Indian sports wrap, October 2: Rohit Bansiwal beats Kenyan Victor Kurgat to win Vedanta Zinc City half marathon gold

ATHLETICS

Vedanta half marathon: Rohit Bansiwal beats Kenyan Victor Kurgat to win gold

Rohit Bansiwal from Tonk, Rajasthan, beat Kenyan Victor Kurgat by two minutes to clinch the gold in the Vedanta Zinc City half marathon. He clocked one hour, 11 minutes and 22 seconds for the 21 kilometre race.

Delhi’s Madina Paul won the women’s half marathon, beating Sonal Sukhwal by 12 minutes.

Ajit Kumar and Khushboo won the men’s and women’s 10 kilometre race respectively.

It was a memorable run for the participants in the scenic route around the Fateh Sagar Lake and the Aravalli ranges, apart from Maharaja Pratap Smarak, Neemuch Mata Mandir hill and lush green gardens.

The CEO of Hindustan Zinc that hosted the inaugural half marathon, Arun Misra, an avid runner, completed the half marathon.

“I am absolutely thrilled that this event has firmly put Zinc City Udaipur on the international marathon map,” said Arun Misra.

The message of the run was #RunForZeroHunger, a drive to eradicate rural malnutrition.

The results:

Half marathon: Men: 1. Rohit Bansiwal 1: 11:22; 2. Victor Kurgat 1:13:21; 3. Gopal Bairwa 1:13:22.

Women: 1. Madina Paul 1:33:32; 2. Sonal Sukhwal 1:45:16; 3. Khushi Pahwa 1:52:03.

10 km: Men: 1. Ajit Kumar 32:40; 2. Ganpat Singh 32:59; 3. Durgendra 33:07.

Women: 1. Khushboo 40:39; 2. Sapna Kumari 41:19; 3. Sunita Gurjar 45:02.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

GOLF

Vizag Open: Milind Soni scores eight-under 63 to take three-shot lead

Rookie Milind Soni of Hyderabad hogged the limelight the first day with an eight-under 63 to take a three-shot lead in the Rs. 1 crore Vizag Open golf championship at East Point Golf Club on Wednesday.

Two of the pre-tournament favourites, Khalin Joshi of Bengaluru and Patna’s Aman Raj were tied second with scores of five-under 66.

The 19-year-old Milind Soni, who has so far posted one top-10 in his rookie season, was off to a great start with a birdie on the 10th, his opening hole of the tournament. Milind, in terrific form with the putter, then sank four birdies from a range of 15 to 20 feet.

Thereafter, Soni made more gains with his exceptional approach shots that set up birdies on the fourth and seventh. Milind finally capped off his flawless round with another long conversion on the eighth.

Soni, who has been India’s No. 1 Junior and No. 2 Amateur in the past, said, “With narrow fairways and thick rough here at the EPGC, there was a premium on hitting greens in regulation and I made 16 regulations today. My putter was hot and I hardly missed any putts.

“I have good memories of the EPGC having won my second and last amateur title here back in 2022. I also had a third-place finish at an amateur event here in 2023. So, despite missing the cut at my home course last week in Hyderabad, I came into this event with a lot of confidence.

“As the weather conditions were very tough with the heat and humidity making life tough for the professionals, I adapted well by keeping myself hydrated and wiping my hands regularly.”

Khalin Joshi too produced an error-free round. His five birdies featured a couple of tap-ins including one on the eighth where he narrowly missed a hole-in-one.

Aman Raj made six birdies including a chip-in against a lone bogey.

Reigning champion N Thangaraja of Sri Lanka fired a 70 to be tied 21st.

Among the Visakhapatnam-based golfers, S Muthu (75) was the highest-placed at tied 93rd.

-Team Sportstar