Sanya bags maiden PSA title at Sunil Verma Memorial squash
Mumbai, Nov 30: Fifth seed Sanya Vats, a two-time former junior National champion, defeated fourth seed Nirupama Dubey 11-6, 11-9, 11-4 to clinch the women’s title in the 11th Sunil Verma Memorial squash here on Sunday. It was the Delhi girl’s first PSA title in what was also her maiden Challenger final. In the men’s final, French second seed Maceo Levy beat Egyptian top seed Yassin Elshafei 11-8, 11-8, 11-4 to lift the crown. (PTI)
Senthilkumar, Anahat start favourites in HCL Squash
Chennai, Nov 30: Top seeds Velavan Senthilkumar and Anahat Singh will start as favourites when the HCL Squash Indian Tour 4 begins here on Monday. The USD 15,000 PSA Challenger event features a mix international and domestic contenders, including the experienced Joshna Chinappa, a former women’s world No 10, and men’s world No 51 Veer Chotrani. Senthilkumar, Anahat, Joshna, along with multiple Asian Games medallist Abhay Singh, form the Indian team for the upcoming SDAT World Cup to be held in the southern metropolis between Dec 9 and 14. Abhay is to compete in a PSA Platinum event in Hong Kong this week. (PTI)
Divyanshi bags U-15 TT bronze, U-19 boys’ team settles for silver
Cluj Napoca (Romania), Nov 30: Rising Indian table tennis player Divyanshi Bhowmick secured a bronze medal in the Under-15 girls’ category at the ongoing ITTF World Youth Championships 2025 here on Sunday. In the semifinals, Divyanshi went down fighting against China’s Zhu Qihui 4-1 (12-10, 10-12, 6-11, 4-11, 8-11) to settle for a bronze. Before bowing out in the last-four stage, the young Indian displayed strong performance, registering hard-fought victories over opponents from Europe, Korea and Japan in previous rounds. This performance adds to a landmark season for the 15-year-old Indian. Earlier this year, Divyanshi created history at the Asian Youth Table Tennis Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, becoming the first Indian in 36 years to clinch the U-15 girls singles continental title. Meanwhile, India added to the medal tally with strong team performances across categories. The U-15 girls team comprising Divyanshi, Ananya Muralidharan, Ankolika Chakraborty and Naisha Rewaskar clinched bronze. In the U-19 boys’ team event, the quartet of Ankur Bhattacharjee, Abhinandh Pradhivadhi, Punit Biswas, and Priyanuj Bhattacharyya claimed a historic silver medal, marking the first-ever podium finish for India in the category. (PTI)
Puligilla-Sherif becomes first Indian pair to finish on WRC3 podium
Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Nov 30: Indian rally racing touched a historic milestone as Hyderabad’s Naveen Puligilla and co-driver Musa Sherif became the first pair from the country to finish on the podium in a World Rally Championship event here. Competing in the WRC3 category at the Saudi Arabia Rally 2025, Puligilla and Sherif finished second in their class. According to provisional results, the duo completed the gruelling rally in a time of 4 hours, 28 minutes and 58.7 seconds, finishing 26th overall among 41 cars. Their Ford Fiesta Rally3, prepared by Africa Eco Sports of Nairobi, Kenya, was just 1 minute 14.2 seconds behind the next WRC3 competitor, giving them a comfortable margin ahead of the rest of their class. This achievement stood out amid a strong field dominated by cutting-edge Rally 1 and Rally 2 cars from factory teams like Hyundai, Toyota, and M-Sport Ford. This marks the first time an Indian driver and co-driver pair claimed a podium spot in any WRC category. Puligilla and Sherif demonstrated seamless teamwork on some of the rally’s most-challenging terrains, which included fast gravel roads, shifting sand dunes, and broken desert tracks over 17 demanding special stages. For Puligilla, this podium caps off an impressive season. The Hyderabad driver showed consistent growth throughout the year, with a podium finish at the Tanzania Rally and a category win at India’s National Rally Championship’s Robusta Rally in Kodagu. (PTI)
