Indian sports activities news wrap, May 5

TABLE TENNIS

Indian crew to hve preparatory camp forward of World inidvidual desk tennis c’ships

The Indian crew may have a preparatory camp on the SAI Centre, Bengaluru, from May 7 to 17 for the World particular person desk tennis championships, to be held in Durban (South Africa) from May 20 to twenty-eight. All the highest gamers, together with G. Sathiyan, Sharath Kamal, Manika Batra, and others, who’ve been chosen for the Worlds, are anticipated to participate within the camp.

India’s high singles paddler Sathiyan has been coaching with Manika Batra in Hyderabad on the Academy run by Aman Balgu for the final 4 days with Sathiyan’s coach S. Raman to carry out properly within the blended doubles on the Worlds. “We are seeded fourth in mixed doubles, and the lone Indians seeded in the five categories of men’s & women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. We are looking for a medal—both the semifinalists will win a bronze each–though I know it is very difficult,” Sathiyan informed The Hindu from Hyderabad.

-Team Sportstar

Ultimate Table Tennis franchises select their coaches on the Season 4 Coach Draft

Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) held its Coach Draft in Mumbai on Friday because the six franchises picked their coaches for the upcoming version of the league, scheduled from July 13 to 30.

The UTT Season 4 Coach Draft was attended by UTT co-promoters Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani together with crew house owners who selected a mix of 1 Indian and one international coach from the pool.

The league’s latest crew, Bengaluru Smashers made the primary decide in spherical one to deliver Sachin Shetty on board earlier than including Slovenia’s Vesna Ojstersek as their international coach within the spherical two.

“I think Vesna and Sachin were a combination for Delhi which ended up as runners-up in 2019. We had that at the back of our mind. Our team had done the homework and these were our first choices. It’s always good to be a part of a league, especially a non-cricketing league. We are happy to be a part of UTT,” commented Punit Balan, proprietor of Bengaluru Smashers.

Second to select a coach, Dabang Delhi TTC zeroed in on an skilled A Muralidhara Rao first after which bagged four-time Olympian Slobodan Grujic of Serbia as their international coach within the second spherical. Dabang Delhi TTC proprietor Radha Kapoor Khanna felt the method was very fascinating and was seeking to work with their picks.

“We came in with a few equations in mind between the international and Indian coaches. We had a few options. We are hoping that a combination of Muralidhara Rao and Slobodan brings in the winning spirit,” she stated. 

U Mumba TT and Puneri Paltan Table Tennis discovered their desired mixture in Portugal’s Francisco Santos and Anshul Garg, and N Ravichandran and Zoltan Batorfi of Hungary respectively.

“Francisco and Anshul were our top picks. We have been in touch with Francisco from Portugal, he is already happy being a part of the U Mumba TT franchise and really wanted to work with Anshul. It was really important to get a young combination on the circuit,” stated U Mumba TT CEO Suhail Chandhok.

Puneri Paltan Table Tennis CEO Kailash Kandpal commented on the crew’s selection: “I am happy with the combination we picked. Zoltan and Ravichandran worked together in their last assignment in Kolkata. They work pretty well as a unit. There were other combinations we had in mind, but this was our priority,”

Goa Challengers picked a mix of five-time Olympian Elena Timina and Parag Agrawal. Vivek Bhargava, the Goa Challengers’ proprietor, felt the season began properly for them with their picks on the coach’s draft. He additional added: “The draft was wonderful for us. We got our two top coaches.”

Defending champions Chennai Lions picked India’s Somnath Ghosh earlier than ending the draft with the addition of German Jorg Bitzigeio, who guided the German ladies’s crew to bronze medal on the 2010 World Team Championships, as their international coach within the second spherical.

“We are elated to be a part of UTT. We intend to give our best. The combination of Somnath Ghosh and Jorg Bitzigeio will help us choose the best players available in the draft,” Chennai Lions house owners Harini Yadav and Karishma Yadav stated in a joint assertion.

Having their coaches in line, the groups can start their preparations for the UTT Season 4 Player Draft to be held early subsequent month. The franchise-based league is promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani below the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India.

The upcoming season of the league can be performed on the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune.

-Team Sportstar

CRICKET

Somjeet Singh to captain India’s wheelchair cricket crew in opposition to Bangladesh counterparts

 Lucknow’s Somjeet Singh will lead a 15-member Indian wheelchair cricket crew that may participate in a three-match T20 sequence in opposition to Bangladesh in Kolkata from May 7-9.

The Indian squad was chosen based mostly on efficiency within the nationwide event held earlier this 12 months in addition to the camp organised by Wheelchair Cricket Association of India below the aegis of Differently Abled Cricket Council of India (DCCI). The DCCI is now recognised by the BCCI.

