Anahat enters British Junior Open squash final
New Delhi, Jan 6: Top-seeded Indian Anahat Singh registered a fine win over Egypt’s Malika El Karaksy in the semifinals to storm into her maiden women’s under-19 final at the prestigious British Junior Open squash here. The 17-year-old, winner of 12 PSA Tour titles, secured a 11-8, 11-7, 11-9 win over Malika in just 28 minutes at the University of Birmingham. Anahat will meet European junior champion and second seed Lauren Baltayan of France in the summit clash. This is Anahat’s ninth British Junior Open final across age-groups, as she aims to become only the second Indian to win the U-19 title after Joshna Chinappa in 2005. (PTI)
Netherlands leave out top-ranked players for Davis Cup tie vs India
New Delhi, Jan 6: The Netherlands have left out their top-ranked singles players Tallon Griekspoor and Botic van de Zandschulp in their four-member squad for the Davis Cup Qualifiers tie against India in Bengaluru on February 7-8. Griekspoor, currently the Dutch No.1 and ranked 25 in the world in singles, and former world No.22 Van de Zandschulp, who is now placed 75th, were notable omissions from the team named by the Royal Dutch Lawn Tennis Association. The Dutch challenge will instead be led by Jesper de Jong, ranked 71 in singles, along with Guy den Ouden, who is placed 158th. The doubles challenge will be spearheaded by David Pel, the world No.27 in doubles ATP ranking chart, and Sander Arends, ranked 35. The Netherlands are hosting an ATP 500 event in Rotterdam around the same time and it might have impacted their decision-making in announcing the team. India will be led by Sumit Nagal (ranked 275) and Dhakshineswar Suresh (ranked 521). (PTI)
HC halts Maharashtra Cricket Association election
Mumbai, Jan 6: The Bombay High Court has stayed elections to the apex council of the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) scheduled for Tuesday, questioning the way in which 400 new members, including relatives of incumbent president and NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar, were inducted. A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad noted that the manner in which the entire process of admission of new members was carried out gave a “prima-facie impression that everything was done in a hot haste.” The order came on a bunch of petitions claiming that norms laid down by the Supreme Court for the elections were violated and there was favouritism in adding members to the voters’ list released on December 25, 2025. The new members include Rohit Pawar’s wife Kunti and his father-in-law Satish Magar, and NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule’s daughter Revati, the petition stated. The petitioners, which include former cricketer Kedar Jadhav, alleged that many of the new members had nothing to do with cricket, and they were added only so that some people could run the MCA as their private organisation. The petitions challenged the election process, terming it “illegal”, and claimed there was an “erroneous” inclusion of more than 400 voters in the draft voter list. (PTI)
