GOLF
Diksha, Tvesa, and Avani lead India’s problem at LET Opener
The skilled Diksha Dagar and Tvesa Malik can be joined by rookie Avani Prashanth because the Indian ladies’s marketing campaign on the Women European Tour (LET) kicks off this week on the Lalla Meryem Cup in Royal Golf Dar Es Salam.
Avani makes her skilled debut after coming by LET Q-Faculty. In the meantime, Pranavi Urs, India’s highest-ranked participant in final yr’s LET Order of Advantage (seventeenth), will start her season subsequent week on the Aramco Collection in Riyadh, becoming a member of Diksha, Tvesa, and Aditi Ashok. Pranavi, Diksha, and Avani will then head to Australia for a three-event stretch.
Diksha, who secured a top-10 end on the 2024 Lalla Meryem Cup, will intention to enhance on that end result. Notably, Pranavi, tied-fifth final yr, is skipping the occasion this time. Tvesa returns after a protracted absence, having final competed in 2019 when she completed T-41.
Avani, a winner on the Hero Ladies’s Professional Golf Tour and the LET Entry Collection whereas nonetheless an novice, now embarks on a full LET season. She would be the first Indian to tee off from the tenth alongside Spain’s Blanca Fernández and Thailand’s Aunchisa Utama.
-PTI
Ahlawat gaining in confidence on DP World Tour, set for Qatar with Sharma
India’s Veer Ahlawat on Wednesday mentioned he’s discovering his ft on the DP World Tour as he bought able to play for the fourth week in a row on the Business Financial institution Qatar Masters 2025.
The opposite Indian within the area is the extra skilled Shubhankar Sharma.
Ahlawat, who began the yr at Hero Dubai Desert Traditional however missed the reduce, has since figured within the weekend rounds of the Ras Al Khaimah Championships and the Bapco Bahrain Championships. He was T-27 in Ras Al Khaimah and T-49 in Bahrain.
Saying he’s bettering and gathering expertise with every spherical, Ahlawat is focussed on making one of the best use of the chance he has bought on the DPWT, the place he reached by topping the Indian PGTI Tour.
The 2 Excursions have an alliance by which the OOM (Order of Advantage) winner in India will get a card to DPWT.
The earlier two gamers who got here to DPWT through this route have been Manu Gandas and Om Prakash Chouhan, however they didn’t retain the cardboard.
“I need to play as a lot as I can and guarantee I’m again,” mentioned Ahlawat, who performed a whole lot of golf with Sharma, who has been on the DPWT Tour since 2018.
An attention-grabbing function is the consistency Ahlawat is making an attempt to get into his recreation. After lacking the reduce in Dubai, six of his final eight rounds have been underneath par and the 2 occasions he went over, he shot 1-over 73.
“I’m studying every day,” mentioned Ahlawat, who trains on the DLF Golf Academy and performs at DLF Golf and Nation Membership, the place he completed T-2 on the 2024 Hero Indian Open.
Ahlawat performs his first spherical with China’s Jin Zihao, with whom the Indian performed the final two rounds in Bahrain. Since they are going to be collectively within the second spherical, too, that may make it 4 in a row.
The third participant within the group is England’s Calum Fitzgerald they usually tee off within the morning at 7.25 am from the primary.
Sharma’s begin to 2025 has been disappointing having missed the reduce in Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah. He returns to Qatar after having missed the reduce in 2024. In his 5 earlier begins in Qatar he has made the reduce solely twice with T-28 in 2021 as his greatest.
The sector contains former champions Ewen Ferguson (2022), Antoine Rozner (2021), Jorge Campillo (2020), Justin Harding (2019), Eddie Pepperell 2018), Chris Wooden (2013), Alvaro Quiros (2009) and Darren Fichardt (2003).
Final week’s winner Laurie Canter is within the area after overhauling Tyrrell Hatton within the Worldwide Swing Rankings, with Daniel Hillier, Alejandro del Rey, Marcus Armitage, Dan Brown and Pablo Larrazábal all in a position to declare the highest spot this week.
-PTI
BADMINTON
Gnana to steer 17-member junior squad for badminton meets
Nationwide U-17 champion Gnana Dattu T will lead India’s 17-member squad on the the Dutch Junior Worldwide and German Junior badminton tournaments to be performed in February and March this yr.
The squad additionally contains junior world quantity six Raunak Chouhan, Adarshini Shri and doubles specialists Bhavya Chhabra and Param Chaudhary, amongst others.
