TENNIS
Dmitruk outplays second seed in Gurugram ITF final
Kristina Dmitruk made a flawless execution in outplaying second seed Ekaterina Makarova 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the $30,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the Tennis Project, Baliyawas, on Sunday.
The 29-year-old Makarova, who was ranked a career-best 158 last year and had won the doubles title with Ekaterina Reyngold, did fight hard, pushing Kristina to her wit’s end in tough rallies. However, the 21-year-old Kristina, who was World No. 2 at the prime of her junior career in 2021, served strong and converted her chances better to race away to victory.
The smooth-stroking Kristina converted four of five break points while dropping serve once early in the second set. The intensity of the rallies pushed Kristina to close out the match in an hour and 17 minutes for her sixth title in the professional circuit.
Quite delighted with her consistently strong performance, Kristina gave credit to her brother for being on hand and playing the role of a mental trainer.
Kristina did drop a set to Priska Nugroho of Indonesia in the first round, but thereafter, she dropped only 15 games in all in the next four matches.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
ITF men’s tennis tournament: Deep Munim defeats Anurag Agarwal in first qualifying round
Deep Munim beat Anurag Agarwal 7-6(6), 7-5 in the first qualifying round of the $15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex on Sunday.
Dalwinder Singh, Bushan Haobam, Drona Walia, Suraj Prabodh, Caheer Warik, Arjun Rathi, Faisal Qamar were some of the other Indian players to make the second qualifying round.
The aspirants have to go through two more rounds of qualification to secure their spot in the main draw.
Two junior spots reserved in the main draw have been granted to Kriish Tyagi and Hitesh Chauhan, thanks to their ITF junior rank of 40 and 91 respectively.
Karan Singh, Dev Javia, Siddharth Vishwakarma, Prajwal Dev and Sidharth Rawat are expected to get seeded in the main event, which is scheduled to have Jay Clarke of Britain as the top seed.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
GOLF
Saanvi Somu best Indian at tied 38th, Jeneath Wong first Malaysian to win WAAP
Saanvi Somu was the best Indian golfer, tied 38th, while compatriots Guntas Kaur Sandhu and Mannat Brar finished way behind at the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship in Da Nang, Vietnam on Sunday.
Somu, who made the cut for the second year running, shot her second straight 1-under par 70. With rounds of 72-74-70-70, she totalled 2-over for the week.
The 14-year-old debutant Sandhu, who impressed by becoming the youngest Indian to make the cut at WAAP, had a tough final round with a 7-over 78 and was 9-over to finish 47th.
Her aggression and some good putting helped her pick up 14 birdies, the most among the Indians, but she was held back by lack of experience of playing in strong windy conditions.
Brar, who made the cut after three unsuccessful attempts, had a very rough day when things just did not go her way. She shot 78 and with cards of 67-76-73-78, she finished at 10-over and in 48th place.
Meanwhile, Jeneath Wong, who moved to Australia when she was ten years old and now plays at Pepperdine University in college golf in the United States, became the first Malaysian to win the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship.
-Press Trust of India
SHOOTING
NRAI completes second technical education course
The participants and officials after the second EST course organised by NRAI in Delhi on Sunday.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
The participants and officials after the second EST course organised by NRAI in Delhi on Sunday.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) successfully completed the second ISSF Electronic Scoring Target (EST) course at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range, Tughlakabad, on Sunday.
The five-day course had 32 participants, including three from Nepal and one from Sri Lanka.
The first course was held from February 24 to 28 at the same venue and the integrated course dealt with the technicalities of rifle and pistol.
The course was conducted by Jadranka Strukic of Croatia, Khaled Aljerayed of Kuwait and Pawankumar Singh. The course combined theoretical instruction with practical exercises, to ensure full comprehension of EST operations.
As part of the technical education exercise, the participants will have to go through five mandatory internships as officials in NRAI-sanctioned tournaments.
“This is the largest batch in a course that I have conducted anywhere in the world. The EST license is very important for officials who aspire to work as rifle and pistol jury members in international competitions. It is also mandatory for anyone wishing to work in the results, timing and scoring (RTS) team at ISSF events to hold a valid EST license. This certification ensures officials are fully trained to handle the latest technology with precision and confidence,” said Jadranka Strukic.
“This course is a significant step towards strengthening the technical capabilities of our officials. As the use of electronic scoring systems becomes standard across major competitions, it is vital to build a strong, skilled workforce capable of precision and fairness at every level,” said NRAI president Kalikesh Singh Deo.
The NRAI president thanked the ISSF, the Asian Shooting Confederation (ASC) and Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) for their support in the conduct of the course.
