Somaiya ends Mapara’s unbeaten run in All India Chess
MUMBAI, April 2: Shreyansh Somaiya inflicted a defeat on Palaash Mapara to end his run as the sole leader in their sixth round contest of the All India Chess Masters here on Thursday.Somaiya now shares the lead with Shriram Mhasane and AGM Rajveer Nahar, who all are on 5.5 points each in the FIDE Classical Tournament.Playing on the top board with white pieces, Palaash was unable to counter Shreyansh’s clever tactical manoeuvres and suffered his first loss of the competition.Results (top 10): Palaash Mapara (5) lost to Shreyansh Somaiya (5.5) – 0-1; Pratik Yadnik (4.5) lost to Shriram Mhasane (5.5) – 0-1; AGM Rajveer Nahar (5.5) beat Yashraj Rathi (4.5) – 1-0; Amay Dandekar (4) lost to Tanuj Dayal (5) – 0-1; Arjun Singh (5) beat Dhruv Muthe (4) – 1-0; Naitikk Mane (4) lost to Deepak Soni (5) – 0-1; Kathit Shelar (5) beat Preyas Waghmare (4) – 1-0; AIM Aakashkumar (4) lost to Prisha Margaj (5) – 0-1; Anirudh Iyer (4.5) drew with AFM Sohum Pawar (4.5) – 0.5-0.5; Arin Bhatavadekar (5) beat Akshay Chachad (4) – 1-0. (PTI)
Andhra, Mizoram, Delhi win in Sub-Junior Men’s C’ships
RAJGIR, April 2: Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram and Delhi registered notable wins on the second day of the 16th Sub-Junior Men’s National Hockey Championship at the Rajgir Hockey Stadium here on Thursday.In the first match of the day, Andhra Pradesh secured a 3-1 win against Puducherry in Pool A of Division C.Surya Ganesh Kataru Pradeep (13’), Chaitanya Lanka (19’) and captain Maduru Ganga (27’) found the back of the net for the winners.For Puducherry, Dharshan (58’) scored their only goal of the game.In the same division, Mizoram beat Assam 6-0 with Joseph Malsawmtluanga (5’, 33’, 54’) bagging a hat-trick and captain Malsawmkima (12’), Vanlalhmangaiha (38’) and Lalhmangaihzuala (48’) also netting a goal each.In Pool A of Division B, Delhi registered a 9-1 victory against Bengal.Aryan (4’, 14’), captain Yuvraj Singh (10’, 22’), Sushant Sehrawat (26’, 58’) and Siddharth (29’, 53’) — all scored a brace each, with Luv (24’) also adding to their tally. Meanwhile, Ayush Pradhan (13’) scored for Hockey Bengal.In the same pool, Telangana blanked Gujarat 20-0 with Amit Dayal (5’, 21’, 22’, 37’, 41’, 47’, 50’, 52’, 55’, 56’) scripting a memorable day.Hadrian Lawrance (2’, 20’), Harsh Kumar Gautme (4’, 7’), Akhil Gogula (24’, 34’), Gyaneshwar Pittala (12’), Pendor Dhanraj (26’), Eslavath Yuvaraj (35’), and captain Yashith Jala Surya (44’) also found the back of the net.In Pool B of Division B, Karnataka played out a 2-2 draw against Arunachal.Captain Adarsh Govind Mutagar (18’, 54’) found the back of the net for Karnataka, while captain Kumar Shashank (4’), and Ashwani Patel (45’) netted for Arunachal.In the day’s final game from the same pool, Chhattisgarh prevailed 7-2 against Himachal with skipper Piyush Kumar Sahu (30’, 38’, 60’) netting a hat-trick.Yogesh Thakur (39’), Om Kumar Yadav (47’), Aadrsh Raj Singh (51’), and Abhishek Yadav (53’) also scored for Chhattisgarh.Sidhant Kaushal (13’) and Daksh (59’) got on the scoresheet for Himachal. (PTI)
Kochhar in top-10 at International Series Japan
CHIBA (Japan), April 2: India’s Karandeep Kochhar carded a solid four-under 67 in the opening round to move into the top 10 on the leaderboard at the USD 2 million International Series Japan here on Thursday.Kochhar is three shots behind leader Hongtaek Kim of Korea, who set the pace on the opening day with a superb seven-under 64.Teeing off from the 10th, Kochhar made nine consecutive pars on his opening nine before his round came alive with four birdies on the 1st, 4th, 6th and 8th holes.Indian stalwarts Jeev Milkha Singh (T-85) and Gaganjeet Bhullar (T-103) shot rounds of one-over 72 and two-over 73, respectively, and will need to work hard to stay in the mix on Friday.Korea’s Kim leads compatriot Younghan Song and Thailand’s Poom Saksansin — both of whom carded fine 65s at the Caledonian Golf Club — by one stroke in the opening event of the season on The International Series.The International Series is significant, as the leading players at the end of the season earn a place on the LIV Golf League.Kim, who started on the 10th, made the most of the easier afternoon conditions, registering an eagle, six birdies and one bogey. (PTI)
