IBSF World 6-red Snooker C’ship: Kamal Chawla clinches gold
Ulaanbataar (Mongolia), Sep 25: Indian veteran Kamal Chawla clinched his maiden IBSF World 6-Red title with a commanding 6-2 victory over Pakistan’s Asjad Iqbal in the final of the IBSF World Men’s 6-Red Snooker Championship here on Wednesday. India also bagged three more bronze medals through Malkeet Singh, Vidya Pillai and Keerthana Pandian. This triumph marks a significant turnaround for Chawla, who was the runner-up in the 2017 edition of the tournament. The 45-year-old faced an early setback, dropping the first two frames to Iqbal (23-47, 18-47). However, demonstrating remarkable resilience, Chawla staged a stellar comeback, winning six consecutive frames (71-0, 41-7, 64-0, 43-0, 33-20, 36-29) to seal his victory. His path to the final included a stunning semifinal win over Germany’s Richard Wienold, where he triumphed in the decider on a black ball, leaving the outcome uncertain until the final shot was pocketed. Malkeet Singh clinched the bronze in the same category after losing his semifinal to 0-6 to Iqbal earlier in the day. In the women’s category, India’s Vidya was unable to defend her title, finishing with a bronze medal after a hard-fought semifinal loss to Hong Kong’s Ng On Yee, with the scoreline at 2-4. Meanwhile, 22-year-old Pandian also settled for bronze, falling 0-4 to Fong Mei Mei of Hong Kong in her semifinal match. (PTI)
Kohli, Pant named as probables for Delhi Ranji Trophy team
New Delhi, Sep 25: Premier batter Virat Kohli and the flamboyant Rishabh Pant have once again been named in a jumbo 84-member Delhi Ranji Trophy probables list although the duo is unlikely to be available for any of the red ball games throughout the season. However, veteran pacer Ishant Sharma’s name didn’t figure in the list which has the country’s fastest bowler Mayank Yadav along with another Team India contender Harshit Rana. Kohli had last played Ranji Trophy for Delhi in 2012 at Ghaziabad against Uttar Pradesh while Pant last featured in a red ball game for Delhi in the pre-COVID era. “This is a protocol. They are our registered players and it is our duty to put their names in probables list in case they want to play,” a DDCA official said on conditions of anonymity. In case of the 35-year-old 100 Test veteran Ishant, it is understood that there is no point in him playing Ranji Trophy since he no longer figures in national team’s scheme of things. Ishant didn’t play in inaugural Delhi Premier League (DPL) either but it will be interesting to note if he makes himself available for Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament which will be held just before the IPL auctions. (PTI)
Macau Open: Srikanth leads Indian charge into second round
Macau, Sep 25: Star shuttler Kidambi Srikanth, along with compatriots Ayush Shetty and Tasnim Mir, advanced to the second round of the singles event at the Macau Open Super 300 badminton tournament on Wednesday. In his first competition since recovering from an injury sustained in May, sixth seed Srikanth, a silver medallist at the 2021 World Championships, outclassed Israel’s Daniil Dubovenko 21-14, 21-15, while Ayush, the 2023 World Junior Championships bronze medallist, also had a strong start, defeating fellow Indian Alap Mishra 21-13, 21-5 in another men’s singles opening-round match. Former world junior number one Tasnim Mir triumphed over Devika Sihag, winning 15-21, 21-18, 22-20 to also secure her spot in the next round of women’s singles. The second round will feature an all-Indian matchup, with Srikanth set to face Ayush, who was a runner-up at the 2023 Odisha Masters. Tasnim will take on fourth seed Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan, the 2022 World junior champion. In mixed doubles, the pair of B Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy also progressed after a hard-fought victory against Malaysian qualifiers Loo Bing Kun and Ho Lo Ee, winning 24-22, 10-21, 21-13. They will next face the Malaysian duo of Wong Tien Ci and Lim Chiew Sien. (PTI)
NADA serves whereabouts failure notice to Vinesh Phogat
New Delhi, Sep 25: The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) on Wednesday served a notice to wrestler Vinesh Phogat for whereabouts failure and sought an explanation within 14 days. All the athletes registered with NADA’s Registered Testing Pool (RTP), of which Vinesh is a part, are required to provide details about their availability for dope tests. If they fill the details and are found not available on that location at that given time, it is considered a whereabouts failure. The NADA, in its notice, conveyed to the wrestler-turned-politician that she had apparently committed a whereabouts failure as she was not available for a dope test on September 9 at her house in Kharkhoda village in Sonepat. Vinesh had announced her retirement from the sport after her Paris Olympics campaign ended in heartbreak, where she made the final but was disqualified ahead of her gold-medal bout for being overweight. Vinesh and fellow wrestler Bajrang Punia joined the Congress party recently and she is contesting the upcoming Haryana Assembly election from Julana constituency. “You are hereby given a formal notice to notify you about apparent failure to comply with the whereabouts requirements of the ADR, and to invite you to make any comments before we come to a final decision on the matter,” the NADA notice read. Vinesh needs to either accept the failure or provide evidence that she was present in that location for about 60 minutes. One whereabouts failure does not constitute an anti-doping rule violation. There must be three whereabouts failures within a 12-month period for NADA to charge an athlete. (PTI)