Indian sports wrap, February 2: Indians cause upsets to make final round of qualifying at Chennai Open

Manish, Siddharth, Chirag make final round of qualifying at Chennai Open ATP Challenger

TENNIS

India’s Chirag Duhan, Siddharth Vishwakarma and Manish Sureshkumar knocked out seeded players in the first round of qualifying at the Chennai Open ATP Challenger on Sunday.

Duhan, aged 21 and ranked No. 962 in the world, upset the third seed Evgenii Tiurnev, ranked more than 600 spots higher than the Indian, in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 while 30-year-old Vishwakarma, ranked No 771 in the world, defeated the eighth seed Dominik Palan, ranked No. 537 in the world, 6-3, 6-1.

Manish Sureshkumar added to the joy for the Indian tennis fraternity by knocking out the 12th seed Luca Castelnuovo 7-6, 6-4.

In an all-Indian clash, 10th seed Dev Javia defeated Keerthivassan Suresh 6- 4, 6-2 to book his spot in the second and final round of qualifying.

India’s Sidharth Rawat fought valiantly as he came from a set and 5-2 down against fifth seed Eric Vanshelboim to force a decider before bowing out in three sets 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.

Top seed Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg and second seed Kimmer Coppejans were among those who advanced to the second and final round of qualifying as well on Sunday.

The final round of the qualifying draw will take place on Monday February 3rd along with some of the main draw matches at the SDAT Tennis Stadium in Chennai.

Three Indians – Ramkumar Ramanathan, Mukund Sasikumar and Karan Singh – will feature in the main draw after receiving wildcard entries. Great Britain’s Billy Harris, ranked No 129 in the world, and South African Lloyd Harris, ranked No 142, are the top seeds in the main draw.

– Team Sportstar

WEIGHTLIFTING

Vaishnav Thakur breaks snatch NR in men’s 102kg weightlifting but ‘one-legged’ Jagdish wins gold

Maharashtra weightlifter Vaishnav Thakur broke the snatch national record in the men’s 102kg category but settled for silver as he was beaten in total lift by Services’ Jagdish Vishwakarma who completed his clean-and-jerk effort standing on just one leg at the National Games here Sunday.

Vaishnav lifted 160kg in the snatch section, surpassing the previous national record of 157kg which was in the name of Jagdish. But a poor clean-and-jerk effort of 175kg meant that Vaishnav finished second in total lift (335kg).

Jagdish, who could only come up with 152kg in snatch, lifted 193kg in clean and jerk for a total of 345kg to win the gold, while Haryana’s Harshit Sehrawat (329kg) took the bronze.

Just like he had done in a competition last year, Jagdish lifted his left leg after his clean-and-jerk effort and stood on just one leg for a fraction of a second. But by then he had completed the lift, meaning that it was a ‘good lift’.

Medals are awarded only for total lift in the National Games.

Jagadish, while acknowledging the loss of his record, praised Vaishnav, stating, “I always tell the youngsters, don’t focus on medals, focus on breaking records. Vaishnav did that today, but I am not done yet, this has fired me up even more.” In the women’s 81kg category, Vanshita Verma of Chandigarh secured the gold medal with a total lift of 208kg, successfully lifting 93kg in snatch and 115kg in clean and jerk.

Manpreet of Punjab claimed the silver with a total of 197kg (85kg snatch, 112kg clean and jerk), while Anjana Sreejith of Kerala took the bronze with a total of 196kg.

The women’s 87kg event saw Tamil Nadu’s Arockiya Alish clinch gold with a total lift of 221kg, followed by Modhusmrita Baruah of Assam, who won silver with 208kg, and Usha of Karnataka, who secured bronze with 197kg.

In the men’s 109kg category, Rajasthan’s Harcharan Singh dominated the event, lifting 160kg in snatch and 187kg in clean and jerk, to secure the gold medal with a total of 347kg.

Mohd Jameer Hussain (Services) won the silver with a total of 337kg (150kg snatch, 187kg clean and jerk). Manish of Haryana attempted a national record of 193kg in clean and jerk but failed, settling for bronze with a total lift of 331kg.

