Indian sports wrap, February 8: Aditi Ashok makes cut at Founders Cup

GOLF

Aditi keeps going at Founders Cup

India’s Aditi Ashok ensured weekend play as she squeezed inside the cut line alongside a long list of stars at the LPGA Tour’s Founders Cup.

Aditi added 1-under 70 to her first-round 72 and was now even par and tied-50th alongside the likes of Lydia Ko, Minjee Lee and former Women’s Open winner Sophia Popov.

Aditi birdied the second, 10th and 13th and dropped shots on the 12th and 15th at the Bradenton Country Club.

– PTI

Jeev Milkha improves to Tied-24th place in Trophy Hassan

Jeev Milkha Singh improved on his first round and shot 1-under 72 to get to even par for two days at the Trophy Hassan II, an event on the Champions Tour PGA.

Jeev, playing his first seniors event in 2025, rose from T-33 to T-24 with one more round to go.

Jeev had four birdies against three bogeys on the Par-73 Royal Golf Dar es Salam course.

– PTI

Shubhankar, Ahlawat miss cut in Qatar Masters

Shubhankar Sharma played a solid 3-under 69 in the second round but the Indian still missed the cut at the Qatar Masters by one shot here.

It was his third straight missed cut on the DP World Tour in 2025, though he made a cut in between on the Asian Tour.

Sharma’s first round 75 with 69 in the second meant he was even par for two days and the cut fell at 1-under.

Also missing the cut was rookie Veer Ahlawat, who after making cuts in Ras Al Khaimah, had a tough week with 80-76 and missed the weekend.

– PTI

Diksha tied-14th; rookie Avani makes cut on her pro debut

After an initial high, Diksha Dagar dropped two shots on the back nine and slipped to tied 14th after the second round of the Lalla Meryem Cup in Rabat, Morocco.

She has rounds of 71-73 and is 3-under after two rounds at the Par-73 course at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam.

Also making the cut on her pro debut was the young Avani Prashanth, who added 74 to her first round 71 and is now 1-under 145.

She is Tied-24th, while the third Indian in the field, Tvesa Malik missed the cut with cards of 79-76.

With Top-60 and ties making the cut, 56 players made the cut which fell at 3-over.

– PTI

India’s Rayhan Thomas on second at Korn Ferry Tour

India’s Rayhan Thomas closed the second day with a superb eagle for a day’s card of 7-under 64 that carried him within two shots of the lead in the Astara Golf Championship in Bogota on Saturday.

Thomas (66-64) is now 11-under and two behind the leader, Ross Steelman (67-61) at 13-under.

Thomas is tied for second with Jack Maguire (66-64) while South African Christo Lamprecht (69-62) in sole fourth at 10-under.

The Dubai-based Indian, who played college golf in US, won his maiden pro title on the PGTI Tour in India last year. He also won pro events while being an amateur.

Thomas picked his first birdie on his third hole, the 12th of the course and then immediately gave it back. Over the next four holes, he birdied three times to turn in 3-under 35.

On the second nine, he birdied the first and the sixth and then landed an eagle on the ninth, his closing hole.

Making it to Korn Ferry through the Qualifying School, Thomas has set his eyes on getting to the PGA Tour and plans to tee up as often as he can.

Thomas also has a status on the HotelPlanner Tour (the erstwhile Challenge Tour) in Europe, but plans to play as much as possible on the Korn Ferry.

Thomas’ show comes less than three weeks after an Indo-Canadian, Sudarshan Yellamaraju grabbed a maiden win on the Korn Ferry in Bahamas.

Thomas, making his fifth career start on Tour this week, matched his career-low round with a 7-under 64 and holds the best 36-hole position of his young Korn Ferry Tour career.

– PTI

Lahiri lying 11th in Liv Golf in Riyadh

Anirban Lahiri fired a bogey free round of 5-under 67 and moved up to tied-11th after the second day at the Liv Golf Riyadh being played under the lights.

Lahiri shot 3-under 69 on the first day and is now 8-under but eight shots behind the leader Adrian Meronk (62-66) at 18-under.

As per LIV Golf’s new scoring format which made its debut this week, all four scores count in every round in the team competition.

– PTI

Shubham Narain wins Tata Steel PGTI Qualifying School

Shubham Narain beat Anant Singh Ahlawat on the third play-off 13th hole to emerge the champion, after the duo had tied 16-under 268 in the Tata Steel PGTI Qualifying School at the Golmuri Golf Course on Saturday.

Play had to be extended to the fifth day as fading light had forced the game to stop, after two play-off holes had failed to separate the two on Friday.

It was a memorable finish for the 27-year-old Shubham, as he had fared increasingly better with scores of 71, 64, 67 and 66 over the four rounds.

The Delhi lad who had turned professional in 2017, executed a par on the third play-off hole, while Anant missed the par putt from eight feet.

“My putting kept the momentum going for me through the week. I don’t keep my expectations too high and give myself more room for error. I hope to carry forward this form into the season,” said Shubham.

The final cut came at 3-under 281, and it meant 33 players earned their full cards for the season. It included five amateurs, including Anant, apart from six foreigners_three from Bangladesh, and one each from the USA, Korea and Italy.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

TENNIS

Sasikumar, Ramanathan, & Karan Singh Receive Wild Cards for 2025 Delhi Open

Former World No. 31 Lloyd Harris and 2019 Wimbledon Boys’ Singles champion Shintaro Mochizuki will be among the Top 8 seeds at the 2025 Delhi Open, an ATP Challenger 75 event returning for its fifth edition at the DLTA Complex from February 10-16.

