Indian sports wrap, May 31: Rathika Seelan bows out in quarters of Hong Kong PSA Challenge Cup

SQUASH

Rathika Seelan bows out in quarters of Hong Kong PSA Challenge squash

India’s Rathika Suthanthira Seelan went down to Malaysian third seed Sehveetrraa Kumar in the quarterfinals of the USD 6000 Hong Kong PSA Challenge Cup – 4th leg.

Sixth-seeded Rathika, who won her maiden Professional Squash Association Tour title at the HCL Squash Tour – Indore last weekend, lost 11-6, 11-8, 11-6 to her higher-ranked opponent.

– Team Sportstar

GOLF

Aditi begins with 73, lies 35th in US Women’s Open

Aditi Ashok, looking to make a mark at the Majors, opened with a modest 3-over 74 on a difficult day for scoring at the US Women’s Open being played at the Lancaster Country Club.

Aditi was tied-35 as only four players shot under-par scores and Japan’s Yuka Saso, the 2021 champion, led at 2-under. She was followed by amateur Adela Cernousek, Thailand’s Wichanee Meechai and Andrea Lee who all shot 1-under 69.

Aditi, playing her 29th Major, started on the 10th and birdied the 13th, but dropped shots on 15th and 18th. On her second nine, she bogeyed the second and ninth and in between double-bogeyed the Par-4 fourth and birdied the third and fifth for a hard day’s work with 73.

It was a drama-filled day. Sophia Popov aced the par-3 eighth hole and the World No. 1 Nelly Korda, a strong favourite, made the first 10 of her LPGA Tour career on the tricky par-3 12th hole, which was her third hole of the round.

She saw her ball run into the watery penalty area short of the green three times. She carded 10-over 80 and, at T-137, could miss the cut. Korda finished the day with five bogeys and two birdies in addition to her 10.

It is Saso’s first time holding the lead after any round in a major championship since her victory at The Olympic Club, when she held the top spot on the leaderboard after the second round.

There are 10 players at even par and in a tie for fifth, including the youngest player in the field, 15-year-old Asterisk Talley, and 2022 U.S. Women’s Open champion Minjee Lee. They are even par 70.

Some of the big names struggling included Lydia Ko (80), Rose Zhang (79), Brooke Henderson (80).

Defending champion Allisen Corpuz is in a tie for 70th.

-PTI

Diksha shoots 2-under as Tvesa, Pranavi make strong starts in Sweden

Indian women golfers were off to a fine start at the Dormy Open Helsingborg in Sweden despite the play being affected due to storms.

All four Indians were under par, but only Diksha Dagar, who started in the morning, was able to complete her first round with a birdie-birdie finish for a 2-under 70 and was tied-17th.

Tvesa Malik and Pranavi Urs, each through seven holes, started in the afternoon and had three birdies each.

The fourth Indian in the field, Vani Kapoor was one-under through three holes.

Tvesa and Pranavi were tied-7th, and Vani was tied-23rd when play was suspended.

The play was suspended here at the Allerum Golf Club, and the first round was likely to be completed on Saturday morning.

Diksha, starting from the tenth, birdied the 12th, 18th, first and then eighth and ninth. She dropped shots on the 13th, 15th and the fifth.

Both Tvesa and Pranavi started from the back nine and had three birdies each before the play was stopped.

England’s Annabell Fuller and Switzerland’s Kim Metraux shot 5-under 67 each to share the lead.

Annabell was bogey-free, but Kim dropped a shot on par-5 12th and had six other birdies.

France’s Perrine Delacour, Denmark’s Nicole Broch Estrup and Swedish amateur Merja Oretengren had all finished their first round at 4-under 68 each.

England’s Cara Gainer was also 4-under but in just eight holes, as she birdied four in a row from the second to the fifth.

Ten players share the seventh place on three-under-par, with seven players in the clubhouse and three players yet to complete their round.

-PTI

MOTORSPORT

FMSCI Indian National Rally Sprint Championship to begin in Chennai

Chennai gears up to host the opening leg of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Sprint Championship 2024 at the Madras International Circuit on 01-02 June. This premier two-wheeler rally is the first of the six-round series.

With Chennai serving as the first of the two South Zone qualifiers, more than 75 entries are expected across 12 classes, showcasing their skills and vying for cash prizes. The top 5 riders from each zone will seal a berth in the final round, set to unfold on 15-16 December 2024 in Pune.

