FILE PHOTO: World No. 24 Abhay defeated Colombia’s Matias Knudsen 11-8, 11-5, 11-4, while world No. 44 Chotrani beat Pakistan’s world No. 29 Noor Zaman 11-8, 12-14, 11-6, 11-7. | Photo Credit: THE HINDU

SQUASH

Abhay, Chotrani advance in British Open squash

India’s Abhay Singh and Veer Chotrani advanced to the second round at the British Open squash even as Ramit Tandon and Anahat Singh bowed out of the PSA Diamond event in Birmingham.

World No. 24 Abhay defeated Colombia’s Matias Knudsen 11-8, 11-5, 11-4, while world No. 44 Chotrani beat Pakistan’s world No. 29 Noor Zaman 11-8, 12-14, 11-6, 11-7.

Tandon retired against Frenchman Auguste Dussourd with the scoreboard reading 14-12, 4-7, while world No. 21 Anahat went down to Nardine Garas, with the Egyptian world No. 36 winning 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9.

-PTI

TENNIS

Bhambri, Panova fall in French Open second round

India’s Yuki Bhambri and Russia’s Alexandra Panova exited the French Open mixed doubles in the second round on Sunday.

Bhambri-Panova pair went down 1-6, 3-6 to Great Britain’s Neal Sukupski and USA’s Desirae Krawczyk.

Bhambri’s French Open campaign is over after he already went down in the men’s doubles in the second round with his New Zealand partner Michael Venus.

GOLF

Avani, Diksha secure top-10 finishes in Jabra Ladies

Indian golfers Avani Prashanth and Diksha Dagar produced Top-10 finishes at the Jabra Ladies Open De France with steady final-round performances.

Avani carded a final round of 2-under 69 to move to tied 5th, which equalled her career best result on the LET, while Diksha (71) ended T-9 to record her third top 10 result of the 2026 season.

Avani totalled 4-under par with rounds of 72-68-69 and Diksha shot 67-72-71 to be 3-under par for the week.

Helen Briem secured her second title with a dominant seven-shot victory over her closest rival, Shannon Tan of Singapore. Briem shot a bogey free final round card of 4-under 67 for a total of was 12-under par for the week with rounds of 69-65-67.

Interestingly, Avani, Diksha and the Hero Women’s Indian Open winner, Shannon Tan, played in the same group and began from the first hole.

Avani had a great start with birdies on the third, sixth, seventh and ninth holes and at that point, Avani was making good ground and posed a serious challenge to Briem, who was only two shots ahead, but had played fewer holes.

However, three bogeys on the back nine saw Avani’s challenge unravel, though a birdie on the 18th hole allowed her to move back into T-5 and equal her career best result.

Avani has previously finished T-5 at the Hulencourt Women’s Open and the Hero Women’s Indian Open during the 2025 season. She has a unique record of having been T-5 in all of her top 10 performances.

Diksha began her final day with a birdie on the first followed by two consecutive bogeys and a birdie on the fourth hole. A birdie on the seventh hole would see her at 1-under par at the turn.

Despite dropping a shot on the 13th hole, Diksha picked up two shots on the 15th and 16th holes and was inside the Top-3. A double bogey on Par-5 18th saw her tumble down the leaderboard. She had to settle for a T-9. This result is Diksha’s third top 10 result of the season.

Briem was also one of only two players in the field to have recorded under par score on all three rounds, with Shannon being the second player to have done so. Briem began her final round on the first hole and made her first birdie of the day on the seventh hole.

On the back nine, she picked up three shots in four holes to cement her strong lead over the field as she made birdies on the 11th, 12th and 14th holes.

Shannon, the defending Order of Merit champion, finished in second place this week. Shannon recorded her third top 10 finish in only her seventh start of the season after finishing the week at 5-under par (70-69-69).

-PTI

Rayhan Thomas slips but stays in Top-30 on Korn Ferry

Rayhan Thomas had a difficult third round at the UNC Health Championship as he recorded his first over par round of the week.

Thomas carded 3-over 73 to slip down the leaderboard to T-28.

Thomas had been in prime position to register his first top 10 finish of the 2026 season, but slipped on Day 3.

Alvaro Ortiz leads the field with a score of 12-under par (67-62-69).

Thomas began his third day with a bogey on the first hole and dropped a second shot on the fifth hole. Three consecutive birdies on the seventh, eighth and ninth holes saw Thomas under par at the turn.

