CRICKET
Col. C. K. Nayudu Trophy 2024-25: Punjab beats Mumbai in final
Punjab, led by Uday Saharan, clinched Col. C. K. Nayudu Trophy 2024-25 courtesy first-innings lead in the rain-affected final against Mumbai which ended in a draw at Ground B of the PCA New Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur on Saturday.
Half-centuries from Himanshu Singh (66) and Ayush Vartak (77) helped Mumbai post a score of 237 in 78.3 overs. Ayush Goyal took 4 for 60 for the host.
In reply, Harnoor Singh Pannu’s unbeaten knock of 85 helped Punjab score 241 for 6 in 76 overs.
– Team Sportstar
TENNIS
Billie Jean King Cup 2025, Asia/Oceania Group I: Ankita Raina leads five-member Indian squad, teenager Maaya named as reserve
Vishal Uppal returns as the captain of the Indian team for the Billie Jean King Cup Asia-Oceania Group I women’s tennis competition to be staged at the Deccan Gymkhana, Pune, from April 7.
Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi, the 15-year-old who came into the limelight after reaching the semifinals of last month’s WTA 125 Mumbai Open as a qualifier, has been named as the only reserve player.
Ankita Raina, Sahaja Yamalapalli, Shrivalli Bhamidipaty, Vaidehi Chaudhari and Prarthana Thombare make the team.
“The team has been selected based on rankings, recent performances and player availability,” said the secretary general of the All India Tennis Association (AITA), in a release issued on Saturday, following the meeting of the selection committee.
There will be a training stint for the team from April 2. Vaishnavi Adkar and Rutuja Bhosale are scheduled to join the training camp.
Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Korea, New Zealand and Thailand will be the other teams in the tournament that will be played on a league basis with the top two teams qualifying for the play-off, and the bottom two getting relegated to Group II
– Team Sportstar
ITF Ahmedabad: Vaidehi loses in singles semifinals, Vaishnavi-Ankita pair finishes as doubles runner-up
Sohyun Park of Korea beat Vaidehi Chaudhari 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 in the semifinals of the USD 40,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the Ahmedabad Tennis Foundation courts on Saturday.
The Korean had lost to Vaidehi in their only previous meeting in the professional circuit. However, she has been on a good run and had beaten Ankita Raina in straight sets in the third round.
Vaidehi fought well but it was Sohyun who handled the climax with better energy to pull through. The Korean will challenge the top seed, Arina Rodionova of Australia, in the final.
In the doubles final, Vaishnavi Adkar and Ankita Raina were pipped 10-7 in the super tie-break by the Japanese duo of Akiko Omae and Ikumi Yamazaki.
RESULTS
Singles (semifinals): Arina Rodionova bt Mariia Tkacheva 6-1, 6-1; Sohyun Park (Kor) bt Vaidehi Chaudhari 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
Doubles (final): Akiko Omae & Ikumi Yamazaki (Jpn) bt Vaishnavi Adkar & Ankita Raina 6-2, 2-6, [10-7].
– Team Sportstar
Lady Shriram College clinches Delhi University inter-college women’s tennis title
Host Lady Shriram College beat Jesus and Mary College 2-0 in the final of the Delhi University inter-college women’s tennis tournament on Saturday.
Jasmine Rawat put LSR in the driver’s seat with her forceful game against Priya. However, Jesus and Mary College was unable to fight any further as the nominated No.1 player Lakshmi Gowda was unavailable after having served the team creditably in the morning session.
Earlier, LSR had outplayed Indraprastha College 2-0 in the semifinals.
Jesus and Mary College won 2-1 against Gargi College with Lakshmi winning both her singles and doubles without dropping a game.
The Principal of LSR, Dr. Suman Sharma commended the team for the splendid effort and applauded the Associate Professor Dr. Meenakshi Pahuja for making the college a force to reckon with, in sports.
Meanwhile, in the men’s competition at the Sri Venkateswara College, Hansraj College beat the host to make the semifinals, along with St.
Stephen’s College, Sri Guru Gobind Singh College and Shriram College of Commerce.
The results:
Women (final): Lady Shriram College bt Jesus and Mary College 2-0 (Jasmine Rawat bt Priya 6-2; Anya Jacob w.o. Lakshmi Gowda).