“This series will give a lot of boost to wheelchair cricket in our country. Despite KKR’s IPL match in Kolkata, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) has extended its co-operation for the tournament,” DCCI secretary Ravi Chauhan, who represents the affiliation in BCCI, stated.

The Team: Somjeet Singh (captain), Sandip Kundu, Sagar Gowda, Kabir Singh Veer Sandhu (wk), Sahil Dyed, R Santhosh, Shailesh Yadav, Umesh Kaushik, Jayan Alt, Ajay Yadav, Sukhwant Singh, Raja Babu, Prashant Singh, Sunil Rao.

-PTI

ARCHERY

Asia Cup: Indian archers baggage 14 medals

Indian archers bagged 14 medals, together with seven golds, 5 silvers and two bronzes, to high the medals tally in a depleted subject on the Asia Cup World Ranking Tournament, Stage-2, in Tashkent on Friday.

The outcomes:

Recurve: Gold medal matches: Individual: Men: Mrinal Chauhan misplaced to Wang Baobin (Chn) 2-6 (29-30, 29-29, 27-28, 26-26); Women: Sangeeta misplaced to Wu Jiaxin (Chn) 3-7 (27-26, 27-27, 26-27, 24-27, 26-30); Team: Men: India (Mrinal, Tushar Sheleke, Jayanta Talukdar) bt China 5-1 (57-54, 54-54, 54-51); Women: India (Sangeeta, Madhu Vedwan, Tanisha Verma) misplaced to China 0-6 (52-56, 47-52, 51-52); Mixed: India (Sangeeta, Mrinal) bt China 5-4 (36-37, 39-39, 37-36, 37-37, S.O. 20-18).

Compound: Gold medal matches: Men: Individual: Abhishek Verma bt Amit 143-143 (S.O. 10-9); Women: Raginee Markoo bt Pragati 144-144 (10*-10); Team: Men: India (Amit, Kushal Dalal, Abhishek) bt Hong Kong 233-226; Women: India (Parneet Kaur, Raginee, Pragati) bt Kazakhstan 232-223; Mixed: India (Parneet, Abhishek) bt Kazakhstan 157-145; Bronze medal matches: Individual: Men: Kushal Dalal bt Sergey Khristich (Kaz) 142-141; Women: Parneet Kaur bt Adel Zhexenbinova (Kaz) 143-141.

-Team Sportstar

GOLF

Sharma fires hole-in-one as he vaults to Top-20 in Italy

India’s Shubhankar Sharma hit a 5-Iron to perfection for a hole-in-one as he made amends within the second spherical of the DS Automobiles Italian Open to be positioned tied sixteenth right here on Friday.

Sharma, who has been taking part in properly however dropping some essential strokes as he did final week, shot 2-over 74 on the primary day regardless of an eagle on a Par-4.

His 74-67 noticed him get to 2-under 140 for 36 holes and he was within the tied sixteenth place whereas Manu Gandas (71-80) had a tough time and missed the reduce.

Matthieu Pavon (63-70) led the sphere at 9-under with Adrian Otaegui (68-67) who had an eagle two on Par-4 first, mendacity second. Otaegui was sole second at 7-under complete.

Adrian Meronk, a star at Europe’s Ryder Cup preparatory occasion, the Hero Cup in Abu Dhabi, was tied third with 68-68 at 6-under complete.

Sharma began the second spherical from the tenth and within the worst doable method with bogeys on first and second holes, at which level he was observing an early exit.

He rapidly recovered with three birdies in a row from Twelfth to 14th. Then on the seventeenth, he drove exactly on the Par-3 seventeenth from 217 yards and holed it for a fantastic ace. That noticed him take the flip in 3-under 33 and he moved into pink numbers for the event.

A birdie on Par-4 fifth noticed him get to 4-under for the day and 2-under for the event.

Pavon adopted up his first day heroics of 8-under 63 with 1-under 70 and stayed in lead at 9-under on the midway stage. He started his second spherical in fashion with three birdies in a row from eleventh to thirteenth however bogeys on 14th and seventeenth after which yet another on eighth noticed him drop again.

He completed with a birdie on ninth for a 70.

Pavon has rather a lot to play for at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club this week, with a maiden DP World Tour title and the prospect to seize European Captain Luke Donald’s consideration for one of many spots on this 12 months’s Ryder Cup crew.

The 30-year-old Pavon’s sensational opening spherical had 9 birdies and a single bogey to succeed in eight below par. He turned in 29 after reeling off six birdies on the entrance 9 earlier than including three extra positive factors and one bogey down the stretch.

