Here are the top developments in Indian sport on Friday, December 2.
GOLF
Lahiri, Ahlawat three shots behind leaders in Indonesia Masters golf
India’s Anirban Lahiri endured a mixed bag outing in the second round, carding 2-under 70 on the weather-hit Friday to be placed tied third at the USD 1.5 million BNI Indonesian Masters golf tournament.
Lahiri is three shots adrift of the clubhouse leaders, Thailand’s Sarit Suwannarut (66-67) and South African Mathiam Keyser, who are at 11-under at Royale Jakarta Golf Club in the Asian Tour season-finale, which is also part of the International Series.
Continuing his fine form, Veer Ahlawat was 3-under through 13 in the second round. He was tied third at 8-under with Lahiri (66-70), Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond (71-65), Kasuke Hamamota (66 and 2-under through 16) and Chan Shi-chang (69 and 5-under through 15) in the second round.
Indian golfers had a fruitful day as Gaganjeet Bhullar (69 and 3-under through 13) was lying T-12 while Ajeetesh Sandhu (7k1-68) and Karandeep Kochhar (69-70) were T-17 at 5-under.
Lahiri, disappointed with his second round, said, “I am quite happy with the way I’ve played so far, but a little disappointed with my scoring in the second round. I feel like I played much better, especially playing with Lee and Jazz today who both shot six and seven under. Seeing them I felt like I shot two three over.
“It’s nice to be back in Indonesia, and the course is playing nice. Obviously 26-27 holes today, so it was a long day. I am looking forward to enjoying myself and finding some rhythm, which is unexpected because I haven’t played much. But I have some good memories, good energy. I kind of know how to manage this golf course.”
Other Indians were Honey Baisoya (70-70) in T-23 at 4-under total, S Chikkarangappa (72-70) was T-34 at 2-under total, Udayan Mane (72-71) and Rashid Khan (72-71) at T-50th. SSP Chawrasia (71 and 1-over through 14) needed a strong finish in his last four holes to make the cut.
M Dharma (73-73) and Viraj Madappa (78-72), Aman Raj (73-78), looked certain to miss the cut, while Khalin Joshi (75 and 2-over through 12) had six holes to get inside the cut line, which seemed likely to fall at one-under or par.
Lahiri, the 2014 winner here and making a return to Asian Tour after a long gap, played 10 holes from his first round on Friday and finished at 6-under for the round. He added a second round of 70 which he started from the 10th and had five birdies against three bogeys.
Ahlawat, whose only blemish in the first round was a double bogey against seven birdies, was bogey free with birdies in 13 holes so far. He was three shots behind the leaders.
– PTI
SHOOTING
Haryana’s Sarabjot Singh won a double gold at the 65th National Shooting Championships, bagging individual 10m air pistol even along with playing his part in the team event at the MP Shooting Academy range in Bhopal on Friday.
Sarabjot defeated Gaurav Rana of the Air Force 16-4 in the gold medal match for the individual crown and also partnered with Sumit Raman and Anmol Jain to pick up the team gold in the event with a combined effort of 1736.
Sarabjot came fifth in the massive 1100 plus qualification round with a 60-shot score of 582, before topping the semifinal with an effort of 252.7, to make the title round. Gaurav came second in qualification with 583 and then qualified for the final with a semifinal score of 250.6, which placed him second behind Sarabjot.
The junior and youth men 10m air pistol event was a straight fight between Haryana’s Shiva Narwal and Army’s Pradhyumn Singh.
While Shiva took the youth title with a 16-8 win over Pradhyumn, the latter won the junior crown with a tight 17-13 win.
– PTI
TENNIS
Hitesh reaches Gadre Marine ITF juniors final
Hitesh Chauhan battled his way past Adhirit Awal 5-7, 7-6(4), 7-6(9) in the semifinals off the Gadre Marine ITF grade-3 junior tennis tournament organised by the MSLTA at the Deccan Gymkhana Club on Friday.
In the final, Hitesh will play Aleksandar Daskalovic of Serbia.
In the girls section, Madhurima Sawant set up a title clash against Margot Phanthala of France.
The boys doubles title was bagged by Aman Dahiya and Kriish Tyagi. The girls doubles title was won by Lidia Podgorichani and Kamonwan Yodpetch of Thailand.
THE RESULTS
Boys (semifinals): Hitesh Chauhan bt Adhirit Awal 5-7, 7-6(4), 7-6(9); Aleksandar Daskalovic (Srb) bt Chieh En Hou (Tpe) 0-0 (retired).
Doubles (final): Aman Dahiya & Kriish Tyagi bt Bushan Haobam & Daksh Prasad 6-2, 7-6(3).
Girls (semifinals): Margot Phanthala )Fra) bt Tejasvi Dabas 6-3, 6-1; Madhurima Sawant bt Aishwarya Jadhav 6-2, 6-1.
Doubles (final): Lidia Podgorichani & Kamonwan Yodpetch (Tha) bt Ruma Gaikaiwari & Madhurima Sawant 6-4, 6-3.
Sandeepti wins AITA women’s tournament
Top seed Sandeepti Singh Rao outplayed second seed Riya Uboveja 6-0, 6-2 in the final of the Rs.100,000 AITA women’s tennis tournament at the Joygaon Academy on Friday.
Sandeepti, who trains with coach Ankit Patel, has been in irrepressible form, winning tournaments regularly.
THE RESULTS
Final: Sandeepti Singh Rao bt Riya Uboveja 6-0, 6-2.
