Indian Sports Wrap, August 14: Anahat, Akanksha enter quarterfinals at Bega Open

SQUASH

Akanksha battles her way into the quarters

Fifth seed Akanksha Salunkhe fought her way past Sophie Fadaely 11-8, 7-11, 10-12, 11-4, 13-11 in the pre quarterfinals of the $27,500 NSW Bega Open PSA women’s squash championship in Australia.

Top seed Anahat Singh sailed into the quarterfinals in 18 minutes with a 11-3, 11-3, 11-4 victory over Sarah Cardwell of Australia.

In the quarterfinals, Anahat will play Hayley Ward of South Africa, and Akanksha will face fourth seed Alexandra Haydon of Australia.

Tanvi Khanna went down fighting 7-11 in the decisive fifth set against second seed Habiba Hani of Egypt, in the pre-quarterfinals, after having won a round earlier.

The seeded players had a bye in the first round.

The results (pre-quarterfinals):

Anahat Singh bt Sarah Cardwell (Aus) 11-3, 11-3, 11-4; Akanksha Salunkhe bt Sophie Fadaely (Aus) 11-8, 7-11, 10-12, 11-4, 13-11; Habiba Hani (Egy) bt Tanvi Khanna 11-6, 2-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7.

First round: Tanvi bt Breanne Flynn (Irl) 11-6, 11-9, 11-5.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

GOLF

Varoon Parmar finishes fifth

Varoon Parmar finished fifth overall, and runner-up in the 38-46 age group, in the Asia Pacific Mid-Amateur golf championship at the Gading Raya Golf Club in Indonesia.

The 43-year-old Varoon led after a four-under 68 in the second round, but finished at par 216 over three rounds.

Arjun Singh placed third in the 38-46 age group, with a two-over 218 in three rounds. Ranjit Singh was tied ninth with four-over 220, while Simarjeet Singh was joint 21st with 14-over 230.

Ashish Kapoor, competing as a private entry, was tied second in the over-47 age group.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

Sandhu dominates round three with a phenomenal 62, extends lead to three shots

Yuvraj Sandhu dominated the proceedings on day three with a phenomenal eight-under 62 to extend his lead to three shots at the Mysuru Open, a PGTI event.

A confident Sandhu, the leader from round one onwards, moved his total to an imposing 22-under 188.

The Chandigarh-based Sandhu (61-65-62), the current PGTI Order of Merit leader, is now staring at his third PGTI title of the season.

Delhi golfer Arjun Prasad also carded a 64 to move into sole third place at a total of 18-under 192 on another overcast day.

Chandigarh’s Karandeep Kochhar matched Sandhu’s first round tournament low of 61 to zoom 11 spots to tied fourth place at 17-under 193. Kochhar’s round featured an eagle and seven birdies.

P Prabhu and Dhruv Bopanna, the two Mysuru-based professionals who made the cut, were placed tied 47th at six-under 204.

-PTI

KHELO INDIA

Khelo India Water Sports Festival mascot released

The Himalayan Kingfisher was released as the mascot in Srinagar for the Khelo India Water Sports Festival to be staged at the Dal Lake from August 21 to 23.

The event will feature rowing, apart from canoeing and kayaking as medal events. There will also be demonstration events in water skiing, shikara race and dragon boat race, featuring about 400 athletes in all.

Khelo India Water Sports Festival mascot release in Srinagar
on Thursday.

Khelo India Water Sports Festival mascot release in Srinagar
on Thursday.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

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Khelo India Water Sports Festival mascot release in Srinagar
on Thursday.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

The Sports Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Satish Sharma, and MLA Tanvir Sadiq, unveiled the mascot and logo on Thursday.

The Himalayan Kingfisher is viewed as the festival’s ambassador, promoting eco-friendly sports, tourism and youth engagement.

“Gulmarg has already become the winter games capital of the country. Dal lake will become the country’s water sports hub,” said Sadiq.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

HOCKEY

Chandigarh, Uttarakhand notch up wins on Day 3 of Junior Men National Championship 2025

Chandigarh and Uttarakhand won their fixtures on the third day of the 15th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship while Himachal and Jammu & Kashmir settled for a draw in Jalandhar, Punjab.