Maximilian Kieffer was alone in second on six below after making an eagle, 5 birdies and one bogey in his 65. In the second spherical Kieffer had an eagle on 18th and a double bogey on fifth as he was even par for the day with 4 holes to play.

France’s Julien Guerrier and China’s Wu Ashun, who shot 5-under 66 every in first spherical, had simply begun the second spherical with pars.

-PTI

Kochhar lies Twelfth as veteran Jeev additionally makes reduce in Korea

The long-hitting Karandeep Kochhar fired an eagle on a Par-4 for the second time in as many days and was the very best Indian at tied-Twelfth within the GS Caltex Maekyung Open.

With rounds of 69-69, Kochhar was 4-under for 2 rounds.

Kochhar was one of many 4 Indians to make the reduce and that included veteran Jeev Milkha Singh (71-70), who regardless of lacking a whole lot of fairways and greens in regulation hung in for a 1-under 70 and made it in tied-Forty first place alongside Honey Baisoya (69-72). Gaganjeet Bhullar (69-72) was tied 57.

Shiv Kapur (73-71) and Ajeetesh Sandhu 72-72 missed the reduce on a day when it was raining and was gloomy.

Korean Chanmin Jung, who held the primary spherical lead at eight-under-par 63, got here again from a double bogey on the primary gap to card a 68 and stayed within the lead at Namseoul Country Club.

Chamin was 11 below, two forward of Korea’s Junghwan Lee, who carded a 66. Yubin Jang (64), beginner Taeyang Jung (65), and Bio Kim (68), the defending champion, have been tied third.

Chanmin Jung, 23, knowledgeable for 3 years, has recorded two high 10s on the Korean PGA Tour.

Bio Kim is as soon as once more in rivalry at an occasion he gained in 2012.

Jang, winner of 5 beginner occasions together with final 12 months’s World University Golf Championships in Italy, made 9 birdies on Friday for the joint lowest spherical of the day, with Australian Kevin Yuan.

-PTI

Chouhan ensures reduce at UAE Challenge

Om Prakash Chouhan made his first reduce outdoors India, on the European Challenge Tour regardless of carding 2-over 74 within the second spherical of the UAE Challenge right here on Friday.

The 36-year-old Chouhan, who surprised a powerful subject to win the Duncan Taylor Black Bull Challenge in March in India, had three bogeys in opposition to only one birdie as he battled it out on a day when issues didn’t appear to go his method.

Put alongside his first spherical 3-under 69 on the primary day, he was 1-under 143 for 2 days and tied thirty ninth when he completed play.

The USD 300,000 tour occasion is the second in Abu Dhabi because the European Challenge returned right here after 10 years.

Though a whole lot of gamers have been nonetheless on the Saadiyat Beach Course, Chouhan was safely into the weekend rounds. After successful the Black Bull Challenge, the six-time winner on Indian PGTI Tour missed the cuts at KGA Challenge and the Abu Dhabi Challenge final week.

The first-round chief, Ivan Cantero Gutierrez of Spain, shot 70 within the second spherical after the first-round 67 to be 7-under. He was one behind Scotsman Craig Howie, who, after a 69 on Day 1, was 5-under for the day and 8-under for the event with two extra holes to play.

Another Spaniard Joel Moscatel Nachshon was additionally at a 7-under complete with six holes to go. Jeppe Kristian Andersen (70-68) was the only real fourth a six-under.

Maverick Antcliff (71-68), Liam Johnston (73-66) and Jaco Prinsloo (71-68) had completed at 5-under, whereas Manuel Elvira was additionally at 5-under complete with yet another gap to play.

-PTI

TENNIS

Asia-Oceania Junior Billie Jean King Cup: India loses to New Zealand

Asmi Adkar gained the second singles in a dramatic trend, saving a bunch of match factors, in opposition to Aishi Das 1-6, 7-6(10), [11-9], however India was overwhelmed 2-1 by New Zealand within the play-off match for the Ninth-Twelfth spots within the Asia-Oceania Junior Billie Jean King Cup under-16 ladies tennis event in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, on Friday.

India will play Indonesia for the eleventh spot on Saturday.

In the semifinals, host Kazakhstan beat Australia 2-1 and Japan beat Korea by the identical margin. With solely the highest three groups qualifying for the World Group competitors, Australia and Korea will struggle for the third spot.

The outcomes:

Play-off (9-12 place): New Zealand bt India 2-1 (Lucia Gale bt Sejal Bhutada 6-2, 6-1; Aishi Das misplaced to Asmi Adkar 6-1, 6-7(10), [9-11]; Aishi & Lucia bt Asmi & Aakruti Sonkusare 6-4, 6-4).