Indian sports wrap, April 22: Prithviraj, Manisha impress after penultimate round in Olympic Shotgun Championship

SHOOTING

Prithviraj, Manisha best-performing Indians in Olympic Shotgun Championship

Prithviraj Tondaiman shot 94 out of 100 and was placed 47th out of 140 shooters in the final Olympic shotgun championship in Doha, Qatar, on Monday.

After having shot 46 on the first day, Prithviraj improved by shooting 48 on the second day, which included a third round of 25.

Vivaan Kapoor (91) and Zoravar Singh Sandu (90) found themselves in the 87th and 111th spots with one more round to go on Tuesday. The top six qualify for the final.

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In women’s trap, Manisha Keer and Neeru shot identical scores of 89 and were in the 38th and 41st places. Shreyasi Singh shot 84 and was in the 58th spot among 79 shooters.

India has won one Olympic quota in each of the four men’s and women’s trap and skeet events so far. India is eligible to win one more quota in all the four shotgun events, even though it may have become a distant dream in trap.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

TENNIS

Yuki Bhambri wins Munich ATP doubles title

Yuki Bhambri and Albano Olivetti beat wild card entrants Andreas Mies and Jan Lennard Struff 7-6(6), 7-6(5) in the doubles final of the €651,865 ATP tennis tournament in Munich, Germany, on Sunday.

It was the first title of the season, and second ATP doubles title for the 31-year-old Yuki, who has won 40 titles in the professional circuit including 21 in doubles.

The champion team won €30,610 and 250 ATP points. The runners-up collected €16,380 and 150 points.

Yuki and Albano had beaten the Monte Carlo Masters champions Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen of Belgium in the first round. In winning the final, the Indo-French team, which had reached the semifinals of the Marrakech ATP event earlier, denied a double crown for Jan-Lennard Struff who won his maiden ATP singles title earlier in the day in front of home crowd.

The results:

€651,865 ATP, Munich, Germany

Doubles (final): Yuki Bhambri & Albano Olivetti (Fra) bt Andreas Mies & Jan Lennard Struff (Ger) 7-6(6), 7-6(5).

-Kamesh Srinivasan

PICKLEBALL

India clinch 10 medals at USA pickleball meet

Stavya Bhasin, Dhiren Patel and Hemal Jain won a gold each in their respective categories as India returned with 10 medals from the US Open Pickleball Championship.

Overall, India won three gold, three silver and four bronze medals in the tournament held in Florida from April 14-20.

Bhasin won the gold in junior singles, Patel finished first in the men’s singles 5.0 and Jain grabbed the top prize in the men’s singles 3.5 category.

Bhasin also won a silver in men’s doubles 5.0 and a bronze each in the junior men’s doubles and junior mixed doubles to have a haul of four medals.

Ronav Motiani returned with two silver medals — one each in men’s doubles 5.0 and junior singles — as well as a bronze in the junior men’s doubles category.

In men’s singles 5.0, Himanshu Dewaskar’s bronze took India’s medals tally into double digits.

Both Harsh Mehta and Aman Bhatia finished fifth in men’s pro doubles.

Pickleball is a paddle sport played on a court similar to badminton, using a solid paddle and a plastic ball with holes.

Players volley the ball over the net, aiming to score points by landing it within the opposing court.

-PTI