Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram announces retirement
Chennai, March 27: Ajay Jayaram, who was part of the Indian men’s squad, which won a bronze at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in 2016, announced his retirement from professional badminton after enjoying a career spanning over two decades. Jayaram, who has won the Dutch Open twice (2014 and 2015) and Czech International, took to Twitter on Saturday to announce his retirement. “As all good things come to an end, so is my professional badminton journey of nearly 2 decades. I’ve decided to retire from competitive badminton and I write this, teary-eyed and with a lump in my throat,” read the statement. (UNI)
Arjun, Harsha, Gukesh joint leaders at Delhi Chess Int’l
New Delhi, March 27: Top seed Arjun Erigaisi, Harsha Bharathakoti and D Gukesh on Sunday emerged as joint leaders at the 19th edition of Delhi International Open Grandmasters Chess tournament here. With two rounds remaining, the tournament is heading for an exciting finish as the three Indians are now leading the standings with seven points. In the eighth round, Erigaisi annihilated former national champion Lalith Babu M R in 28 moves in Scotch game. Harsha, meanwhile, shocked second seed Grandmaster Pavel Ponkratov of Russia with light colour pieces in a Semi-Slav game after 58 moves. Gukesh also claimed a win, beating Karthik Venkataraman with dark colour pieces in a Queen’s Gambit Declined game. (PTI)
WTT Star Contender: Manika enters second round
Doha, March 27: India’s table tennis star Manika Batra entered the second round of WTT Star Contender after beating Qian Tianyi of China in an intense first round match here at Lusail Sports Arena on Sunday. Batra, who is ranked 48th in the world, defeated Tianyi 3-2 (11-9, 4-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9) in match lasted 40 minutes. The Indian will play Xiaona Shan of Germany in the round of 32. Batra will also compete in the women’s doubles with Archana Kamath and in the mixed doubles with Sathiyan Gnanasekaran. In the men’s doubles, Sharath Kamal and Manav Thakkar lost their opening round match 3-1 (6-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5) to the Spanish-Romanian duo of Alvaro Roubles and Ovidiu Ionescu. (UNI)
DGC Open: Sandhu finishes second after losing play-off
New Delhi, March 27: Indian golfer Ajeetesh Sandhu came agonisingly close to winning the inaugural DGC Open before going down in the play-offs as Thailand’s Nitithorn Thippong claimed his maiden Asian Tour title in a compelling finish here on Sunday. Sandhu (71) and Nitithorn (73) produced a birdie each in the 18th hole to finish seven under after four rounds, forcing a play-off. Nitithorn, the overnight leader by two shots, then made a brilliant birdie on the first play-off hole – par-five 18th, while Sandhu holed out for par to miss out in the end. (PTI)
Indians win Polish Open titles
New Delhi, March 27: Talented Indian shuttlers Kiran George and Anupama Upadhyaya won the men’s and women’s singles titles respectively at the Polish Open International Challenge badminton tournament in Arlamow on Sunday. George, a defending champion, retained the title after defeating Chia Hao Lee of Chinese Taipei 21-15 21-14 in the summit clash, while Upadhyaya prevailed over fellow Indian Aditi Bhatt 17-21 21-14 21-17 in the women’s singles final. For George, it was his second title of the season, following his triumph at the Odisha Open Super 100 tournament in January. He had also made it to the Indian team for the Asian badminton team championships in February. (PTI)