Sanya to face Nirupama in women’s final of JSW squash tournament
Thane, Nov 29: Sanya Vats and Nirupama Dubey took out the top two seeds to set up a women’s final clash at the 11th Sunil Verma Memorial squash here on Saturday. Fifth seed Sanya defeated top seed Anjali Semwal 11-3, 11-5, 11-7, while fourth seed Nirupama beat second seed Shameena Riaz 14-12, 11-9, 7-11, 11-8. The men’s final of the PSA Challenger event will pit French second seed Maceo Levy against Egyptian top seed Yassin Elshafei. In the semifinals, Levy beat sixth seed Suraj Kumar Chand 11-9, 11-7, 11-4, while Elshafei defeated Malaysian third seed Addeen Idrakie 8-11, 11-9, 11-4, 12-10. (PTI)
Praneel Sharma wins twin titles at ITF World Junior Tennis Tour
New Delhi, Nov 29: Praneel Sharma completed a memorable double at the ITF World Junior Tennis Tour J100 tournament, clinching both the singles and doubles titles as Roundglass Tennis Academy swept the honours at the DLTA Tennis Stadium here on Saturday. Fifth seed Praneel defeated fellow academy player and third seed Aashravya Mehra 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (8-6) in a hard-fought boys’ singles final. He then paired with Aditya Mor to secure the doubles crown, beating top seeds Tavish Pahwa and Samarth Sahita 6-4, 6-2 in straight sets. (PTI)
KSLTA announces Rs 1 Lakh reward for Niki Poonacha
Bengaluru, Nov 29: The Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA) on Saturday announced a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh to Niki Poonacha for reaching the men’s doubles main draw of the 2026 Australian Open. Niki and his Thai partner Pruchya Isaro won the Asia-Pacific Wildcard Playoff held in Chengdu, China on Friday. They defeated Japan’s Seita Kusuhara and Katsuki Nakagawa in the final 6-4, 6-3 to claim the Australian Open wildcard. This is Niki’s first-ever Grand Slam main draw appearance. Maheshwar Rao, the KSLTA secretary said: “We at KSLTA are extremely thrilled at Niki Poonacha’s performance at Chengdu, where he won the Australian Open wild card qualifying event along with his partner, Pruchya Isaro. The KSLTA is happy to announce a reward of Rs. 1 lakh to Poonacha for this achievement.” (PTI)
