GOLF
Pranavi, Tvesa lead bunch of seven Indians in Sweden
The trio of Pranavi Urs, Tvesa Malik and Vani Kapoor headline a large contingent of Indians at the Euro 300,000 Hills Open golf tournament in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Seven Indians will tee up this week at the event, with the others being rookie Avani Prashanth, Amandeep Drall, Sneha Singh and Hitaashee Bakshi.
India’s top star, Diksha Dagar, has decided to skip the week and rest ahead of the busy second half, which includes the Hero Women’s Indian Open.
While Diksha was racking up a number of top-10 finishes, the other Indian players have been trying to find the momentum in the middle part of this season.
-PTI
Heena takes sole lead in WPGT
Rookie Heena Kang dropped a crucial double bogey right at the end of the round but still managed to keep her nose ahead by one stroke in the 11th leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour in Bengaluru on Thursday.
Heena shot a second straight round of even par 72 and was one shot clear of Jasmine Shekar (75-70).
Amateur Lavanya Gupta added a second-round score of 72 after a 74 in the first round and was third, while three players — Agrima Manral (78-70), Ananya Datar (75-73) and amateur Mannat Brar (72-76) — are all at 4-over 148.
Heena, who had a share of the first-round lead with 72, birdied the third but gave up that shot on the Par-4 seventh and turned in even par. Back-to-back birdies on the 11th and 12th took her to 2-under, followed by a bogey-birdie on the 15th and the 16th to stay at 2-under.
A closing double set her back to even par, but she was still in the lead.
-PTI
TENNIS
Former national champion Sai Jayalakshmi inspires juniors at Unifi ITF Cup
The Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA), on Wednesday, introduced an off-court motivational and mind-training session for all participants at the ongoing ITF Junior Tennis Cup here in Chennai.
The session was headlined by former national champion Sai Jayalakshmi Jayaram, who spoke about her journey and the mindset needed to thrive in modern tennis.
“When I was playing at this level, things were not very professional,” she recalled. “We didn’t really know where we were going. We were the first batch of girls travelling abroad and competing. We just took it step by step, play the state, win, then the nationals, then abroad.
“Nothing was planned, but because of that, we didn’t feel overwhelmed by the results. Today, things are a lot more professional. Players start out aiming to be No.1, but in that process, they sometimes lose out on enjoying the journey.”
Sai Jayalakshmi spoke about her journey and also touched upon the challenges young athletes face today.
| Photo Credit:
S. S. Kumar/The Hindu
Sai Jayalakshmi spoke about her journey and also touched upon the challenges young athletes face today.
| Photo Credit:
S. S. Kumar/The Hindu
Drawing parallels with world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, she added, “When you see Alcaraz play, he looks like he’s having the best time on court. He hits a great drop shot and enjoys it even more than we do watching him.
“He works hard, yes, but he never loses sight of fun. That is the kind of balance every player should aspire to.”
Jayalakshmi also touched upon the challenges young athletes face today.
“Back then, we didn’t have gadgets or screens. We had to make friends, find roommates when we travelled, and communicate. Now there’s so much distraction, phones, iPads, endless content. It’s harder to focus. That’s why mental training is so important,” she added.
-Team Sportstar
Aran Selvaraasan upsets Aditya Mor to enter quarterfinals of ITF Junior Cup
Twelfth seed Aran Selvaraasan upset fourth seed Aditya Mor in straight sets to enter the quarterfinals of ITF Junior Cup. Yashwin Krishnakumar of the United States beat sixth seed Hruthik Katakam, and the top two seeds, Araadhya Kshitij and Vraj Gohil, moved to the semifinals, beating their opponents.
In the girls quarterfinals, qualifier and top seed Aishwarya Jadhav beat Vasundra Balajee after a slow start to face 14th seed Parthsarthi Arun Mundhe, who defeated sixth seed Snigdha Kanta in the decider.
Second seed Diya Ramesh, with a constant stroking game, beat fifth seed Nainika Reddy in the Unify – ITF Junior Tennis Cup 2025 played at SDAT Tennis Stadium, Nungambakkam.
Boys’ Singles Quarterfinals
S1 – Aradhya Kshitij Bt Nishith Rajesh(USA) 3-6 6-1 6-2, Yashwin Krishnakumar(USA) Bt S6 – Hruthik Katakam 6-2 6-0, S12 – Aran Selvaraasan (GBR) Bt S4 – Aditya Mor 6-0 6-4, S2 -Vraj Gohil Bt S8 -Ojas Mehlawat 6-3 7-5.
Girls’ Singles Quarterfinals
S1 – Aishwarya Jadhav Bt Vasundra Balajee 6-3 7-5, S14 – Parthsarthi Arun Mundhe Bt S6 – Snigdha Kanta 6-2 5-7 6-3, S3 – Diya Chaudhary Bt S8 – Jaya Kapoor 6-4 7-5, S2 – Diya Ramesh Bt S5 – Nainika Narender Reddy Bendram 6- 0 6-0.