India’s Mukund Sasikumar, Ramkumar Ramanathan, and Karan Singh have received wild cards after starring in the country’s 4-0 Davis Cup World Group I Playoff win over Togo.

The hard-court tournament will feature a competitive 32-player singles draw, comprising 21 direct entries, three wild cards, six qualifiers, and two special exempts. With momentum on their side, Mukund, Ramkumar, and Karan will be eager to extend their winning streak on the DLTA Centre Court in front of home fans.

Four promising Indian players—Aditya Govila, Chirag Duhan, Sidhart Rawat, and Aryan Shah—have received wild card entries to the qualifying stage, where they will compete against seasoned pros for the six main draw spots on offer. Duhan and Shah were also part of India’s Davis Cup squad, underlining their high potential.

The 2025 Delhi Open will be an ATP Challenger 75 event, granting its singles winner 75 points, runner-up 44, and semifinalists 22 each.

– Team Sportstar

Manas Dhamne in semifinals

Qualifier Manas Dhamne beat fifth seed Maximilian Neuchrist of Austria 6-7(5), 6-3, [10-8] in the quarterfinals of the $15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament in Monastir, Tunisia.

In the semifinals, Manas was scheduled to play the top seed Alberto Campos of Spain.

The results:

$115,000 ITF men, Monastir, Tunisia Singles (quarterfinals): Manas Dhamne bt Maximilian Neuchrist (Aut) 6-7(5), 6-3, [10-8].

-Kamesh Srinivasan

ATHLETICS

Animesh Kujur shines with men’s 100m gold in National Games

Odisha’s rising star Animesh Kujur clocked Games record-equalling time of 10.28 seconds to win the men’s 100m gold medal in a top-class field on the opening day of athletics competitions at the National Games on Saturday.

Out of the 10 gold medals on offer on the day, Maharashtra and Services picked up two each, while Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Tamil Nadu claimed one each.

The 21-year-old Kujur, who has a personal best time of 10.27 seconds, equalled the Games record of 10.28 seconds set by Amlan Borgohain of Assam, while winning gold at the 2022 edition in Gujarat.

National record holder Manikanta Hoblidhar of Services finished fifth with a time of 10.46 seconds. His national record set in 2023 stands at 10.23 seconds.

One of the country’s top 100m runners, Gurinderveer Singh, who won titles in the Federation Cup and National Inter-State Championships last year, failed to qualify for the final, finishing third in heat number 2 with a below-par time of 10.96 seconds.

Maharashtra’s Sudeshna Shivankar ran away with the women’s 100m gold, clocking 11.76 seconds.

Sawan Barwal of Himachal Pradesh won gold in the men’s 1000m final with a Games record time of 28:49.93, bettering the earlier mark of 28:54.29 set by Gulveer Singh in the 2022 edition in Gujarat.

In the women’s 10,000m final, seasoned Sanjivani Jadhav of Maharashtra claimed the gold with a time of 33:33.47.

Uttarakhand’s Ankita Dhyani, who represented India in the Paris Olympics in 5000m, ran 34:31.03 to win the silver. Another Uttarakhand athlete, Soniya clinched the bronze, clocking 35:45.19.

In women’s 1500m final, Delhi’s 2022 edition champion KM Chanda beat national record holder KM Deeksha of Madhya Pradesh for the gold.

In the men’s discus throw event, Gagandeep Singh of Services defended the gold medal he had won in the 2023 edition with an effort of 55.01m.

-PTI

Other Results:

Men’s Long Jump: Gold: Shahnavaz Khan (Uttar Pradesh) – 7.70m; Silver: V Sriram (Tamil Nadu) – 7.59m; Bronze: Anurag CV (Kerala) – 7.56m.

Men’s 1500m: Gold: Yoonus Shah (Services) – 3:46.48; Silver: Ritesh Ohre (Madhya Pradesh) – 3:46.64; Bronze: Ram Singh (Uttarakhand) – 3:50.24.

Women’s discus throw: Gold: Seema (Haryana) – 52.70m; Silver: Bhavana Yadav (Delhi) – 51.82m; Bronze: Amanat Kamboj (Punjab) – 49.94m.

Women’s pole vault: Gold: Pavithra Venkatesh (Tamil Nadu) – 3.95m; Silver: Baranica Elangovan (Tamil Nadu) – 3.90m; Bronze: Mariya Jaison (Kerala) – 3.90m.

-PTI

BASKETBALL

James Montgomery came up with an electrifying performance to help Delhi Dribblers to a 90-80 victory over Chennai Heat, after leading 40-30 at halftime, in the INBL Pro basketball league at the Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium on Saturday.

James not only scored 21 points but had 14 rebounds and seven assists, for a comprehensive show that saw the team pull ahead in the fourth quarter, after leading 54-51.

There was a spurt of scoring early in the fourth quarter when Delhi added 10 points without conceding one in the first two minutes.

That set the tempo for a strong finish, even as Chennai tried hard to bridge the gap. It was the first defeat in three matches for Chennai, while it was the second victory in three matches for Delhi.

Alexander Mudronja and Daniel Poelsma along with Sahil helped Delhi stay ahead right through the match with their consistent scoring.

Arvind Kumar top-scored for the Chennai team with 20 points.

-Kamesh Srinivasan