TENNIS
Maha Open 2025: Ramkumar Ramanathan loses to Kimmer Coppejans in final qualifying round
Eighth seed Alexis Galarneau of Canada proved too strong for wildcard Karan Singh as he cruised to a 6-4, 6-1 victory in the first round of Pune Metropolitan $160,000 Maha Open Challenger tennis tournament at the Balewadi Stadium on Monday.
There was no further good tiding for the host, as Ramkumar Ramanathan went down in three sets to Kimmer Coppejans in the second and final qualifying round.
Ramkumar, who had beaten the top seed Elias Ymer of Sweden in the first round, did well to square the match by winning the tie-break in the second set. However, the wiry Koppejans established his fitness and strong game by blanking Ramkumar in the decider.
For making the second qualifying round, Ramkumar got two ATP points and $770. Karan did not win any ATP points but collected $1,670 for the first-round exit.
Manas Dhamne and Aryan Shah will compete in their first round matches on Tuesday evening.
Defending champion Valentin Vacherot of Monaco overcame a hard start to beat fourth seed Elmer Moller of Denmark in three sets.
The results:
Singles (first round): Valentin Vacherot (Mon) bt Elmer Moller (Den) 5-7, 6-2, 6-4; Alexis Galarneau (Can) bt Karan Singh 6-4, 6-1; Dalibor Svrcina (Cze) bt August Holmgren (Den) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Jay Clarke (GBR) & Jurij Rodonov (Aut) bt Enzo Couacaud (Fra) & Rio Noguchi (Jpn) 6-3, 5-7, [12-10].
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Rutuparna beats Bhumika in AITA ranking tournament
Second seed Rutuparna Choudhary overcame a slow start to beat Bhumika Dahiya 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the women’s first round of the HPCL-Mittal Rs. 200,000 AITA ranking tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex in Chandigarh on Monday.
The results (first round):
Men:
Aditya Kothari bt Udiit Kamboj 0-6, 2-5 (retired); Priyanshu Choudhary bt Vatsal Manikantan 6-4, 6-3; Jatin Nain bt Tushar Balli 6-4, 6-2; Vansh Nandal bt Sourav Yadav 6-0, 6-4; Moksh Puri bt Krishan Hooda 6-1, 7-6(2); Svarmanyu Singh bt Lakshya Chugh 6-3, 3-1 (retired); Omar Sumar bt Shubh Negi 6-2, 6-2; Mayank Sharmma bt Naman Sharma 6-2, 6-1; Mukul Ramanan bt Nishith Naveen 6-3, 6-2; Arntya Ohlyan bt Tanik Gupta 6-2, 6-4; Lokesh Pun bt Tushar Mittal 3-6, 7-5, 7-5; Dalwainder Singh bt Parth Patil 6-1, 6-0; Yash Yadav bt Paramveer Singh Bajwa 4-6, 6-3, 3-1 (retired); Tirth Doshi bt Bikramjeet Chawla 7-5, 6-3; Deep Munim bt Mayank Yadav 6-4, 6-2; Sarthak Suden bt Piyush Priyadarshini 6-2, 6-1.
Women:
Jasmine Rawat bt Riya Sachdeva 3-4 (retired); Anjali Dalal bt Nikita Som 6-0, 6-0; Hanshika Singh bt Suhani Gaur 6-4, 6-1; Shagun Kumari bt Diya Desai 6-4, 6-2; Saily Thakkar bt Mahi Trivedi 6-3, 6-3; Reet Arora bt Shrawasti Kundilya 6-1, 6-4; Ayushi Tanwar bt Durganshi Kumar 7-6(2), 6-4; Jaya Kapoor bt Divya Sharma 6-1, 6-3; Divya Bhardwaj bt Khushali Modi 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-1; Jeetesh Kumari bt Snigdha Patibandla 6-2, 6-2; Himanshika Singh bt Mehul Malik 3-6, 6-0, 6-4; Vidula Amar bt Chhavi Seshadri 6-0, 6-1; Ruma Gaikaiwari bt Sidhak Kaur 7-5, 6-0; Rutuparna Choudhary bt Bhumika Dahiya 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Vit Kopriva, Tristan Schoolkate to Lead tough field at Bengaluru Open 2025
The 2025 Bengaluru Open, celebrating 10 years since its inaugural edition in 2015, stands as India’s biggest international tennis event.
The event will be headlined by World No. 128 Vit Kopriva from the Czech Republic. Returning with an upgraded ATP Challenger 125 status, this event will feature nine top-200 players competing for $200,000 in prize money and 125 ATP ranking points for the singles champion.
Set to take place at the KSLTA Courts in Cubbon Park from February 24 to March 2, the tournament, now in its ninth edition, will feature a 32-player singles draw, comprising 20 direct entries, six qualifiers, two special exemptions, one Next Gen Accelerator, and three wild cards. With a cutoff at World No. 237, the competition promises high-quality tennis throughout the week.
Italy’s Stefano Napolitano won the title in 2024 after a hard-fought final against Sumit Nagal of India. The singles event has also produced two Indian winners in the past: Nagal (2017) and Prajnesh Gunneswaran (2018). The tournament was not held in 2016, 2019, and 2021.
-Team Sportstar
HOCKEY
Shyam Lal Tournament: IGIPESS makes final in both men’s and women’s event
Indira Gandhi Institute of Physical Education and Sports Sciences (IGIPESS) made the finals of both the men’s and women’s events at the 11th Shyam Lal hockey tournament in New Delhi on Monday.
The results (semifinals):
Men:
Shyam Lal College 3 (Praveen, Lalit, Naveen) bt Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College 1 (Tanuj).
IGIPESS 3 (Pulkit, Naveen Rathi, Gurmukh) bt Shri Ram College of Commerce 2 (Inderpal, Vibhanshu Tiwari).
Women:
Delhi University Alumna 4 (Sonika 2, Manita, Neelam) bt Shyama Prasad Mukherjee College 0.
IGIPESS 5 (Pinki 2, Kanchan 2, Hema) bt Vivekanand College 0.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
BASKETBALL
INBL Pro League: Gujarat Stallions beats Chennai Heat
Gujarat Stallions scored a thrilling 74-72 victory after leading 41-29 at half-time against Chennai Heat in the INBL Pro Basketball League at the Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium in New Delhi on Monday.
It was a revenge victory for the Gujarat team after its earlier loss to the Chennai team, which played better in the second half but just about missed bridging the gap.
Gujarat thus nosed ahead on the league table after all the six teams had remained tied at six points.
The results:
Gujarat Stallions 74 (Jock Perry 16, Trendon Hankerson 15, Joshua Duach 15, Amarendra Nayak 11) bt Chennai Heat 72 (Matt Gray 16, Tad Dufelmeier 15, Maolk Majak 11, Keith Kiner 10).
-Kamesh Srinivasan