Indian sports activities news wrap, December 22

Here all of the updates, outcomes and developments from the world of Indian sports activities on Friday, December 22.

TENNIS

Sahaja reaches ITF ladies’s event semis

Sahaja Yamalapalli sustained her sturdy sport to beat Hiromi Abe of Japan 6-3, 6-2 within the quarterfinals of the $25,000 ITF ladies’s tennis event on the MSLTA Centre in Solapur on Friday.

Hiromi had crushed top-seed Maria Timofeeva within the earlier spherical. Seventh seed Sahaja will play Saki Imamura of Japan within the semifinals.

The different semifinal will function Ekaterina Makarova, who beat Vaidehi Chaudhari for the lack of six video games, and sixth seed Diana Marcinkevica of Latvia, who ousted third seed Sapfo Sakellaridi of Greece in straight units.

The doubles closing shall be an all-Japanese affair between Funa Kozaki and Misaki Matsuda in opposition to Hiromi Abe and Saki Imamura.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

Chandana wins second successive singles title

Fourth seed Chandana Potugari beat second seed Samaira Malik 7-6(4), 6-2 within the closing of the Rs. 100,000 AITA ladies’s tennis event on the Joygaon Academy in Jhajjar on Friday.

It was the second successive singles title over a fortnight on the identical venue for the 22-year-old Chandana, who trains with coach Ganesh Raman in Hyderabad.

Chandana didn’t drop a set in the entire event and had conceded solely 11 video games in her three earlier rounds after a bye within the first. That included a victory over top-seed Tanushri Pandey within the semifinals.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

Swarandeep loses over-35 ITF Masters closing

Joseph Zotinkhuma beat top-seed Swarandeep Singh Dhodi 6-4, 6-4 within the over-35 closing of the ITF Masters tennis event on the Tennis Project, Baliawas.

Aditya Khanna, Hitesh Behl, Sanjeev Magon and Mani Mohan Nehru had been the winners within the different age teams.

In the over-35 ladies’s occasion, Sohini Kumari had emerged the champion whereas Nikunj Kamal and Nazneen Rahman positioned second and third, respectively, in a league format that includes 5 gamers.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

BOXING

Sonia Lather, Kalaivani make successful begin National Boxing C’ships

World Championships silver medallist Sonia Lather of Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) and Tamil Nadu’s S. Kalaivani began their campaigns with dominating victories on the opening day of the ladies’s National Boxing Championships in Greater Noida.

Sonia began the bout aggressively in opposition to Mahi Lama of Madhya Pradesh within the 57kg opening spherical match earlier than securing a snug 5-0 win.

Kalaivani, final version’s silver medallist, additionally proved too sturdy for Milano Mj of Kerala within the 48kg match.

Kalaivani’s relentless assault compelled the referee to cease the competition within the third spherical and declare her the winner.

Kalaivani will subsequent sq. off in opposition to Haryana’s Gitika, who beat Meraj Begum of Telangana after the referee stopped the competition (RSC), within the subsequent spherical.

Rinku (52kg) and Tannu (57kg) had been the opposite boxers from Haryana to register victories and progress into the spherical of 16.

Meanwhile, the 2021 Asian Youth Championships silver medallist Nivedita Karki (48kg) of Uttarakhand dominated Veronica Sohshang of Meghalaya to safe a RSC win in Round 2.

– PTI

GOLF

Bhullar maintains two-shot lead at midway stage

Indian star golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar maintained his two-shot benefit after signing for a six-under 66 in spherical two of Rs 3 crore TATA Steel Tour Championship right here on Friday.

Bhullar’s (64-66) whole on the midway stage learn 14-under 130.

Rahil Gangjee (70-62) shot a private better of 10-under 62 to maneuver up 21 spots into tied second place at 12-under 132.

Gangjee, who scored 10 birdies on the day, thus matched the earlier greatest rating achieved in a mixed spherical at Beldih and Golmuri golf programs.

Bhullar, a 12-time worldwide winner, continued his spectacular run with an error-free 66. He made birdies on 4 out of the 5 par-5s and drove the inexperienced on the par-4 fourth to arrange one other birdie.

Bhullar’s sixth birdie was a 15-feet conversion.

Gangjee additionally made two lengthy conversions on the front-nine. The three-time worldwide winner went on so as to add three extra birdies on the back-nine at Beldih.

Cheema produced seven birdies and a bogey throughout his 66 to finish the day in joint second place together with Gangjee.

Defending champion Chikkarangappa (67) was in tied for seventeenth place at seven-under 137.

TATA Steel PGTI Ranking chief Om Prakash Chouhan (68) was positioned tied thirty third at four-under 140.

The two Jamshedpur-based professionals Karan Taunk (even-par 144) and Kurush Heerjee (three-over 147) had been positioned tied 57th and tied sixty fourth respectively.

– PTI

BILLIARDS

Dhruv Sitwala gained his maiden senior National billiards title on Friday with a surprising 5-3 victory over his Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) colleague Sourav Kothari within the closing in Chennai.

Sitwala entered the ultimate after stunning world champion Pankaj Advani by an equivalent margin within the last-four stage earlier within the day.

Sitwala, runner-up final yr, rallied to beat the skilled Kothari 37-150, 152-25, 23-152, 151-5, 65-150, 151-135, 150-132 and 151-66 to cap off a memorable run that additionally noticed him put it previous defending champion Brijesh Damani within the pre-quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, Sitwala gained the ultimate two frames in model, 150-38 and 150-0 to seal the competition in opposition to Advani, who had levelled at 3-all.

Kothari had completed runner-up to Advani within the World billiards closing in Doha final month and gained his maiden senior National snooker crown within the ongoing ninetieth National Billiards and Snooker Championships.

After runner-up finishes within the Sub-junior ladies’ billiards and snooker and junior ladies’ billiards, Gujarat’s Aanya Patel gained the junior ladies’ snooker crown, beating Karnataka’s Natasha Chetan 3-0 within the closing.

– PTI

CRICKET

England’s bodily disabled crew embarks on first-ever tour of India

In a groundbreaking growth, the bodily disabled cricket crew of England is ready to embark on its maiden tour of India.

The crew, comprising extremely expert and devoted gamers, will interact in a sequence of matches in opposition to India from January 28 subsequent yr to February 6.

“The support and guidance of Jay Shah ji, Secretary, Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) have been instrumental in realising this historic tour. He has championed the cause of inclusivity in cricket, recognising the importance of providing opportunities for differently-abled athletes to shine on the international stage,” Differently Abled Cricket Council of India stated in an announcement.

“The unwavering assist from Anil Patel, secretary of the Gujarat Cricket Association, has been a driving pressure behind this tour. This tour is a big milestone within the world effort to advertise inclusivity and break down boundaries in sports activities.

– PTI