Indian sports wrap, December 6: India bags six medals at World Pickleball Championship

PICKLEBALL

India bags six medals at World Pickleball Championship in Hong Kong

India produced a stellar performance at the Hong Kong leg of the World Pickleball Championship, securing a total of six medals, including one gold, three silvers, and two bronze.

The duo of Vanshik Kapadia and Vrushali Thakare clinched the gold medal in the 19+ open mixed doubles category in the November 29-December 1 meet.

Kuldip Mahajan won a silver partnering South Korea’s Kim Eung Gwon in the 19+ open mixed doubles.

Vanshik Kapadia (19+ open men’s singles) and Karina Aditya Dwipayani and Vrushali Thakare (19+ open women’s doubles) were the other two silver-medallists.

The Indian contingent also brought home two bronze medals, with Isha Lakhani and Roos Van Reek finishing on the podium in the 19+ open women’s doubles category.

Mayur Patil teamed up with Neilson Chen in the 19+ open mixed doubles for India’s second bronze.

This performance builds on India’s strong showing at the World Pickleball Championship’s India leg in November, where the country claimed a rich haul of 28 medals, including 11 gold.

-PTI

FENCING

Former IOA top official Rajeev Mehta elected Secretary General of Fencing Confederation of Asia

Former Indian Olympic Association’s (IOA) top official Rajeev Mehta has been elected as the Secretary-General of the Fencing Confederation of Asia (FCA) during the organization’s General Assembly on Sunday, December 1.

Mehta, who currently serves as the Secretary-General of the Fencing Association of India, becomes the first Indian to hold the continental position. Mehta served as Secretary General of the IOA for eight years from 2014 to 2022.

“I passionately believe that strong working relationships with internal and external stakeholders will help us gain better leverage for the advancement of FCA. Our goal is to usher in a new era of collaboration, openness, and transparency in fencing,” Mehta said.

-TEAM SPORTSTAR

ATHLETICS

Sakshi Malik to flag off Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation Marathon; 15,000 to participate

Olympic bronze medallist and Commonwealth Games gold winner Sakshi Malik will flag off the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation Marathon on December 8, which will see more than 15,000 runners taking part.

The men’s elite full marathon will be headlined by Army’s Pradeep Singh, who boasts the fastest personal best of 2:16.55 in the field and is likely to face a strong challenge from Army-mate Dhanwant Prahlad, who has a personal best of 2:18.10.

Two-time winner and last year’s runner-up Mohit Rathor will also be in fray, who holds the course record of 2:18.05 which he had set in 2022.

The women’s half marathon will feature the defending champion Prajakta Godbole from Maharashtra, who has a personal best of 1:14.21, Phoolan Pal (personal best of 1:16.20), Archana Jadhav and Tamsi Singh.

The half marathon elite men’s event will be led by Arun Rathod, who is the fastest in the field, with a personal best of 1:04.39. He is set to face challenges from Dinesh (1:05.44) and Deepak Kumbhar (1:05.45).

The total prize money in the event is Rs 58 lakh, from which the winner of the full marathon will win Rs 3 lakh while the winners of the half marathons will get Rs 2 lakh each.

Western Railway has sanctioned two special trains for participants to travel to Vasai and Virar, departing from Churchgate Station at 2:30am and 3:00am respectively.

Special buses have been also arranged by the Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation to ferry participants from Vasai and Virar to the starting points of the half marathon, full marathon, 10K and 5K races.

Cash prizes have also been announced for a photography competition.

– PTI

TENNIS

Summit clashes set up in ITF Juniors

Second seed Rishitha Basireddy edged out Aishwarya Jadhav 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(3) to set up a title clash against top seed Aoi Watanabe of Japan in the ITF junior tennis tournament at the Deccan Gymkhana on Friday.

In the boys final, Arjun Rathi will play Aaron Gabet of France.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

POLO

Mackenzie scores four

Chris Mackenzie scored four goals in guiding Vimal Arion Achievers to a 7-5 victory over Delta Polo in the last league match of the D’Monde Cup polo tournament on Friday.

In the final to be played on Sunday at the Jaipur Polo ground, Vimal Arion Achievers will play Jindal Panther.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

HOCKEY

60th Nehru hockey tournament: PSPB, Railways set up summit clash

Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) beat Comptroller and Auditor General XI 4-2 in the tie-break after the teams were locked 2-2 at the end of the regulation period in the semifinals of the SNBP 60th Nehru hockey tournament at the Shivaji Stadium in New Delhi on Friday.

The Petroleum team led 2-0 with the goals scored by Mandeep Antil and Tejas Chavan. CAG XI fought back with a goal each in the third and fourth quarter through Nabin Kujur and Venkatesh Telugu.

In the shoot-off, Harjeet Singh, Tejas Chavan, Vikramjit Singh and Kothajeet Singh found the target for the Petroleum team. Deepak Malik and Abharan Sudev alone succeeded for CAG XI.

In the other semifinal, Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) beat Indian Navy 4-2, after having led 4-0 till the 50th minute.

The final will be played at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

– Team Sportstar