Boys Doubles Pre-Quarterfinals
S1 -Vraj Gohil / Aditya Mor Bt Advit Tiwari / Tae Jun Heo (KOR) 7-5 6-2, S5 – Mannan Ashok Agarwal / Pansul Uboveja Bt Mahavir Mayur Modi / Sharan Somasi 6-1 7-5, S3 – Dev Vipul Patel / Vyom Shah Bt Niyanth Badrinarayanan (USA) / Shourya Bhattacharya (USA) 2-6 6-3 13-11, S5 – Aradhya Kshitij / Nikhil Kurapati Bt Aarush Bhalla / Veer Madam 7-6(5) 6-4, S6 – Shaurya Bharadwaj / Shivtej Shirufule Bt Uday Kaul / Meer fazal Ali 6-3 6-3, S4 – Om Patel / Om Verma Bt Srikar Doni / Channamallikarjuna Yale 7-5 7-6(6), S8 – Pratyush Loganathan / Aran Selvaraasan (GBR) Bt Parjanya Adury / Rahul Lokesh 6-0 6-2, Yashwin Krishnakumar(USA) / Nishith Rajesh(USA) Bt S2 – Hruthik Katakam / Prakaash Sarran 6-4 6-7(2) 10-8.
Girls Doubles Pre-Quarterfinals
S1 – Aishwarya Jadhav / Snigdha Kanta Bt Sarithra E / Jemima Rebecca 6-2 6-1, S6 – Aleena Farid / Angel Patel Bt Aaradhya Meena / Vaishnavi Singh 6-1 6-2, Janhavi Chougule/ Saanvi Mishra Bt S3 – Diya Chaudhary / Jaya Kapoor 6-2 6-2, Shaivi Gaurav Dalal / Parthsarthi Arun Mundhe Bt Niyamika Balaji / M B Aishvarya 6-1 6-1, S5 -Aakruti Narayan / Haritha Shree V Bt Disha Kumar / Princy Mandagalla 6-1 6-2, S4 – Savitha Bhuvaneswaran / Diya Ramesh Bt Devashree M / Saiyette Varadkar 6-0 6-2, Anya Choubey (USA) / Devanshee Prabhudesai Bt S8 – Hiya Kugasia / Dakshanasree SR 6-4 6-0, Shreeniti Chaudhary / Harsha Karthika Oruganti Bt S2 – Janvi Asawa / Nainika Narender Reddy Bendram 6-3 3-6 10-7.
-Team Sportstar
ARCHERY
Kushal, Parneet clinch top spots in qualifying rounds in World Youth Archery Championships
Compound archers Kushal Dalal and Parneet Kaur took top spots in under-21 men’s and women’s qualification rounds, respectively, on the opening day of the World Youth Archery Championships in Winnipeg, Canada.
The results (Qualification rounds):
Under-21: Recurve: Men: Mahesh Kumawat (11th, 651), Juyel Sarkar (13th, 645), Paras Hooda (31st, 630); Women: Bhajan Kaur (17th, 612), Vaishnavi Pawar (23rd, 601), Basanti Mahato (35th, 583); Compound: Men: Kushal Dalal (1st, 700), Mihir Apar (4th, 697), Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru (6th, 697); Women: Parneet Kaur (1st, 699), Tejal Salve (6th, 689), Chikitha Taniparthi (8th, 687).
Under-18: Recurve: Men: Agastay Singh (11th, 659), Aditya Pawar (13th, 659), Soham Kanase (42nd, 639); Women: Gatha Khadake (8th, 652), Jiana Kumar (9th, 650), Sharvari Shende (20th, 637); Compound: Men: Mohit Dagar (2nd, 694), Devansh Singh (5th, 687), Yogesh Joshi (12th, 677); Women: Prithika Pradeep (3rd, 681), Surya Hamsini Madala (10th, 663), Varenya (15th, 654).
-Team Sportstar
HOCKEY
Haryana, Odisha set up title clash in junior national hockey
Haryana and Odisha emerged victorious in their respective semifinals of the 15th Hockey India Junior Men’s National Championship in Jalandhar on Thursday.
In the first semifinal, Haryana defeated Uttar Pradesh 3-0 with Nitin (3’, 54’) scoring two goals for his team and Jeetpal (47’) hitting the third.
The second semifinal between Odisha and Punjab was a closely contested affair in which the former defeated the hosts 3-2 with Karan Lakra (58’) scoring in the final few minutes of the game.
The other two goals for Odisha were scored by Pratap Toppo (1’, 15’), while captain Gursewak Singh (12’) and Manmeet Singh Rai (44’) struck one each for Punjab.
-PTI
Published on Aug 21, 2025
