Indian sports news wrap, December 9
ATHLETICS
Tata Steel Kolkata 25K: Kartik, Gulveer to be aming leading Indian runners
Asian Games silver medallist Kartik Kumar and bronze medallist Gulveer Singh will be among the leading Indian runners to compete in the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K to be held on Sunday.
After Gulab Chand in 1998, 24-year-old Kartik became the first Indian to win an Asian Games medal in 10,000m. Kartik, who bagged the 10,000m silver with 28:15.38 at the Hangzhou Asian Games, will be the star among home runners.
Kartik clocked 1:04:08 to finish second among the Indians in the Delhi half-marathon this year.
He will be challenged by training partner Gulveer, who took the Asiad 10,000m bronze with 28:17.21 to ensure a two-three finish for the country in Hangzhou.
Olympian Gopi T., the first Indian male to win the Asian marathon championship crown in 2017 in China with a timing of 2:15:48, will be in the fray. In October last, he competed in the TCS Amsterdam Marathon and finished with 2:14:58.
Having won the Indian women’s category at the TCS World 10K Bengaluru 2023 with 00:34:12, Tamsi Singh will look to earn another memorable finish in the Indian women’s category. She was fifth among the Indians at the Delhi half-marathon with a timing of 1:18:01.
Ekta Rawat, who was eighth in Delhi with 1:21:30, and Nilima Thakur, who was fourth among Indians last year here with 1:39:48, will also be ready for the opportunity.
The first three in Elite Indian men’s and women’s categories will win ₹ 2.75 lakhs, ₹ 2 lakhs and ₹ 1.5 lakhs, respectively. The Indian men and women runners will stand to get an event record bonus of ₹ 1 lakh each.
-Y. B. Sarangi
TENNIS
Maaya Rajeshwaran wins junior girls title
Top seed Maaya Rajeshwaran overcame a stiff resistance from Laxmisiri Dandu 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 in the girls final of the Gadre Marine ITF junior tennis tournament at the Deccan Gymkhana Club on Saturday.
Laxmisiri Dandu and champion Maaya Rajeshwaran in the ITF
junior tennis tournament in Pune on Saturday.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Laxmisiri Dandu and champion Maaya Rajeshwaran in the ITF
junior tennis tournament in Pune on Saturday.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
It was the fifth singles title in the ITF junior circuit for the 14-year-old Maaya, who trains with coach Manoj Kumar in Coimbatore.
It was a fine run for Laxmisiri who is groomed at the Sania Mirza Academy in Hyderabad. In the boys final, Moise Kouame of France beat Arnav Paparkar 6-3, 6-3.
The results (finals):
Boys: Moise Kouame (Fra) bt Arnav Paparkar 6-3, 6-3. Girls: Maaya Rajeshwaran bt Laxmisiri Dandu 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
GOLF
Chouhan in sole lead in SSP Chawrasia invitational golf
Om Prakash Chouhan carded a two-under 70 to firm up his lead with a total of 209 after the third round of the S.S.P. Chawrasia Invitational event at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) course here on Saturday.
Four shots away, Veer Ahlawat was at second place with three-under 213 following his round of 71.
Chouhan and Gangjee led the pack of 51 professionals, who made the cut at seven-over 151 after the conclusion of the unfinished second round.
In nice and clear weather, Chouhan gathered four birdies and three bogeys on the front nine before steadying his game on the back nine while gaining a shot on the par-five 15th.
At 214, American Varun Chopra (69), Rashid Khan (69), Angad Cheema (72) and Udayan Mane (73) shared the third place.
Udayan Mane struck a hole-in-one on the 13th during his third round.
Previous round’s joint leader Gangjee slipped to tied-eighth at 216, while defending champion Manu Gandas was placed tied-24th at 222.
The scores (Round 3):
209-Om Prakash Chouhan (70, 69, 70); 213-Veer Ahlawat (74, 68, 71); 214-Varun Chopra (73, 72, 69), Rashid Khan (75, 70, 69), Angad Cheema (75, 67, 72), Udayan Mane (73, 68, 73); 215-Aryan Roopa Anand (75, 70, 70).
-Y. B. Sarangi
BASKETBALL
Railways women outplay Tamil Nadu to set up final against Kerala in National Basketball Championship
The Tamil Nadu women led in the first half, but champion Railways struck in the second half to eke out a 69-62 victory in the semifinals of the 73rd National basketball championship at the Guru Nanak Dev Indoor Stadium on Saturday.
In the final, Railways will be challenged by Kerala which outplayed Karnataka 62-33. The Tamil Nadu men beat Delhi 91-69 in the semifinals. The team will play the winner of the match between host and defending champion Punjab and the Railways.
The results:
Men (semifinals): Tamil Nadu 91 (Aravind Kumar 18, B Soorya 14, Baldhaneshwar 12, Lokeshwaran 10) bt Delhi 69 (Ravi Bhardwaj 15, Aryan 14, J Sahil 14, Joginder Singh 13). Railways 63 (Sahil Kalyan 22, Rajpreet Singh 20) bt Punjab 56 (Kanwar Gurbaj 17, Amritpal Singh 14, Yadwinder Singh 14).
Quarterfinals: Punjab 81 (Kanwar Gurbaj 32, Amritpal Singh 27) bt Karnataka 70 (Pratyanshu Tomar 30, Abhishek 15).
Women (semifinals): Railways 69 (Poonam Chaturvedi 19, Pushpa Senthilkumar 18, M Bhandawya 14) bt Tamil Nadu 62 9K Sathya 19, M Nishanthi 13, Srividhya 10, Nitika 10). Kerala 62 (R Sreekala 18, Kavitha Jose 17, Garima Merlin Varghese 14, Aneesha Cleetus 11) bt Karnataka 33 (Varsha Nandhini 14).
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Ankur clinches gold in centre-fire pistol at National Shooting Championship
Ankur Goel won the centre fire pistol gold on the count back after being tied on 573 with Harsimar Singh Rattha and Manav Singh in the 66th National shooting championship at the Madhya Pradesh Academy.
The results:
25m centre fire pistol: Men: 1. Ankur Goel 573; 2. Harsimar Singh Rattha 573; 3. Manav Singh 573.
-Kamesh Srinivasan