Sindhu reaches Thailand Open final
BANGKOK:INDIA’S star shuttler P.V. Sindhu overcame Indonesian Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in three games here on Saturday to set-up the Thailand Open women’s singles final against reigning world champion Nozomi Okuhara of Japan. World No.29 Gregoria stretched World No.5 Sindhu in the first two games of a semi-final. Second seed Sindhu dug deep to win the first game 23-21 before losing the second game 16-21. Gregoria ran out of gas in the third game, which Olympic 2016 silver medallist Sindhu comfortably won with a 21-9 margin.
Gregoria started strong, taking an 11-7 lead in the first game. After the mid-game break, Sindhu showed urgency in reducing the deficit to one with the Indonesian stranded at 11 points.
However, Gregoria continued her impressive start as she held a four-point advantage at 16-12.
Sending the need to come out all guns blazing, Sindhu stepped up her game and quickly eliminated the deficit at the 16-point mark.
Later, both Sindhu and Gregoria alternated a point each till the 21-point mark after which Sindhu sealed the game in style.
In the second game, Sindhu continued from where she left as opened up a 9-5 lead. But the gutsy Indonesian came up with a sevenpoint streak to not only pull level at the nine-point mark but also to hold a 12-9 lead.
After Sindhu earned a point, Greogria enjoyed another brilliant phase as she bagged four consecutive points which gave
her a 16-10 lead before pocketing the second game 21-16.
Sindhu, however, turned the heat in the third game. Starting strongly, she raced to a 5-1 advantage before going on a roll by pocketing 10 successive points before sealing the third game 21-9. RESULTS
Third Division: Anstrengung United 12 (Rohan Salvi 3, Samad Patel 2, Venkatesh Devkar 2, Prasad More, Divyansh Yadav, Yash Nikalje, Shelton Fernandes, Kishan Vishwakarma) bt LIC of India SC 0.
Ummat E Milan 2 (Aijaz Khan, Aneez Ansari) beat Shree Mavli Mandal 0.
YOUTH BOXERS ON A ROLL IN SERBIA
NEWDELHI:THERE was no stopping the Indian juggernaut at the Golden Glove of Vojvodina Youth Boxing Tournament as nine from the country advanced to the semifinals to be assured of medals on day 3 of the competition in Subotica, Serbia. Nitu (48kg), Divya Pawar (54kg), Jyoti (51kg), Anamika (51kg), Sakshi (57kg) and Manisha (64kg) got into the medal rounds in the women’s draw and S Barun Singh (49kg), Bhavesh Kattimani (52kg) and Vijaydeep (69kg) did so among men.
MANE TIED 4TH AT INDONESIA OPEN
JAKARTA:UDAYAN Mane stayed on course for his maiden Asian Tour title even as South Africa’s Justin Harding blasted a six-under 66 to take a two-shot lead at the Indonesia Open. Mane is 12-under and tied 4th as Harding, playing on an organiser’s invite, is 17-under and two clear of Scott Vincent (66). Gaganjeet Bhullar (69) kept up his consistent scoring and is now eighth at 11-under.