– Team Sportstar

SURFING

Indian Open of Surfing 2024: Tamil Nadu lads top first-day honours

Mangaluru (Karnataka), May 31 (PTI) Tamil Nadu surfers dominated events on Day 1 of the fifth Indian Open of Surfing (IOS) championships on Friday, outplaying surfers from other states and securing 15 out of 16 quarterfinal spots in the Men’s Open category.

Top scores came from the top-seeded surfers, with the current fourth-ranked Sivaraj Babu (15.50) emerging as the highest scorer of the day, followed by Ajeesh Ali (15.33) and Srikanth D (13.50).

The first day’s rounds saw Tamil Nadu surfers take charge in the Men’s Open category. A total of 14 surfers will battle it out in the quarterfinals, scheduled for Saturday morning, to book a slot in the semi-finals.

The quarterfinalists in this category are Sivaraj Babu, Ajeesh Ali, Srikanth D, Harish M, Tayin Arun, Manivannan T, Sanjay Selvamani, Surya P, Sanjaikumar S, Manikandan M, Ruban V, Subramani M, Akilan S, and Manikandan.

– PTI

TENNIS

Ankita Raina in semifinals

Ankita Raina sailed past Destanee Aiava of Australia 7-6(0), 6-0 in the quarterfinals of the $40,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal, on Friday.

Ankita was also in the doubles semifinals with Ma YeXin of China.

In the $25,000 men’s event in La Nucia, Spain, Siddhant Banthia won the doubles title in partnership with Eric Vanshelboim of Ukraine.

The results:

$82,000 Challenger, Little Rock, USA Doubles (quarterfinals): Joshua Paris (GBR) & Ramkumar Ramanathan bt Andres Andrade (Ecu) & Abdullah Shelbayh (Jor) 6-3, 6-4; Rithvik Bollipalli & Hans Verdugo (Mex) bt Mac Kiger & Ethan Quinn (USA) 6-3, 6-3.

€74,825 Challenger, Vicenza, Italy Doubles (quarterfinals): Vladyslav Manafov (Ukr) & Patrik Niklas-Salminen 9Fin) bt Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan & Vijay Sundar Prashanth 6-3, 6-4.

$25,000 ITF men, La Nucia, Spain Doubles (final): Siddhant Banthia & Eric Vanshelboim (Ukr) bt Inigo Huegun & Sergi Contri (Esp) 7-5, 7-6(6); Semifinals: Siddhant & Eric bt Johan Nikles & Damien Wenger (Sui) 6-3, 6-4.

$15,000 ITF men, Kingston, Jamaica Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Aryan Shah bt Aurel Ciocanu (Can) 6-3, 6-2.

$15,000 ITF men, Monastir, Tunisia Doubles (quarterfinals): Jordan Chiu (USA) & Rohan Mehra bt Samir Reguig (Alg) & Aziz Ouakaa (Tun) 7-5, 6-4; Grigoriy Lomakin (Kaz) & Ilia Simakin bt Rushil Khosla & Patrick Schoen (Sui) 7-5, 1-0 (retired); Tiago Pereira & Tomas Luis (Por) bt Manish Sureshkumar & Kris Van Wyk (RSA) 6-3, 3-6, [11-9].

$60,000 ITF women, Brescia, Italy Doubles (quarterfinals): Nicole Huergo (Ita) & Vasanti Shinde bt Anastasia Abbagnato & Beatrice Ricci (Ita) 2-5 (retired).

$40,000 ITF women, Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal Singles (quarterfinals): Ankita Raina bt Destanee Aiava (Aus) 7-6(0), 6-0.

Doubles (quarterfinals): Ma YeXin (Chn) & Ankita Raina bt Iveta Dapkute (Ltu) & Aleksandra Zuchanska (Pol) 6-0, 6-1.

$25,000 ITF women, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Sahaja Yamalapalli bt Lian Tran (Ned) 6-4, 6-1; Katrina Scott (USA) bt Riya Bhatia 7-5, 6-3.

Doubles (quarterfinals): Mell Elizabeth Gonzalez (Ecu) & Antonia Schmidt (Ger) bt Sharmada Balu & Riya Bhatia 6-3, 7-6(5).

$15,000 ITF women, Monastir, Tunisia Singles (quarterfinals): Samaira De Stefano (Ita) bt Zeel Desai 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.

-Kamesh Srinivasan