Third place: Indraprastha College bt Gargi College 2-1 (Baanideep Kaur bt Disha Sharma 6-2; Poorvi Bhatt lost to Suhani Gaur 3-6; Steisha Buddhala & Poorvi bt Disha & Suhani 6-1).
Semifinals: LSR bt Indraprastha College 2-0 (Anya bt Steisha 6-2; Jasmine bt Poorvi 6-1).
Jesus and Mary College bt Gargi College 2-1 (Lakshmi bt Disha 6-0; Priya lost to Suhani Gaur 4-6; Lakshmi & Priya bt Suhani & Aashi Rao 6-0).
Men (quarterfinals): Sri Guru Gobind Singh College bt Keshav Mahavidhyalaya 2-0; St. Stephen’s College bt Hindu College 2-1; Hansraj College bt Sri Venkateswara College 2-1.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
TABLE TENNIS
WTT Youth Contender: Ankur Bhattacharjee, Syndrela Das win U-19 boys and girls’ titles in Vadodara
Ankur Bhattacharjee and Syndrela Das won the U-19 boys and girls’ singles title respectively in the WTT Youth Contender in Vadodara on Saturday.
Bhattacharjee proved to be too strong in the U-19 boys’ category as he beat Abhinandh Pradhivadhi 3-0 (11-5, 18-16, 11-5) in the final.
Syndrela Das won the U-19 girls’ singles after trailing 1-2 against Ananya Chande. But Syndrela proved her mettle and kept calm to win the summit clash.
Divyanshi Bhowmick struck gold once again in the U-15 category, taking her tally to two individual gold medals and one silver medal in the mixed category.
Bhowmick became the most prolific player of the event, taking home the most medals. The final was played between Bhowmick and Satya Aspathi (USA), a match won by the former by a margin of 3-1 (11-6, 7-11, 11-6, 11-6).
Bhowmick thus won two gold medals, in U-15 and U-17 girls’ singles, and a silver in the U-15 mixed doubles.
In the U-15 boys’ category, Sahil Rawat played a near-perfect final to beat Atharva Nawarange 3-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-6).
Divija Paul blanked Avni Janghu in the finals of the U-11 girls’ category with a 3-0 scoreline (11-4, 11-4, 11-8).
Ishaan Goyal beat Taavi Samaraweera from Sri Lanka in a five-set thriller in the finals of the U-11 boys’ category.
– PTI
HOCKEY
Uttarakhand, Delhi, Kerala & AP among winners on day 1 of Senior Women hockey National C’ship
Hockey Uttarakhand, Delhi Hockey and Chhattisgarh Hockey won in Division B, while Kerala Hockey and Hockey Andhra Pradesh enjoyed dominant wins in Division C on the first day of the 15th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship in Panchkula on Saturday.
Hockey Uttarakhand defeated Hockey Association of Bihar in Pool A to open the day’s proceedings.
Beena Pandey (9’, 58’) scored an impressive brace of field goals, while Vartika Rawat got a goal for herself after successfully converting a penalty corner as Hockey Uttarakhand recorded a comfortable win.
In Pool B of the same division, Delhi Hockey registered a 4-1 win over Hockey Chandigarh, while Chhattisgarh Hockey fought out a 5-1 win over Hockey Himachal.
Later, Kerala Hockey and Hockey Andhra Pradesh registered dominant wins in Division C.
In Pool A, Kerala Hockey notched up a 10-0 win over Hockey Gujarat, while Hockey Andhra Pradesh defeated Hockey Arunachal 9-0 in the second match of Division C.
– PTI
Health
Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra pledges support for ‘FIT India Sundays on Cycle’
Two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra on Saturday pledged support to the government’s ‘FIT India Sundays on Cycle’ event, saying that the initiative would not only help people improve their fitness but also contribute towards controlling pollution.
The javelin superstar urged the people to take out time every Sunday and join the initiative.
“Namaste Fit India Sundays on Cycle is a fantastic way to improve one’s fitness and to contribute towards controlling pollution. So, I would like to tell you that please indulge in cycling every Sunday, if you are not able to find time every day,” Chopra said in a ministry release.
