Indian sports wrap, June 28: Bhambri-Galloway pair loses Mallorca Open final

TENNIS

Bhambri-Galloway pair loses Mallorca Open final

Yuki Bhambri, along with his American partner Robert Galloway, lost 6-1, 1-6, [15-13] to the Mexican-American pair of Santiago Gonzalez and Austin Krajicek in the Mallorca Open final on Saturday.

The Indo-American pair had three championship points but failed to convert any of them.

It was the second final of the season for World No. 35 Bhambri. The Indian had won the Dubai Open with Australia’s Alexei Popyrin in February.

Seeded 16th, Bhambri and Galloway will face Monaco’s Romain Arneodo and Frenchman Manuel Guinard in the first round at Wimbledon.

– Team Sportstar

WOMEN’S CRICKET

Bengal Pro T20 League: Lux Shyam Kolkata Tigers defends title

Player-of-the-match Mita Paul’s fine all-round brilliance (51, two wickets) enabled Lux Shyam Kolkata Tigers to beat Sobisco Smashers Malda by DLS method in the rain-affected women’s final and defend its title in the Bengal Pro T20 League at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday.

– Y.B. Sarangi

SHOOTING

French delegation visits Gun for Glory Academy

Co-founder and Director of Gun for Glory, Pawan Singh (left) with the French delegation of shooting experts in Pune.
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

A three-member French delegation visited the Gun for Glory Academy in Pune to study the Indian system that has been churning out world class shooters in quick time.

It was a fruitful five-day visit for the French team to observe the methodology from close quarters.

“The Indian system is truly impressive, with incredible depth and quality. We appreciate the open mindedness and transparent sharing of information,”, said Stephane Alliaume, who has been associated as coach with the French Shooting Federation for about 30 years.

“We learnt a lot about India’s approach in shooting sport. We are quite impressed with the professionalism at Gun for Glory. We hope to create a long lasting bond in order to serve shooting sport in India and France,” said Eric Egretaud, who manages many training centres in rifle, pistol and shotgun in France.

Eric also has the rich experience of having served as the head pistol coach of Japan for four years.

The third member of the French squad, Pierre-Jean Milliere has rich experience of coaching rifle shooters, including Alexis Raynaud who won the bronze medal in rifle 3-position in the Rio Olympics.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

GOLF

German Masters: Diksha, Vani tied-eighth

Diksha Dagar and Vani Kapoor had a contrasting day two at the Amundi German Masters to be placed tied eighth as three out of the nine Indians made the cut at the Green Eagle Golf Course.

Diksha played an even par round to slip from the top five while Vani played 3-under 70 to move into the top 10.

The only other Indian to make the cut was Avani Prashanth who played a round of 1-over 74 to end the day at tied 43. She made two birdies, one bogey and one double bogey.

Tvesa Malik (74-76) missed the cut by one shot as the cut fell at 3-over, while other Indians missing out were Sneha Singh (78-75), Amandeep Drall (78-75), Hitaashee Bakshi (79-81), and Vidhatri Urs (93-87) while Neha Tripathi retired after the first round.

– PTI

Arjun Atwal in top-10 at US Senior Open

Indian golfer Arjun Atwal landed two birdies late in his second round to get into the top-10 of the U.S. Senior Open.

Atwal, the only Indian to have won on the PGA Tour, has now shot two straight even par rounds and lies tied-10th.

Atwal, who had two birdies and two bogeys in the first round, had a bogey on the 11th, his second hole, and then carded a double bogey on the 15th. He fought back with birdies on the 17h, seven and eighth and closed with a par on the ninth.

Padraig Harrington and Stewart Cink endured the ups and downs together for a second straight day and found themselves tied for the lead. Harrington has now shot 67-67, while Cink has carded 68-66 to be at 6-under.

– PTI

Veer Ahlawat makes cut, Sharma misses out in Italy

Indian golfer Veer Ahlawat squeezed inside the cutline despite two double bogeys and three other bogeys in the second round of the Italian Open at the Argentario Golf Club.

However, the other Indian in the fray, Shubhankar Sharma missed yet another cut.

