Animesh regains 100m NR from Gurindervir within minutes
Ranchi, May 22: National record was smashed twice within minutes in men’s 100m race as drama unfolded on the opening day of the National Senior Athletics Federation Competition here on Friday. Gurindervir Singh of Reliance first shattered Animesh Kujur’s 10-month old national record of 10.18 seconds, clocking 10.17 seconds in the first semifinals heat. The new mark survived just a few minutes as Animesh ran 10.15 seconds in second semifinals heat to regain his national record. Both Gurindervir and Animesh will have another showdown in the final on Saturday. Animesh, representing Odisha, went past the 2026 Commonwealth Games qualifying standard of 10.16 seconds set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI). In the morning session, Deepak Bhatt of Uttarakhand won the men’s 10,000m race with a mediocre time of 29 minutes and 42.93 seconds. Ravina Gayakwad of Maharashtra won the women’s 10,000m race with a time of 35:30.98, far below the 2026 CWG mark of 31:14.14. (PTI)
Geneva Open: Bhambri-Venus duo enters men’s doubles final
Geneva, May 22: India’s Yuki Bhambri locked his first ATP final of the season when the Indian and his New Zealand partner Michael Venus advanced to the men’s doubles title clash of the Geneva Open with a straight-set win over Czech pair Petr Rikl and Adam Pavlasek here on Friday. The Indo-Kiwi duo, seeded third, registered a 7-5, 6-3 victory in the semifinal. They will now face the Romain Arneodo and Marc Polmans in the title clash after their 7-6(4) 6-2 win over Constantin Frantzen and Robin Hasse in the other semifinal. (PTI)
RRU to host 4th Natl Armwrestling, Para Armwrestling Championship
Gandhinagar, May 22: The Rashtriya Raksha University will host the 4th National Armwrestling and Para Armwrestling Championship from May 29 to June 2 at its Lavad campus here, officials said on Friday. The championship is jointly organised by the Armwrestling Federation of Gujarat and People’s Armwrestling Federation India, they said.The event is expected to witness participation from more than 2,000 athletes representing 27 states across India, making it one of the largest armwrestling championships ever organised in the country. (PTI)
Ivashka to face Biryukov in SM Krishna Memorial Open final
Bengaluru, May 22: Seasoned Ilya Ivashka of Belarus remained composed under pressure to overcome Britain’s third seed Hamish Stewart to enter the men’s singles final of the SM Krishna Memorial Open here on Friday. Ivashka won 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in a gripping semifinal to set up a summit clash with fourth seed Petr Biryukov, who outlasted second seed Alastair Gray 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the other last four match. Meanwhile, Indian interest remained alive in the doubles as Adil Kalyanpur and Mukund Sasikumar continued their impressive run, defeating second seeds Charles Barry of Ireland and Joshua Charlton of Australia 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the final. The other Indian pair of Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha and Saketh Myneni, who had won the Karnataka Open doubles title last week, went down tamely to Biryukov and Grigoriy Lomakin of Kazakhstan 3-6, 4-6. (PTI)
Squash: Shiven, Lokesh to clash in semifinal; India assured of 8 medals
New Delhi, May 22: Shiven Agarwal led a spirited bunch into the semifinals across categories as India were on Friday assured of eight medals at the 33rd Asian Junior Individual Squash Championships in Panzhihua, China. Shiven got the better of Singaporean Rehaan Singh in straight games in the boys’ U-17 quarterfinals, and will meet Lokesh Subramani in the semifinals. Lokesh, meanwhile, defeated compatriot Hridhaan Shah in the quarters. Aryaveer Dewan, who won the boys’ U-17 crown last year, advanced to the U-19 semifinals after beating countryman Yusha Nafees in four close games. Others to make the last-four stage were Anika Dubey in girls’ U-17, Abhyuday Arora and Amarya Bajaj in boys’ U-13 and Shanaya Parasrampuria and Divyanshi Jain in girls’ U-13. (PTI)
A final dance at Roland Garros for retiring Wawrinka and Monfils
Paris, May 22: Their legs don’t move as fast on the red clay. They recover more slowly. But the French public still loves them just as much. Stan Wawrinka and Gael Monfils have been involved in some of the most memorable matches in recent Roland Garros history. The two veterans are back at the French Open for a final dance at the Grand Slam tournament after announcing they will retire at the end of the season. (AP)
