SHOOTING
Para shooters Rubina, Swaroop secure Olympics quota through bipartite rule
Indian para shooters Rubina Francis and Swaroop Unhalkar on Wednesday secured quota for Paris Paralympics under bipartite rule, taking the total number of shooters at the Games to 10.
The Paralympic Committee of India had applied for two bipartite (wildcard) spots for Rubina (women’s 10m air pistol SH1), who has a world ranking of No. 2, and Unhalkar (men’s 10m air rifle SH1).
Rubina, a gold medallist in the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, and Unhalkar have been consistent performers in international events, prompting PCI to apply for bipartite spot.
Subhash Rana, the national para shooting coach, had said they applied for the wildcard after the pair missed out on quota places by a whisker.
“Rubina missed winning the quota by a fraction of a point, so we have applied for wildcard for her and Swaroop,” Rana had said in May.
-PTI
CRICKET
Cricket fraternity hails Gautam Gambhir’s appointment as India head coach
Former India opener Gautam Gambhir’s appointment as the next head coach was hailed by the Indian cricket fraternity, less than two weeks after Rahul Dravid’s tenure ended on a high, winning the T20 World Cup.
Gambhir won the Indian Premier League (IPL) title for Kolkata Knight Riders after 10 years, returning as mentor in 204. He was a the two-time IPL winning skipper with KKR in 2012 and 2014. | Photo Credit: K.R Deepak / The Hindu
Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh also congratulated on his new innings as the Team India head coach.
“I am sure that your experience, energy, passion, aggression and talent will steer the team on the path of excellence. My best wishes to you. Good luck buddy,” wrote Harbhajan.
Anil Kumble commented: “Congratulations Gautam Gambhir. Wishing you the best!” Former Indian batter Robin Uthappa who was his opening partner in their 2014-IPL title winning campaign, also chipped in with a congratulatory message.
“Congratulations bro!! Can’t wait to see the men’s team flourish under your able guidance. Wishing you the best for the new role. Lots of love!!” Uthappa posted on X.
Test stalwart Cheteshwar Pujara wrote, “Congratulations and best wishes Gauti bhai!”
-Team Sportstar
GOLF
Diksha, Aditi set to tee off in Evian C’ships with busy season looming
Diksha Dagar will tee off at the Amundi Evian Championships, one of the Majors in women’s golf, this week as she gears up for one of her busiest stretches of her career that also includes the Olympic Games in Paris.
Diksha will play seven events in eight weeks with two Majors and the Olympics besides the Women’s Scottish Open and a Ladies European Tour event, among others.
Also playing in the two Majors, including this week’s Evian, is Aditi Ashok, who will also play the Olympics and the Women’s Scottish Open.
Aditi, who was agonisingly one spot away from a medal at the Tokyo Olympics, plays her third Games, while Diksha is ready for her second.
The left-handed Diksha is coming off a T-14 finish at the Aramco Series London, and has been showing signs of coming back into the kind of form that saw her finish third on the LET order of Merit.
Currently 14th on the Order of Merit, she has had three top-10s, four top-20 and two top-25 finishes, a good but modest run for Diksha, who has high expectations from her ever-improving game.
Aditi, who won the season-ending Andalucia Championships on LET in 2023, has not had a top-10 in 2024 and her best was T-17 at the Meijer LPGA Classic this season. However, she has missed only four cuts in 14 starts, though many of her finishes have been on the lower half of the leaderboard after the cut.
The thought of another Olympics will fire her up as she knows the impact she had while finishing fourth in Tokyo.
-PTI
TENNIS
Jasmine storms into final eight at AITA National series juniors
Jasmine Kaur knocked out top seed Snigdha Patibandla 6-4, 6-1 in the under-18 girls pre-quarterfinals of the HPCL Mittal AITA National series junior tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex in Chandigarh on Wednesday.
The results (pre-quarterfinals):
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Balaji-Escobar through to quarterfinal in Braunschweig
Sriram Balaji, seeded No.1 with Gonzalo Escobar of Ecuador, cruised into the doubles quarterfinals with 6-3, 6-0 win over Boris Arias and Federico Zeballos in the €148,625 Challenger tennis tournament in Braunschweig, Germany, on Wednesday.
In the $25,000 ITF men’s event in Tianjin, China, S Mukund reached the pre-quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Jin Yuquan.
The results:
-Kamesh Srinivasan
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