Karan loses to Michalski, Suresh reaches main draw
NEW DELHI, Feb 16: India’s Karan Singh went down in a three-set battle to seventh seed Daniel Michalski of Poland in the first-round main draw of the 2026 Delhi Open here on Monday.The ATP Challenger 75 event, now in its sixth edition, is being held at the DLTA Complex from February 16 to 22, with 32 men singles players and 16 doubles teams competing for the title.In other first-round main draw matches, fifth seed Oliver Crawford of Great Britain scored a hard-fought 7-6 6-5 win over Croatia’s Duje Ajdukovic, while Belgium’s Michael Geerts defeated Lithuania’s Edas Butvilas 6-3 7-5.In the final round qualifying action on Monday, India’s Manish Sureshkumar fought back from a 3-5 deficit in the second set to score a 6-3 7-5 win over Korea’s Uisung Park.The 26-year-old is the only Indian to make it out of the qualifying draw and was understandably happy with his performance on a court which he described as one of his favourites.Sureshkumar got into the qualifying draw at the last minute as an alternate but is certainly making the most of the opportunity.The other Indian in the final round of qualifying — Ramkumar Ramanthan — went down in straight sets to Korea’s Hyeon Chung, who has been ranked as high as No. 19 in the world and had previously defeated Novak Djokovic en route to the semi-finals of the 2018 Australian Open.The 29-year-old Indian is currently ranked No. 393 in the world after returning to the tour in late 2024 following persistent back injuries that forced him off the circuit.Top seed Denis Yevseyev of Kazakhstan, second seed Ioannis Xilas of Greece, fourth seed Maks Kasnikowski of Poland, and seventh seed Alexandr Binda of Italy also came through their final round qualifying matches to book their spots into the main draw.Somdev Devvarman is the only Indian singles champion in the tournament’s history, having won back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015, whereas there have been all-Indian doubles champions twice in the past, with Saketh Myneni/Sanam Singh and Yuki Bhambri/Mahesh Bhupathi lifting the trophy in 2015 and 2016 respectively. (PTI)
Collin Morikawa birdies the 18th to win Pebble Beach
PEBBLE BEACH (USA), Feb 16: Collin Morikawa had gone 28 months since his last win, and he was reminded at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am why it’s never easy.He was among six players who had a share of the lead at one point in a wild and windy final round, one name getting everyone’s attention – Scottie Scheffler – who nearly pulled off the biggest comeback in the tournament’s history.Tougher still was standing in the fairway on the par-5 18th, the cold Pacific air ripping off the ocean to his left, and having to wait some 20 minutes as Jacob Bridgeman had to figure out how to play off the beach only for his shot to go into the ocean.He said he walked down to the ocean and back about 10 times.Morikawa delivered the goods when they mattered, back-to-back birdies to take the lead, and one last birdie with a 4-iron from 235 yards he had to start out over the ocean wall and let the wind bring it back to the green.Two putts from the collar gave him a 5-under 67 and a one-shot victory over Sepp Straka and Min Woo Lee.The two-time major champion finished at 22-under 266. He had gone 45 starts since he last won the Zozo Championship in Japan in October 2023.He can only hope for bigger things with a new outlook on golf – play the game for the joy, not the technique – and in life. Morikawa took the occasion of such a big win to announce he and his wife are expecting their first child this spring.Scheffler began the final day eight shots behind and was 7 under through seven holes before the wind began whipping. He had three eagles in his round of 63, the last one a 6-iron to 30 inches on the final hole that allowed him to tie Morikawa for the lead. ”I was very aware of Scottie Scheffler’s score today. I mean, what a player,” Morikawa said.Scheffler didn’t think it would be enough, and it wasn’t. (PTI)
