Indian sports wrap, April 16: Joshna, Chotrani advance in Hamburg Open

SQUASH

Joshna, Chotrani advance in Hamburg Open

Veteran Joshna Chinappa and Veer Chotrani advanced in the Hamburg Open squash, while compatriots Velavan Senthilkumar and Tanvi Khanna bowed out in the opening round.

Former women’s world No. 10 Joshna eased past local challenger Saskia Beinhard 11-4, 11-5, 11-4, while men’s world No. 47 Chotrani beat Spain’s Ivan Perez 11-8, 11-9, 11-8 in the PSA Bronze-level event.

Men’s fifth seed Abhay Singh, who moved up to a career-best world ranking of 22 this week, and Ramit Tandon, the seventh seed, received first-round byes.

-PTI

GOLF

IGPL: Olympian Mane shares early lead with Soni and Shah

Olympian Udayan Mane, searching for his maiden win at the IGPL Invitational South Africa in Johannesburg, got off to a bogey-free start and was tied for the lead with two others at 7-under 65 at the end of the first day.

Mane was sharing the lead with Milind Soni and Manav Shah, and the trio were one clear off the field. A big bunch was snapping at their heels as six others were within two shots of them.

The crowded leaderboard saw last year’s IGPL Rankings winner Pukhraj Singh Gill (66) one behind at sole fourth, while Gaganjeet Bhullar, the 11-time Asian Tour winner, the in-form Karandeep Kochhar and the upcoming Saarthak Chhibber were all tied fifth at 5-under 67.

In the team contest, the 7-under cards by co-leaders Shah and Soni ensured Green Fuels Hyderabad was on top at 14-under, while Honer Gurugram with Pukhraj Gill (66) and Shat Mishra (69) were second at 9-under.

Krishna Punjab was helped by Kochhar (67) and Harendra Gupta (69) into the third place at 8-under.

Sachin Baisoya, who ended his IGPL title drought last week in Mauritius, was sole eighth at 4-under 68, which included an eagle on the ninth. Seven players, including two locals, were tied for the ninth spot at 3-under 69 at the iconic Royal Johannesburg Golf Club’s West Course.

The five Indians were Raghav Chugh, Shat Mishra, Harendra Gupta, Ranjit Singh and left-hander Kartik Sharma, while the two locals at T-9 with them were Allister de Kock and Musiwalo Nethunzwi.

The top women in the field after day one were Vidhatri Urs and Vani Kapoor, who carded an even-par 72 each. Both had two birdies and two bogeys each.

Mane, who played for India at the Tokyo Olympics, was on fire on the back nine after a decent 2-under start on the front nine. After birdies on the fifth and the ninth, he gained strokes on the 10th and the 11th and rolled three more in the last four holes for a bogey-free 65.

Shah started on the back nine with three birdies and no bogeys. The second nine was action-packed as he had four birdies, an eagle and two bogeys in 4-under 32.

Bhullar, one of the biggest stars in Indian golf, had a fine bogey-free day with five birdies, but he also missed a bunch of birdie opportunities, which would have given him a chance to join the leaders. He had four birdies on his front nine to turn in 4-under 32 but managed just one more on the home stretch.

Kochhar started on the tenth and had a blazing start with four birdies in the first five holes, but then slowed down. He had another birdie on the 18th to turn in 5-under. On his second nine, he had just one bogey on the second and a closing birdie on the ninth, his last hole.

Last week’s runner-up Veer Ganapathy shot 2-under 70 and was T-16, as he missed a lot of birdie chances.

The IGPL South Africa is the second leg in the three-event African Swing.

-PTI

Published on Apr 16, 2026