India squad:
Boys Singles
Rounak Chouhan, Gnana Dattu TT, Suryaksh Rawat, Pranauv Ram N
Ladies Singles
Adarshini Shri, Tanoo Chandra, Rujula Ramu, Tanvi Reddy Andluri
Boys Doubles
Bhavya Chhabra/Param Chaudhary, Mithilesh PK/Vishnu Kedar Kode
Ladies Doubles
Pragati Parida/Vishakha Toppo, Anaya Bisht/Angel Punera
Blended Doubles
Bhavya Chhabra/Angel Punera, Lairamsanga C/Vishakha Toppo.
The Dutch Junior Worldwide can be performed in Haarlem, Netherlands from February 26 to March 2, whereas the German Junior can be held in Mulheim an der Ruhr from March 5-9.
The Indian contingent consists of 4 girls and boys singles gamers every, two boys doubles and two ladies doubles combos, and two blended doubles pairs.
The squad was chosen based mostly on the BAI choice committee’s pointers, granting direct entry to winners of the All India Junior Rating Match (U-19) in Hyderabad, whereas the remaining spots have been crammed by choice trials held in New Delhi, that includes top-ranked gamers and semifinalists from the Hyderabad occasion.
Surya Charisma Tamiri had bagged the women’ singles bronze medal within the 2024 German Junior, whereas Ayush Shetty had gained the boys’ singles bronze medal a yr earlier earlier than happening to clinch the 2023 world junior bronze.
RMV Gurusai Dutt is the one Indian boy’s singles participant to win the Dutch Junior Worldwide gold medal again in 2008 — the identical yr he additionally clinched the Commonwealth Youth Video games gold and the world junior bronze medal.
– PTI
GOLF
IGF objects to IOA’s interference in IGU polls, says it recognises Brijinder Singh faction
The Worldwide Golf Federation (IGF) has strongly objected to Indian Olympic Affiliation’s interference within the Indian Golf Union elections, and recognising the rival faction led by Harish Kumar Shetty, saying the IOA has “no jurisdiction” over the federation’s ballot course of.
The IOA had given recognition to the IGU led by Shetty whereas declaring the opposite physique, headed by Brijinder Singh, void in a letter issued on December 30.
In a strongly-worded letter to IOA president PT Usha, IGF government director Antony Scanlon, mentioned the world physique absolutely helps the election gained by the Singh faction held on December 15.
Shetty and Singh held separate elections and AGMs underneath totally different Returning Officers (ROs).
The election of Shetty’s faction was carried out by retired Allahabad Excessive Court docket decide OP Garg, whereas Singh was re-elected in polls carried out by retired Punjab and Haryana Excessive Court docket decide, Rameshwar Malik.
“We write to object within the strongest phrases to your interference and that of the Indian Olympic Affiliation (IOA) within the current Annual Normal Assembly and election of workplace bearers of our Nationwide Federation member, the Indian Golf Union (IGU),” Scanlon wrote in his letter.
“The IGF have discovered no motive to query the legitimacy of the IGU Annual Normal Assembly and election of the workplace bearers held on 15 December 2024 at Tamarind Corridor, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi (the place Singh was elected president) and imagine they have been held in accordance with their structure and the procedures of the Nationwide Sports activities Improvement Code of India, 2011.
“As such, we recognise and absolutely help the workplace bearers introduced by the Returning Officer HJ Rameshwar Singh Malik and ratified by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports activities. We contend that neither the IOA nor you as President of the IOA has any jurisdiction over the IGU Annual Normal Assembly nor its electoral course of.” The Sports activities Ministry has additionally pulled up the IOA for recognising IGU elections gained by the Shetty-led faction.
Scanlon mentioned the Shetty-led faction’s election was “non-constitutional and invalid”.
“We discover it extraordinary that the IOA would actively undermine the IGU electoral course of and facilitate a faction holding a non-constitutional and invalid alternate Annual Normal Assembly and elections on the premises of the IOA.
“Moreover, that your interference then prolonged to wrongly recognising this faction’s elections and in flip to undermine the credibility of the constitutionally and fairly-elected IGU government,” the letter learn.
