Indian sports wrap, February 25: Manas Dhamne reaches Maha Open quarterfinals

TENNIS

Dhamne storms into Maha Open quarterfinals

Local Boy and wildcard Manas Dhamne stormed into the men’s singles quarterfinals at the Maha Open ATP Challenger 75 tennis tournament, being held at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune.

Unseeded players, Duje Ajdukovic of Croatia, Alastair Gray of Great Britain, and sixth-seeded Italian Federico Cina were the other players from the top half to reach the last-eight stage.

Dhamne advanced after former top-50 player Ilya Ivashka retired while trailing 3-6. Dhamne looked confident and composed, striking cleanly from the backcourt before the Belarusian was forced to pull out due to injury. Manas will now take on Ajdukovic in the quarterfinals on Friday.

The unseeded Ajdukovic delivered a dominant all-round display to upset fifth seed Frederico Ferreira Silva of Portugal 6-2, 6-2.

Gray scripted one of the most thrilling wins of the tournament, fighting back from a set down to upset third seed Ilia Simakin 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-5 in a 2-hour 50-minute thriller.

Meanwhile, Cina continued his impressive run with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Japan’s Yuta Shimizu. Cina was sharp on serve and aggressive on return, dictating rallies and closing out the match in straight sets in just over an hour.

In the doubles first round, top seeds Siddhant Banthia (India) and Alexander Donski (Bulgaria) overcame a stiff first-set challenge to beat Luca Castelnuovo (Switzerland) and Uisung Park (Korea) 7-6(5), 6-2. After clinching a tight tie-break, the top pair ran away with the second set.

Indian wildcards Saketh Myneni and Digvijaypratap Singh impressed with a solid 6-3, 6-3 victory over Japan’s Masamichi Imamura and Kokoro Isomura, displaying sharp net play and effective teamwork.

Jay Clarke (Great Britain) and Michael Geerts (Belgium) registered a clinical 6-3, 6-4 win over the Japanese duo of Takuya Kumasaka and Rio Noguchi.

Ryuki Matsuda (Japan) and Simakin battled past Aryan Lakshmanan (India) and Mitsuki Wei Kang Leong (Malaysia) 7-6(3), 7-5 in a closely contested encounter.

-Team Sportstar

Felix Gill knocks out Sumit Nagal at PMRDA Powered MahaOpen ATP Challenger 75

Britain’s Felix Gill knocked out India’s top singles player Sumit Nagal in a gripping three-set contest to enter the quarterfinals of the PMRDA Powered Maha Open ATP Challenger 75 men’s tennis championship in Pune on Thursday.

Gill prevailed 7-6(4), 0-6, 6-3 in a marathon encounter that lasted two hours and 37 minutes at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex.

Nagal twice broke serve in the opening set but failed to consolidate the advantage, allowing Gill to force a tie-break. The Brit held his composure to take it 7-4. Nagal, however, responded emphatically in the second set, handing the 300th-ranked Gill a bagel to level the match.

With the contest finely poised at one set apiece, Gill regrouped in the decider. He secured the crucial break and maintained his edge to seal a hard-fought win, avenging his defeat to Nagal in Chennai two weeks ago.

Eighth seed Edas Butvilas of Lithuania advanced with a dominant 6-3, 6-0 victory over qualifier Tung-Lin Wu in just 58 minutes. Butvilas dictated play from the baseline and did not allow his opponent to settle, especially in a one-sided second set.

The biggest upset of the day came when Japanese qualifier Masamichi Imamura stunned second seed Jay Clarke 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 19 minutes. Imamura played aggressive tennis and capitalised on key break-point opportunities to secure a straight-sets win.

In Friday’s quarterfinals, Indian interest will centre on local wildcard Manas Dhamne, who is scheduled to face Croatia’s Duje Ajdukovic at 3 pm.

-Team Sportstar

Rising star Vaishnavi Adkar among Indians to feature in ITF W35 Kalaburagi next week

Rising star Vaishnavi Adkar will be among a host of Indian players to feature in the ITF W35 Kalaburagi, the biggest international women’s tennis tournament to be held in Kalaburagi, from March 1 to 8.

The USD 30,000 tournament, part of the ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour, marks the city’s first-ever ITF W35-level women’s professional event.

The tournament, to be played at the Chandrashekar Patil Stadium, will feature a 32-player singles main draw, preceded by a 32-player qualifying event, beginning on March 1, along with a 16-team doubles draw. Main draw matches will commence on March 3.