Thomas would drop a shot on the 14th hole and also suffer a triple bogey on the 18th hole to record his first over par round of the week. Thomas enters the final round with a total score 2-under par (67-67-73).

Ortiz took the lead from Jeremy Paul after carding a round of 1-under 69 as Paul carded 3-over 73. Ortiz leads the field by two strokes after making two birdies, three bogeys and one eagle in his third round. Paul is 10-under par (63-64-73) and second.

Luke Gutschewski and John Pak were tied for third with a score of 7-under par after three rounds.

-PTI

SURFING

Kamali Moorthy wins Women’s Open and U-18 female crowns; Kishore Kumar takes Men’s Open title

Tamil Nadu’s talented teenage surfer Kamali Moorthy, who secured India’s surfing quota for the upcoming Asian Games, completed a remarkable double by winning both the Women’s Open and Surfing Juniors U-18 Girls titles at the finals of the seventh NMPA Indian Open of Surfing 2026.

Another promising surfer from Tamil Nadu, Kishore Kumar, was crowned champion in the Men’s Open category, while local favourite Pradeep Pujar secured Karnataka’s only title of the championship by winning the Surfing Juniors U-18 Boys title. Harish P and Dhamayanthi Sriram also emerged victorious in the newly introduced U-14 Boys (Groms) and U-14 Girls (Groms) categories respectively.

- Team Sportstar

MOTORSPORT

IAME Series India 2026: Adithya Prathap, Rehan Khan Rasheed top among juniors, Shiv Neel, Ayansh Patil share honours in Mini class

The IAME Series India made its debut in the country with a hectic, action-packed first round at the CoASTT Kartomania in Coimbatore on Sunday.

Drivers from Momentum Motorsports dominated the Junior class with two Chennai youngsters, Adithya Prathap and Rehan Khan Rasheed winning the points-scoring Super Heat and Finals, respectively, but both had to fight hard for their win.

In the Mini class, Coimbatore’s Shiv Neel, son of India’s first Formula One driver, Narain Karthikeyan, topped the Super Heat after race winner Aaruthran Prabu (Karkrew Motorsports), a gold-medallist at last year’s Asia-Pacific competition in Sri Lanka, received time penalty for infringements and was placed second.

- Team Sportstar

CYCLING

Three Indian cycling coaches undergoing advance training in UCI programme

Three Indian cycling coaches have been selected and are currently undergoing an advanced course organised by the International Cycling Federation (UCI) in Aigle, Switzerland to enhance their skills.

The three coaches selected by the Cycling Federation of India (CFI) are Mayank Patel, Joginder and Prateek Manodhya, who have joined the course on May 18 and will continue till June 8.

While Joginder, a former cyclist, has 15 years of coaching experience across all formats, Mayank is the current performance, video analyst-cum-coach of the Indian team.

Prateek is far less experienced and had been associated with Madhya Pradesh Amateur Cycling Association and Chhattisgarh Cycling Association.

The international federation, UCI, is serious about promoting cycling in India and it has several plans and are actively engaging with the CFI. As a first step, it had given approval for the Bajaj Pune Tour a couple of months back.

“India possesses undeniable talent capable of excelling at the Asian level. Our cyclists have demonstrated this through consistent podium finishes at recent Asian Track Championships and Asia Cups, where athletes like Harshveer Sekhon, Ronaldo Singh, and Swasti Singh have shattered national records and secured medals,” Joginder, who is one of the coaches training in Switzerland, told PTI.

“India’s cycling journey, rooted in the pioneering spirit of early 20th-century globetrotters who circumnavigated the world on two wheels, reflects a deep reservoir of resilience and endurance.

“With structured coaching, scientific training, and growing international exposure, we are poised to transition from promising contenders to dominant forces across the continent. The UCI Level 3 Diploma course is an advanced coaching programme designed for experienced coaches working with national teams or elite riders. It covers sophisticated training methodologies, performance analysis, sports science, and strategic race preparation at the World Cycling Centre in Switzerland.”

UCI Director of World Cycling Centre, Jacques Landry, added, “They have been selected for our Level 3 coaching course, which is the highest level extended by UCI at the world level. India has great talent, and we are working with its National Federation to identify and nurture it so that the country becomes a force in the years to come.”

CFI secretary general Maninder Pal Singh is heading to Italy to attend the UCI management committee meeting as a special invitee and has been asked to present a case for inclusion of The PGT to a higher status of UCI 2.1.

-PTI

Published on May 31, 2026