Archa Jain, Radhika Soni begin strongly in UTT National Ranking TT
New Delhi, Sep 7: Delhi’s Archa Jain and Rajasthan’s Radhika Soni emerged as the standout performers, displaying ample composure on way to winning their respective Under-19 Girls’ matches in the second UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships, which commenced here on Sunday. On a day when most group toppers eased through their opening rounds, Archa showed tactical maturity beyond her age to defeat Bengal’s Pritha Talukdar 5-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 11-2 in Group 3. Archa will take on Maharashtra’s Hardee Patel on Monday. In other first-round matches, Maharashtra’s Pratik Yedke had to dig deep against UP’s Vansh Sundriyal, while NCOE’s Shrijoyee Mukherjee staged a recovery against Somya Singh after dropping the first two games. However, Shrijoyee’s teammate Ardita Das could not follow suit, falling to UP’s Ayushi Singhal in five games. UP’s Samriddhi Sharma edged past Delhi’s Aarna Gauhar Ahuja 14-12 in the decider for a 3-2 victory. (PTI)
Talwar endures tough day in Poland
Konopiska (Poland), Sep 7: Indian golfer Saptak Talwar carded 2-over 72 on the third day of the GAC Rosa Challenge to move up one place to tied-47 here. The third round produced one birdie and three bogeys as Talwar is now placed at even par with one day to go. The sole birdie was on the second hole while the bogeys came on the first, seventh and 15th holes. Sweden’s Hugo Townsend secured a commanding five-stroke lead after firing a 6-under 64. He has a three-day total of 14-under par. Townsend shot five birdies, one eagle and one bogey on the penultimate day. Townsend is the son of Englishman Peter Townsend, a former Ryder Cup player. He is chasing his maiden Hotel Planner Tour victory and hopes to make the top-20 on the Race to Mallorca standings to earn his card for the DP Worlds Tour. He is currently placed in 42nd position. (PTI)
Pranavi makes cut at Houston, lies 26th
Houston (US), Sep 7: India’s Pranavi Urs got off to a flying start with four birdies in five holes on way to a solid 3-under 69 in second round to make the cut at tied 26th place at the Aramco Houston Championship here. Pranavi has so far had rounds of 72 and 69. Avani Prashanth (73-73) and Tvesa Malik (73-77) missed the cut, which fell at even par and 61 players made the cut at the Golfcrest Country Club. Spain’s Carlota Ciganda fired a round of 64 (-8) on day two to hold a one-shot lead heading into the final day of the individual competition. The eight-time LET winner began her round with a birdie on 10 before back-to-back birdies on 13 and 14. Ciganda then rolled in four birdies in a row on 16, 17, 18 and the first before back-to-back birdies on three and four. Her only blemish of the day came on the eighth, as she finished top of the leaderboard on 10-under-par. (PTI)
Neeru, Bhowneesh win national selection trials 4
Bhucho (Punjab), Sep 7: Asian champion Neeru Dhanda and Asian silver medallist Bhowneesh Mendiratta continued their fine form to win the national selection shotgun trails (T4) at Bhucho Village Bhai Devinder Singh Sidhu Gun Club, here on Sunday. In the men’s final, Bhowneesh edged Kynan Darius Chenai in a shootout after both athletes finished the finals with a score of 45 each. Bhowneesh hit the target while Kynan missed his shot. Earlier, Bhowneesh shot 24 in the last round of qualification to qualify for the finals on top with a total score of 123, while Kynan qualified with a score of 117. (PTI)
Ramita, Divyansh spearhead India’s challenge in Shooting World Cup
Ningbo (China), Sep 7: Olympian rifle shooters Ramita Jindal and Divyansh Singh Panwar will spearhead a 24-member Indian contingent that will compete at the fourth and final ISSF World Cup (rifle & pistol), beginning here on Tuesday as the team looks to build on their superb performance at the recently-concluded Asian Championships. Following the Asian meet in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, this is another opportunity for the country’s shooters to show their mettle against the Chinese, who would be the ones to beat on their home turf. India capped 31 medals in Shymkent, including 14 gold, eight silver and nine bronze in the senior category, placing them second behind China, who finished with 15 gold, 12 silver and three bronze. The 10m air rifle and air pistol mixed team events are the first two finals scheduled on Tuesday and India will field new combinations in both the events. (PTI)
Max Verstappen wins F1 Italian Grand Prix
Monza (Italy), Sep 7: Max Verstappen claimed a dominant victory at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday ahead of McLaren’s title contenders Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. It was a first win since May for Verstappen – and only his third of the season – and capped a memorable weekend at Monza for Red Bull’s four-time world champion, who had posted the fastest lap in Formula 1 history at the track on Saturday to claim pole position. “That was unbelievable guys! Well done everyone,” Verstappen said on team radio. “We executed that really well. What an unbelievable weekend. We can be really proud of that.” Norris was second, nearly 20 seconds behind Verstappen, to trim the gap to Piastri in the title race to 31 points. He had started the day 34 points behind the Australian driver, who was not happy after he was ordered to let his teammate past towards the end of the race. (PTI)