Kaustubh, Taanish make winning starts in Fenesta Open
New Delhi, Oct 7: Top seed Kaustubh Singh of Uttar Pradesh and fourth seed Taanish Nanda of Chandigarh advanced to the second round of the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship in the Boys’ U-14 Singles category here on Tuesday. Kaustubh showed his quality by defeating Hariharan Mahamuni 9-2 in just under an hour. Taanish also delivered an excellent performance, blanking Rishav Prasad 9-0. He did not lose a single game, breaking his opponent’s serve at every opportunity while maintaining a flawless rhythm on his own delivery. Meanwhile, sixth seed Monodip Dey of West Bengal also impressed with a resounding 9-1 win against Ansh Jalota. Besides the prestigious titles, the winners will be awarded kit allowance in the junior categories. The winners and runners-up in the U-16 and U-14 singles events will also receive a tennis scholarship of ₹25,000 each. (PTI)
Indian trio bow out in pre-quarters in New York squash tournament
New Delhi, Oct 7: India’s Velavan Senthilkumar, Veer Chotrani and Ramit Tandon lost their pre-quarterfinal matches to bow out of the Open Squash Classic, a $74,000 PSA bronze event, in New York. Reigning national champion and world No. 45 Senthilkumar lost to Mexican fourth seed Leonel Cardenas 7-11, 6-11, 4-11 while eighth seed Tandon went down to Adrian Waller of England 11-6, 9-11, 8-11, 11-8, 7-11 on Monday. Chotrani fell to French second seed Victor Crouin 1-11, 8-11, 5-11. (PTI)
Indian rider Kavin Quintal finishes fourth in Spanish Superbike debut
Jerez de la Frontera, Oct 7: Young Indian rider Kavin Samaar Quintal secured a top four finish at the Copa de España de Velocidad Superbike round here. Racing as a wildcard entry supported by Teruel-based Gaman Racing Global Service, 19-year-old from Chennai rode a BMW M1000RR against a highly-competitive grid featuring Ducati, BMW, Honda, Suzuki, and Kawasaki machinery. He qualified fourth among 29 riders, then fought through a tough race to finish fourth, clocking 14:20.782s, despite a fall. In the second race, Kavin claimed seventh spot, further underlining his rapid adaptation to European racing standards. Spain’s Daniel Saez took the top spot aboard Yamaha. (PTI)
Atiqa overcomes injury, bad luck for top-10 finish in UAE C’ship
Dubai, Oct 7: Indian racing prodigy Atiqa Mir put behind a stroke of bad luck to gain as many as 18 places for an impressive top-10 finish in round one of the IAME UAE Karting Championship here. On her debut for the AKCEL GP Academy Team, the 10-year-old had a mixed weekend following a podium finish in the RMC Invitational the previous Sunday. The Formula 1 Academy-backed driver topped the official practice and qualified in seventh place out of 32 drivers in a male dominated and highly-competitive field. In heat 1, Atiqa gained three places to finish fourth. In the pre-final, she was forced out of the race due to a crash while attempting an overtake for third place, leaving her with a broken kart and injury to her hand and elbow. For the final, the accident put her on the back of the grid but that did not deter Atiqa’s ever fighting spirit. Despite the injury, Atiqa vowed to put on a show and her determination saw her climb to 10th from 28th place in the final. It was not a surprise that she was the highest mover in the field, overtaking her opponents one by one in a clinical and aggressive drive. (PTI)
