Indian sports news wrap, August 16

SURFING

Competition continued right now on the Tamil Nadu International Surf Open World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series (QS) 3,000 with the boys’s high seeds hitting the water at Mahabalipuram Beach.

Performance ranges lifted as situations improved with clear surf within the two-foot-plus vary. The Round of 48 and 6 Heats of the Round of 32 had been accomplished earlier than the competitors went on maintain because of onshore winds.

Fresh of a Semifinal end on the latest Bonsoy Chiba Ichinomiya Open in Japan, Joh Azuchi (JPN) carried his type into Heat 1 of the Round of 32, posting the best two-wave complete of the occasion to this point. Azuchi was in final place with eight minutes left however he was capable of finding his two scores with solely minutes remaining.

“I was trying to get as many waves as I could from the start of the heat but I had a hard time getting good waves,” Azuchi stated.

“I was kind of nervous if I could pull it off or not, but in the end, somehow I managed to get two decent scores. I didn’t expect to get such good scores but knew it would be enough to have me progress into the Round of 16.”

Japanese duo Raiha Onou (JPN) and Daiki Tanaka (JPN) additionally regarded strong, posting mid-range scores to progress into the Round of 16. Swedish consultant Kian Martin (SWE) confirmed flashes whereas it was Dhany Widianto (INA) who gained his warmth with the manoeuvre of the day, a radical lay-back snap that was sufficient to get him over the road.

Earlier within the day, Indian opponents Sivaraj Babu (IND), Ajeesh Ali (IND) and Kishore Kumar (IND) all progressed via their Round of 48 heats, every placing up strong performances. Unfortunately for the native followers, Ali and Kumar had been eradicated within the Round of 32.

– Team Sportstar

TENNIS

Second seed Digvijay Pratap Singh was overwhelmed 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3 by Kazuki Nishiwaki of Japan within the first spherical of the $25,000 ITF males’s tennis event in Tainan, Chinese Taipei, on Wednesday.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

SWIMMING

Assam’s Jananjoy smashes nationwide file in 100m butterfly

The opening day on the thirty ninth Sub Junior and forty ninth Junior National Aquatic Championships 2023 in Bhubaneswar, Odisha witnessed three new nationwide information being created. Making the a lot of the state-of-the-art Indoor Aquatic Centre which added a global flavour to the meet, on the iconic Kalinga Sports Complex high swimmers of the nation produced exhilarating races.

In the 100m butterfly for group I boys, Jananjoy J Hazarika of Assam clocked 55.99 to win the gold forward of Karnataka’s Kartikeyan Nair (56.66). Earlier within the day, Hazarika smashed the nationwide file within the prelims the place he eclipsed Maharashtra’s Mihir Ambre’s file of 55.65 secs created in 2017.

Karnataka women dominated on day one, with Manavi Varma opening the medal tally with a gold within the 200m IM for group I. She touched the pads at 2:22.86 to beat Raghvi Ramanujam of Maharashtra who clocked 2:30.56 to take dwelling the silver. Adding to Karnataka’s tally, Tanishi Gupta not solely gained the 200IM in group II, however she additionally created a brand new nationwide file. She clocked 2:24.83 to erase state-mate Manavi Varma’s file of two:26.99 created in 2022. Karnataka’s Naisha bagged the silver with a time of two:29.84.

The day’s third nationwide file got here in 50m breaststroke for group I boys, with Vidith S Shankar of Karnataka clocking 29.40 to higher his personal file of 29.47 clocked within the prelims earlier within the day. He broke Haryana’s Vansh Pannu’s file of 29.59 created in 2022.

Declaring the meet open forward of the night session, R Vineel Krishna, Secretary-cum-Commissioner, Sports and Youth Service, Odisha stated, “We are working in close partnership with Swimming Federation of India and we are taking their help in developing our own swimming eco system in Odisha. We have constructed this new Aquatic Centre which is one of a kind in the country. We are also the sponsors for junior level aquatics, hence we have hosted back-to-back nationals here and we have a lot of emerging talent in this category, hence we want to give them best exposure and facilities.”

Monal Chokshi, SFI Secretary General additional added, “We appreciate the efforts of Odisha State Government who have put in great efforts to create this world class Aquatic Centre. It is certainly one of the most modern facilities in the country and a fine opportunity for our swimmers to race here.”

Results:

Boys:

Group I: 400m Freestyle: 1. Yug Chelani (Raj) 4:04.45; 2. Ronak Nitin Sawant (Mah) 4:05.40; Saswata Roy (Ben) 4:06.65;

100m butterfly: 1. Jananjoy J Hazarika (Assa) 55.99 (clocked NMR 55.61 in heats); 2. Kartikeyan Nair (Kar) 56.66; 3. Parambrata Biswas (Ben) 57.63.

50m breaststroke: 1. Vidith S Shankar (Kar) 29.40 NMR; 2. Rana Pratap (Jhar) 29.75; 3. Kevin Jinu (Ker) 30.37

Group II: 400m Freestyle: 1.Yuvraj Singh (Del) 4:14.29, 2. Prthviraj Menon (Kar) 4:19.23; 3. Akshai Thakuria (Kar) 4:22.12

100m butterfly: 1. Ishaan Mehra (Kar) 59.14; 2. Harijarthik Velu (Kar) 1:01.24; 3. Manash Pratim (Assa) 1:01.35

Group III: 200m freestyle: 1. Jas Singh (Kar) 2:22.24; 2. Vihaang Ashishkumar (Guj) 2:23.21; 3. Kabir Aryaman (Mah) 2:23.66

100m backstroke: Krishiv Doshi (MP) 1:13.34; 2. Vihaan S P (Goa) 1:14.50; 3. AP Arya (TN) 1:15.54.

