Indian sports news wrap, December 1

KABADDI

Lights, Action, Le Panga: Historic Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 kicks-off in grand style on a cruise

There has always been a strong connection between kabaddi and the people of India for several years. However, the sport only gained prominence and popularity since the advent of the Pro Kabaddi League in 2014. The founders of Mashal Sports implemented innovative rules such as 30-second raids, Do-or-Die raids, super raids and super tackles to make the game engaging for sports fans in India. Furthermore, the broadcasters of the league packaged the sport brilliantly to attract millions of followers.

On the cusp of a historic milestone of completing 10 editions, the Pro Kabaddi League kicked off Season 10 in grand style on the Akshar River Cruise in Ahmedabad on Friday.

The Head Sports Leagues, Mashal Sports and League Commissioner, Pro Kabaddi League Mr. Anupam Goswami launched the special season along with PKL Season 9-winning team Captain Sunil Kumar (Jaipur Pink Panthers) and the Season 10 opening game Captains Pawan Sehrawat (Telugu Titans) and Fazel Atrachali (Gujarat Giants).

Speaking during the press conference as the cruise took a round of the Sabarmati River, Mr Anupam Goswami expressed, “Going back to the 12-city caravan format is the landmark moment for Season 10. We will be reactivating at least nine geographies, which have not seen the Pro Kabaddi League in their own region since 2019. Hosting the league in 12 cities helps the league to form a strong connection with the communities in each of the franchise’s home regions.”

The Gujarat Giants will be going up against Telugu Titans in the blockbuster opening game of PKL Season 10 at the EKA Arena by TransStadia on Saturday. The Titans’ Captain and the most expensive player in the history of the Pro Kabaddi League – Pawan Sehrawat expressed that his team is all geared up for the first game, “I am very excited to step on the mat. It was tough for me to miss out on the last season. However, I have saved up a lot of energy for the upcoming season and I am also eager to face Fazel in the first game. Our players have trained very well for the season through the training camp. We are absolutely ready for our first game against Gujarat Giants.”

Meanwhile, the most expensive defender in the Pro Kabaddi League and Gujarat Giants’ Captain Fazel Atrachali said, “I am very excited to be a part of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 10. This is the best kabaddi tournament in the world. We can’t wait to start the season. I am very happy to play for Gujarat Giants this year. We have a lot of young talents and a good coach. I am looking forward to a good season.”

The Jaipur Pink Panthers clinched the Pro Kabaddi League trophy after defeating Puneri Paltan in the final last season. Speaking about going into Season 10 as the defending champions, Jaipur Pink Panthers Captain Sunil Kumar expressed, “The trophy belongs to us at the moment, and we have to ensure that it stays with us. We have trained even harder for this season. We implemented a great player combination last year and we’ll continue to use the same combination this year. We’ve prepared quite well for the tournament.”

The Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 Ahmedabad leg will be played from 2-7 December 2023. Thereafter, the league will move in the following order of venues – Bengaluru (8-13 December 2023), Pune (15-20 December 2023), Chennai (22-27 December 2023), Noida (29 December 2023 – 3 January 2024), Mumbai (5-10 January 2024), Jaipur (12-17 January 2024), Hyderabad (19-24 January 2024), Patna (26-31 January 2024), Delhi (2-7 February 2024), Kolkata (9-14 February 2024) and Panchkula (16-21 February).

Season 10 of the Pro Kabaddi League will be broadcast live on the Star Sports Network and for free on Disney+ Hotstar.

-Team Sportstar

TENNIS

ITF junior tennis tournament: Aishi Bisht beats Sohini Mohanty

Wild card entrant Aishi Bisht sustained her superb run as she beat third seed Sohini Mohanty 6-4, 6-2 in the girls semifinals of the ITF junior tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex here on Friday.

The 14-year-old Aishi served well, stroked with conviction, took the odd bad line call in her stride, to make short work of the challenge from Sohini.

Aishi had earlier beaten a series of good players, including second seed Yasmin Vavrova of Slovakia and fifth seed Ariana Gogulina of Kazakhstan, without dropping a set.

In the final, Aishi will face another giant killer, Laxmisiri Dandu who beat the champion of the tournament last week, Rishitha Basireddy, for the loss of five games.

In the boys section, Rethin Pranav easily sailed past third seed Cahir Warik for the loss of six games. In the final, Rethin will play Hiromasa Koyama, who beat top seed Kriish Tyagi 6-4, 7-6(5). The Japanese bounced back from a tentative start when he trailed 0-3 and tightened his grip over the match with his admirable athleticism and intense game.

