Bhattacharya, Jaglan lead Indian charge for Asian Tour
HUA HIN(Thailand), Dec 19: Shaurya Bhattacharya chipped in twice on successive holes for an eagle and a birdie to compile a superb six-under 65 in the third round and move to tied second in the Final Stage of the Asian Tour’s Qualifying School here.He was overnight Tied-15th. His first two rounds were 70-67 and is now 11-under for three rounds.Bhattacharya is one shot behind the leader, unheralded and surprise third round leader, Tomohiro Ishizaka from Japan.Ishizaka, who qualified for this week by making it through a pre-qualifier last week, shot a seven-under-par 64, for a tournament total of 12-under and a one-shot lead.He leads Bhattacharya and Roberto Lebrija from Mexico (67) by one. Korean amateur Minchan Kim is another stroke behind, following a 68.India’s Shubham Jaglan, who was in lead after the second round dropped a double bogey on the closing 18th hole and slipped to Tied-10th place at 7-under total.Two layouts are being used this week, with all four leaders today playing the C&D course here at Lake View Resort & Golf Club, in the seaside resort town of Hua Hin, Thailand.The top-70 and ties make the 72-hole cut with the leading 35 on Sunday securing their cards for the 2026 season on the Asian Tour.Other Indians in with a chance to make the card include Honey Baisoya (68) at 5-under and Tied-20th, young Kartik Singh (70) and Khalin Joshi (68) at 3-under and both are Tied-36th.S Chikkarangappa (67) moved into reckoning and is 2-under and T-46th alongside Ajeetesh Sandhu (69). Rashid Khan (73) is tied-70th and needs to stay there to ensure fifth and final round action in the Qualifying School.Viraj Madappa (72) and Sachin Baisoya (76) are T-119, while Yuvraj Singh (73) and Pukhraj Singh Gill (73) are T-128. They all need to get into Top-70 to make it to the fifth and final round to have a chance for a 2026 Asian Tour card. (PTI)
S8UL emerge winners at ESFI National Grand MOBA Legends
NEW DELHI, Dec 19: S8UL emerged champions at the inaugural ESFI National Grand MOBA Legends in which 258 teams with more than 1300 players competed from across the country.After group-stage battles, the top 16 teams qualified for the business end of the event.The top-8 teams (S8UL, RNTX, Sleep Tight Lineup, Elusivity Esports, Megatron C3M, Mamacita, Shadow esports SDES & Mutants) clashed in high-stakes knockout matches, producing nail-biting finished.Winning team S8UL consisted of captain Mohammed Saad Talha Saboowala, Chirag Singh, Abhijeet Katkar, Debasish Sana and Jay Mehta.The runner-up position was secured by Revenen at Esports (RNTX).“It’s always good to see the scene remain active and competitive. We took sometime off, and a lot of wins were picked up during that period. We’re back now,ready to start counting,” said Saboowala. (PTI)
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders defeat Gulf Giants, move to top-four
ABU DHABI, Dec 19: Abu Dhabi Knight Riders held their nerve to secure a four-wicket win over the Gulf Giants and move up to top-four in DP World ILT20 Season 4 standings.Openers Alex Hales (46 off 39) and Phil Salt (35 off 24) made light work of the run-chase, blazing to the target with four balls to spare here on Thursday.Chasing 166, Salt and Hales set up a partnership of 61 runs in 44 balls.They were helped by a late flurry of runs from Sherfane Rutherford (30 off 22) and Andre Russell (21 not out off 13), who negated Tabraiz Shamsi’s three for 23.With the ball, Piyush Chawla took four wickets for 27 runs, which ensured Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s 72 off 45 balls for the Giants, including four fours and five sixes, went in vain. Piyush Chawla adjudged player-of-the-match for his incredible four wickets for 27 runs. (PTI)
Brief Scores
Gulf Giants 165/7; 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 72; Piyush Chawla 4/27) lost to Abu Dhabi Knight Riders 167/6; 19.2 overs (Alex Hales 46, Phil Salt 35, Andre Russell 21 not out; Tabraiz Shamsi 3/23, Fred Klaassen 2/37) by four wickets.
