Indian Sports News Wrap: March 8

SQUASH

Bristol Open squash: Urwashi Joshi enters quarterfinals

India’s Urwashi Joshi upset second-seeded Australian Sophie Fadaely 3-2 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Bristol Open squash tournament here on Friday.

Urwashi, a semi-finalist during the 2023 National Championships, was engaged in a thrilling contest as she conquered the Australian 7-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7 during the intense 35-minute pre-quarterfinal meeting of the USD 3000 PSA Challenger event.

The Maharashtra player, who defeated Jasmin Kalar of England 11-4, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9 in the opening round within 21 minutes, will take on fifth seed Erin Classen of Australia in the quarterfinals.

Classen prevailed over Olivia Besant of England in the pre-quarterfinal, routing her 3-0 (11-5, 11-5, 14-12).

-PTI

MOTORSPORTS

Sai Sanjay to race full season in British GT championship

Former Indian Formula 2000 champion Sai Sanjay is set to drive a full season in the British GT Championship 2024 starting at Oulton Park, England on March 29.

The 21-year-old becomes the first driver from Tamil Nadu to do a full season at this level in the prestigious British GT series.

A Mechatronics student at VIT Chennai, Sanjay made his motorsports debut in 2015 and became the Rotax Senior Max UAE vice-champion in 2018.

He made the switch to formula cars the same year and raced in the LGB Formula 1300 and MRF 1600 championships. All along, he notched up many podiums and dished out many fastest laps and won the Formula 2000 Indian title in 2022.

The season consists of seven rounds. The first round is scheduled to be held from March 29 to April 1 followed by Silverstone 500 from April 26 to 28, Donington Park from May 25 to 26, and then the drivers move to Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium from June 22 to 23.

After another round in Snetterton from July 12 to 14, they are scheduled to revisit Donington Park from September 7 to 8 before concluding the season finale at the renowned Brands Hatch on September 28 and 29.

-PTI

WEIGHTLIFTING

IWLF appoints coach educator

In order to develop coach education across the country in the run-up to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF) on Friday appointed Ahmed Awad Ahmed Hassan of Egypt as a coach educator.

Hassan, in consultation with chief national coach Vijay Sharma, will develop a new syllabus course for NIS diploma holders. Key initiatives of the engagement include training and development programmes, knowledge exchange and collaboration, supportive ecosystem and long-term vision.

-Y. B. Sarangi