Indian sports wrap, July 6: Bhambri-Olivetti pair ousted from Wimbledon

TENNIS

Bhambri-Olivetti pair ousted from Wimbledon

India’s Yuki Bhambri and his French partner Albano Olivetti made a second-round exit from the Wimbledon Championships after losing to Germany’s Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz in three sets here.

The Indo-French pair squandered a one-game lead to go down 6-4, 4-6, 3-6 to the eighth-seed Germans in two hours, five minutes on Friday.

Bhambri and Olivetti had downed the Kazakh duo of Alexander Bublik and Alexander Shevchenko in the opening round.

On Saturday, veteran Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Mathew Ebden will be in action.

The second seeds, who are the reigning Australian Open champions, will face Germany’s Hendrik Jebens and Constantin Frantzen in the second round.

Bopanna is the only Indian left in the tournament as Olympic-bound Sumit Nagal and N Sriram bowed out of the tournament earlier this week.

-PTI

Adil Kalyanpur and Vishnu Vardhan win doubles title

Dil Kalyanpur was outplayed 6-1, 6-1 by Mitsuki Leong of Malaysia in the semifinals of the $15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand, on Saturday.

However, Adil in partnership with Olympian Vishnu Vardhan won the doubles title, beating Francis Alcantra and Maximus Jones 6-3, 6-2 in the final.

Vishnu Vardhan and Adil Kalyanpur. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

While it was the 47th doubles title in the professional circuit for Vishnu, it was the maiden title for the 24-year-old Adil, in his tenth final.

GOLF

Diksha drops late triple bogey, finishes Tied-14th in London

India’s Diksha Dagar gave away a costly and rare triple bogey on the 16th hole of the third and final round as she dropped out of Top-10 at the Aramco Team Series London golf tournament.

The left-hander, who is headed to the Major Evian Championships next week and then to the Olympic Games in Paris, finished with a round of 2-over 75 and was T-14 after being inside the Top-5 at one stage.

It was still her best individual finish in the Aramco Series. Except for that Par-4 16th in the final round, she indicated that her game was in good shape for the bigger events.

India’s other player to make the cut, Tvesa Malik (75) was T-48, while Pranavi Urs had withdrawn after the first round.

Leona Maguire became the first Irishwoman to win on the Ladies European Tour (LET) after sinking her eagle putt on the final hole. Maguire led from the first day in the Individual competition at Centurion Club after rounds of 66 (-7) and 72 (-1).

Diksha, fourth at the start of the final day, began in the afternoon on the final day and bogeyed the third hole. Birdies on the fifth and ninth hauled her back into Top-10 and she had a string of pars before the crippling triple bogey.

Tvesa had four bogeys and a birdie in the stretch between the fifth and the ninth. Then came a double on 11th before a birdie on the 13th and a birdie-birdie finish gave her a T-48 finish.

It was an up-and-down day for Maguire who made the turn in two-over par, and she was level on the back nine heading into 18 knowing she needed to make an eagle to secure victory.

Maguire hit an excellent second shot to leave herself with an eagle chance and she duly rolled in the putt to make history on the LET and win with a total of eight-under-par.

Spain’s Maria Hernandez finished in second place on seven-under-par after a bogey-free final round of 68 (-5). The Spaniard rolled in birdies on holes one, five, 10, 16 and 18 to seal another top-10 finish on the LET in 2024.

Three players finished in a share of third place with Ireland’s Lauren Walsh, America’s Alison Lee and England’s Georgia Hall all on six-under-par.

France’s Agathe Sauzon ended the week in outright sixth place on five-under with Germany’s Laura Fuenfstueck one shot further back.

In the team competition, Team Nadaud secured victory over Team Hall after a three-hole playoff at the end of the day.

In the LET Order of Merit, Hernandez climbed up to sixth place in the Order of Merit with Walsh now 12th and Maguire jumped from 134th to 28th place.

-PTI

Olympic-bound Bhullar one shot off the lead in Morocco

Olympic-bound Indian golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar gave himself a confidence boost after firing a solid five-under 68 in the second round to rise to tied second spot on the USD 2 million International Series Morocco here.