Rethin won the doubles title in partnership with Moise Kouame of France, beating Juan Kim and Maximus Wong 10-5 in the super tie-break.

The results:

Boys (semifinals): Hiromasa Koyama (Jpn) bt Kriish Tyagi 6-4, 7-6(5); Rethin Pranav bt Cahir Warik 6-3, 6-3.

Doubles (final): Moise Kouame (Fra) & Rethin Pranav bt Juan Kim (Kor) & Maximus Zavier Wong (Ssgp) 6-1, 6-7(4), [10-5].

Girls (semifinals): Laxmisiri Dandu bt Rishitha Basireddy 6-3, 6-2; Aishi Bisht bt Sohini Mohanty 6-4, 6-2.

Doubles (final): Rishitha Basireddy & Sohini Mohanty bt Aishi Bisht and Aradhyaa Verma 6-1, 6-1.

-Team Sportstar

ITF women’s tennis tournament: Vaidehi Chaudhari lost to Anastasia Sukhotina

Top seed Vaidehi Chaudhari was beaten 6-3, 6-3 by Anastasia Sukhotina in the quarterfinals of the $15,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the Ahmedabad City Foundation courts on Friday.

In the semifinals, Sukhotina will play the champion of the last tournament in Bengaluru, Shrivalli Bhamidipaty.

Tanisha Kashyap got a walkover from second seed Diletta Cherubini of Italy and will play Antonia Schmidt of Germany in the semifinals.

The results:

Singles (quarterfinals): Anastasia Sukhotina bt Vaidehi Chaudhari 6-3, 6-3; Shrivalli Bhamidipaty bt Humera Baharmus 6-1, 6-2; Antonia Schmidt (Ger) bt Ekaterina Yashina 6-3, 6-2; Tanisha Kashyap w.o. Diletta Cherubini (Ita).

Doubles (semifinals): Shrivalli Bhamidipaty & Vaidehi Chaudhari bt Pooja Ingale & Madhurima Sawant 2-6, 6-2, [10-8]; Akanksha Nitture & Soha Sadiq bt Vaishnavi Adkar & Sravya Shivani 6-2, 3-6, [10-8].

-Team Sportstar

SHOOTING

Shooting Nationals 2023: Bishal Shrestha wins men’s 50-metre free pistol gold

Bishal Shrestha won the men’s 50-metre free pistol gold with a score of 563 in the 66th National shooting championship at the Madhya Pradesh Academy on Friday.

The results:

50m free pistol:

Men: 1. Bishal Shresstha 563; 2. Ashish Chaudhary 560; 3. Amanpreet Singh 557.

Junior men: 1. Nikhil Chandila 553; 2. Saurabh Chaudhary 552; 3. Yogesh Kumar 551.

-Team Sportstar

Ramkumar sets up semifinal against Taguchi

Ramkumar Ramanathan sailed past compatriot Manish Sureshkumar to enter the semifinals of the ITF Kalaburagi Open here Friday.

The fifth seed Ramanathan quelled the challenge of Sureshkumar 7-5, 6-0 in the quarterfinals at the Chandrashekhar Patil Stadium.

Ramkumar will face Japan’s Ryotaro Taguchi in the last four match. Taguchi defeated Indian qualifier Aryan Shah 6-3, 6-2.

Ramkumar, who recently won two ITF 25K titles, found an able opponent in his Chennai city-mate, particularly in the first set.

Both the players held their serves until the seventh game till Sureshkumar broke Ramkumar’s serve to nose ahead 5-3.

In a sudden change of form, Sureshkumar committed three unforced errors which gave his senior rival a chance to come back into the match.

From that point, Ramkumar went on to win 10 games in a row, including six in the second set to overpower Sureshkumar.

Ramkumar used his big serve and a strong forehand to dent his opponent’s feeble efforts of a comeback.

Later, sixth seeded Indian Rishab Agarwal succumbed to second seed Matsuda Ryuki of Japan 0-6, 4-6.

Meanwhile, seventh seed David Pichler of Austria saw the back of Japanese Seita Watanabe with a 6-0, 6-0 win to reach semifinals.

