FILE PHOTO: India will meet USA, comprising Alexis Ruiz and Stephan Hansen, in the bronze medal contest. | Photo Credit: AFP

ARCHERY

Indian mixed team in contention for medal

The Indian compound mixed team, consisting of Pragati and Ojas Deotale, kept its medal hopes alive by making it to the bronze medal match at the Archery World Cup Stage-1 in Puebla, Mexico.

India will meet USA, comprising Alexis Ruiz and Stephan Hansen, in the bronze medal contest.

-Team Sportstar

GOLF

Khalin Joshi wins Andhra Open by four-shot margin

Khalin Joshi fired a two-under 69 to win the Rs. 1 crore Andhra Open Golf Championship, sealing his seventh professional title in dominant fashion in Visakhapatnam.

The 33-year-old Bengaluru pro returned rounds of 68-68-70-69 to finish at nine-under 275, four shots clear of the field. The victory earned him Rs. 15 lakh and propelled him sharply up the 2026 DP World PGTI Order of Merit.

Joshi climbed from 55th to 12th on the Order of Merit, taking his season earnings to Rs. 18,13,875.

Chandigarh’s Akshay Sharma (70-70-74-65), a two-time Tour winner, fired a course-record six-under 65 in the final round to surge from overnight 13th to finish runner-up at five-under 279 at East Point Golf Club.

Saptak Talwar (70-74-68-68), the current DP World PGTI Rankings leader, finished tied third at four-under 280 alongside Dubai-based Yash Majmudar (71-69-69-71).

Chandigarh’s Ajeetesh Sandhu finished fifth at three-under 281, while Angad Cheema finished tied sixth at two-under 282 alongside Honey Baisoya, Rashid Khan and Manjot Singh.

The tour now moves to Hyderabad for the Rs 1 crore Boulders Classic from April 14 to 17.

- PTI

Ganapathy moves two shots clear of Baisoya at AM Green IGPL Mauritius

Veer Ganapathy produced a superb finish to move into a sole two-shot lead after the second day of the AM Green IGPL Invitational 2026, hosted by Leander Paes in Mauritius on Friday.

Overnight co-leader Sachin Baisoya (67-71) slipped on the very last hole, and it gave Ganapathy (67-69) the pole position and put him in a prime place to make a bid for the title.

The 18-year-old left-handed Bangaluru golfer, who shot 67 on Day 1, was even par after the front nine at the Anahita Golf Course but landed three birdies on the back nine.

They included birdies on the 16th and the 18th, to card 3-under 69 and move to 8-under total after 36 holes.

The first-round co-leader, Baisoya (67-71), who was tied for the lead after 17 holes, bogeyed the Par-5 18th, and his playing partner Ganapathy birdied it. That two-shot swing saw Ganapathy move into sole lead by two shots as Baisoya fell to 6-under.

There were three other players -- former two-time All India Amateur champion Aryan Roopa Anand (71-70), Ridhima Dilawari (69-72) and Milind Soni (69-72) -- at 3-under for two rounds and are Tied-third.

In the team competition, RVR Delhi moved into the top spot with a two-round two-player total of 7-under, while Phoenix Hyderabad is second at one shot behind, alongside Atri Mumbai.

With the conditions at Anahita continuing to be challenging, only four other players, WGAI pro Amandeep Drall (69-74), Udayan Mane (70-73), rookie Sukhman Singh (71-72) and Shaurya Binu (75-68) were under par at 1-under total each. They were Tied-eighth.

Only a total of 12 players are in red numbers, indicating how challenging the course has been with the windy conditions and demanding greens.

Big stars who are outside Top-10 of the scoreboard include Pukhraj Gill (72-72), SSP Chawrasia (73-71) and Gaurav Ghei (74-70) at T-12; Shiv Kapur (70-73) at T-20; Karandeep Kochhar (73-73) at T-22 and Gaganjeet Bhullar (73-74) at T-29.