The cycling drive began on December 17 last year by Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya with the overall objective of ‘Fitness ka dose, aadha ghanta roz’ (Daily dose of fitness for 30 minutes) and a way to find a solution to pollution.
This weekend’s cycling intiative is themed upon fighting obesity.
Till now, ‘FIT India Sundays on Cycle’ has been organised nationwide across 4200-plus locations, witnessing participation of more than 2 lakh individuals, the release said.
– PTI
FOOTBALL
Gokulam Kerala regains Kerala Women’s League title
Defending champion Gokulam Kerala blanked Kerala United FC 2-0 and retained the Eastea Kerala Women’s League football by topping the league at the Government Boys School ground in Kochi on Saturday.
R. Darshinidevi and Muskan Subba scored the goals for the champion.
With Kerala United leading the table after the penultimate match, Gokulam needed to win today’s game to keep the title and it did it in fine fashion scoring once in each half.
Kerala United, which was a point behind the champion, finished runner-up while Alagappa FC was third. Meanwhile Lord’s FA, last year’s runner-up, was a distant fifth.
The result (league decider):
Gokulam Kerala 2 (R. Darshinidevi 38, Muskan Subba 71) bt Kerala United FC 0.
Final placings (points from 10 matches):
1. Gokulam Kerala (25 pts), 2. Kerala United (24), 3. Alagappa FC (14), 4. City Club, Chalakudy (11), 5. Lord’s FA, Kochi (10), 6. St. Joseph’s College, Devagiri (1).
-Stan Rayan
BASKETBALL
Gujarat Stallions beats Punjab Warrior to win INBL Pro league title
Mandeep Singh top scored with 16 points as Gujarat Stallions beat Punjab Warriors 77-69 in the final of the INBL Pro basketball league at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on Saturday.
It was a splendid fare in the third quarter, when the Gujarat team surged ahead by 22 points while conceding 10, after having trailed 38-40 at halftime, that tilted the balance decisively in favour of the eventual champion.
The results (final): Gujarat Stallions 77 (Mandeep Singh 16, Trendon Hankerson 14, Joshua Duach 14, Tushal Singh 11, bt Punjab Warriors 69 (Stokley Chaffee 19, Uche Dibiamaka 16, Vaisakh Manoj 12, Gurbaz Sandhu 11).
-Kamesh Srinivasan
HOCKEY
Hockey Women’s Senior Nationals: Telangana, Delhi register wins on Day 2
The second day of 15th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship, held at the Tau Devi Lal Hockey Stadium, Panchkula saw Telangana Hockey and Delhi Hockey claim victories in Division B while Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Hockey won their Division C match.
In Pool A of Division B, Telangana Hockey started their campaign on a high with a 3-1 win over Assam Hockey to open the day’s events. Assam Hockey struck the first blow with an impressive field goal by Captain Munmuni Das (14’); however, Telangana Hockey were prompt with their reply as they registered three quick goals in the second quarter itself from Prativa Kindo (23’), Sumi Mundari (26’) and Pooja Rathod (28’) to win the match.
Telangana Hockey started their campaign on a high with a 3-1 win over Assam Hockey to open the day’s events.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Telangana Hockey started their campaign on a high with a 3-1 win over Assam Hockey to open the day’s events.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
In the second Division B match of the day, Delhi Hockey built on their win from Saturday as they edged out Hockey Himachal 1-0 in Pool B. Neha (14’) successfully converted a penalty corner in the first quarter to score the match’s only goal. Delhi Hockey’s resilient defending over the next three quarters ensured they claimed all the points and continued their winning streak.
The last game of the day in Division B ended in a 1-1 draw as both Chhattisgarh Hockey and Hockey Chandigarh couldn’t be separated over the four quarters. In what was a tightly contested affair, Anjali (47’) finally broke the deadlock for Chhattisgarh Hockey in the fourth quarter. The lead, however, only stood for two minutes as Hockey Chandigarh replied with an equaliser courtesy of Sonu’s (49’) field goal.
In Division C, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Hockey defeated Hockey Gujarat 2-0 to open their campaign in Pool A.
