Indian sports wrap, February 4: Sumit Nagal reaches pre-quarterfinals of Rosario Challenger

TENNIS

Sumit Nagal reaches pre-quarterfinals of Rosario Challenger

Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal progressed to the pre-quarterfinals after a hard-fought win over local favourite Renzo Olivo at the 2025 Rosario Challenger in Rosario, Argentina.

Nagal, seeded eighth, displayed determination and grit to rally his way to a 5-7, 6-1, 6-0 win over Olivo on Monday.

The 27-year-old Indian will next face the winner of the match between Chinese Taipei’s Tseng Chun-hsin and Bolivian Hugo Dellien.

– PTI

BASKETBALL

Madhya Pradesh and Telangana crowned men’s and women’s basketball 3×3 champions

Madhya Pradesh and Telangana won the men’s and women’s basketball 3×3 gold medals after beating Kerala in the finals of both sections at the National Games in Dehradun on Tuesday.

Madhya Pradesh won 22-20 in a hard-fought men’s summit clash against Kerala, while Tamil Nadu beat Telangana 21-16 to win the bronze.

In the women’s final, Telangana triumphed 21-11 over Kerala with a commanding performance. Telangana defended their title which they had won in the 2023 National Games in Goa.

Madhya Pradesh took the bronze after beating Tamil Nadu 14-12 in the third-place match.

Earlier in the men’s semifinals, Madhya Pradesh had secured 18-14 victory over Telangana, while Kerala narrowly edged past Tamil Nadu 16-15.

In the women’s semifinals, Telangana had defeated Tamil Nadu 18-11 while Kerala won 13-10 victory over Madhya Pradesh.

-PTI

CYCLING

Footballer-turned cyclist David Beckham of Anadaman & Nicobar wins gold in National Games

Andaman and Nicobar Islands cyclist David Beckham Elkatohchoongo, whose last name saved him from denying entry in the United Kingdom for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, on Tuesday won gold in the men’s elite sprint event at the National Games here.

The 21-year-old Elkatohchoongo clocked a time of 10.691 seconds in two laps to win the gold while Laitonjam Ronaldo Singh (10.724 seconds) of Manipur and another Andaman and Nicobar Islands cyclist Esow Alben (10.826 seconds) took the silver and bronze respectively.

It was a tough fight among the three best cyclists of the country competing at the brand new Shivalik Velodrome here, with Elkatohchoongo emerging on top ultimately.

When Elkatohchoongo landed in the UK for the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, the British immigration officers were stumped when he told them his name. They asked him if David Beckham was his real name.

After double checking of his passport, he was allowed entry by the immigration officers.

Elkatohchoongo’s name was given by his father who was a ‘street footballer’ and a fan of charismatic English football great and former captain David Beckham.

Elkatohchoongo’s first love was also football but later shifted to cycling which is quite popular in Andaman and Nicobar Islands which has produced the likes of Deborah Herold, the first Indian cyclist to win a medal in Asian Senior Championships and world number four at one time.

Elkatohchoongo was the best Indian cyclist at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, reaching to the quarterfinals.

His and 22-year-old Ronaldo’s presence in the Indian cycling team for the Hangzhou Asian Games created a lot of buzz in the foreign media because of their names.

Ronaldo was given his name by his father as he was born during the 2002 World Cup which Brazil won with Ronaldinho playing a big role in the triumph.

Ronaldo is a sprint silver medallist at the 2022 Asian Championships.

Esow Alben was the first Indian cyclist to win an individual medal at the global level, a silver in keirin event at the 2018 junior track world championships. He won a silver in sprint and a bronze in keirin in the 2019 edition also.

Esow and Ronaldo were also part of the quartet that won the team sprint gold in the 2019 junior track world championships.

In other events of the day, Karnataka’s Keerthi Rangaswamy won the gold medal in the women elite scratch 10km race. Assam’s Chayanika Gogoi clinched the silver medal, while Meenakshi from Haryana bagged the bronze.

In the men’s elite scratch race (15km), Services Sahil Kumar won the gold medal. Kerala’s Adwaith Sankar and Krishna Nayakodi, also of Services, clinched the silver and bronze medals respectively.

Maharashtra’s Shweta Balu Gunjal bagged the gold medal in the women’s elite Sprint with a timing of 12.745 seconds. Andaman and Nicoba’s Celestina (12.848 seconds) secured the second place while Triyasha Paul of Delhi clocked 12.799 seconds to bag the bronze medal.

-PTI

BADMINTON

Anmol wins women’s singles gold, Satish Kumar claims men’s singles, mixed doubles titles

Rising shuttler Anmol Kharb of Haryana continued her impressive run to win gold in women’s singles while Tamil Nadu’s Satish Kumar Karunakaran claimed the men’s singles as well as doubles title at the 38th National Games in Uttarakhand on Tuesday.

Kharb defeated top seed Anupama Upadhyaya in straight games in the women’s singles final to claim the gold medal.

The 18-year-old, a member of the gold medal-winning Indian team at the Asia Team Championships, showcased her skill and determination by outclassing world number 43 Anupama 21-16, 22-20 to secure the top prize.

The gold medal marked another milestone in Anmol’s rising career, following her runner-up finish at the Guwahati Masters Super 100 tournament last December and her victories at the Belgian and Polish Internationals last year.

In the men’s singles final, top seed Karunakaran beat Suryaksh Rawat of Uttarakhand 21-17 21-17 in a dominating performance to win gold on the final day of badminton competitions.

Karunakaran had earlier in the day teamed up with Aadya Variyath to eke out a hard-fought 21-11, 20-22, 21-8 win over Deep Rambhiya and Akshaya Warang of Maharashtra in the mixed doubles gold medal match.

In the men’s doubles, Nithin HV and Prakash Raj S defeated Vaibhav and Ashith Surya 21-16, 21-14 in a one-sided all-Karnataka final to take home the coveted gold.

Karnataka pair of Shikha Gautam and Ashwini Bhat won gold in the women’s doubles after beating Angel Punera and Anya Bisht of Uttarakhand 21-11 21-13 in the final.

Star shuttler and home state favourite Lakshya Sen, ranked world number 10, withdrew from the competition at the last moment on Monday.

– PTI