Nagal bows out of Australian Open wild card play-off
CHENGDU (China), Nov 27: India’s top singles player Sumit Nagal bowed out of the Australian Open Asia-Pacific wild card play-off tournament after losing to Yunchaokete Bu of China in straight sets in the quarterfinals.Nagal, seeded sixth in the tournament, lost 2-6 2-6 to the top-seeded Chinese opponent.The Chengdu event, which runs from November 24-29 at the Sichuan International Tennis Centre, offers the men’s and women’s singles winners wild card entry into the main draw of the 2026 Australian Open.The Indian’s path had been clouded earlier by visa uncertainty. His initial application to enter China was rejected, prompting Nagal to publicly appeal to Chinese officials.The issue was later resolved, and he was cleared to travel. (PTI)
Anjali Semwal, Rathika Seelan in JSW squash quarters
MUMBAI, Nov 27: Top seed Anjali Semwal moved into the quarterfinals of the 11th Sunil Verma Memorial squash, a PSA Challenger event, with a fine victory over Reiva Nimbalkar here on Thursday.Semwal beat Nimbalkar 13-11, 11-6, 11-7.Among the other women’s pre-quarterfinals matches, third seed Rathika Suthanthira Seelan beat Aaradhana Kasturiraj 11-4, 11-2, 11-6 and fourth seed Nirupama Dubey defeated Malaysia’s Rui Jean Yek 11-2, 6-11, 11-7, 11-7.In the men’s round of 16, Gurveer Singh rallied to beat French seventh seed Manuel Paquemar 12-14, 5-11, 11-9, 11-0, 12-10 and Abhishek Agarwal defeated French eighth seed Matteo Carrouget 11-9, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8. (PTI)
Amit Shah congratulates Indian Deaflympics contingent
NEW DELHI, Nov 27: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday congratulated the Indian team at the 25th Summer Deaflympics 2025 in Tokyo for bagging 20 medals, including 9 golds.In a message posted on X, Shah said, “A stellar display of sporting talent by our Deaflympians. Heartfelt congratulations to the Indian team at the 25th Summer Deaflympics 2025 in Tokyo on their phenomenal feat of winning 20 medals, including 9 golds, 7 silvers, and 4 bronzes.“Your staggering success ignites new energy of enthusiasm among our players. My best wishes for your future endeavors.” The Deaflympics is an international Olympics for Deaf people organised every four years by the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD). The 100th edition was held in Tokyo this year. (PTI)
Pukhraj lies second as 4 other Indians are tied sixth
AHMEDABAD, Nov 27: Chandigarh-based Pukhraj Singh Gill produced a career-best six-under 66 to lie second after the opening day of the inaugural Bharath Classic 2025 Gujarat on Thursday, an event co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the IGPL Tour.Using a new putter, Gill, a tenth-tee starter, had eight birdies against two bogeys in an aggressive display at the challenging Kensville course.Gill, a winner on the IGPL Tour in Jamshedpur, is two shots behind Korean Heemin Chang who took the lead on Day One.Lying tied second with Gill are Korean Wooyoung Cho, Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond and Poosit Supupramai, who shot 66 each.Indians had a good day in office with four others — Ajeetesh Sandhu, Olympian Udayan Mane, Sachin Baisoya and amateur Ishaan Chawhan — shooting five-under 67 each to be tied-sixth.Indian-American Varun Chopra also carded a 67 as eight players were bunched at tied-sixth. It also included recent Asian Tour winner, Ekpharit Wu of Thailand.Saptak Talwar, who divided his time between the HotelPlanner Tour and the Indian Tour, shot three-under 69 as did veteran Naman Dawar, Sudhir Sharma and Gaurav Pratap Singh in a big bunch at tied-17th. (PTI)
