Saina progresses in Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR: India’s Olympic medallist shuttler Saina Nehwal sailed into the second round of the Malaysian Open with a convincing 21-12, 21-16 win over Yip Pui Yin of Hong Kong in 42 minutes on Tuesday.
The Indian is meeting second seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the second round.
In the men’s singles, Sameer Verma lost to Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto 13-21, 5-21 to crash out of the competition.
The mixed doubles pairing of Rohan Kapoor and Kuhoo Garg too suffered a 9-21, 10-21 first round loss against eighth seeds He Jiting and Du Yue of China
TOMAR SECURES ASIAN GAMES SPOT
SONEPAT: Wrestler Sandeep Tomar staved off stiff competition from the talented Utkarsh Kale to qualify for the Asian Games and World Championship in the 57kg category.
In the most exciting bout of the day, Sandeep, the 2016 Asian Championship winner, trailed Utkarsh 2-4 after the first round and drifted further with Utkarsh creating another two-point move in the beginning of second round. However, Sandeep made a strong comeback and rolled his opponent twice to level the score at 6-6 towards the end. Since Sandeep had scored the last points, he was declared the winner.
In the Greco-roman trails, Gaurav (63kg), Vijay (55kg), Kuldeep Malik (72) and Manjeet (82kg) qualified for the World Championship.
SHOOTER SAURABH SETS JUNIOR WORLD RECORD
NEW DELHI: Sixteen-year-old Saurabh Chaudhary set a new junior world record scoring a total of 243.7 in the 10m air pistol event in the ongoing ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany. Saurabh, who earned the eighth gold medal for India, ended the eight-man final with a score of 243.7 after 24 shots, 4.1 points clear of Korean shooter Lim Hojin (239.6) who won silver.
MANIKA, MANAV POST EXCITING VICTORIES
KOLKATA: Manika Batra and Manav Thakkar recorded thrilling victories over higher-ranked rivals, providing an exciting start to the Kolkata leg of the CEAT Ultimate Table Tennis.
Manika returned to winning ways with a fighting 7-11, 11-9, 11-10 win over world No 20 Lee Ho Ching to help Dabang Smashers gain an early lead against Empowerji Challengers.
Teen sensation Thakkar shocked world No 27 Yoshida Masaki 11-10, 5-11, 11-9 to help Challengers level the scores 3-3 after two matches.
The poster girl of Indian table tennis, ranked World No. 80, lost the first game 7-11 but came back in the second 11-9, using her forehand with telling effect. In the decider, the 23-year-old Indian was trailing 7-10 but she claimed four points on the trot to turn the tables on her Hong Kong rival.
MURRAY IN NO RUSH TO DECIDE ON WIMBLEDON
EASTBOURNE: Andy Murray will not rush a decision about whether or not to play at Wimbledon after winning his first match for 350 days at Eastbourne on Monday. The 31-year-old returned last week at Queen’s Club after almost a year out with a hip complaint that required surgery in January – losing to Nick Kyrgios.