As an ITF W35-category event, it offers valuable ranking points and an important opportunity for players aspiring to progress to higher-tier competitions, including the WTA Tour.

The event has attracted a competitive international field from 11 countries, including Thailand’s Achisa Chanta (WR 443) and the Netherlands’ Jasmijn Gimbrere (WR 431).

There is also a strong Indian presence in the singles main draw, led by Vaishnavi, who recently climbed to India’s No. 2 and made history at last week’s ITF Women’s Open W100 in Bengaluru. She became the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2009 to reach an ITF W100 level or higher singles final.

She is joined by Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty and Ankita Raina, both of whom also delivered impressive performances last week in Bengaluru. Also featuring in the main draw are Zeel Desai, Akanksha Dileep Nitture, Shruti Ahlawat and Sonal Patil.

The city has previously staged ITF Women’s USD 10,000 events in 2012 and two successive editions in 2015.

-PTI

Ramkumar-Jeevan lose in first round in Dubai

Indian qualifiers Ramkumar Ramanathan and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan were eliminated in the opening round of men’s doubles at the Dubai Tennis Championships, an ATP 500 event, on Wednesday.

Ramkumar and Jeevan went down 4-6, 7-5, [10-3] to the French duo of Theo Arribage and Albano Olivetti in an hour and 26 minutes.

At the WTA 500 event in Merida, India’s Rutuja Bhosale and her Japanese partner Makoto Ninomiya received a walkover in the first round. The duo will be up against the second-seeded Spanish-Chinese pair of Cristina Bucsa and Xinyu Jiang in the quarterfinals.

-Team Sportstar

KABADDI

Haryana, Delhi, UP and TN continue strong run in National Men’s Kabaddi Championship

Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu recorded big wins on the second day of the Senior National Men’s Kabaddi Championship in Vadodara on Wednesday.

In Pool A, Haryana hammered Telangana 49-18 with Neeraj Narwal leading the team with 11 points. He was assisted by Nitin Kumar, who amassed nine points, along with Surjeet Singh and Nitesh Kumar, who scored four tackle points each.

In an earlier Pool A match, Andhra Pradesh pipped Telangana 47-45.

In Pool B, Madhya Pradesh scored a narrow 35–34 win over Goa. Bhavani Rajput led with 14 points, and Uday Parte contributed nine as MP held its nerve in the closing moments.

In Pool C, Tamil Nadu recorded a 40–21 win against Vidarbha. Sathish Kannan scored eight points, while Deepak S anchored the defence with eight tackle points.

In another Pool C game, Himachal Pradesh defeated Gujarat 51–34. Anil led the charge with 14 points, supported by Pappu Kamal Kumar and Mayank Saini.

Gujarat’s Mitesh Prajapati scored 13, but Himachal’s superior tackle count and four all-outs made the difference.

In Pool D, Uttar Pradesh crushed Manipur by a margin of 37 points as it won 70-33. Uday Dabas starred with a massive 25-point performance, while Sourabh added 12.

UP piled up 53 raid points and inflicted eight all-outs to completely overpower its opponent. Manipur’s Mayengbam Menson impressed with 18 points.

In Pool F, Kerala secured a 45–30 victory over Chhattisgarh. Nandhu T contributed 11 points, and Adithyan added 10 while Kerala’s defence ensured control throughout. Sankar Mishra was the standout for Chhattisgarh with 10 points.

Delhi, placed in Pool H, recorded a commanding 64-42 victory over Tripura. Ashish led from the front with 18 points, while Himanshu Singh chipped in with 14, including six all-outs. Tripura’s A Das produced a valiant 25-point effort.

-PTI

GOLF

Positive opening day for India at Dutch Junior International

Indians made a positive start as multiple men’s singles players progressed to the next round at the Dutch Junior International in Haarlem on Wednesday.

Dev Ruparelia registered a straight-game victory over Rokas Lesinskas of Lithuania, winning 21-15, 21-18 in a 29-minute contest.

He will next face fellow Indian Pranit Somani, who secured a hard-fought 21-13, 21-23, 21-11 win over Christopher Kunckel of Denmark in 49 minutes.

Akhil Reddy Bobba also advanced comfortably, defeating Jarno Deters of Germany 21-11, 21-9.

In other results, Samuel Tamang beat Nils Barion of Germany 21-9, 21-9 while Aanayan Borah defeated Milan Zeisig, also of Germany, 22-20, 21-19.

