Indian sports wrap, April 2: India loses to Korea in Asia-Oceania World Junior opener
TENNIS
India begins Asia-Oceania World Junior campaign with loss
Fourth seed Korea beat India 3-0 in the opening league match of group-B in the Asia-Oceania World Junior Tennis under-14 girls tennis tournament in Kuching, Malaysia, on Wednesday.
Fifth seed Japan and host Malaysia are the other teams in India’s group.
The results (league):
Korea bt India 3-0 (Lee Yerin bt Srishti Kiran 6-2, 6-2; Lim Yerin bt Jensi Kanabar 7-5, 6-3; Kim Seohyeon & Lee bt Jensi & Aaradhya Meena 6-3, 6-0).
– Kamesh Srinivasan
Ribhav enters semis in Asian U-16 tourney
Ribhav Saroha fought his way past Divey Malik 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-4 in the boys quarterfinals of the Asian under-16 tennis tournament at the Joygaon Academy on Wednesday.
The results (quarterfinals):
Under-16 boys: Lakshya Chukka bt Arsh Kathuria 6-3, 6-2; Ribhav Saroha bt Divey Malik 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-4; Om Patel bt Dhananjay Tibrewal 6-3, 6-3; Yashwin Dahiya bt Krishank Joshi 6-1, 6-1.
Under-16 girls: Aashi Kashyap bt Kabyanjali Hazarika 6-4, 6-1; Akshita Antil bt Aafreen Rahil 6-2, 6-4; Deepthi Venkatesan bt Dhani 6-0, 6-3; Rabiah Dullet bt V Sana 7-5, 6-2.
– Kamesh Srinivasan
Riya enters second round
Riya Bhatia beat Chelsea Fontenel of Switzerland 6-1, 6-4 in the first round of the $40,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Bujumbura, Burundi.
The results:
$680,140 ATP, Houston, USA
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Federico Gomez (Arg) & Santiago Gonzalez (Mex) bt Sriram Balaji & Miguel Reyes-Varela (Mex) 7-6(3), 6-3.
€145,250 Challenger, Menorca, Spain
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Daniel Cukierman (Isr) & Joshua Paris (GBR) bt Anirudh Chandrasekar & David Hernandez (Esp) 7-6(4), 5-7, [10-5].
$40,000 ITF women, Bujumbura, Burundi
Singles (first round): Riya Bhatia bt Chelsea Fontenel (Sui) 6-1, 6-4; Alyssa Reguer (Fra) bt Pooja Ingale 6 3, 6-4; Darja Suvirdjonkova (Srb) btt Laalitya Kalluri 6-2, 6-1.
$15,000 ITF women, Sharm ElSheikh, Egypt
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Barbara Dessolis & Marcella Dessolis (Ita) bt Lakshmi Gowda & Basant Kaur (USA) 7-5, 6-1.
– Kamesh Srinivasan
FOOTBALL
Three ISL teams to face off against two-time FA Cup winner in Dream Sports Championship Football National Finals in Goa
The National Finals of the Dream Sports Championship Football 2025 — an initiative of the Dream Sports Foundation (DSF) — will kick off in Goa on April 8.
English football team Norwich City FC’s Youth Team will be participating in the tournament’s second edition, where it’ll face formidable competition including Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan Super Giant. The Championship will bring together eight boys’ and eight girls’ teams to compete in an intense competition.
The tournament will follow a group stage format, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the final of the U-17 football tournament across the boys and girls c
In an exciting first, the girls’ tournament will feature state teams nominated by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) from Assam, Jharkhand, Kerala, Rajasthan, Goa, Odisha, Karnataka, and Delhi.
Following intense regional rounds, seven Indian youth teams secured their places in the National Finals. These teams are Punjab FC (Delhi), Reliance Foundation Young Champs (Mumbai), Chennaiyin FC (Bengaluru), Mohun Bagan Super Giant (Kolkata), Football 4 Change (Guwahati), SESA FA, and Dempo Sports Club (Goa).
Group stage matches will take place at the SAG Benaulim Football Ground and Utorda Sports Complex, with the grand finale set for Raia Football Ground on April 15, where football legends Bhaichung Bhutia and Subrata Paul will grace the occasion. All the matches will be streamed live on Fancode.
– Team Sportstar
GOLF
Yuvraj leads at Adani invitational
Yuvraj Sandhu shot into the lead with a second round score of five-under 67 in the Rs. 1.5 crore Adani invitational golf championship at the Jaypee Greens Golf and Spa Resort on Wednesday.
Two-time champion this season, 28-year-old Yuvraj was joined in the lead at seven-under 137 by Arjun Prasad who had a three-under 69 this day.
Yuvraj was on song, converting seven birdies on the first 10, and narrowly missed a hole-in-one on the third.
“As there was no wind in the morning, I took advantage of the conditions. I lost a shot or two to the wind in the afternoon,” said Yuvraj.
Playing his fourth successive tournament, Yuvraj thanked the tournament physio for helping him get rid of the shoulder pain.
“I have had two solid days so far. I am looking forward to be in the leader group with Yuvraj for the second time this season,” said Arjun Prasad.
The overnight leaders Saptak Talwar and N Thangaraja were not as good in the second round. Saptak had a par round and slipped to the fifth spot with five-under 139. Sri Lankan Thangaraja, another champion this season, had two-over 74 and placed joint seventh with Om Prakash Chouhan and Shaurya Bhattacharya at three-under 141.
The cut fell at three-over 147. It meant 60 professionals and one amateur, 19-year-old Sukhman Singh, making it to the third round.
The leading scores:
1T. Yuvraj Sandhu (70, 67), Arjun Prasad (68, 69) 137; 3T. Harendra Gupta (72, 66), Honey Baisoya (70, 68) 138; 5. Saptak Talwar (67, 72) 139; 6. Aryan Anand (70, 70) 140; 7T. Om Prakash Chouhan (68, 73), N Thangaraja (67, 74), Shaurya Bhattacharya (70, 71) 141; 10T. Gaurav Pratap Singh (72, 70), Ajeetesh Sandhu (71, 71), Aman Raj (72, 70), Tapendra Ghai (73, 69), Dhruv Sheoran (70, 72) 142.
– Kamesh Srinivasan