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Tennis
Bopanna and Ebden bow out in second round
Rohan Bopanna, seeded seventh with Matthew Ebden of Australia was beaten 2-6, 7-6(8), [12-10] by Alex de Minaur and Jason Kubler in the doubles pre-quarterfinals of the €8,637,966 ATP tennis tournament in Rome, Italy, on Monday.
The Indo-Aussie pair did not face a single breakpoint in the whole match. The duo converted two of three breakpoints. In the battle of wits that lasted nearly two hours Bopanna and Ebden won more points 77 to 69, but the all-Aussie pair won the points that made the difference.
The second round exit fetched 90 ATP points and €29,300 for the Indo-Aussie pair, which has won two titles so far this season, in Doha and Indian Wells.
In the $115,000 WTA event in Florence, Italy, Ankita Raina beat Susan Bandecchi of Switzerland 7-6(3), 6-2 in the second and final qualifying round to make the main draw.
The results:
€8,637,966 ATP, Rome, Italy Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Alex de Minaur & Jason Kubler (Aus) bt Rohan Bopanna & Matthew Ebden (Aus) 2-6, 7-6(8), 12-10].
$115,000 WTA, Florence, Italy Qualifying singles (second and final round): Ankita Raina bt Susan Bandecchi (Sui) 7-6(3), 6-2.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Shooting
India to compete in Shotgun World Cup
Only the cream of Indian shooting will be competing in the Shotgun World Cup scheduled to be staged in Almaty, Kazakhstan from May 22 to 28.
Overall, the World Cup has attracted 41 countries and 233 shooters, as per the entry list so far.
The Indian team:
Trap: Prithviraj Tondaiman, Zoravar Singh Sandhu, Bhowneesh Mendiratta; Manisha Keer, Preeti Rajak, Shreyasi Singh.
Skeet: Mairaj Ahmad Khan, Gurjoat Khangura, Anantjeet Singh Naruka; Ganemat Sekhon, Maheshwari Chauhan, Darshna Rathore.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Badminton
Delhi state ranking prize money badminton championships to begin on May 18
Budding shuttlers will look to showcase their skills when the Delhi state ranking prize money badminton championships is held from May 18 to 25.
Organised by Delhi Capital Badminton Association (DCBA), the tournament will be organised at the multi purpose hall at Karnall Singh Railway Stadium.
“DCBA is continuously working to discover hidden talents through various tournaments and hone their skills. DCBA is committed to give the country a badminton champion,” DCBA president Dr. Amita Singh said in a release.
The tournaments will be held in different age groups such as Under 11, Under 13, Under 15, Under 17 and Under 19.
A player can participate in a maximum of four events.
The draw will be held on Tuesday.
-PTI
Athletics
Abhishek, Sanjivani lead Indian elite challenge at TCS World 10K Bengaluru
Defending champion Abhishek Pal will headline the Indian elite challenge, hoping to clinch the title for the second successive time at the 15th TCS World 10K Bengaluru on Sunday.
The event will see a record 27,000-plus participants.
Abhishek, who won the previous edition with a time of 30:05, is likely to face competition from Kartik Kumar and Gulveer Singh, both of whom finished just behind the winner.
This year, the Indian elite line-up, which has a cash purse of Rs 2,75,000 each for men’s and women’s winners with a further Rs 1,00,000 course record bonus, will also see Olympians in contention with the in-form T Gopi and Nitendra Singh Rawat lacing up at the start-line.
“I am excited and eagerly looking forward to race day once again this year. It was an enjoyable race last year, and I am hoping to put on a show and defend my title this year,” Abhishek said in a release.
“This year, with more elite runners added to the line-up, it will be quite a challenging yet exciting race.” Both Kartik and Gulveer finished their races with a time of 30:06 and took their places on the podium next to Abhishek.
Along with Abhishek, Kartik and Gulveer, there will also be the likes of Pravin Khambal, Harmanjot Singh, Tirtha Pun, Kiran Mathre and Dinesh, all of whom will be eyeing improvements in their timings from last season and also a spot on the podium.
In the women’s section, the upcoming edition could see a new athlete being crowned champion.
Sanjivani Jadhav, the 2019 champion, will once again line up at the starting line, with an eye on another winner’s medal.
The Nashik-born athlete will be vying for her third title in this event and has been in good nick after a title win in the Delhi Half Marathon last year.
“I missed out on the title last year by a small margin, but this year, I have been preparing hard for the race and will give it my very best to win the race again,” Sanjivani said.
In 2022, Parul was the first to cross the finish line with a time of 34:38, while Sanjivani bagged silver as she finished moments later, with the clock reading 34:44.
Sanjivani will face competition from the experienced Kavita Yadav and Preenu Yadav, both of whom finished in the top-10 in the previous edition.
-PTI
Table Tennis
Indian, Sri Lankan paddlers book tickets to Doha
The Indian girls displayed their regional supremacy once again with a clean slate to lead the single-group chart and win gold in the U-19 team event of the South Asian Youth Table Tennis on Monday.
In their last round-robin match, India beat Sri Lanka 3-0 to earn the gold medal and book their tickets to Doha for the Asian Youth Championships in July. Joining the Indians in Doha will be the girls from Sri Lanka.
Maldives and Nepal, who finished in that order behind Lanka, will satisfy themselves with the bronze medals.
The Indian U-19 squad, comprising Yashaswini Ghorpade, Suhana Saini, Taneesha Kotecha and Jennifer Varghese, registered four 3-0 wins over their rivals in the five-team group.
In the U-19 boys, however, Nepal upstaged Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in a three-way tie to win gold and ensure their trip to Doha. Sri Lanka edged Bangladesh out on decimal points to follow Nepal to Qatar. Bangladesh and the Maldives ended their campaign with bronze.
Similarly, the Indian domination continued in the U-15 boys section as they led the single-group team events to take the gold. They did a clinical job, beating their opponents with an identical margin of 3-0 in the four matches they had to play.
The team consisted of P.B. Abhinand, Priyanuj Bhattacharya and Punit Biswas. The Sri Lankans settled for silver, while Bangladesh and Maldives had to settle for bronze medals.
The inevitable happened in the U-15 girls section, too. The Indians, led by Jennifer Varghese, Sayanika Maji and Avisha Karmakar, held sway over their neighbouring rivals, winning all their matches against their opponents 3-0.
Following them on the medal podium were silver medallists Nepal and bronze winners Maldives and Sri Lanka.
Thus, India started their gold-winning spree with three team medals. Nepal bagged the fourth gold on offer on the second day of the championships.
The Indian U-19 boys, who had already qualified after their top-four-team finish in the Asian Juniors in Laos last year, will join the fray in the individual events beginning Tuesday.
-PTI
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