-PTI

PGTI’s 72 The League: Talwar beats Rashid

Saptak Talwar produced clutch golf down the closing stretch to slay Rashid Khan in a second-round singles match of PGTI’s 72 The League in Greater Noida on Wednesday.

Talwar’s Mumbai Aces recovered from a poor opening day and tallied nine points against Kolkata Classics to reach 11 points.

The overnight leader, Rajasthan Regals, did not have the best day, winning just one match and halving another against Charminar Champions, but remained at the top of the standings (17 points), where it was joined by UP Prometheans.

The Prometheans were denied a solo lead by a magic second shot from inside the trees by American Jhared Hack on the last hole. A hooked 8-iron second shot from 180 yards went straight in for an eagle, for a win that seemed impossible at one stage in the four-balls.

The 27-year-old Talwar gets a warm and fuzzy feeling on this golf course, where he won his first title as a professional golfer last year at the Adani Invitational Golf Championship.

-PTI

Aditya Raj Singh Chahal builds five-shot lead in round two

Aditya Raj Singh Chahal shot a four-under 68 in round two to build a five-shot lead with a total of seven-under 137 at the DP World PGTI NexGen at the Aravalli Golf Club in Faridabad on Wenesday.

Jaipur-based Aditya (69-68), the overnight joint leader, came up with an eagle, five birdies and three bogeys on day two to emerge as sole leader at the Rs. 25 lakh event.

Jujhar Singh (69) and Santosh Kumar (73) were tied second at totals of two-under 142. Sunny Singh (72) and Arjun Bhati (72) were tied fourth at one-under 143.

The top 43 players made the cut, which was declared at six-over 150.

-PTI

KHELO INDIA WINTER GAMES

Army defends Team Championship

Army won an overall nine goal medals, including eight in the Gulmarg leg, to defend its team championship title in the Khelo India Winter Games in Gulmarg on Wednesday.

Himachal Pradesh finished as the runner-up, with four goal medals, on the final day of the competition.

The closing ceremony of the KIWG will be held at the Golf Course in Gulmarg on Thursday, hosted by the Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council and managed by the Sports Authority of India.

The first leg of KIWG was held in Ladakh from January 20-26.

On the third day of the competition, Army and Himachal Pradesh won an equal number of four gold medals apiece, while host J&K won its first gold.

Karnataka’s veteran skier Bhavani Thekkada Nanjunda, who had clinched a hat-trick of gold medals at last year’s KIWG, finished at the top of the podium in Nordic women’s sprint across 1.5 kilometres.

Bhavani has participated in each of the six editions of the KIWG.

Zubaid Ahmad Lone brought cheer to Jammu and Kashmir by winning the men’s giant slalom race in the snowboarding competition. He warded off a stiff challenge from Army’s Vivek Rana.

J&K finished with a gold and a silver and took the 10th spot in the medal standings.

While Armyman Mayank Panwar was the slalom man of the Games with a pair of gold medals, Army showed complete domination in the Nordic (cross-country) events.

In the 15 kilometres Nordic skiing race, Mohammad Ali (34:21.49 secs) led an Army 1-2-3, with Padma Namgail (34:36.74 secs) winning the silver medal and Sunny Singh (35:16.83 secs) claiming the bronze.

Three skiers finished with double gold medals in this year’s KIWG, as CRPF’s Kajal Kumari Rai was joined by Panwar and Himachal Pradesh’s Preeti Thakur, who topped in both the slalom and giant slalom races in snowboarding.

-PTI

CRICKET

Indian deaf team wins inaugural ADCA T20I Asia Cup

The Indian deaf cricket team beat Sri Lanka by six wickets to win the inaugural Asia Cup T20 tournament in Cuttack on Wednesday.

The Indian side had earlier beaten Sri Lanka by four wickets in the first match of the competition before recording a commanding 10-wicket victory over Nepal.

Sri Lanka won the third match of the competition by six wickets against Nepal.

In a reverse fixture, Sri Lanka crushed Nepal by 157 runs, while the team from the island nation made India work hard for a narrow one-run win.

India, however, crushed Nepal in their next match by nine wickets to make its place in the final.

Sai Akash was adjudged Player-of-the-Match in the final for his 14-ball 27 and two wickets.

Sri Lanka’s Gimadu L Malkam was declared the best batter, as well as Player-of-the-series for scoring 196 runs. His compatriot Gihan Lasidu D’ Silva was named the best bowler for his 10 wickets in the competition.

-PTI

Published on Feb 26, 2026