Indian Sports News Wrap, 17 December | Popgen Tech

TENNIS

ITF $15k men’s tennis tournament: Sasikumar Mukund reaches final

Top seed Sasikumar Mukund defeated Seydina Andre of Senegal 6-4, 6-1 in the semifinals of the $15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, on -Saturday.

In the final, Mukund will be challenged by Martyn Pawelski of Poland, who does not agree on the seed.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

$25,000 ITF women’s tournament: Ankita Raina loses to Anastasia Kulikova in semis

Top seed Ankita Raina left third seed Anastasia Kulikova of Finland from a position of strength and was beaten 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 in the semifinals of the $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament Balaji Amines at the District Sports Complex. on Saturday.

After fighting back from 1-4 to take the first set 7-5, Ankita was in the driver’s seat as she was serving 40-30 at 5-2 in the second. However, she failed to capitalize on the match point and lost her way, winning three of the next 14 games.

Kulikova who served nine aces in the match, converted eight break points compared to Ankita’s seven, to pass in two hours and 26 minutes.

In the final, Kulikova will play against Priska Nugroho of Indonesia, who also recovered from the loss of the first set to beat Daria Kudashova.

Ankita had the consolation of winning the doubles title with Prarthana Thombare, who defeated Priska and Ekaterina Yashina 6-1, 6-2.

It was the fifth doubles title of the season for the 29-year-old Ankita, and the 25th doubles title of her career. She also won 11 singles titles on the professional circuit. For Prarthana, it was the third doubles title of the season and the 24th of her career.

The results:

Singles (semifinal): Anastasia Kulikova (Fin) bt Ankita Raina 5-7, 7-5, 6-3; Priska Nugroho (Ina) bt Daria Kudashova 1-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Doubles (final): Ankita Raina & Prarthana Thombare bt Priska Nugroho & Ekaterina Yashina 6-1, 6-2.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

FOOTBALL

I-League: Aizawl FC beat Kenkre FC 4-0

Lalchhanhima Sailo scored a brace as Aizawl FC inflicted a 4-0 defeat on Kenkre FC in an I-League match at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Aizawl on Saturday.

After Sailo struck twice (14, 25) in the first half, substitutes David Lalhlansana (47) and Jeremy Landinpuia (68) found the target in the second to seal the rout.

With the third win at home, Aizawl FC moved to sixth place in the table with 12 points from eight matches. Kenkre is in 11th place with seven points.

– PTI

HOCKEY

Beighton Cup: Indian Navy set up final clash with Punjab National Bank

Indian Navy beat Indian Oil on penalties to set up a title clash with Punjab National Bank (PNB) in the 124th Beighton Cup hockey tournament at the SAI astro-turf ground here on Saturday.

Navy and Indian Oil were locked 1-1 after the regulation period, taking the semifinal contest to a tie-breaker. The two sides were tied 3-3 in regular shootouts before Navy prevailed in ‘sudden death’ to secure a 4-3 victory.

PNB beat Canara Bank 2-0 in the other semi-final.

SCORE: Indian Navy 1 (Sushil Dhanwar 17) vs Indian Oil 1 (Raman 39), penalties: Indian Navy 4 (Prashant, Kuldeep, Ashis, Kuldeep) bt Indian Oil 3 (Sumit Kumar, Talwinder Singh, Vikramjit Singh); PNB 2 (Vishal Antil 27, Gursimran Singh 52) bt Canara Bank 0.

-YB Sarangi

ATHLETICS

TSK 25K Run: Commonwealth Games marathon champion Victor Kiplangat, 2019 winner Leonard Barsoton to take part

While the top international stars will look forward to setting world records, Indian runners will be keen to put in strong performances in the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K run, which returns to the city after a break of two years caused by Covid.

Commonwealth Games marathon champion Victor Kiplangat and 2019 winner Leonard Barsoton will be among the leading international male runners in Sunday’s race.

Former Berlin marathon champion Ashete Bekere and Uganda’s national half marathon record holder Mercylin will be among the prominent women seen in action.

Defending champion Srinu Bugatha and Delhi half marathon third-place finisher Sanjivani Jadhav will lead strong Indian elite line-ups in the men’s and women’s categories.

Even if the event of $ 100,000 could not connect the well-known tennis player Mary Pierce after an announcement, it got great encouragement from the entries of more than 15,000 that he received upon his return.

-YB Sarangi