Sourabh, Kuhoo-rohan in Russia Open summit clash
VLADIVOSTOCK, RUSSIA: Former national champion Sourabh Verma stormed into his first final of the season after defeating compatriot Mithun Manjunath in straight games at the USD 75,000 Russia Open Tour Super 100 tournament here today.
The 25-year-old Indian, who is on a comeback trail after recovering from injuries, beat Mithun 21-9 21-15 in just 31 minutes to set up a title clash with Japan’s Koki Watanabe tomorrow.
Young mixed doubles pair of Kuhoo Garg and Rohan Kapoor also continued their impressive run to enter the summit clash after beating Malaysian combination of Chen Tang Jie and Yen Wei Peck here in a three-game thriller.
The second seeded Indian combo notched up a 21-19 11-21 22-20 win over the unseeded Malaysian pair in 58 minutes. They would now face Vladimir Ivanov of Russia and Min Kyung Kim of Korea in the finals.
Men’s doubles pair of Arun George and Sanyam Shukla, however, couldn’t cross the semifinal hurdle as they lost 15-21 19-21 to second seeded local combo of Konstantin Abramov and Alexandr Zinchenko.
ADITI MAKES CUT AT SCOTTISH OPEN
GULLANE (SCOTLAND) : Aditi Ashok bounced back from a disastrous triple-bogey start in as many holes to card an impressive 3-under 69, making a midway cut in the second round of the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open.
Aditi, who shot 1-under 70 in the first round, was 4-under through 36 holes and lying tied 17th but nine shots behind leader Tiffany Joh (62-67).
Joh, 31, holds a three-shot lead at the halfway point. She is 13-under through 36, and holds the 36-lead for the first time in her career. Aditi bogeyed the first three holes and was in danger of missing the cut, which ultimately fell at 2-over.
However, the Indian, playing in her second season on LPGA, which co-sanctions the Scottish Ladies Open, bounced back strongly.
PATIENT KAPUR MOVES TO SECOND IN PATTAYA
PATTAYA: Shiv Kapur reaped the benefits of staying patient as he birdied three times in last five holes to close the gap between him and the leader at the end of the third day of Royal Cup here.
Kapur, who is the defending champion, started the day six behind leader Justin Harding (71) but finished two adrift, as he carded 3-under 67. Kapur is now second and 9-under 201 to Harding’s 11-under 199.
Gaganjeet Bhullar also made a move up into the Top-10 as he registered 1-under 69 to get to 5-under 205 and was tied at 9th place.
Among others, Viraj Madappa (69) is 2-under and T-24, while Honey Baisoya (72) and S Chikkarangappa (67) are 1-under and T-30. Himmat Rai (70) and Khalin Joshi (71) are even par through 54 holes and T-38th and Rashid Khan (72) is 4-over and T-63. Chiragh Kumar, Jeev Milkha and Jyoti Randhawa missed the cut.
GANGJEE TO LEAD IN LOUIS PHILIPPE CUP
BENGALURU: Seasoned Indian golf professional Rahil Gangjee, a two-time winner on the Asian Tour, will be leading the Indian charge at the inaugural Louis Philippe Cup 2018, starting here on July 31.
The Kolkata bred and Bengaluru based pro won his second career Asian Tour event this year, winning the USD 1.37 million Panansonic Open Golf Championship in Ibaraki, Japan, back in April.
NEERAJ’S FORMER COACH PASSES AWAY
NEW DELHI : Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra’s former coach Gary Calvert, under whom he scripted history by winning the gold medal in the Junior World Championships in 2016 with a world record throw, has died in Beijing. The 63-year-old Calvert, an Australian serving as the Chinese national javelin coach, died of a heart attack in China’s capital on Friday.
TAKALE 14TH IN WRC DEBUT IN FINLAND
JYVASKYLA, FINLAND : Making his debut in the World Rally Championship (WRC), India’s Sanjay Takale finished 14th in the WRC3 category at the conclusion of first leg in the Neste Rally Finland after suffering a puncture and damage to the lower arm of the car. Takale drove conservatively at the outset, and was further weighed down by the puncture on SS-9 followed by the damage to the lower arm which cost him precious time.
B Shah bt R Nagle 11-4, 9-11, 9-11, 7-11, 11-2, 13-11, 17-15; Chand Patel bt Shivam Punjani 10-12, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-6; Suhas Rane bt Yash Doshi 5-11, 11-3, 11-8, 9-11, 11-2, 11-9; Viren Patel bt Sumesh Mattu 11-3, 9-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-1, 11-8; Parthav Kelkar bt Veejaj Satra 1210, 11-2, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7; Tanmay Rane bt Jay Jani 7-11,11-3, 4-11,11-5, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7; Bhavesh Apte bt Mustafa Manager 11-6, 11-5, 11-5, 11-6. RESULTS
Pre-quarter-finals: Radio ‘Fusion’ bt CG ‘Titans’ 3-0 (+35 Anees Jumani bt +55 Dhiraj Kamble 123-103, +40 Shahyan Razmi bt +45 Megh Shah 9374, +20 Rayaan Razmi/anuj Mahajan bt +32 Calvin Monteiro/nikhil Lalwani 7747).
Otters ‘Rockets’ beat MHCL ‘Madcaps’ 3-1 .