Indian sports wrap, July 8: Rayhan Thomas logs first Top-10 finish in his second start as pro

GOLF

Rayhan Thomas logs first Top-10 finish in his second start as pro

India’s Rayhan Thomas, playing only his second professional event, got a big boost in his career as he finished in the top 10 at the USD 2 million International Series Morocco golf tournament here.

The Indian golfer, based in Dubai but played college golf in the US, shot 69-73-69-72 to finish 9-under for the week and was tied eighth and the best Indian in the field. Of the 16 India who started only five made the cut.

The next best Indian on the final leaderboard was Veer Ahlawat (73) who was T-29, while Olympic-bound Gaganjeet Bhullar (79) was T-33 alongside Varun Chopra (74) and Rashid Khan (74) was T-37.

Thomas, who played for India six times at the prestigious Asia Pacific Amateurs with a best of second place, made his pro debut last month at the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open, where he made the cut and finished T-68.

Thomas, who got an invite this week to Morocco, will be hoping for another shot at the International Series in England at Foxhills in August and some more on Asian the Tour.

-PTI

SQUASH

Chotrani loses five-game thriller in Houston squash final

India’s Veer Chotrani lost a five-game thriller in the final of the Kanso Open squash, a USD 9000 PSA Challenger Tour event, to Pakistan’s Muhammad Ashab Irfan in Houston on Sunday.

Fourth seed Chotrani, ranked 106 in the world, rallied to level twice but the third seeded Irfan clinched the decider for a 11-7, 8-11, 12-10, 8-11, 11-8 victory in 80 minutes.

Earlier, the 22-year-old Chotrani advanced to his fifth Tour final with a 11-3, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7 win over Mexican second seed Alfredo Avila Vergara.

-Team Sportstar