Bhullar, who scored 3-under 70 in the first round at the Par-73 Red Course at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, thus took his total to 8-under to lie just one shot behind leader, American John Catlin (66-71).

The 36-year-old Bhullar, whose 11 Asian Tour wins is the third highest in the list of all-time winners, had six birdies and one bogey.

He shares the second place with Travis Smyth (69) from Australia, Japan’s Jinichiro Kozuma (70), New Zealander Ben Campbell (70) and Filipino Miguel Tabuena (71).

Among other Indians in the field, Rayhan Thomas (69-73) was T-15, Varun Chopra (71-74) was T-39 as was Rashid Khan (70-75). Veer Ahlawat (70-76) was T-48. Only five Indians made the 36-hole cut.

Bhullar, who is playing his first event since April, had four birdies and one bogey in his first round and it was six birdies against one bogey in the second.

Bhullar’s last Asian Tour win came in November 2023 when he won the Indonesia Masters. Earlier this year, Bhullar won an event on the Indian PGTI Tour in his home Tour in Chandigarh.

Shiv Kapur (75-72) missed the cut narrowly by one shot. Others missing the cut were Honey Baisoya, Khalin Joshi, Karandeep Kocchar, Kartik Sharma, S Chikkarangappa, Saptak Talwar, SSP Chawrasia, Jeev Milkha Singh, Yuvraj Sandhu and Ajeetesh Sandhu, who retired in the second round.

-PTI

India in two finals in Asian Doubles squash

Abhay Singh will feature in two finals in the Asian Doubles Squash Championships in Johor (Malaysia) on Sunday.

On Saturday, he and Velavan Senthilkumar, the top seeds, stormed into the men’s doubles title-round with a commanding 11-9, 11-2 win over the Japanese pair of Tomotaka Endo and Naoki Hayashi in 23 minutes in the last-four stage.

Later, Asian Games medallist Abhay and the experienced Joshna Chinappa, the third seeds, defeated the Hong Kong pair of Cheng Nga Ching and Lai Cheuk Nam Matthew (HK) 11-8, 11-10 in the mixed doubles semifinals.

“I’m very pleased to be in both finals, winning two golds was the goal before we came here so that’s what we are focused on tomorrow,” Abhay said.

“The men’s match was a comfortable 2-0 while the mixed match was a bit challenging, but still pleased to come through without dropping a game. Being in another finals of an Asian Championship is an honour, looking forward to converting them both,” he added.

Abhay and Joshna will meet second seed Tong Tsz Wing and Tang Ming Hong of Hong Kong for the mixed doubles title and Abhay and Velavan will lock horns with second seed Ong Sai Hung and Syafiq Kamal of Malaysia in the men’s doubles final.

“Solid performances by both pairs to reach the finals. Once the Asian Championships were announced the Squash Rackets Federation of India along with our strategic partner HCL held the National Championships from where the pairs were selected,” SRFI Secretary-General Cyrus Poncha said.

-Team Sportstar

KABADDI

Delhi kabaddi league to feature eight local teams

The Delhi kabaddi league, featuring eight local teams, is scheduled to be organised by the Delhi State Kabaddi Association in collaboration with 100 Sports Management.

Making the announcement on Saturday, the president of the Delhi Kabaddi Association, Ramesh Bidhuri said, “Kabaddi is one of the oldest sports in the country. We are excited to launch the Delhi Kabaddi League, which will take this game to new heights in the Capital”.

Former international player Manjeet Chhillar was announced as the brand ambassador for the league.

“I will do my utmost to promote the game and contribute to its growth and success”, Manjeet Chhillar assured.

The league will carry a prize purse of five lakh rupees for the champion and three lakh for the runner-up. The semifinalists will get one lakh each.

“100 Sports Management is committed to organising this league, ensuring a smooth, professional and unforgettable experience for everyone”, said Ravindra Bhati, the Founder and CEO of the company.

-Kamesh Srinivasan