Girls:

Group I: 200m IM: 1. Manavi Varma (Kar) 2:22.86; 2. Raghvi Ramanujam (Mah) 2:30.56; 3. Subhranshini Priyadarshini (Assa) 2:30.57

100m backstroke: 1. Ridhima Veerendra (Kar) 1:05.85; 2. Shalini R Dixit (Kar) 1:06.51; 3. Sanjana Manguesh (Goa) 1:07.63

Group II: 200m IM: 1. Tanishi Gupta (Kar) 2:24.83 (NMR); 2. Naisha (Kar) 2:29.84; 3. Saanvi Deshwal (Mah) 2:32.39

100m backstroke: 1. Naisha (Kar) 1:08.10; 2. Tanishi Gupta (Kar) 1:08.72; 3. Sri Nithya (Tel) 1:09.33

Group III: 200m freestyle: 1. Anushka Sanjeev (Mah) 2:25.02; 2. Lasya Sri (AP) 2:26.12; 3. Adriza Rani Chetia (Assa) 2:27.56

100m backstroke: 1. Shivani Karra (Tel) 1:11.83; 2. Shreya Binil (Ker) 1:13.82; 3. Debopriya D (Ben) 1:16.56

-Team Sportstar

CRICKET

Hubli Tigers beats Bengaluru Blasters by 5 wickets for third consecutive win

L. Manvanth Kumar’s all-round effort (4/15 and 28) propelled Hubli Tigers to a hat-trick of wins within the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 because it beat Bengaluru Blasters by 5 wickets on the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday.

Chasing a modest 106, the Tigers had been in a spot of hassle, dropping 4 wickets for 55 runs. But a 42-run partnership for the fifth wicket between skipper Manish Pandey (23 n.o., 16b, 2×4, 1×6) and Manvanth Kumar 28 (19b, 3×4, 1×6) eased the trail to victory.

Earlier, having been requested to bat, the Blasters by no means acquired going. Captain Mayank Agarwal performed a lone hand (50, 34b, 6×4, 1×6) however acquired little help.

In the day’s different contest, Mysore Warriors registered a snug 54-run win over defending champion Gulbarga Mystics. Karun Nair got here good for the second successive match (57, 39b, 5×4, 2×6) whereas seasoned opener R. Samarth’s was a gentle presence (48, 38b, 4×4, 2×6).

Manoj Bhandage supplied the end-overs flourish, hammering an unbeaten 15-ball 32 (2×4, 2×6) to assist the Warriors end on 198. The all-rounder then rolled his arm over and struck gold once more (4/19) as Mystics wilted for 144 to lose their second match on the trot.

Brief scores: Bengaluru Blasters 105 in 18.4 overs (Mayank Agarwal 50, L. Manvanth Kumar 4/15) misplaced to Hubli Tigers 111/5 in 13.3 overs (Luvnith Sisodia 33, L. Manvanth Kumar 28); MoM: Manvanth.

Mysore Warriors 198/5 in 20 overs (R. Samarth 48, Karun Nair 57, Manoj Bhandage 32 n.o., Abhilash Shetty 3/49) bt Gulbarga Mystics 144 in 19 overs (L.R. Chethan 44, Manoj Bhandage 4/19); MoM: Bhandage.

-N. Sudarshan

CHESS

Nimmy George’s turns into Kerala’s first WIM

Nimmy A. George’s lengthy watch for a Woman International Master title is over.

Almost 11 years after she believed she had fulfilled all of the situations for the title, the 37-year-old a number of Kerala ladies’s chess champion acquired the affirmation from the world physique FIDE on Thursday that she is lastly a WIM.

“This had been a long wait not just for me but for our entire State,” stated Nimmy, who’s now Kerala’s first WIM, advised Sportstar on Wednesday night time.

“There are many conditions to get the WIM title and when I applied for it in 2012, FIDE said that one of the norms should be a foreign norm and that I did not fulfil the requirements for that Actually, the AICF (national federation) had accepted and approved my application but FIDE did not accept that.

“Now I have got my fifth norm (a foreign norm) from a tournament in Budapest in May and FIDE has accepted that and given me the title.”

Nimmy, an assistant professor at Bharatha Matha College right here, feels her WIM title will encourage others too.

Stan Rayan

National Championship: Four surprises in opening spherical

Grandmaster R. R. Laxman and higher-rated International Masters Aronyak Ghosh, P. Shyaamnikhil and Sidhant Mohapatra had been surprisingly held to attracts whereas different fancied gamers gained as anticipated within the first spherical of the National chess championship right here on Wednesday.

Ashvin Makwana, rated 1680, proved equal to seventh seed Aronyak, the highest-rated IM within the nation at 2538. Pranay Akula (1669) held Shyaamnikhil (2467), UP’s Shubhi Gupta (1653) drew with Sidhant (2420) and Andhra’s Nyna Gorli (1639) cut up the purpose with Laxman (2349).

RAKESH RAO