Indian sports news wrap: March 29
TENNIS
U-14 World Junior Tennis (WJT) Asia-Oceania: Indian beats Korea in semis
Indian boys beat Korea 2-0 in the semifinals to set up a title clash against Japan in the World Junior Tennis (WJT) Asia-Oceania under-14 tournament in Kuching, Malaysia, on Friday.
Tavish Pahwa beat Jang Junseo 6-4, 6-3 to give a strong start for India. Hruthik Katakam was 6-7(4), 5-3 against Kim Dongjae in the second singles, when the Korean retired.
India had earlier beaten Australia 2-0 in the quarterfinals, to ensure its berth in the World Group stage to be played later in Europe.
The team had placed second in the group during the league phase, as it lost to Japan 0-2, after beating China and Singapore.
The Results:
Semifinals: India bt Korea 2-0 (Tavish Pahwa bt Jang Junseo 6-4, 6-3; Hruthik Katakam bt Kim Dongjae 6-7(4), 5-3 (retired)).
Quarterfinals: India bt Australia 2-0 (Tavish bt Lucas Han 6-4, 6-4; Hruthik bt Taiki Taikizawa 6-4, 6-0).
League: Japan bt India 2-0 (Shintaro Ogaki bt Tavish 6-0, 6-7(5), 6-0; Takahiro Kawaguchi bt Hruthik 6-3, 6-3).
India bt China 3-0 (Tavish bt Jiang Xiaohan 6-0, 6-3; Hruthik bt Ding Chuan 3-6, 6-3, 6-1; Fazal Ali Meer & Tavish bt Yuan Shundu & Jiang Xiaohan 6-4, 6-4).
India bt Singapore 3-0 (Tavish bt Justin Kai Yi Lie 6-2, 6-2; Hruthik bt Andre Lee Harnadi 6-1, 6-1; Fazali Ali & Tavish bt Justin & Brennon Ng 6-2, 6-2).
-Kamesh Srinivasan
U-18 AITA Championship series: Lakshay Dahiya wins big
Lakshay Dahiya won the boys singles and doubles titles in the AITA Championship series under-18 tennis tournament organised by the Tarush Academy in Sonipat.
The results (finals):
Under-18 boys: Lakshay Dahiya bt Anuj Tashildar 6-3, 6-4.
Doubles: Lakshay & Aryan Phogat bt Rudr Gutgutia & Ryan Mehta 6-2, 6-4.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
CUE SPORTS
Advani, Causier storm into last 16
World champion Pankaj Advani of India and David Causier of England recorded their third successive wins and stormed into the pre-quarterfinals of the All India CCI Billiards Classic 2024 on Friday.
The Bengaluru-based Advani staved off a spirited challenge from Mumbai’s talented cueist Raayan Razmi to pull off a 603-418 victory in a Group A match at the CCI’s Wilson Jones billiards hall.
Advani started with a run of 235 and later compiled a break of 90 to secure the win, while Raayan made a 93 and followed it with a neat 124 to stay in the fight. Raayan with two wins also advanced to the pre-quarters.
The Englishman Causier, winner of multiple world titles, was on a roll and constructed substantial breaks of 203, 124, 160, 152, 162, 93 and 70 to tame Maharashtra number one Mahesh Jagdale by a massive 1168-418 margin in a Group C match.
Causier joined Advani and Raayan in the knockouts.
Earlier, world championship runner-up Sourav Kothari regained his winning touch as he outshone seasoned pro Alok Kumar by scripting a convincing 889-200 point victory in a Group F match.
The Kolkata-based Kothari and Mumbai cueist Rohan Jambusaria qualified for the pre-quarterfinals from this group.
Meanwhile, former CCI billiards champion Siddharth Parikh and seasoned Arun Agrawal won their respective final-round matches in Group H and also progressed to the knockout round. Siddharth with three successive wins topped the group.
Parikh with steady breaks of 183, 71, 96 and 72 outplayed England’s Chris Taylor by posting a fluent 671-254 win.
On an adjacent table, Mumbai’s veteran player Agrawal played fluently to tame CCI cueist Kanishk Jhanjharia 702-280. Agrawal produced breaks of 157, 61, 95 and 79.
Results:
Group A: Pankaj Advani beat Raayan Razmi 603-418.
Group C: David Causier beat Mahesh Jagdale 1168-335.
Group E: Kamal Chawla beat Rishabh Thakkar 503-267; Dhruv Sitwala beat Shahyan Razmi 817-196.
Group F: Sourav Kothari beat Alok Kumar 889-200.
Group H: Siddharth Parikh beat Chris Taylor 671-254; Arun Agrawal beat Kanishk Jhanjharia 702-280.
-PTI