Surat, June 16: Olympian Kiran Pahal of Haryana registered a comfortable victory in the women’s 400m race at the Indian Athletics Series here on Tuesday. The 25-year-old clocked 53.49 seconds to finish well ahead of the field. Kiran’s season-best effort of 52.89 seconds came at the Ludhiana leg of the Indian Athletics Series earlier this season. Kiran, who represented India at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, has a personal best of 50.92 seconds in the one-lap event. In the men’s 400m, Tamil Nadu’s Pradeep S clinched the title with a time of 48.41 seconds, edging out Madhya Pradesh’s Brajesh Singh (48.70 seconds) and Maharashtra’s Vedant Sananse (48.85 seconds). (PTI)
World Team Snooker: China ‘B’ edge India in opener
Guangdong (China), June 16: Former champions India suffered a narrow defeat to China ‘B’ in their opening match of the World Team Snooker Championship here on Tuesday. The 2-3 loss to the hosts in the three-team Group ‘B’ leaves India with a must-win game against Turkey on Wednesday. With the match poised on a knife’s edge at 2-2, Aditya Mehta, who gave India the opening frame, frittered away the advantage and allowed the formidable Zhou Jinhao to help the hosts prevail in a thriller. Earlier, Jinhao had defeated Pankaj Advani. (PTI)
Bhavani Devi in Indian squad for Asian Fencing Championship
New Delhi, June 16: Olympian C A Bhavani Devi was on Tuesday named in India’s 24-member squad for the Senior Asian Fencing Championship, to be held here from June 19-24. The squad comprises 12 women and 12 men. The championship will feature over 400 athletes from more than 30 countries and will serve as a direct qualification event for the Asian Games later this year in Japan. (PTI)
Asian Squash: Abhay-Senthilkumar look to extend dominance
Chennai, June 16: Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar will look to extend their dominance when the pair begins its campaign in the 3rd Asian Doubles Squash Championships, beginning in Sarawak, Malaysia, on Thursday. The defending champions have been given top billing in Pool A, while compatriots Rahul Baitha and Suraj Kumar Chand are seeded eighth and feature in Pool B of the league-cum-knockout competition. Last year, Abhay had partnered the Anahat Singh to also win the mixed crown. Anahat then went on to clinch the top honours in the women’s doubles, partnering the experienced Joshna Chinappa. However, Anahat will not compete in Malaysia, as she is preparing for the World Junior Championships in Canada next month. Joshna is pairing up with Rathika Seelan, and the duo is seeded second in the women’s section. Compatriots Janet Vidhi and Pooja Arthi are seeded seventh. Joshna and Senthilkumar are seeded second in mixed doubles and will look to better their bronze-medal finish from the previous edition. (PTI)
Soham halt Iniyan Pa’s winning spree in Global Chess Festival
Mumbai, June 16: IM Soham Kamotra displayed strong defence to halt GM Iniyan Pa’s winning spree in their sixth round clash of the Global Chess League here on Tuesday. Iniyan looked set for a victory in the sixth round after making a strong start, but he had to settle for a draw after losing his way against Kamotra. However, Iniyan (5.5 points) maintained a slender lead of 0.5 over the second placed Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi. Kamotra, Ayush Sharma and Harish Suresh are clubbed together with 4.5 points each. (PTI)
