Indian sports news wrap: March 18

SHOOTING

Akhil, Anish win gold; India bag six medals at Polish Grand Prix

Paris Olympics quota winners Akhil Sheoran and Anish Bhanwala won a gold medal each as Indian shooters ended their Polish Grand Prix campaign with six medals.

Sheoran won gold in the men’s 50m rifle 3-positions Match 2 with a record score of 468.4.

Patrik Jany of the Czech Republic was 2.2 points behind at second spot at the Grand Prix Wroclawia & Dolnego Slaska.

Both the scores were higher than the existing world record of 466.1, held by Jany’s countryman Jiri Privratsky.

Bhanwala won gold in the men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol at the Jozef Zapedzki Grand Prix held simultaneously.

Some members of India’s 50m rifle and 25m rapid-fire pistol squad are currently on an exposure tour to Europe to compete in various established international events in the build-up to the Paris Olympics.

Navy shooter Niraj Kumar was also impressive, finishing with two bronze in both the men’s rifle 3P matches, becoming the only Indian to finish with two medals.

– PTI

MOTORSPORT

Asia Road Racing Championship: India’s Kavin Quintal finishes race 2 of round 1 in top 15

India’s Kavin Quintal and Mohsin Paramban finished 13th and 16th respectively in race 2 to fetch valuable points for the team in round 1 of the Asia Road Racing Championship here on Monday.

Quintal made a significant mark and finished race 2 of the Asia Production 250cc (AP250cc) class of ARRC in the top 15.

Starting 19th on the grid in the 10-lap race, Quintal started moving up from the first lap and remained consistent with his strong performance.

“Yesterday was disappointing for me as I couldn’t make a mark, especially in the first race of the season. Today, I focussed to utilise my skills and machine efficiently to score points for the team,” Quintal said.

“Today was a bit tough for me as I started from the 21st position. My goal was to stay steady and climb up the ranks without any errors on the track,” Mohsin said.

– PTI

Promotional event for Indian Racing Festival 2024 to be held in Srinagar

The Indian Racing Festival 2024, comprising three competitions of five rounds each, will commence later this year with Racing Promotions Private Limited (RPPL) organising a promotional road show here in collaboration with the J&K Tourism department.

The Indian Racing Festival this year will comprise three competitions — Indian Racing League (IRL), FIA-backed Indian F4 Championship, and JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship (JKNRC) — with five rounds for each class spread across the country.

RPPL chairman Akhilesh Reddy said, “This exhibition will encourage the youth of J&K to invest their time watching and learning about motorsport and will also give them hope for a future in the industry.”

– PTI

GOLF

IOA Golf Classic: Superb 67 earns Diksha T-15 finish

India’s Diksha Dagar turned in one of the best rounds of the final day, a superb 4-under 67, to sign off at Tied-15 at the IOA Golf Classic at the Alaqua Country Club here.

The two-time Ladies European Tour champion and third on the Merit list in 2023, Diksha had eight birdies, a double bogey and another late bogey as she made a massive jump up the leaderboard on the Epson Tour event.

Diksha has been in fine form with two Top-10s on the LET so far and she will play another week on the Epson Tour, as she tees up at Atlantic Beach next week.

Jessica Peng, who was sitting four shots behind second-round leader Lindsey McCurdy, shot a superb 67 with five birdies against one bogey to win the title.

– PTI

BOXING

BFI to conduct 3rd Sub Junior National Championship in Greater Noida from March 18 to 25

The Boxing Federation of India will be conducting the 3rd Sub Junior Boys and Girls National Boxing Championship 2024 at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh from March 18 to 25.

The competition will see the participation of junior pugilists who will compete across 14 weight categories. The tournament will be organised in collaboration with the U.P Boxing Association as the draw ceremony will be held on March 18 while bouts will be played from March 19.

In the last edition of the competition Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) and Haryana were crowned champions in the boy’s and girl’s categories respectively.

– Team Sportstar