Results (all Indians unless mentioned) Singles (Quarterfinals): 7-David Pichler (AUT) beat Seita Watanabe (JPN) 6-0, 6-0; 5-Ramkumar Ramanathan beat Manish Sureshkumar 7-5,6-0; Ryotaro Taguchi (JPN) beat Aryan Shah 6-3, 6-2; 2-Matsuda Ryuki (JPN) beat 6-Rishab Agarwal 6-0, 6-4.

Doubles (Semifinals): Ryuki Matsuda (JPN)/Ryotaro Taguchi (JPN) beat Rishab Agarwal/Bharath Nishok Kumaran 7-6 (4), 6-2; 2-David Pichler (AUT)/Nitin Kumar Sinha beat Adil Kalyanpur/Sidharth Rawat 6-3, 6-2.

-PTI

Jeevan and Vijay in semifinals

Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Vijay Sundar Prashanth beat Andrey Chepelev and Ivan Gakhov 7-6(4), 4-6, [10-8] in the doubles quarterfinals of the €73,000 Challenger tennis tournaemnt in Maspalomas, Spain, on Friday.

The results:

$130,000 Challenger, Yokkaichi, Japan

Doubles (semifinals): Evan King & Reese Stalder (USA) bt Niki Poonacha & Divij Sharan 6-3, 6-2; Ray Ho (Tpe) & Calum Puttergill (Aus) bt Rithvik Bollipalli & Arjun Kadhe 6-4, 6-4.

€73,000 Challenger, Maspalomas, Spain

Doubles (quarterfinals): Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan & Vijay Sundar Prashanth bt Andrey Chepelev & Ivan Gakhov 7-6(4), 4-6, [10-8].

-Team Sportstar

HOCKEY

Nehru women’s tournament: Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) beats Hockey Odisha

Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) beat Hockey Odisha 3-1 in the league phase of the SNBP 2nd Nehru women’s hockey tournament at the Shivaji Stadium here on Friday.

Both the teams qualified for the semifinals. Railways will play Sports Authority of India (SAI), Bhopal, on Saturday. The other semifinal will be between Hockey Odisha and SAI, Sonipat.

The results (league):

HFB Academy, Chhatera, 7 (Soniya Kumari 3, Bhumika Sahu 2, Sadhna Sengar 2) bt Madhu Sidar (3).

RSPB 3 (Karishma Yadav, Devika Sen, Lalrindiki) bt Hockey Odisha 1 (Puja Sahoo).

-Team Sportstar

POLO

D’Monde Cup: Jindal Panthe defeats Delta Foundation

Siddhant Sharma scored five goals in helping Jindal Panther to a 9-7 victory over Delta Foundation in the semifinals of the D’Monde Cup polo tournament at the Jaipur polo ground here on Friday.

In the final, to be played on Sunday, Jindal Panther will play Vimal Arion Achievers.

The results (semifinals):

Jindal Panther 9 (Siddhant Sharma 5, Simran Shergill 3, Samir Suhag) bt Delta Foundation 7 (Padmanabh Singh 4, Santiago Marambio 3).

Vimal Arion Achievers 6 (Abhimanyu Pathak 4, Daniel Otamendi 2) bt 61st Cavalry/Royal Enfield 3 (Dhruvpal Godara, Angad Kalaan, ARS Warraich).

-Team Sportstar

FOOTBALL

Parappur FC lifts under-13 Kerala Youth League title

Parappur FC defeated Muthoot FA 2-0 and won the under-13 Kerala Youth League football title at the Mankavu ground here on Friday.

With that Parappur, which has its training base in Thrissur, qualified for the AIFF Youth League which will be held in January.

The result (final): Parappur FC 2 (K.A. Mohammed Ashfak 25+1, K. Jagan Krishna 35) bt Muthoot FA 0.

-Team Sportstar

IOB downs TCS

Prasanna Venkatesh topscored with 19 points as Chennai’s Indian Overseas Bank defeated Kochi’s TCS 63-44 in the Rajagiri Business League basketball at the Rajagiri Engineering College here.

Meanwhile Irinjalakuda’s Christ College, riding on Mohammed Irfan’s 27 points, defeated Kochi’s Sacred Heart College 58-50.

The results (league): IOB 63 (Prasanna Venkatesh 19) bt TCS, Kochi 44; Fragomen, Kochi 54 (Ebin Wilson 10) bt UST 15; TCS, Bengaluru 49 (V. Balakrishna 13) bt UST 34.

Christ College, Ijk 58 (Mohammed Irfan 27) bt Sacred Heart College, Thevara 50; Sacred Heart 53 (Mathaichan 20) bt MITS 43.

-Team Sportstar