The day began with the Division ‘B’ match between Himachal and Jammu & Kashmir which ended in a 5-5 draw as both sides shared a point. Captain Rajveer Singh (1’, 19’, 34’) was in scoring form for Jammu & Kashmir and bagged a hat-trick. The other two goalscorers in his team were Rohanpreet Singh (51’) and Gamanpreet Singh (56’). For Himachal, Gourav Kumar (43’, 53’) scored a brace with Anuj (15’), Pranshu Choudhary (18’) and Sukhmanpreet Singh (27’) also featuring on the scoresheet.

In the second match, Chandigarh enjoyed a narrow 4-3 win over Arunachal in their Division ‘B’, Pool A match. Rishav (8’), Moohamed Jaeed (19’), Fateh Singh (31’) and Prabhjot Singh (33’) were the scorers for the winning team. Captain Amarjeet Singh (17’, 36’, 53’) showcased brilliant individual skill by scoring a hat-trick of goals however, Hockey Arunachal fell short of a goal over the four quarters.

In the final fixture of the day, Uttarakhand secured a dominant 8-1 win over Assam . Mahendra Singh Bisht (33’, 37’), Rohit Airy (32’, 45’), Suraj Kumar (55’,60’), Vishal Kumar (2’) and Naveen Prasad (14’) scored goals for Uttarakhand. Rohan Ekka (29’) scored the lone goal for Assam.

– Team Sportstar

TENNIS

Sidharth Rawat in quarterfinals

Sidharth Rawat beat Alexander Klintcharov of New Zealand 7-6(3), 6-2 in the pre-quarterfinals of the $30,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament in Bali, Indonesia.

Sidharth was joined by S Mukund in the quarterfinals, while Kabir Hans, Karan Singh and Ajay Malik bowed out in the second round.

Tanisha Kashyap fought her way past Maddalena Giordano of Italy 7-6(3), 7-6(4) into the quarterfinals of the ITF women’s event in Monastir, Tunisia.

The results:
$30,000 ITF men, Bali, Indonesia

Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Arthur Gea (Fra) bt Kabir Hans 6-2, 6-2; Yanki Erel (Tur) bt Karan Singh 7-6(4), 6-1; Sidharth Rawat bt Alexander Klintcharov (Nzl) 7-6(3), 6-2; Renta Tokuda (Jpn) bt Ajay Malik 6-0, 6-1; S Mukund bt Shunsuke Nakagawa (Jpn) 6-2, 6-0.

Doubles (quarterfinals): Luca Castelnuovo (Sui) & Kaichi Uchida (Jpn) bt Shanker Heisnam & Ajay Malik 6-2, 6-1; Alexander Klintcharov & Ajeet Rai (Nzl) bt Kabir Hans & Kaan Kesharwani 7-5, 7-5; Alexander Chang (USA) & Anthony Susanto (Ina) bt Dharmil Shah & Yash Yadav 6-3, 6-2; Kokoro Isomura & Shunsuke Nakagawa (Jpn) bt Atharva Sharma & Caheer Warik 6-2, 6-1.

$15,000 ITF men, Singapore

Doubles (quarterfinals): Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam & Manish Sureshkumar bt Kosuke Ogura & Keisuke Saitoh (Jpn) 6-3, 7-5.

$30,000 ITF women, Aldershot, Britain

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Alicia Dudeney (GBR) & Ankita Raina bt Brooke Black & Ruby Cooling (GBR) 6-4, 6-1.

$15,000 ITF women, Monastir, Tunisia

Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Tanisha Kashyap bt Maddalena Giordano (Ita) 7-6(3), 7-6(4).

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Aaddi Gupta & Anna Tabunshchyk (Can) bt Ines Delaloye (Sui) & Selya Rakki (Frra) 6-4, 7-5.

$15,000 ITF women, Singapore

Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Haruna Arakawa (Jpn) bt Smriti Bhasin 6-2, 6-2.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

BASKETBALL

India to kick off FIBA U-16 Women’s Asia Cup Division B campaign on September 13

India is placed in Group A for the upcoming FIBA Under-16 Women’s Asia Cup Division B tournament set to kick off on September 13 in Seremban, Malaysia.

Samoa, Iran, and Uzbekistan are placed in Group A alongisde India.

The winner of the tournament will earn promotion to the Division A.

– Team Sportstar

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