SQUASH
Akanksha battles her way into the quarters
Fifth seed Akanksha Salunkhe fought her way past Sophie Fadaely 11-8, 7-11, 10-12, 11-4, 13-11 in the pre quarterfinals of the $27,500 NSW Bega Open PSA women’s squash championship in Australia.
Top seed Anahat Singh sailed into the quarterfinals in 18 minutes with a 11-3, 11-3, 11-4 victory over Sarah Cardwell of Australia.
In the quarterfinals, Anahat will play Hayley Ward of South Africa, and Akanksha will face fourth seed Alexandra Haydon of Australia.
Tanvi Khanna went down fighting 7-11 in the decisive fifth set against second seed Habiba Hani of Egypt, in the pre-quarterfinals, after having won a round earlier.
The seeded players had a bye in the first round.
The results (pre-quarterfinals):
Anahat Singh bt Sarah Cardwell (Aus) 11-3, 11-3, 11-4; Akanksha Salunkhe bt Sophie Fadaely (Aus) 11-8, 7-11, 10-12, 11-4, 13-11; Habiba Hani (Egy) bt Tanvi Khanna 11-6, 2-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7.
First round: Tanvi bt Breanne Flynn (Irl) 11-6, 11-9, 11-5.
– Kamesh Srinivasan
GOLF
Varoon Parmar finishes fifth
Varoon Parmar finished fifth overall, and runner-up in the 38-46 age group, in the Asia Pacific Mid-Amateur golf championship at the Gading Raya Golf Club in Indonesia.
The 43-year-old Varoon led after a four-under 68 in the second round, but finished at par 216 over three rounds.
Arjun Singh placed third in the 38-46 age group, with a two-over 218 in three rounds. Ranjit Singh was tied ninth with four-over 220, while Simarjeet Singh was joint 21st with 14-over 230.
Ashish Kapoor, competing as a private entry, was tied second in the over-47 age group.
– Kamesh Srinivasan
Sandhu dominates round three with a phenomenal 62, extends lead to three shots
Yuvraj Sandhu dominated the proceedings on day three with a phenomenal eight-under 62 to extend his lead to three shots at the Mysuru Open, a PGTI event.
A confident Sandhu, the leader from round one onwards, moved his total to an imposing 22-under 188.
The Chandigarh-based Sandhu (61-65-62), the current PGTI Order of Merit leader, is now staring at his third PGTI title of the season.
Delhi golfer Arjun Prasad also carded a 64 to move into sole third place at a total of 18-under 192 on another overcast day.
Chandigarh’s Karandeep Kochhar matched Sandhu’s first round tournament low of 61 to zoom 11 spots to tied fourth place at 17-under 193. Kochhar’s round featured an eagle and seven birdies.
P Prabhu and Dhruv Bopanna, the two Mysuru-based professionals who made the cut, were placed tied 47th at six-under 204.
-PTI
KHELO INDIA
Khelo India Water Sports Festival mascot released
The mascot for the first ever Khelo India Water Sports Festival (KIWSF), which will be held at the iconic Dal Lake from August 21 to 23 featuring more than 400 athletes from all over the country, was unveiled in Srinagar on Thursday.
The Himalayan Kingfisher will be the mascot for the festival which is a part of the Khelo India calendar. Before this, the inaugural Khelo India Beach Games was held in Diu in May this year.
– PTI
HOCKEY
Chandigarh, Uttarakhand notch up wins on Day 3 of Junior Men National Championship 2025
Chandigarh and Uttarakhand won their fixtures on the third day of the 15th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship while Himachal and Jammu & Kashmir settled for a draw in Jalandhar, Punjab.
The day began with the Division ‘B’ match between Himachal and Jammu & Kashmir which ended in a 5-5 draw as both sides shared a point. Captain Rajveer Singh (1’, 19’, 34’) was in scoring form for Jammu & Kashmir and bagged a hat-trick. The other two goalscorers in his team were Rohanpreet Singh (51’) and Gamanpreet Singh (56’). For Himachal, Gourav Kumar (43’, 53’) scored a brace with Anuj (15’), Pranshu Choudhary (18’) and Sukhmanpreet Singh (27’) also featuring on the scoresheet.
In the second match, Chandigarh enjoyed a narrow 4-3 win over Arunachal in their Division ‘B’, Pool A match. Rishav (8’), Moohamed Jaeed (19’), Fateh Singh (31’) and Prabhjot Singh (33’) were the scorers for the winning team. Captain Amarjeet Singh (17’, 36’, 53’) showcased brilliant individual skill by scoring a hat-trick of goals however, Hockey Arunachal fell short of a goal over the four quarters.
In the final fixture of the day, Uttarakhand secured a dominant 8-1 win over Assam . Mahendra Singh Bisht (33’, 37’), Rohit Airy (32’, 45’), Suraj Kumar (55’,60’), Vishal Kumar (2’) and Naveen Prasad (14’) scored goals for Uttarakhand. Rohan Ekka (29’) scored the lone goal for Assam.
– Team Sportstar
