Indian sports wrap, September 13: Abhay Singh makes winning start in Egyptian Open

SQUASH

Abhay Singh makes winning start in Egyptian Open squash

Abhay Singh made a winning start at the Egyptian Open, a USD 366,000 PSA World Tour Diamond event, in Giza on Friday by defeating French world No. 17 Gregoire Marche in straight games.

World No. 38 Abhay, a multiple-time National champion, won 12-10, 11-9, 11-3 in 36 minutes for what was his career-best win in terms of victory over an opponent by ranking.

Abhay, who trains at the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai, will meet Egyptian 10th seed Youssef Ibrahim in the round of 32.

Meanwhile, reigning National champion Velavan Senthilkumar lost in the opening round to British world No. 28 Jonah Bryant 8-11, 11-5, 9-11, 1-11.

-Team Sportstar

GOLF

Hitaashee and Ridhima make the cut in Swiss Ladies Open

Ridhima Dilawari, playing on an invite, and Hitaashee Bakshi were the only two Indians to make the cut at the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open.

Both the Indian golfers shot 71-69 to get to 2-under 140 at the Par-71 Golfpark Holzhäusern in wet conditions. They were both Tied-23rd.

The other Indians, Vani Kapoor (74-70), Sneha Singh (70-75), last year’s runner-up Tvesa Malik (72-74), and Pranavi Urs (74-76) missed the cut and exited early.

England’s Alice Hewson took a two-shot lead, sitting at nine under par after 36 holes. The two-time LET winner – and defending champion – began the day on the 10th tee.

After a shaky start with bogeys on the 12th and 13th, she found her rhythm, rolling in six birdies on the way to a second round of four under par (67).

Ridhima, who has had very few starts on the LET this season, began well as she had five birdies against three bogeys. In one stretch between the sixth and the 12th, she had four birdies, two bogeys, and just one par.

Hitaashee had four birdies and just one bogey for his 2-under 69.

Defending champion Hewson credited her work with sports psychologist Dan for helping her stay in the moment and focus on one shot at a time, a mindset she feels has been a big positive this week.

Two shots back are Ireland’s Lauren Walsh and Australia’s Sarah Kemp, who sit in a tie for second place on seven under par through 36 holes.

Walsh had a steady, bogey-free round, with back-to-back birdies on the 9th and 10th holes.

A further shot back are a total of three players in a tie for fourth place, including Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz, Wales’ Lydia Hall, and Germany’s Celina Sattelkau, who all sit on six-under par.

It’s a stacked leaderboard, with five players sitting in a tie for seventh place on five-under par.

The players included Norway’s Dorthea Forbrigd, France’s Agathe Sauzon and Camille Chevalier, Germany’s Carolin Kauffmann, and Spain’s Harang Lee.

Switzerland’s Kim Metraux, Chiara Tamburlini, and amateur Axelle Martin are all a further shot back alongside Canada’s Anna Huang and Germany’s Alexandra Forsterling.

After 36 holes of action 67 players made the cut which fell at one-over par.

-PTI

Theegala makes first cut since April, lies 14th; Bhatia is 37th

Sahith Theegala rediscovered some touch from his title run here three years ago, carding rounds of 68 and 70 to make the cut at the Procore Championship.

It was his first cut since the RBC Heritage in April this year. After that, he withdrew once and missed the cut four times, as he struggled with a neck injury.

The Indian-American golfer, who was sixth after the first round, is currently Tied-14th at the halfway stage.

Among those tied at 14th was World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (70-68), who is using this event to tune up ahead of the Ryder Cup.

Akshay Bhatia, also sixth after the first round 68, added 73 in the second to be Tied-37th.

While Theegala missed the Play-offs, Bhatia made the second event and finished in the Top-50 of Fedex Cup standings.

Ben Griffin, who makes his Ryder Cup debut this year, played bogey-free for the second straight day with a 6-under 66 to build a three-shot lead.

Two “cup” players were behind him — one of them fellow Ryder Cup rookie Russell Henley (68), the other Jackson Koivun, the top-ranked amateur who went 3-1 last week at Cypress Point to help lead the Americans to a Walker Cup victory.

They tied, three behind Griffin, who was at 14-under 130.

J.J. Spaun, the U.S. Open champion who also will be at Bethpage Black for the Ryder Cup, shot 68 but was five shots behind, along with Lanto Griffin (70).

-PTI

Published on Sep 13, 2025