good round. I’m very satisfied with it. And I have dropped two silly shorts, which were inside handouts, but never mind. The last few holes were tougher because of the wind and I didn’t lose grip,“ Dagar said.

“It was a very strong wind, like having to play three club extra or having to keep the ball low. So it becomes challenging to decide what club to hit. I’m happy with my position. For tomorrow my plan is just play after shot, because after shots count.” Dagar started on the tenth and bogeyed the 11th, but birdies on 13th, 14th and 17th saw her turn in 2-under. She had a birdie on first but gave back that on the sixth, her 15th hole of the day.

– PTI

POLO

Rajnigandha Achievers defeats Delta Polo

Hurr Ali and Chris Mackenzie scored five goals between them and guided Rajnigandha Achievers to a 7-4 victory over Delta Polo in the final of the Sawai Man Singh Gold Vase 10-goal polo tournament at the Jaipur polo ground on Sunday.

Hurr Ali was declared the ‘’most valuable player’’.

The next event will be the 14-goal Northern India Championship at the Jaipur Polo ground from Wednesday.

The results (final): Rajnigandha Achievers 7 (Hurr Ali 3, Chris Mackenzie 2, Dhruvpal Godara, Savir Mehraj Godara) bt Delta Polo (Santiago Marambio 4).

-Kamesh Srinivasan

FOOTBALL

SAFF U16 Women’s Championship: India go down to Bangladesh on penalties

India fell short of a title conquest, losing to Bangladesh 3-2 in the penalty shootout during the SAFF U16 Women’s Championship final in Kathmandu on Sunday.

Both the teams were tied at 1-1 after the regulation time.

India took an early lead, thanks to Anushka Kumari’s strike in the fourth minute. As Bonifilia Shullai played a long through ball, the striker ran wide of the defenders and executed a perfect shot into the far bottom corner.

In the 70th minute, the Bangladeshis equalised through an own goal by Shveta Rani. As Indian goalkeeper Munni tried to punch a corner away, it resulted in the ball bouncing off Shveta and Mariam Binta Hanna’s combination and into the goal.

Surajmuni Kumari, who was brought in as the substitute keeper, made a save during the shootout, but the opposing goalkeeper Begum was the star, handing Bangladesh the title. Anushka ended the competition as the top scorer, netting six goals.

– PTI