“We look forward to further strengthening these partnerships as we continue developing world class expertise in the sport,” he said.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
WRESTLING
Federation Cup: Priyanshi Prajapat clinches women’s 53kg title in absence of Antim Panghal
In the absence of Paris Olympian Antim Panghal, Madhya Pradesh wrestler Priyanshi Prajapat secured the women’s 53kg crown on the concluding day of the Federation Cup at the Lovely Professional University (LPU), Jalandhar, on Sunday.
Antim withdrew from the event on medical grounds, according to a Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) source.
Haryana and Chandigarh wrestlers shared nine of the 10 Greco Roman titles.
The medallists:
Men: Greco Roman: 55kg: 1. Anil More (Har), 2. Nishan Chaudhary (UP), 3. Himanshu Singh (Raj), Sahil Kumar (Pun); 60kg: 1. Sumit (Chd), 2. Chetan (Del), 3. Suraj (Har), Badal Singh (Pun); 63kg: 1. Gaurav (Har), 2. Adithya Machal (Utk), 3. Kunal (Chd), Mukul Chauhan (UP); 67kg: 1. Sandeep (Har), 2. Saurabh (UP), 3. Ansh (Pun), Malkit Hooda (HP); 72kg: 1. Sahil (Chd), 2. Kuldeep Malik (Har), 3. Karanjit Singh (Pun), Swarup (Mah); 77kg: 1. Nishant Phogat (Chd), 2. Aman (Har), 3. Satender Kumar Yadav (Chd), Amrinder Singh (Pun), 82kg: 1. Ankit Boora (Chd), 2. Prince (Har), 3. Ajay (Del), Amarjit (J-K); 87kg: 1. Sonu (Har), 2. Vinay (Mah), 3. Lucky (Del), Jatin Chauhan (UP); 97kg: 1. Nithesh (Har), 2. Yadwinder Singh (Raj), 3. Abhimanu (Pun), Kuldeep Yadav (MP); 130kg: 1. Viresh Kundu (UP), 2. Sanjeet (Har), 3. Sonu (Del), Ishq Ahmed (J-K).
Women: 53kg: 1. Priyanshi Prajapat (MP), 2. Hinaben Khalifa (Guj), 3. Gouri (Mah), 3. Julie (UP); 57kg: 1. Neha Sharma (Del), 2. Pushpa (Har), 3. Deeksha (Raj), Shivani Sharma (MP); 65kg: 1. Srushti Bhosale (Mah), 2. Muskan (Har), 3. Tiyara Rana (MP), Komal Dalal (Del); 72kg: 1. Harshita (Har), 2. Vedika Sasne (Mah), 3. Khushi (Del), Sanofar Pathan (Guj); 76kg: 1. Deepika Nain (Chd), 2. Tannu (Del), 3. Ankita Vaishnav (Raj), Simran (Har).
-Y.B. Sarangi
HOCKEY
Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2025: Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Mizoram and Haryana through to semis
Hockey Jharkhand, Hockey Maharashtra, Hockey Mizoram and Hockey Haryana won their respective games to secure a birth in the semifinals of the 15th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2025.
In the first quarterfinal match of the day, Hockey Jharkhand defeated Hockey Madhya Pradesh 3-1, in Division ‘A’. Captain Albela Rani Toppo (4’) lead from the front and scored the first goal of the match followed by Rajni Kerketta (41’) and Pramodni Lakra (59’) who also scored on goal each for Hockey Jharkhand. On the other hand, Karishma Yadav (55’) scored the consolation goal in the final minutes for Hockey Madhya Pradesh.
In the next quarterfinal match, Hockey Maharashtra defeated Hockey Karnataka 5-0. Akansha Singh (41’, 54’) scored a brace for her side. Priyanka Wankhede (30’), Kajal Sadashiv Atpadkar (44’) and Yogita Bora (59’) also scored one goal each to take the game away from Hockey Karnataka to confirm their spot in semifinals.
In the third quarterfinal match, Hockey Mizoram defeated Hockey Bengal 1-0 in a close encounter. Both the teams gave each other a fierce competition throughout the game. However, Deepika (50’) managed to take the ball to pass the goal-keeper in the final-quarter of the game and scored the only goal of the game.
In the last quarterfinal match, Hockey Haryana defeated Hockey Punjab 1-0 in Division ‘A’. Mahima Choudhary (19’) scored the much needed goal for Hockey Haryana in Division ‘A’. Both the teams then restricted each other from scoring showing excellent defence techniques resulting in a 1-0 victory for the hosts.
-Team Sportstar