Indian sports news wrap, December 24
BOXING
Jaismine, Arundhati ease into quarters at 7th Elite Women’s National Boxing Championships
The 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Jaismine (60kg) and former youth world champion Arundhati Choudhary (66kg) registered wins on the third day to enter the quarterfinals of the ongoing 7th Elite Women’s National Boxing Championships at the GBU Indoor Stadium in Greater Noida on Sunday.
Representing SSCB, Jaismine secured a commanding 5-0 victory over Thongam Kunjarani Devi of Manipur in the round of 16 bout. Jaismine will now face Poonam Kaithwas of Maharashtra in the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, the former youth world champion Arundhati went head-to-head against Amita of All India Police. Arundhati’s skillset and power-packed punches were on display as she secured a 5-0 victory in the bout. The boxer will be now up against Komalpreet Kaur of Punjab in the quarterfinals.
In other significant bouts, Sakshi (57kg) of SSCB faced Jyoti of Delhi in the round of 32 match. The match was closely contested until Sakshi unleashed a flurry of punches, ultimately winning the bout as the referee stopped the contest in the third round. She will face off against Refa Mohid of Telangana in the round of 16.
Haryana’s Saweety Boora (81kg) went up against Kanishka of UP in an exciting contest. The 2023 World Championship gold medalist displayed her prowess as she defeated her opponent with the referee stopping the contest in round 3. She will face Saie Davkhar of Maharashtra in the quarterfinals.
– Team Sportstar
MOTORSPORTS
Muddappa wins two titles in MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Drag Racing Championship
Bengaluru businessman Hemanth Muddappa (Mantra Racing) confirmed his status as the ‘king of superbikes’ by winning two titles – Unrestricted and 1051-1650cc Super Sport – in the MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Drag Racing Championship 2023 which concluded at the Madras International Circuit in Chennai on Sunday.
10-time National champion Muddappa clinched the crowns in both Unrestricted and 1051-1650cc (Super Sport) categories winning all the four rounds while Hyderabad’s Mohammed Riyaz annexed the championship in the 551-850cc (Super Sport) class, also with an unbeaten record.
Astride a Suzuki Hayabusa in the ‘Unrestricted’ category, Muddappa touched a top speed of 268Kms while winning the sprint in just 07.706 seconds in Round-4, bettering his previous round run earlier in the day when he clocked 07.746.
Muddappa extended his dominance in the 1051-1650cc (Super Sport) category by clocking winning times of 07.718 in Round-4 and 07.737 in Round-3.
Similarly, Riyaz was in a league of his own in the 551-850cc (Super Sport) category where he timed 08.544 in Round-4 and 08.476 in the previous round this morning to extend his unbeaten run in this class, winning four races from as many starts.
In view of the backlog of races due to the rain-affected Round-1 in September, the remaining three rounds were held back-to-back this weekend to complete the championship.
The results (all 4-Stroke):
ROUND-4
Unrestricted: 1. Hemanth Muddappa (Bengaluru, Mantra Racing) (07.706secs); 2. Alimon (Bengaluru) (07.740); 3. Mohammed Riyaz (Hyderabad) (07.894). National champion: Hemanth Muddappa. Team championship: Mantra Racing.
1051-1650cc (Super Sport): 1. Hemanth Muddappa (Bengaluru, Mantra Racing) (07.718); 2. Mohammed Riyaz (Hyderabad) (08.053); 3. Mirza Jahangir Baig (Hyderabad) (08.077). National champion: Hemanth Muddappa. Team championship: Mantra Racing.
551-850cc (Super Sport): 1. Mohammed Riyaz (Hyderabad) (08.544); 2. Hemanth Muddappa (Bengaluru, Mantra Racing) (08.913); 3. Mirza Jahangir Baig (Hyderabad) (09.079). National champion: Mohammed Riyaz. Team championship: Mantra Racing.
ROUND 3
Unrestricted: 1. Hemanth Muddappa (Bengaluru, Mantra Racing) (07.746); 2. Alimon (Bengaluru) (07.867); 3. Mohammed Riyaz (Hyderabad) (08.064).