-PTI

GOLF

International Series championship: Ollie Schniederjans crowned champion

It was a brilliantly consistent fare from Ollie Schniederjans as he wound up with a 10-under 178, and beat fellow American and two-time Major champion Bryson DeChambeau by four shots, in the International Series golf championship, in front of a packed arena, at the DLF here on Sunday.

The 31-year-old Ollie, a former world No.1 amateur player who had grappled with hip surgeries and tackled many months away from the game, was phenomenal in tackling the challenges of the tough course with rounds of 71, 69, 69, 69 over the four days.

In fact, the delayed starts owing to the fog, meant that Ollie along with most, had to play 27 holes for the day, as the players finished their third round in the morning and continued without any break with the fourth round, in the shotgun format.

The champion collected $3,60,000 and Bryson, who shot the best round of the whole tournament a 7-under 65 for the day, had to settle for $2,40,000.

“This golf course is very demanding. I had to stay really focused and execute. You can make a mess of it any time. This win gives me a lot of confidence,” said Ollie.

Happy to find his rhythm, playing regularly for the past year, Ollie felt it was “great fun” competing on the Asian Tour.

More than beating Bryson, he was particularly thrilled to have played in the same group with the overnight leader, Joaquin Niemann of Chile.

“It was amazing to play 27 holes today with Niemann. He is extremely special, playing his type of game. It takes everything you have got, to compete against these guys,” said Ollie.

More than the very strong field, Ollie was pleased to have hit “perfect shots for four days” as “you get punished for the poor shots”.

He said that there was no time to correct the errors after the day and that he had to “self-correct” as he continued to tackle the course throughout the day.

Among the Indians, Anirban Lahiri returned his best score of 4-under 68 for the day, and finished joint 10th with a 2-over 290, collecting $32,083 for his effort.

Gaganjeet Bhullar was joint 24th and pocketed $17,950.

The 15-year-old amateur, Kartik Singh was joint 53rd with a 15-over 303. The experience from the competitive field would do him a world of good, more than any money he could have earned had he been a professional.

Two-time Major champion, the former World No.1 for 331 weeks, Greg Norman, who had won 88 pro titles, enlivened the trophy presentation with his presence. It was a brilliantly consistent fare from Ollie Schniederjans as he wound up with a 10-under 178, and beat fellow American and two-time Major champion Bryson DeChambeau by four shots, in the International Series golf championship, in front of a packed arena, at the DLF here on Sunday.

The 31-year-old Ollie, a former world No.1 amateur player who had grappled with hip surgeries and tackled many months away from the game, was phenomenal in tackling the challenges of the tough course with rounds of 71, 69, 69, 69 over the four days.

In fact, the delayed starts owing to the fog, meant that Ollie along with most, had to play 27 holes for the day, as the players finished their third round in the morning and continued without any break with the fourth round, in the shotgun format.

The champion collected $3,60,000 and Bryson, who shot the best round of the whole tournament a 7-under 65 for the day, had to settle for $2,40,000.

“This golf course is very demanding. I had to stay really focused and execute. You can make a mess of it any time. This win gives me a lot of confidence,” said Ollie.

Happy to find his rhythm, playing regularly for the past year, Ollie felt it was “great fun” competing on the Asian Tour.

More than beating Bryson, he was particularly thrilled to have played in the same group with the overnight leader, Joaquin Niemann of Chile.

“It was amazing to play 27 holes today with Niemann. He is extremely special, playing his type of game. It takes everything you have got, to compete against these guys,” said Ollie.

More than the very strong field, Ollie was pleased to have hit “perfect shots for four days” as “you get punished for the poor shots”.

He said that there was no time to correct the errors after the day and that he had to “self-correct” as he continued to tackle the course throughout the day.

Among the Indians, Anirban Lahiri returned his best score of 4-under 68 for the day, and finished joint 10th with a 2-over 290, collecting $32,083 for his effort.

Gaganjeet Bhullar was joint 24th and pocketed $17,950.

The 15-year-old amateur, Kartik Singh was joint 53rd with a 15-over 303. The experience from the competitive field would do him a world of good, more than any money he could have earned had he been a professional.

Two-time Major champion, the former World No.1 for 331 weeks, Greg Norman, who had won 88 pro titles, enlivened the trophy presentation with his presence.

-Kamesh Srinivasan