Indian sports wrap, December 18: Ketan Malik crowned women’s 10m air pistol national champion
SHOOTING
Ketan Malik win’s women’s 10m air pistol gold in National Shooting Championship
Haryana’s Ketan Malik overcame a strong field comprising Paris Olympic double medallist Manu Bhaker and was crowned the women’s 10m air pistol national champion in New Delhi on Thursday.
Ketan struck gold with 240.0, ahead of Meenu Pathak of Delhi, who took silver with 238.4, and Surbhi Rao, who claimed bronze with 219.5.
In the junior women’s category, Vanshika Chaudhary from Uttar Pradesh emerged on top, edging out Anjali Shekhawat by 0.2 for gold, while Asian Games champion Palak Gulia secured bronze, and Army Marksmanship Unit’s Lakshita Bishnoi claimed the youth title after a narrow 0.6 victory over Rashmika Sahgal, with Sanskriti Bana completing the podium.
The final followed an extensive qualification phase that saw over 900 shooters compete across 39 relays.
Gulia topped the qualification with 582-24x. She was joined at the top by Bhaker, who also shot 582, finishing second on inner-10 count with 19x.
Ketan qualified third with 581-16x, while Mohini Singh (580-19x), Anjali Shekhawat (579-22x), Surbhi Rao (579-22x), Anjali Choudhary (579-19x), and Meenu Pathak (579-14x) completed the list of finalists.
In the final, Bhaker finished seventh with 137.2, followed by Anjali Choudhary on 110.1, while Mohini Singh ended fourth with 197.9 and Anjali Shekhawat placed sixth with 157.5.
-PTI
BADMINTON
Vivaan, Abhimanyu earn wins at Junior State Badminton Championships
Top seed Vivaan Waingankar and third seed Abhimanyu Sheta scored straight game wins over Preyansh Juneja and Rushabh Rokade, respectively, in the boys Singles second round of the Yonex Sunrise Gautam Thakkar Memorial Junior State Badminton Championships at the Bombay Gymkhana.
While Waingankar beat Juneja 15-3, 15-3, Shete got the better of Rushabh Rokade 15-1, 15-8.
In boys U-13 action, top seed Shlok Goyal beat Adarsh Gore 15-2, 15-2, while third seed Yuvraj Singh got the better of Vinamra Chougule 15-11, 15-4.
Brief scores
Boys U11 Round 32:
Vivaan Waingankar (1) bt Preyansh Juneja15-3,15-3; Abhimanyu Shete (3) bt Rushabh Rokade 15-1, 15-8; Samarth Sagar (6) bt Aditya Nayak 15-3, 15-8; Amey Madhekar bt Yuvaan Shetty (7) 15-13, 9-15, 15-12; Avnish Nevarekar bt Ritvik Malviya 15-10, 15-9
Boys U13 Round 64:
Shlok Goyal (1) bt Adarsh Gore 15-2,15-2; Yuvraj Singh (3) bt Vinamra Chougule 15-11, 15-4; Ajinkya Desai (6) bt Fazal Shaikh 15-12, 15-10; Mcdonald Colaco (9) bt Adhvik Warudkar 15-6, 15-5; Darsh Kedia bt Dhanush Shah 15-13, 7-15,15-7; Sanjeet Dachepalli bt Advay Agarwal 7-15, 16-14, 15-9; Yuvaan Shetty bt Harsh Beniwal 15-10, 15-9
– Team Sportstar
EQUESTRIAN
Shruti Vora excels in dressage at Asian Continental Championships 2025
India’s Shruti Vora delivered an outstanding performance at the Asian Continental Championships 2025, clinching three silver medals in equestrian dressage.
Shruti registered an impressive score of 73.800% aboard her horse, Magnanimous. The event was topped by Sarah Rao of China, riding Geniaal, who claimed gold with a score of 79.180, while Pakjira Thongpakdi of Thailand, on Samira O, finished with the bronze, scoring 72.505%.
In the Team Dressage Championship, India put forth a consistent and determined performance to clinch the silver medal, finishing with a cumulative score of 204.059 under the guidance of coach Sudhir Singh Ahlawat. The Indian team comprised Gaurav Pundir of India on Elector (66.059%), Divyakriti Singh of India on Improve (67.118%), and Shruti Vora of India on Magnanimous (70.882%). Thailand secured the gold medal with a total score of 205.853, while Team Hong Kong claimed bronze, finishing with 203.235.
