Pragathi Gowda continues stellar run in Rallye Du Centre Alsace
SELESTAT, (France), Oct 14: Indian rallyist Pragathi Gowda continued her hot form in her fourth international rally to finish 16 overall in the Rallye Du Centre Alsace at Selestat. She competed against 67 other drivers in the asphalt rally on Sunday and achieved an average speed of 108.5 kmph over the course of the rally. The Rallye Du Centre Alsace was a two-day race, where rallyists navigated a total of 306.11 km. At the end of the first leg, Pragathi was placed 36th overall but in the second leg, with a better understanding of the surface and weather conditions, she grew in confidence and control and kept achieving small goals the team set for her to finish 16th.“This was just my fourth International rally and every rally I’ve been making huge steps and improvements which is positive. Every rally has been different from the other. And this was the toughest so far in terms of driving conditions and the grip level. I am very happy that we could adapt and inhale the nature of it quickly and the car kept responding every step of the way, which built more confidence and inspired consistency,” Pragathi commented after the win.With the weather being cloudy and rainy at times the grip levels kept changing throughout the rally. The light drizzle and misty conditions meant Pragathi, driving on MRF-made ZTA tyres, was driving with 80-90% grip on her tyres.Rossel Yohan and Fernandes Steve were the race leaders on Rally 2 cars Citreon C3 and Hyundai I20 N respectively. Attempting to take the fight to them, Pragathi managed to hit the top 10 times mark by the last stage of the rally in her Rally 4 car.The Indian rallyist will take part in the Rally de Espana in Spain on October 18 and 19 to prepare for the World Motorsport Games where she will be representing India in the Rally Category. (IANS)
IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni shares lead with 3 others
MUMBAI, Oct 14: International Master Vikramaditya Kulkarni of Mumbai along with Yash Watarkar (Pune), Arnav Kherdekar (Mumbai), and Saikat Nath (Delhi) with all win record, shared the lead at the end of the fifth round of the SMCA Chess School-organised first All India FIDE Rating Open Chess Tournament 2024.On the first two boards of the fifth round, the top-ranked Kulkarni (ELO Rating 2185) defeated Darsh Shetty (ER 1798) on the top board, while Watarkar (ER 1963) outwitted Palghar’s Deepak Soni (ER 1750) on the second board to maintain the winning momentum.Kherdekar (1846) brushed aside the challenge from Delhi’s Tarun N (1730) on the third board, while Saikat Nath (1829) also from Delhi, tasted success defeating Karnataka’s Rajeev Rudra (1738) on the fourth board.
Results:
Top-10: Round 4: IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni (4) beat Amey Dandekar (3) 1-0; Yash Watarkar (4) beat Prisha Margaj (3) 1-0; Atish Laddad (4) beat Sanjeev Mishra (3) 1-0; Arnav Kherdekar (4) beat Udupi Acharya (3) 1-0; Guruprasad Kulkarni (3) lost AIM Saikat Nath (4) 0-1; Anirudh Subramanian (3.5) drew Om Gada (3.5) 0.5-0.5; Darsh Shetty (4) beat Kshaunish Jaiswal (3) 1-0; AIM Samarth Patodekar (3) lost Deepak Soni (4) 0-1; Rajeev Rudra (4) beat Shraddha Padvekar (3) 1-0; Aditya Siddharth (3) lost Tarun N (4) 0-1.Round 5: Darsh Shetty (4) lost IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni (5) 0-1; Deepak Soni (4) lost Yash Watarkar (5) 0-1; Tarun N (4) lost Arnav Kherdekar (5) 0-1; AIM Saikat Nath (5) beat Rajeev Rudra (4) 1-0;Atharv Soni (4.5) beat Atish Laddad (4) 1-0; Om Gada (4.5) beat Shubham Baviskar (3.5) 1-0; Anirudh Subramanian (4.5) beat Kush Agarwal (3.5) 1-0; Yuti Patel (4) drew Kartik (4) 0.5-0.5; Palaash Mapara (4) drew Dhruv Muthe (4) 0.5-0.5. (PTI)
Belgium’s Wegnez most expensive player on Day 2 of HIL auction
NEW DELHI, Oct 14: Belgium midfielder Victor Wegnez was the most expensive player on the second day of the Hockey India League players’ auction after he was acquired by Soorma Hockey Club for Rs 40 lakh.Other notable overseas players who went under the hammer included the Dutch duo of Thierry Brinkman (Rs 38 lakh) and Arthur Van Doren (RS 32 lakh), who were sold to Kalinga Lancers. Tomas Domene (for Rs 36 lakh to Delhi SG Pipers), Australia’s Aran Zalewski (for Rs 27 lakh to Kalinga Lancers) and Blake Govers (for Rs 27 lakh to Tamil Nadu Dragons) were the other top buys on the day. (PTI)