“Due to this fact, the IGF-recognised government physique of the IGU, in accordance with Article 28 of the Olympic Constitution, stays the member physique for golf affiliated to the IOA. As such to recognise one other government physique, not affiliated to the IGF, is in direct contravention of the Olympic Constitution. We strongly implore you to instantly rectify this matter.” Scanlon additionally hit out on the IOA for eradicating golf from the continuing Nationwide Video games roster.
“However your spurious intervention within the electoral strategy of the IGU, we’re additionally extraordinarily upset along with your choice to take away golf from the programme of sports activities on the thirty eighth All India Video games.
“It’s regrettable that your actions serve to punish the athletes for political functions and in direct battle with Article 27.2.2 of the Olympic Constitution whereby the function of an NOC is ‘to encourage the event of highperformance sport …’ “This choice does nothing however discourage high-performance golf athletes in India. As such, the IGF implores you to rethink this choice and to position the athletes’ pursuits above these of private and political pursuits,” he wrote within the letter, which was additionally marked to the Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC).
“The IGF is guided by and believes strongly within the values of Olympism and as such it’s regrettable that we discover ourselves in disagreement with the IOA and that you simply select to behave with out mutual understanding and respect for the Olympic Constitution and for our athletes and Nationwide Federation.
“As such we’ve been compelled to repeat the Worldwide Olympic Committee on this letter in order they’re conscious of your inappropriate actions,” Scanlon added.
– PTI
CRICKET
Telangana CM felicitates G. Trisha after U-19 World Cup heroics
Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy felicitating G. Trisha, participant of the event and participant of the ultimate within the Ladies’s World Cup (under-19) cricket championship in Hyderabad.
| Picture Credit score:
Particular Association
Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy felicitating G. Trisha, participant of the event and participant of the ultimate within the Ladies’s World Cup (under-19) cricket championship in Hyderabad.
| Picture Credit score:
Particular Association
Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy introduced a money incentive of Rs 1 crore to G. Trisha, who was the ‘participant of the event’ and ‘participant of the ultimate’ within the recently-concluded Ladies’s World Cup (under-19) cricket championship which India gained in Kuala Lumpur.
This gesture was made when Trisha referred to as on the Chief Minister at his Jubilee Hills Residence right here on Wednesday.
Revanth Reddy congratulated Trisha and hoped she would proceed to convey laurels to the nation.
The Chief Minister additionally introduced a money incentive of Rs 10 lakhs every to Dhruthi Kesari, who was additionally a member of the victorious Indian workforce, coach Shalini and head coach Nooshin Al Khadeer.
Telangana Ministers P. Srinivas Reddy, Chief Secretary to the State Authorities Mrs Shanti Kumari, Advisor to Telangana Authorities (Sports activities) A. Jitender Reddy have been additionally current.
V V SUBRAHMANYAM
Rowing
Olympian rower Balraj Panwar shines with males’s single scull gold in Nationwide Video games
Paris Olympian Balraj Panwar, who narrowly missed out on a bronze medal on the Asian Video games in China final yr, strengthened his standing as one of many nation’s prime rowers as he defended his males’s single scull gold on the Nationwide Video games right here on Wednesday.
Panwar, born in Haryana however competing for Providers right here, clocked 7 minute and 26.68 seconds to row previous the 2km distance and take the primary place on the Water Sports activities Advanced right here. Navdeep Singh (7:41.17) of Uttarakhand and Guru Pratap Singh (8:04.01) of Maharashtra took the silver and bronze respectively.
The 25-year-old Indian Military rower, who can also be a two-time nationwide champion, had completed fourth within the males’s single scull occasion in his maiden look on the Asian Video games in Hangzhou, China final yr, clocking 7:01.27.
He later certified for the Paris Olympics the place he completed twenty third.
Providers and Madhya Pradesh shared the spoils in a straight combat for rowing supremacy as each collected 5 gold every.
The neck-and-neck rivalry was anticipated as each are among the many top-class rowing facility suppliers within the nation. Indian Military and Navy (whose athletes compete for Providers) have top-class coaching amenities for rowers, the identical in case of Madhya Pradesh additionally, particularly in Bhopal.
Panwar had gained the boys’s singles scull gold within the 2023 Goa Nationwide Video games with a time of 6:28.5.
For Madhya Pradesh, rising rower Khushpreet Kaur gave them the primary gold by profitable the ladies’s single scull ultimate with a time of 8:40.35. Maharashtra’s Mrunmayee Nilesh (8:47.65) and Andaman and Nicobar’s Amrita Minj (8:48.18) took the silver and bronze respectively.
-PTI