1051-1650cc (Super Sport): 1. Hemanth Muddappa (Bengaluru, Mantra Racing) (07.737); 2. Alimon (Bengaluru) (08.101); 3. Mohammed Riyaz (Hyderabad) (08.146).
551-850cc (Super Sport): 1. Mohammed Riyaz (Hyderabad) (08.476); 2. Mirza Jahangir Baig (Hyderabad) (08.541); 3. Hemanth Muddappa (Bengaluru, Mantra Racing) (08.579).
– Team Sportstar
SHOOTING
National shooting trials: TS Divya finishes top in women’s air pistol
TS Divya made sparkling strides in the final to finish on top in women’s air pistol, as the National shooting selection trials concluded at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Sunday.
The 28-year-old Divya qualified in the eighth place, overtaking Olympian Yashaswini Singh Deswal and Yuvika Tomar on the count back after being tied on 574. She asserted herself in a high-quality field by topping with 243.8, beating Manu Bhaker by 1.6 points.
Qualification topper Rhythm Sangwan (578) placed fifth behind Anuradha Devi and Sainyam. The other finalists were Jasmin Kaur, Padma Devaram and Olympian Annu Raj Singh.
The Hangzhou Asian Games gold medalist, 18-year-old Palak Gulia missed the final by one point and placed 14th with 573.
In men’s air pistol, Karan Sehrawat beat Shiva Narwal by 0.4 points for the top spot. Qualification topper and the winner of the first trial, Olympian Saurabh Chaudhary (586) placed fourth behind Kedarling Uchaganve.
Yogesh Kumar, Amit Sharma, Aditya Malra and Olympian Gurpreet Singh were the others to make the final.
The results
10m air pistol: Men: 1. Karan Sehrawat 243.0 (584); 2. Shiva Narwal 242.6 (583); 3. Kedarling Uchaganve 222.4 (585).
Women: 1. TS Divya 243.8 (574); 2. Manu Bhaker 242.4 (576); 3. Anuradha Devi 219.5 (577).
-Kamesh Srinivasan
GOLF
Bhullar wins season-ending Tata Steel Tour Championship golf
Star golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar lived up to his reputation, carding an error-free final round of six-under 66 to win by a solitary shot at the season-ending TATA Steel Tour Championship here on Sunday.
Bhullar (64-66-67-66), who won the championship for the second time following his previous victory in 2020, totalled 25-under 263 for the week to bag Rs 45 lakh.
Bhullar improved upon his 24-under 264 from the 2020 edition at the Beldih and Golmuri Golf courses.
Rahil Gangjee (70-62-65-67) finished runner-up at 24-under 264 after firing a 67 in the last round.
The Bengaluru-based Gangjee’s prize money cheque of Rs 30 lakh moved him up 26 spots on the PGTI Order of Merit as he ended the year in sixth place.
Chandigarh’s Angad Cheema (66-66-65-68) had a creditable third place finish at 23-under 265.
Cheema gained four spots on the money list to end the year in fifth place.
Om Prakash Chouhan (72-68-65-68) of Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, took the coveted No. 1 spot in the TATA Steel PGTI Ranking (PGTI Order of Merit) after finishing tied 10th at 15-under 273 at the Tour Championship this week.
Bhullar’s 12th PGTI win came as a result of an eagle and four birdies on Sunday.
Bhullar accumulated three birdies on the front-nine with two up and downs and a brilliant tee shot on the par-3 seventh that landed one foot from the hole.
The 35-year-old Bhullar, who hails from Kapurthala in Punjab, further strengthened his claim to the title after finding the par-5 12th green in two shots that set up an eagle conversion for him.
Bhullar’s final birdie came on the 15th where he landed his approach to four feet.
“I was focused on winning and was solid today from tee to green. It was all about repeating what I had done in the previous three rounds. I executed my plans well today and played some great iron and wedge shots,” said Bhullar. “The two-shot swing in my favour on the 14th and 15th holes was probably the turning point today. I would like to thank TATA Steel for this fabulous season-ending event.”
– PTI