Ahlawat, who salvaged his second round with four birdies and an eagle despite a bunch of dropped shots, added 3-over 73 in the third round, as he is now T-76 with rounds of 70-71-73. He has had as many as four double bogeys in three days.

Sharma shot 73-74 with a bunch of bogeys, five on the first day and on the second day, besides three doubles in two days against a total of five birdies. He missed the cut by a big margin.

Angel Ayora was on the top of the leaderboard at the halfway stage after carding a five under par second round.

– PTI

Akshay Bhatia makes the cut in Rocket Classic on the line

Three birdies on the back nine helped Akshay Bhatia make the cut on the line at the Rocket Classic on the PGA Tour.

The Indian-American golfer, who is seeking to make the Tour Championship for the second straight year, added 2-under 70 to his first round 4-under 68 in a low-scoring tournament, where the cut came at 6-under and 86 players made the weekend.

Bhatia dropped a shot on the eighth, but birdies on the 11th, 14th and the 15th saw him stay on for the weekend.

– PTI

Talwar picks up the pace to make cut in France

Saptak Talwar played a strong round of 3-under 69 to make the cut at the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge being played at the Golf PGA France.

Talwar is now placed at tied 42 with a combined 36 hole score of two under par.

Having started his second round on the front nine Talwar made his first birdie of the day on the second hole.

He did drop a shot on the sixth but quickly picked one back up on the eighth to finish the front nine at one under par.

On the back nine birdies on the 12th, 15th and 18 holes saw him card a round of three under despite a bogey on the 16th hole.

– PTI

ESPORTS

ESFI Launches National Championship to Select India’s U18 Esports Squad for Asian Youth Games

The Esports Federation of India (ESFI) has unveiled the National Esports Championship (NESC) 2025 to select the country’s first-ever official under-18 esports squad—featuring equal representation of boys and girls—for the 3rd Asian Youth Games, scheduled to be held in Bahrain from October 22 to 31, 2025.

India will field participants across six events—three each for boys and girls—in Rocket League (3v3), Street Fighter 6 (1v1), and eFootball (1v1). Matches will be held on PC and PlayStation.

Only athletes born between 2007 and 2010 are eligible to register.

“It is the first time we are fielding an official U18 esports squad, making this a landmark moment for grassroots esports development in India. With equal participation for girls and boys, the championship reflects our commitment to building an inclusive and future-forward ecosystem,” said Vinod Tiwari, President, Esports Federation of India (ESFI)

Registrations for NESC 2025 are open from June 28 to July 12.

Winners of each title, along with the top two finishers in Street Fighter 6 and eFootball, will go on to represent India on the continental stage.

CUE SPORTS

India overcomes Malaysia to regain team gold in Asian Snooker

Multiple-time world champion Pankaj Advani and Brijesh Damani dug deep as India scored a fine 3-1 win over formidable Malaysia to regain the team gold in the ACBS Asian Snooker Championship Saturday.

For India, who last won the gold two years ago in Iran, this was its fifth gold.

Having been put through the wringer in the semifinals earlier in the morning by Hong Kong-1 (3-2), the Indians sans Aditya Mehta, who suffered a neck niggle, for both the matches, came back recharged for the final.

Damani, who made a sizzling 33 clearance that took proportions of an 80-break in the decider against Hon Man Chau in the semis, seemed to carry that momentum into the title clash.

Playing the first singles, he made a gritty 52 before an unlucky red in-off ended the break abruptly against Thor Chuan Leong.

Given a lifeline, Thor Chuan, winner of the Asian 6-red title three days ago, fought back in fine style, prevailing 68-58 with a run of 39, to put Malaysia ahead.

Advani, who lost a rare frame in the semis against Kwok Wai Fung, brushed aside Lim Kok Leong to make it one-frame apiece.

In the doubles, after letting Malaysia take an early 33-1 lead, Damani punished Thor Chuan’s error with a brilliant frame-clinching break of 60 to put India just a win away from the title.

Advani then kept the dangerous Thor Chuan on a tight leash with his stunning safety play en route to a decisive victory.

– PTI