Dijvijay steamrolls past Brijesh for maiden CCI snooker crown
Mumbai, March 22: Punjab cueist Digvijay Kadian continued with his impressive run of form and steamrolled past PSPB’s Brijesh Damani 7-1 in the best-of-13 frame final of the Rs 13.5 lakh CCI Snooker Classic 2026 here on Sunday. Digvijay, constructed breaks of 88 (2nd frame), 67 (3rd frame), 91 (6th frame) and 37 (8th frame) as he went on to record a 55-59 88-17 77-1 83-73 76-36 92-0 62-53 and 95-0 win for his maiden senior title. He went home richer by Rs 3.5 lakh, while Brijesh received a cheque of Rs 1.75 lakh. The two losing semi-finalists, Shahyan Razmi and Pasas Gupta got a purse of Rs 80,000 each. The 23-year-old Digvijay, represents Bombay Gymkhana in the BSAM League, narrowly lost the opening frame on the black ball. But he quickly regained his touch and rolled in a neat break of 88 to level the frame scores. Thereafter, Digvijay showing impeccable touch and the perfect shot selection, hardly put a foot wrong and completely dominated the proceedings. Brijesh, champion in 2018, had his fair share of opportunities, but was unable to capitalise on them. He missed a couple of regulation pots at crucial junctures and ultimately paid the price as Digvijay made every visit count with steady play to gather the points to win each frame. In the second semifinal which finished late Saturday night, Brijesh Damani (PSPB) put up gritty performance as after trailing 1-4, he staged a remarkable fight back to snatch a satisfying 6-5 win against Uttar Pradesh’s Paras Gupta. There was some consolation for Gupta as he now holds the record for the highest break of 115 he created in fourth frame. He was presented an award of Rs 25,000. (PTI)
Jordan Gumberg wins second European tour title at Hainan
Hainan Island (China), March 22: Jordan Gumberg got up-and-down for par on the final hole Sunday for a 2-under 70 to hold off Jorge Campillo of Spain and win the Hainan Classic. It was the second European tour title for the 30-year-old American. Gumberg also won in South Africa in 2024, but it was his finish late last season that allowed for his moment on Hainan Island. Gumberg was on the verge of losing his European tour card when he holed out for eagle on the final hole of the Genesis Championship in South Korea, which enabled him to move into the top 115 in the Race to Dubai and keep his full card for 2026. “After the finish of last year, to be standing on the podium again and holding a trophy is unreal,” said Gumberg, who finished his college golf at Arizona and was runner-up to Jon Rahm in the Pac-12 Championship in 2016. “It’s incredible.” Campillo closed with a 71 and had birdie chances on the final three holes to catch Gumberg, all of them narrowly missing. Zhou Yanhan, the 17-year-old from China who played the Puerto Rico Open on the PGA Tour two weeks ago, closed with a 69 to tie for third with Adrian Otaegui of Spain (64) and Marcus Armitage of England (69). (AP)
Aditi falls out of top-5 after tough round at Fortinet Cup
Menlo Park (California), March 22: Indian golfer Aditi Ashok slipped down the leaderboard to Tied-24 from Tied-3 after carded 1-over 73 on the third day of the Fortinet Founders Cup, here. Hyo Joo Kim extended her lead, she is now five strokes clear of her closest rival with just one day left to be played. Kim fired off a round of 6-under 66 to increase the gap to her rivals. Kim is chasing her eighth LPGA title this week and her first of the season. The win in California this week would help her move into the second spot on the CME ranking. Her 54 hole score stands at 17-under par. Aditi made her first birdie of the third round on the fifth hole and followed it up with a second on the eighth hole. She began her back nine with a birdie and dropped a shot on the 11th hole. She went on to make her last birdie of the day on the 16th hole only to a shot with her second bogey of the day and a triple bogey to close the round. the four shots dropped in the last two holes resulted in Aditi finishing the day at T-24. In second place is Nelly Korda with a total of 12-under par. Korda carded 6-under 66 in her third round. Korda has a chance to move up to the first place of the CME rankings this week if she was to finish second. In third place there is a tie between Ruixin Liu and Gaby Lopez. Liu and Lopez are at 11-under par after the third round. Liu carded 6-under 66 while Lopez carded 4-under 68 on the third day. World number one Jeeno Thitikul is tied for fifth with Erika Hara, Karis Davidson and Hye Jin Choi. The third place players have a total score of 9-under par. Thitikul, Davidson and Choi carded 3-under 69 in their third round while Hara Carded 5-under 67. (PTI)
