Indian sports news wrap, October 21

BADMINTON

Tanvi Sharma and Bornil Changmai storm into the finals at the Badminton Asia U17 and U15 Junior Championships

Tanvi Sharma and Bornil Changmai maintained their impressive form as they clinched another set of victories and secured their places in the finals on day five of the Badminton Asia U17 and U15 Junior Championships being held in Chengdu, China.

In the girls’ U17 singles category, Tanvi Sharma faced the formidable Anyapat Phichitpreechasak of Thailand. After a closely contested match where second-seeded Anyapat staged a strong comeback following the first round, Tanvi showed great composure and ultimately secured 21-19, 16-21, 21-11 victory.

In the boys’ U15 singles, Bornil Aakash Changmai competed against compatriot, Jagsher Singh Khangurra, in the semi-finals. Bornil registered a 21-16, 21-12 win in straight sets. While Bornil entered the finals, Jagsher bowed out with a bronze medal.

Following in the footsteps of Unnati Hooda, Tanvi Sharma became the second girl from India to enter the U17 finals. When Unnati played the finals in Nonthaburi, Thailand, last year she had to satisfy herself with a silver medal.

Meanwhile, Bornil Changmai has an opportunity to join an exclusive club. If he clinches the gold medal in the boys’ U15 singles, he will become the second India after Siril Verma to do so. Verma had won gold in 2013.

Tanvi Sharma will compete against Yataweemin Ketklieng of Thailand in her girls’ U17 singles final on Sunday while Bornil Aakash Changmai will face Fan Hong Xuan of China in the U15 boys’ singles division final.

-Team Sportstar

TABLE TENNIS

Harmeet gets top billing in UTT National Ranking Championships

Paddler Harmeet Desai got the top billing in men’s singles in the second UTT National Ranking Championships, which got underway in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday.

With Gnanasekaran Sathiyan and Manush Shah, the two top-ranked players not competing, Harmeet, who is third on the national ranking chart and the top-ranked Indian in the world, has got the top seeding.

Manav Thakkar and Achanta Sharath Kamal follow Harmeet in the seeding list and will be seen in action on Sunday when the main draw matches commence.

In the two rounds of qualification matches that took place on Saturday, PB Abhinand of Tamil Nadu took the top spot in Group 1 beating Delhi’s Aadarsh Om Chhetri, 14-12, 11-6, 6-11, 11-5 and then subdued Kerala’s AS Amal 11-9, 11-3, 11-2 to book his place in the second stage of the draw.

In other groups, top-ranked players inched closer to securing qualification berths with a win each.

In Group 3, Ranjith Benny played a brilliant tie against Vishesh Rastogi of Madhya Pradesh, winning 3-2 (11-8, 12-14, 6-11, 11-6, 11-4), which put him at par with former National junior champion Siddesh Pande of Maharashtra, who thrashed Rastogi 11-3, 11-1, 11-5.

The winner of the match between Pandey and Benny will qualify for the main draw from the group.

Anukram Jain of RSPB, Ali Mohammed of Telangana and Surajit Das of Bengal struggled before outwitting their rivals to keep their qualification chances alive.

Anukram beat Anshuman Hazarika of Assam 11-4, 11-5, 11-13, 12-10, while Karnataka’s Harish Kusel stretched Ali in their Group 13 clash.

But Ali, down 0-2, staged a fine comeback to win 9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-5.

Surajit faced a tough challenge from another Karnataka lad, Abhinav K Murthy, before emerging a 3-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-4, 14-12 winner.

In women’s singles, the group participants have played their first-round matches. They will complete two more rounds before group qualifiers emerge.

– PTI

TENNIS

ITF M25 Dharwad: Ramkumar, Digvijay set up all-Indian final

Fourth seed Ramkumar Ramanathan produced a remarkable comeback to defeat top seed Nick Chappell of the United States 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(2) in the semifinals of the 25,000 USD ITF men’s event in Dharwad on Saturday.

In the other semifinal, third seed Digvijay Pratap Singh dropped a set but rallied to win against second seed Bobrov Bogdan 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-4.  

The third seeded pair of SD Prajwal Dev and Nitin Kumar Sinha took home the doubles honours. In an almost one-sided final, Prajwal and Nitin ended the dream run of the unseeded team of Sai Karteek Ganta and Manish Sureshkumar with a 6-4, 6-3 victory. The winners received 1500 USD while the runners-up pocketed 900 USD.

-Team Sportstar

Rithvik-Arjun pair wins Challenger title in Italy

Rithvik Bollipalli and Arjun Kadhe outplayed Ivan Sabanov and Matej Sabanov 6-1, 6-3 in the doubles final of the €145,000 Challenger tennis tournament in Olbia, Italy, on Saturday.

