BOXING

India Tops Medal Table with Full Haul at Seychelles National Day Boxing Tournament

All seven Indian boxers, who participated in the Seychelles National Day Boxing Tournament, at the Paradise Arena in Mahe, struck medals.

Comprising medal-winners from recent Elite Nationals and National Combined Championships, the Indian contingent secured three gold, three silver, and one bronze medals, topping the charts with one more gold than Mauritius.

In the gold medal bouts, Himanshu Sharma (50kg) was awarded a walkover, while Ashish Mudshaniya (55kg) claimed a well-earned 4:1 split decision. Gaurav Chauhan (90+kg) edged past his opponent in a tense final, sealing gold with a hard-earned 3:2 verdict.

The silver medallists—Anmol (60kg), Aditya Yadav (65kg), and Neeraj (75kg)—all fought their finals valiantly before going down by identical 2:3 split decisions, underlining the competitive quality of their performances. Kartik Dalal (70kg) added to India’s tally with a bronze.

ATHLETICS

Athletics coach accused of sexual harassment

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Eluru finds itself mired in controversy after a coach, N.V. Vinayak Prasad, was accused of sexual harassment.

The victim complained about the misbehaviour of the athletics coach to the higher authorities, and a First Information Report (FIR), accessed by Sportstar, has been filed at the Eluru Two Town police station.

The case has been registered under the POCSO Act, among other Sections.

-Team Sportstar

GOLF

Tame finish for Bhatia as Ryder Cup captain Bradley wins Travelers title

Akshay Bhatia had a tame finish with two double bogeys in the final round for a card of 4-over 74 that saw him finish in Tied-54th place in the Signature event in the United States.

Bhatia, who had rounds of 70-70-68-74 was 4-over 282 for the week.

In the final round, Bhatia started on the tenth and had just one birdie on the 17th, which was his eighth hole.

He double bogeyed the par-5 13th, bogeyed the 18h and double bogeyed the Par-4 ninth, his closing hole.

This season Bhatia’s best has been a third place at the Players Championship.

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Indo-British Aaron Rai (70) was Tied-17th with cards of 68-73-63-70 at 6-under.

Meanwhile, U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley came back from three shots behind with four holes to play and birdied the 18th hole for a 2-under 68 to win the Travelers Championship in his hometown.

The victory also re-started discussion for Bradley to be playing captain for the first time since 1963 when Arnold Palmer played as a playing captain at the Ryder Cup.

-PTI

Indians falter on final day – Amandeep, Diksha and Tvesa finish 46th

Amandeep Drall, who began the week with a stunning 8-under 64, finished the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open with rounds of 72-73 and ended T-46th at the end of the tournament.

It was Amandeep’s first cut of the season and the second start of the year after losing her card last year. Amandeep will now play the Amundi German Masters next week.

Also finishing in similar 46th place were Diksha Dagar (68) and Tvesa Malik (68), while Hitaashee Bakshi (74) was T-62 and Sneha Singh (72) was T-65.

Amandeep had three birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey in 73, while Diksha had six birdies against two bogeys and Tvesa Malik had five birdies against one bogey in her 4-under card.

South African Casandra Alexander carded a final round of 10-under 62, including a chip-in for an eagle on the 18th at Royal Beroun to secure a two-shot victory. Cassandra’s 62 was a course record.

-PTI

Saptak falters in final round and slips to tied-38

Saptak Talwar struggled in his final round at Golf Bluegreen de Pleneuf Val Andre in the Blot Play9 on the Hotel Planner Tour as he shot a round of 9-over 79 to drop down from tied-6 to tied-38 in the standings.

Talwar looked set for a strong finish this week, but the front nine was a struggle.

He started the final round with a bogey and a double bogey and then dropped shots on the fifth, eighth and ninth holes with one more double bogey on the seventh hole.

On the back nine, Talwar made one more bogey on the 13th hole to end the day at nine over par and had a final score of seven over par for the week. He shot 69-69-70-79 through the week.

Despite a tricky layout and swirling winds making the course difficult to play joint leaders at the end of the third day, Max Kennedy and James Morrison kept themselves in the hunt for the title as both players played an even par round of 70 to go into a playoff.

In the playoff, two time DP World Tour winner Morrison held his nerve to make par and win his first title in 10 years.

-PTI

Kochhar finishes sole second in Morocco

Indian golfer Karandeep Kochhar produced a bogey-free final round 7-under 65 but fell agonisingly short, finishing one stroke behind Filipino Aidric Chan to sign off with a runner-up finish at the Morocco Rising Stars Marrakech.

Seeking his first win outside India as a pro, Kochhar finished 17-under with rounds of 70-67-69-65, while Chan shot a 7-under 65 in the final round to be 18-under at the Samanah Golf Club.

While Kochhar was the top Indian at the end of the week, the other Indians who made the cut were Ajeetesh Sandhu (12-under,m T-13), Khalin Joshi (9-under, T-34), Rahil Gangjee (7-under, T-43), Arjun Sharma (6-under, T-45), and Aman Raj (2-under, T-51).

Kochhar had seven birdies, made on the first, fourth, ninth, 10th, 12th, 16th and 17th holes.

Sandhu played a round of 4-under 68 on the final day to secure his top-15 finish, while Joshi, who was in the top 10 at the end of the third round, played a round of even par on the final day to fall out of the top 10.

Gangjee played an even par round to finish tied 43. Arjun Sharma played a round of 3-under 69 on the final day to close the week at tied 45 while Aman Raj ended his week with an even par round to finish tied 51.

The win secures Chan a spot in next month’s International Series Morocco, which has a prize pool of USD 2 million.

Chan is now very likely to graduate to the Asian Tour at the end of the season. He started the round with a birdie and immediately dropped a shot on the second hole, but after that he would go on to make seven more birdies and avoid bogeys to secure the title. His scores this week were 64-72-69-65.

-PTI