SQUASH
Joshna, Chotrani advance in Hamburg Open
Veteran Joshna Chinappa and Veer Chotrani advanced in the Hamburg Open squash, while compatriots Velavan Senthilkumar and Tanvi Khanna bowed out in the opening round.
Former women’s world No. 10 Joshna eased past local challenger Saskia Beinhard 11-4, 11-5, 11-4, while men’s world No. 47 Chotrani beat Spain’s Ivan Perez 11-8, 11-9, 11-8 in the PSA Bronze-level event.
Men’s fifth seed Abhay Singh, who moved up to a career-best world ranking of 22 this week, and Ramit Tandon, the seventh seed, received first-round byes.
OTHER INDIAN RESULTS
Men: R Tsukue (Jpn) bt V Senthilkumar 11-4, 11-9, 14-12.
Women: Hannah Craig (Irl) bt Tanvi Khanna 11-5, 11-7, 13-11.
-PTI
HCL Squash PSA Challenger Tour: Aryaveer rallies to beat Sri Lanka’s Shamil
India’s Aryaveer Dewan, the reigning Asian Under-17 boys’ champion, rallied from 2-0 down to beat Sri Lanka’s Shamil Wakeel 10-12, 4-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-9 in 71 minutes in the men’s first round of the 2026 HCL Squash PSA Challenger Tour at the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai on Thursday.
Other Results - Round of 32
Men: Rahul Baitha bt Mohit Bhatt 11-6, 11-8, 11-4; Tay Jun Qian (MAS) bt Adarsh Banodha 11-4, 8-11, 11-8, 11-6; Md Hafiz Abdul Harif (MAS) bt Ansh Tripathi 11-8, 11-6, 11-8; Wailok To (HK) bt Ravi Dixit 11-3, 11-4, 11-2; Om Semwal bt Purav Rambhia 11-3, 11-8, 11-8; Nickhileswar Moganasundharam (MAS) bt Yusha Nafees 11-13, 12-10, 11-1, 8-11, 12-10; Sandhesh Palanivel Ravikumar bt Gurveer Singh 12-10, 11-5, 12-10.
Women: Whitney Wilson (MAS) bt Shuvra S Borah 11-3, 11-6, 11-2; Saanvi Kalanki bt Eesha Shrivastava 11-5, 11-4, 11-9; Sehveetrraa Kumar (MAS) bt Reiva Nimbalkar 11-8, 11-9, 11-3; Vyomika Khandelwal bt Aahana Singh 12-10, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9; Rui Jean Yek (MAS) bt Samairah Raj Bhandare 11-2, 11-7, 11-3; Anika Dubey bt Sangamithra Shanmugham 11-1, 11-3, 11-4; Kenzy Abou Elenien (Ger) bt Nandikasree Kalaivanan 9-11, 11-5, 11-4, 14-12; Salma Othman (Egy) bt Sahana Kalaivanan 11-2, 11-6, 11-7.
-Team Sportstar
GOLF
IGPL: Olympian Mane shares early lead with Soni and Shah
Olympian Udayan Mane, searching for his maiden win at the IGPL Invitational South Africa in Johannesburg, got off to a bogey-free start and was tied for the lead with two others at 7-under 65 at the end of the first day.
Mane was sharing the lead with Milind Soni and Manav Shah, and the trio were one clear off the field. A big bunch was snapping at their heels as six others were within two shots of them.
The crowded leaderboard saw last year’s IGPL Rankings winner Pukhraj Singh Gill (66) one behind at sole fourth, while Gaganjeet Bhullar, the 11-time Asian Tour winner, the in-form Karandeep Kochhar and the upcoming Saarthak Chhibber were all tied fifth at 5-under 67.
In the team contest, the 7-under cards by co-leaders Shah and Soni ensured Green Fuels Hyderabad was on top at 14-under, while Honer Gurugram with Pukhraj Gill (66) and Shat Mishra (69) were second at 9-under.
Krishna Punjab was helped by Kochhar (67) and Harendra Gupta (69) into the third place at 8-under.
Sachin Baisoya, who ended his IGPL title drought last week in Mauritius, was sole eighth at 4-under 68, which included an eagle on the ninth. Seven players, including two locals, were tied for the ninth spot at 3-under 69 at the iconic Royal Johannesburg Golf Club’s West Course.
The five Indians were Raghav Chugh, Shat Mishra, Harendra Gupta, Ranjit Singh and left-hander Kartik Sharma, while the two locals at T-9 with them were Allister de Kock and Musiwalo Nethunzwi.
The top women in the field after day one were Vidhatri Urs and Vani Kapoor, who carded an even-par 72 each. Both had two birdies and two bogeys each.
-PTI
Pranavi is the top Indian with round of 70 in Joburg
Indian golfer Pranavi Urs got off to a flying start with a bogey-free 3-under 70 to be placed tied 22nd after the first round of the Joburg Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour.