-PTI

SURFING

National level surfing championship debuts in Andaman & Nicobar Islands

The inaugural edition of the Little Andaman Pro 2026, a national-level surfing championship, officially kicked off at Little Andaman.

The event witnessed the participation of around 86 surfers, including international competitors, competing across multiple categories such as Men’s Open Surfing Shortboard, Women’s Open Surfing Shortboard, Men’s Open Stand-Up Paddleboard (SUP), and Women’s Open Stand-Up Paddleboard (SUP).

In the Surfing Men’s Open – Round 1, standout performances came from Sivaraj Babu, who scored an impressive 15.17 (won by 11.1), Kishore Kumar with 15.00 (won by 7.97), and Ramesh Budihal with 13.67 (won by 7.94), each topping their respective heats.

In the Surfing Women’s Open – Round 1, Shrishti Selvam posted a strong 9.50 (won by 5.34), while Sugar Shanti Banarse led her heat with 9.63 (won by 6.39), emerging as early frontrunners in the competition.

The SUP Sprint Men’s Quarterfinals saw Sekar Pachai clock the fastest time of 1:04.70, followed closely by Dinesh Selvamani at 1:05.89 and Selvarasan Nagamuthu at 1:09.19 in their respective heats.

In the SUP Technical Men’s Semifinal – Heat 1, Rajesh D led the pack with a time of 6:08.02, while Dinesh Selvamani (6:14.28) and Selvarasan Nagamuthu (6:14.63) secured strong finishes to advance further in the competition.

-Team Sportstar

HOCKEY

Hockey Madhya Pradesh and Hockey Jharkhand secure spots in gold medal match of Sub Junior Women National Championship 2026

Hockey Madhya Pradesh and Hockey Jharkhand secured their places in the gold medal match after winning their respective semifinal fixtures in Division ‘A’ of the 16th Hockey India Sub Junior Women National Championship 2026 in Ranchi, Jharkhand.

In the first semifinal of Division ‘A’, Hockey Madhya Pradesh defeated the Hockey Association of Odisha 2-1. For the winners, Keshar Bhabar (58’) and Nousheen Naz contributed one goal each to guide their team to victory. For Odisha, captain Rubina Baxla (27’) was the lone goalscorer.

In the second semifinal of Division ‘A’, Hockey Jharkhand defeated Uttar Pradesh Hockey 2-0. The home team’s clinical performance was fueled by goals from Rejina Kullu (25’) and Sandeepa Kumari (43’), ensuring its spot in the summit clash.

In the championship final, Hockey Madhya Pradesh will face off against Hockey Jharkhand, while Hockey Association of India will play against Uttar Pradesh Hockey in the third-place match. Both matches will be played on Sunday, April 12.

-Team Sportstar

Hockey Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh Hockey win semifinals of Sub Junior Men National Championship 2026

Hockey Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh Hockey registered wins in the semifinals of the 16th Hockey India Sub Junior Men National Championship 2026 in Rajgir, Bihar in their respective Division ‘A’ matches at the Rajgir Sports Complex on Friday.

In Semifinal 1, Hockey Madhya Pradesh secured a 4-2 win against Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Hockey. Deepak Singh (29’), Karan Gautam (43’), Gazee Khan (47’) and Siddharth Ben (51’) scored for the winners, while Captain Dhiraj Pal (36’) and Apurwa Chauhan (54’) netted for Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Hockey.

In Semifinal 2, Uttar Pradesh Hockey registered a 6-2 victory against Hockey Punjab. Shahrukh Ali (11’, 32’) and Nitish Yadav (26’, 29’) bagged a brace each, with Captain Ketan Kushwaha (42’) and Rahul Yadav (42’) also finding the back of the net for Uttar Pradesh Hockey. For Hockey Punjab, Ali Razzaq (39’) and Rajveer Singh (43’) scored a goal each.

Hockey Madhya Pradesh will take on Uttar Pradesh Hockey in the Finals, while Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Hockey and Hockey Punjab will face each other in the 3rd/4th Place match on Sunday, 12th April.

-Team Sportstar

Published on Apr 10, 2026