– Team Sportstar
CRICKET
Shiva Shankara’s 67 in vain as India A beat India Seniors
GS Shiva Shankara scored 67 off 43 balls, but his effort went in vain as India A got the better of India Seniors in the third and final match of the Physical Disability T20 series, here on Thursday.
India A, who had lost both the matches of the series here at the Wankhede Stadium, posted 164 for eight in the third match and restricted the India Seniors side for 136 in 19.3 overs.
Nonsola Adil claimed 3/40 while G. Prashant and Mohammed Sadiq claimed two wicket apiece for the winning side.
Brief scores:
India A 164/8 in 20 overs (Akash Sanap 32, Prasad Chavan 31, Jitendra VN 25; Sunny Goyal 3/17, Imran Khan 2/49) lost to India Seniors 136 in 19.3 overs (Shiva Shankara 67, Sunny Goyal 21; Nonsola Adil 3/40, Mohammed Sadiq 2/3, G Prashant 2/15) by 28 runs.
– Team Sportstar
GOLF
CIDCO Open: Patil cards 64, move into joint lead with Ahlawat
Rohan Dhole Patil produced an exceptional seven-under 64 to move into the joint lead along with Veer Ahlawat after the third round of the CIDCO Open in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.
Pune’s Patil (70-69-64), searching for his maiden title, eclipsed the previous course record of 65 set by Ahlawat (65-65-73) in round one at the Kharghar Valley Golf Course (KVGC), which is hosting its first professional event.
Patil thus jumped nine spots from his overnight tied 10th place even as Gurugram-based Veer, the sole leader for the first two days, held on to his position at the top of the leaderboard.
The two golfers had a three-day total of 10-under 203.
Subash Tamang (71-68-65) of Nepal, another player looking for his first win, also made major gains with his 65 on day three that lifted him seven spots on the leaderboard with his total reading nine-under 204.
Italy’s Michele Ortolani (67-66-72) ended the day a further shot back in fourth place at eight-under 205.
Patil, who trailed the leader by nine shots at the start of the third round, made steady gains on the front-nine where he collected three birdies by landing it close to the pins consistently. The two bogeys on the back-nine did not derail his round as he continued the good work by adding an eagle and four more birdies thanks to his solid chipping and putting. Rohan drained an eagle from 18 feet on the 16th.
Ahlawat, the overnight leader by three shots, didn’t have the best of days with three birdies and five bogeys but grinded it out to stay in the lead for the third day running.
-PTI
SQUASH
Top seed Veer Chotrani and second seeded Suraj Chand made a winning start at the CCI Western India Squash Tournament in Mumbai on Thursday.
Chotrani, a pre-tournament favourite, defeated Ayaan Khan 11-1, 11-1, 11-1 to storm into the round of 32.
Chand followed him with a 11-4, 11-4, 11-3 victory over Ajinkya Patil.
In the boys’ U-15 section, second seed Yusuf Pardiwala beat Arjun Parasrampuria 11-3, 11-7, 11-7 to progress into the quarterfinals.
In the boys U-17 category, Agastya Bansal overcame Harsh Bansal 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 to progress to the quarterfinals, scheduled for Friday.
-PTI
ARCHERY
Dhiraj, Shravari bag gold in Senior Archery National Championship
Bommadevara Dhiraj (SSCB) clinched the gold medal in the Individual Olympic Round (men) at the Senior Archery National Championship. He beat Maharashtra’s Parth Sushant Saunkhe (6-0) comprehensively to emerge victorious.
Haryana’s Agastay Singh took the final step of the podium.
In the women’s category, Shravari Somnath Shende (Maharashtra) beat Anshika Kumari (Bihar) 6-2 to take home the gold medal, while Maharashtra’s Gatha Anandrao Khadake won the bronze medal.
In the 70 Meters (Overall) event, Atanu Das (PSPB) emerged victorious with a score of 684. Tarundeep Rai (Sikkim, 684) and Sukhchain Singh (SSCB, 682) won the silver and bronze medals, respectively. Among women, Gatha (673) bagged the gold medal, with Deepika Kumari (PSPB, 668) and Madhvi Chauhan (Uttar Pradesh, 664) completing the podium.
Other results:
Other results: Men’s team: Gold: Maharashtra (6-2), Silver: SSCB (2-6), Bronze: RSPB (4(28)-4(27)); Women’s team: Gold: Maharashtra (5-3), Silver: Jharkhand (3-5), Bronze: Uttar Pradesh (5-3); Mixed team: Gold: RSPB (5-3), Silver: Jharkhand (3-5), Bronze: Bihar (5-1).
-Anirudh Velamuri
Published on Dec 18, 2025