She was the best-placed Indian among the five in the field this week, with the opening round yet to be completed at the par-73 Randpark Golf Club.
Tvesa Malik and Diksha Dagar carded 1-under 72 to be tied 52nd, while Avani Prashanth struggled to 2-over 75 and Hitaashee Bakshi endured a disappointing round of 4-over 77.
Both Avani and Hitaashee will need low rounds to make the cut.
Tvesa was 4-under at one stage through the front nine but dropped a double bogey and a bogey on the 15th and 16th holes.
Diksha had five birdies, three bogeys and a double in her round of 72.
-PTI
Shubhankar fires 64 to close in on a win at Boulders Classic
Overnight leader Shubhankar Sharma fired a sizzling eight-under 64 to build a seven-shot lead after Round 3 of the inaugural Rs 1 crore Boulders Classic on Thursday.
The 29-year-old (66-66-64), a two-time DP World Tour winner, matched the course record set by Honey Baisoya a day earlier. He moved to 20-under 196 with one round to go at the Boulder Hills Golf & Country Club.
Sharma’s round featured nine birdies and one bogey as he took firm control heading into the final day.
Delhi’s Rashid Khan (67-70-66), Chandigarh’s Angad Cheema (68-69-66), and first-round leader Vishesh Sharma (65-70-68) of Hyderabad were tied second at 13-under 203.
Rashid and Cheema returned matching six-under 66s, while Vishesh carded a four-under 68.
A six-time winner on the DP World PGTI, Shubhankar is playing his first event on the tour since the Tour Championship in Jamshedpur in December 2021. His last win on the tour came at the McLeod Russel Tour Championship in Kolkata in December 2017.
“I played really solid today — probably hit it the best I have all week. Everything was clicking, and even when I lost a bit of momentum, I bounced back quickly with birdies,” Sharma said.
-PTI
PICKLEBALL
Arjun, Aditya win another gold at US Open
Arjun Singh, combined with Aditya Singh, to win the men’s doubles 5.0 event at the US Open Pickleball Championship by getting the better of J. Meode and W. Lin 9-11, 11-2, 11-7 in the final in Naples, Florida.
Another Indian pair to bag a medal was Panth Thakkar and Atharva Sheth, who took home a silver in the 4.5 men’s doubles category, after losing the summit clash to Caian Appel and Michael Van Dusen 8-11, 9-11.
This is Arjun’s third gold at the tournament and his second with his brother Aditya.
They had won the U18 boys doubles title earlier in the tournament.
-PTI
TABLE TENNIS
Top seeds Tamil Nadu, Bengal set up U-19 Girls’ title clash
Tamil Nadu and West Bengal will meet in the Under-19 girls’ team final at the UTT 87th Inter-State Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships.
West Bengal sealed its place in the final with a 3-0 win over Delhi on Thursday, though the scoreline hardly reflected the intensity of the match, with two tightly contested rubbers going the distance.
Earlier, the top seed was pushed to the brink by fourth-seeded Maharashtra, with Divyanshi Bhowmick emerging as a formidable hurdle and threatening to derail Tamil Nadu’s campaign.
However, Tamil Nadu showed resilience when it mattered most.
After conceding the opening rubber to Divyanshi, Ananya Muralidharan rose to the occasion, delivering a composed performance to outclass Hardee Patel in the decider and steer her team into the final.
-PTI
RUGBY
Rugby nationals: Bihar, West Bengal, Delhi impress
Host and defending champion Bihar made a strong statement with commanding wins, including a 59-0 victory over Madhya Pradesh and a 60-0 rout of Uttar Pradesh, as the women’s group stage of the Senior National Rugby Sevens Championship concluded on Thursday.
Featuring 27 teams from across states and union territories, the group stage produced a mix of dominant performances and closely fought contests, setting the tone for the knockout rounds.
West Bengal emerged as the most prolific side, topping the scoring charts with 129 points from two matches, including a 66-0 win over Manipur and a 63-0 victory against Andhra Pradesh.
Kerala also impressed, finishing third among the highest-scoring teams with 98 points from two matches, highlighted by a 69-0 win over DNHDD (Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu) and a 29-0 result against Jharkhand.
Odisha (93 points), Maharashtra (85 points) and Delhi (85 points) were also among the standout performers, registering convincing wins.
With the group stage complete, teams now head into the knockout rounds and ranking matches, where the battle for the national title is set to intensify.
-PTI
TENNIS
Bhambri enters semis
India’s Yuki Bhambri, along with New Zealand partner Michael Venus, entered the semifinals of the Munich Open after beating Luciano Darderi and Santiago Gonzalez 6-4, 6-1 in a last-eight clash.
Bhambri and Venus will face German duo of MarkWallner and JakobSchnaitter in the last-four clash.
- Team Sportstar
Published on Apr 16, 2026