The champion team won 125 ATP points and €8,420. The runner-up team pocketed 75 points and €4,900.

It was the maiden Challenger doubles title for Rithvik, and it was the second Challenger title of the season for Arjun.

In the $15,000 ITF women’s event in Hua Hin, Thailand, Shrivalli Bhamidipaty beat Punnin Kovapitukted for the loss of five games. She will play second seed Ayumi Koshiishi of Japan in the final.

-Team Sportstar

BRICS Games: China beats India 2-1

China beat India 2-1 in the women’s league match of tennis in the BRICS Games in Durban, South Africa.

Vaishnavi Adkar won her singles match 7-6(4), 6-3 against Han Shi. China won the singles against Sandeepti Singh Rao and the doubles featuring Sandeepti and Vaishnavi without facing much challenge.

The Indian women placed third among four teams, having beaten host South Africa.

The Indian men who had lost to Russia and had beaten China, will play South Africa in the last league match.

Brazil had failed to send the tennis team for the Games.

The results (league):

Women: China bt India 2-1 (Zongyu Lli bt Sandeepti Singh Rao 6-2, 6-3; Han Shi lost to Vaishnavi Adkar 6-7(4), 3-6; Han Sshi & Zongyu Li bt Sandeepti & Vaishnavi 6-2, 6-3).

-Kamesh Srinivasan

MOTORSPORT

Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2023 – Round 4: Rajiv Sethu wins eighth straight race

Local ace Rajiv Sethu (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) continued his dominant run in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open category by roaring to his eighth consecutive win while Coimbatore’s Senthil Kumar (LGE Racing) notched his first win in five years with a surprise victory in a dramatic Pro-Stock 165cc Open class race, to light up the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2023 at the Madras International Circuit, in Chennai on Saturday.

Bengaluru’s 17-year-old Savion Sabu (Axor Sparks Racing) recorded his maiden win of the season in the Novice (Stock 165cc) category.

Sethu effectively sealed the championship in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open class with his win-spree as he extended his lead to 97 points with one more race to be run on Sunday and 25 points on offer. Hyderabad’s Rahil Pillarisetty (KTM Gusto Racing) and TVS Petronas Racing’s KY Ahamed finished a distant second and third, respectively, after being outpaced in the four-lapper, reduced from scheduled six following a red flag stoppage.

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup: Chennai’s Kavin Quintal scored his sixth win in eight races to assure himself of the title in the NSF 250 Open category going into Sunday’s final race of the season. Another Chennai youngster, Rakshith Dave finished second ahead of Belagavi’s Vivek Rohit Kapadia in the six-lap race.

Petronas TVS One-Make Championship: Bengaluru’s Chiranth Vishwanath virtually clinched the title in the Open (RR310) category with his fifth win. Chiranth held off a strong challenge from Coimbatore’s Senthil Kumar C while Romario John (Chennai) was placed third.

Chennai girl Nadine Faith Balaji took the honours in the Girls (RTR 200) race for her first win that moved her to second spot behind Bengaluru’s Nithila Das on the championship table. Nithila, with three wins, emerged champion despite not participating in the final round. Coimbatore’s Aisvariya V finished third behind Pune’s Saimah Baig in today’s race.

-Team Sportstar

POLO

Quarter Master General polo championship: ASC beats Armed Corps 5-4

Army Service Corps (ASC) beat 61st Cavalry Armed Corps 5-4 in the last league match of the Quarter Master General (QMG) polo championship at the Army Equestrian Centre, Delhi Cantonment.

In the final, to be played at the Jaipur Polo ground on Sunday at 4 p.m., ASC will face Artillery.

The results (league):

ASC 5 (Prithvi Singh Rathore 2, Ravinder Mang, handicap 2) bt 61st Cavalry Armed Corps 4 (Vishal Chauhan, Mrityunjay Singh Chouhan, ARS Warraich, Iliyas Ali).

-Kamesh Srinivasan

HOCKEY

Nehru sub-junior hockey tournament: Punjab’s Round Glass Academy reaches final

Round Glass Academy, Punjab, sailed into the final with a 7-0 victory over Guru Gobind Sports College, Lucknow, in the Steelbird 40th Nehru sub-junior hockey tournament at the Shivaji Stadium on Saturday.

In the final, the Round Glass will play Madhya Pradesh Academy, Bhopal. The Madhya Pradesh team beat Major Dhyan Chand Sports College, Saifai, 3-2 in the shoot-off after the teams were locked 1-1 at the end of the regulation period.

-Kamesh Srinivasan